DC Multiverse The Penguin review – McFarlane Collector Edition
The Penguin is my second favorite Batman villain. The joke’s on you if you can’t figure out my favorite. McFarlane Toys has been quietly knocking out some definitive versions of Batman’s Rogues with an excellent Riddler, a pretty solid Catwoman and a fantastic looking Silver Age Joker. The reveal of The Penguin had me excited.
This looked like a figure that was going to be a strong contender for Best of the Year for McFarlane. I’ve been looking forward to this one so let’s see if The Penguin deserves the VIP treatment or needs to get put on ice.
Packaging: McFarlane has begun giving certain figures different designations. Penguin is part of the Collector Edition branding, which basically means there’s some silver foil for accent colors and a slightly wider window.
The back of the packaging and accompanying card art features the cover from Batman #287.
Likeness: Penguin is one of the more distinct Batman Rogues thanks to his smaller stature, the top hat, his long nose, monocle and purple pants. The head sculpt is one of my favorites from McFarlane as the nose definitely protrudes prominently and he’s got a perturbed expression.
One recurring weakness from McFarlane Toys is the unwillingness to make goggles or see-through material.
From the reference photos included with the figure, he should have more of a potbelly that’s spilling over his waist coat. That gives him an extra layer of sloppiness. The McFarlane sculptors didn’t want to make him look too goofy and gave Penguin a visible rounded belly with a better fitting waistcoat.
Ironically, the Mattel DC Classics figure had a waistcoat that was positioned much higher and by comparison looked worse.
His outer coat actually has an impressive amount of texturing. I’m not sure if that was an essential layer of detail but I appreciate the subtle design element. And naturally the jacket has tails.
Not that I expected it, but Penguin’s pants don’t have sculpted stripes.
Scale: From my casual memory and some quick Google searches, The Penguin should come up to about Batman’s chest. He’s stout not tall.
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Paint: There’s a Penguin has a fairly consistent look during his Silver/Bronze Age appearances. Black tuxedo jacket and hat, white shirt and either a yellow or orange waistcoat.
And he tops it all off with purple pants and spats. About 90% of the time the McFarlane figures don’t have any paint problems. Penguin lands on the good side of that ratio.
Articulation: Penguin has the usual 22 points of articulation. He doesn’t need to pose as creatively as some of Batman’s other Rogues, but he does strike all the poses ideally suited for him.
The Penguin has:
- neck
- ball-jointed shoulders [with pop up/down point]
- butterfly shoulders
- elbow
- wrist
- wrist hinge
- torso
- waist
- hip
- thigh
- knee
- ankle
- toe
Accessories: McFarlane Toys tends to pack a bit more into the Collector Edition figures from a certain point of view.
Penguin gets a swappable set of hands with an open left hand and a right fist.
Naturally he’s got his trusty umbrella. It’s well sculpted with a bird handle.
As always, he’s got the included small black stand — the best basic stand with any mass market figure.
With the Collector Edition line, all the figures get a black and silver stand to place the typical trading card.
Worth it? For a brief moment, Amazon had this wave of Collector Edition figures on sale for $20. To get a potential best of the year figure from McFarlane Toys for that price is a great deal. I don’t love the extra costs for the Collector Edition figures in general, so this is more of the ideal price point.
Rating: 10 out of 10
I really dug how Penguin turned out. McFarlane did a tremendous job with this figure and it’s the best version of the character we’ve gotten in figure form.
Where to get it? I’ve seen this wave a few times at GameStop, but I grabbed mine from Amazon.
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