McFarlane Toys DC Digital Dr Fate review (2025)
Dr Fate provides another founding member of the original Justice Society for the DC Multiverse line. We’re getting pretty close to completing that lineup save a Hawkman and Atom.
Beyond the JSA, Dr Fate also was a founding member of the reformed Justice League stemming from Legends and he was part of the Super Powers lineup so he is a pretty key character to get into the line.
Let’s see if this version of Dr Fate is magical or needs to go back up McFarlane Toys’ sleeve.
Packaging: The DC Digital line packaging features turquoise as the main color with black accents. The left side says this is Dr Fate from one of the Justice League/Justice Society crossovers.
I tried to track down the artwork used for the back to no avail. Is it George Perez or is it José Luis García-López?
Likeness: McFarlane Toys decided to go with the Blue Beetle mold for Dr Fate. It’s a decent enough body but I think a wider buck like the DC One Million Batman mold would have been a better fit.
Dr Fate wasn’t a brawny powerhouse, but he was normally portrayed as having the same build as Green Lantern or Hawkman. This is just a tad slim for a guy who Jack Kirby drew alongside Superman, Batman and Martian Manhunter in Super Powers with the same physique.
While I typically think it’s actually a good thing to have some size discrepancy with figures to avoid having everyone the same build, McFarlane Toys could have used a match of the Alan Scott Green Lantern torso and legs down to the knees with the Green Lantern boots to come up with a more accurate looking Dr Fate. This figure isn’t bad as is but could have looked more formidable with a different combination of parts.
The sculpt of the helmet is nicely done with proper depth in the eye slots to show is eyes recessed from the helmet. His default left hand is the trigger hands, which doesn’t make a ton of sense for a magician. And his right hand is a fist.
In a ‘mild’ annoyance, Dr Fate is missing his shoulder points. They’re on the box but just ignored by McFarlane. Even if the rotator cuff portion was painted yellow it would have been better than outright ignoring them.
Additionally, he has a soft goods, wired cape that flows down to about the midsection of his boots.
Scale: The Blue Beetle mold is taller though it’s not as wide and beefy as some others. Dr Fate clocks in right around the same height as Green Lantern. He fits in fine with Wildcat and Jay Garrick if posed right.
MORE:
- Transformers One review
- WWE Legends Ultimate Edition Yokozuna review
- Marvel Legends Cable review – BAF Zabu (2024)
- DC Comics reviews 3/12/25 – Absolute Superman 5, Aquaman 3
Paint: McFarlane figures are usually fine with the paint work. Sometimes it’s just more of a problem with their reference material as they can occasionally get some simple things wrong.
For Dr Fate that means his neck is blue instead of being painted like his skin color. It’s a goofy mistake since the card and package art clearly shows how his neck should look.
The slab/buckle on his waist section is painted on as there was no reason for it to be a newly sculpted piece.
Dr Fate does have an alternate platinum version with a much darker blue and golden paint apps to replace the yellow sections of his costume. Thankfully that gold does carry over to the soft good cape.
Articulation: Dr Fate has the standard 22 points of articulation. That’s good enough for the JSA’s sorcerer to battle against their enemies.
Occasionally he would use his strength to go toe to toe with adversaries, so the rotator cuff articulation proved helpful.
Dr. Fate has a soft good cape, that has a variety of posing options. That’s very helpful for his dramatic stances when he’s channeling his magic or simply flying around.
Dr. Fate has:
- neck
- ball-jointed shoulders
- butterfly shoulders
- rotator cuff
- elbow
- wrist
- wrist hinge
- torso (side to side)
- waist
- hip
- thigh
- knee
- ankle
- toe
Accessories: Like every figure in this wave, Dr Fate is lacking on the accessories front. Unlike some characters he actually has some obvious accessories that were missed that would have added value.
His signature ankh shaped magic bolts are the most glaring omissions. At the very least, the DC Classics effect piece does fit just fine.
To show a little more love for Golden Age fans it would have been awesome to get his half-helmet look. No doubt that would have been a different display option if he were a Collector Edition release.
Even some spell casting hands would have been useful.
Of course, he gets the basic stand with McFarlane Toys Digital printed on the top. Additionally, he’s got that digital card for a ‘digital figure.’
Worth it? Dr Fate is listed at $27.99, which isn’t the best value for a figure that doesn’t have even one accessory.
Rating: 8.5 out of 10
Yep, the DC Digital Superman does live up to the hype. Assuming you don’t spend $80 on him, this is one of the best figures of 2025 and an easy Top 10 figure from McFarlane Toys.
Where to get it? DC Digital Dr Fate isn’t as impossible to find as his wave mate Superman. You can get him online from Entertainment Earth.
As an Entertainment Earth affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases.