The Crime Syndicate is one of DC’s great villain groups. This is a Justice League villain, how could it not be amazing? It took McFarlane Toys DC Multiverse a minute to take down the team. Largely because McFarlane has yet to complete a Justice League comic. In time, I suppose?
Superman of Earth-3, who I’ll just call Ultraman, starts the wave which has the added benefit of also including a Collect to Build Starro. We have several versions of Superman, but this will probably be the single version of Ultraman.
Let’s see if this corrupted Superman is good enough to be front and center in my Crime Syndicate exhibit or should be relegated to the back burner.
Packaging: McFarlane has no plans to move on from its original packaging, which is still a mostly black box with white and blue accents. Oddly, the cover art does not feature Ultraman and simply features a large image of the assembled Starro.
This pushes the line’s minimum package configuration to the extreme. I still wish they would put a bio on the packaging instead of just having it randomly on the website.
Earth-3 is a world where power and brute force surpass the justice and compassion seen on many other Earths in the DC multiverse. Ultraman of Earth-3, born Kal-Il on the planet Krypton, shares many similarities with Superman of Earth-0. He is also the last son of Krypton and was sent in an escape pod to Earth where he grew up in Smallville with his adoptive parents Jonathan and Martha Kent. But the similarities end there.
Using their son for their own gain, the Kents then manipulated Kal-Il and did not allow him to leave the farm, until one day he finally discovered the truth about who he is and where he came from. He then broke free and left Smallville for good. Years later, he now takes the name Ultraman and rules Metropolis, dominating the sprawling city like a tyrant. And with the emergence of other powerful beings like himself, he formed the Crime Syndicate, a group of morally corrupt and power-hungry supervillains determined to reform the world to their liking. They are in every way the polar opposite of the Justice League.
Resemblance: Ultraman is nice and muscular. I think he uses the Superman Rebirth mold with a new sculpted inverted S shield, belt pieces, and head sculpt.
This is consistent with the reference material based on the latest Crime Syndicate series. And it’s a big enough body that Ultraman doesn’t look skinny.
The head sculpt is okay although it seems a little too serene for Ultraman, who would have been fine with an angrier head sculpt.
Ladder: I think Ultraman has to be the tallest member of the Crime Syndicate, but scale can unfortunately be problematic with this line.
MORE:
Paint: I generally have no issues with the McFarlane Toys paint job.
The logo came out clean and the silver studded belt had no issues either.
My only gripe with Ultraman would be the decision to give him entirely red eyes so that he is locked in a permanent blinking heat vision expression. It was a strange choice and it kind of makes me consider an angrier Superman head as an alternative.
Joint: The Multiverse’s articulation scheme is pretty solid for Superman-style power-ups, so I had no concerns about his movement.
He is able to strike great brawling poses and looks great in action shots.
DC McFarlane Ultraman has:
- neck
- articulated shoulders [with pop up/down point]
- elbow
- wrist
- wrist hinge
- torso
- size
- hip
- thigh
- knee
- ankle
- toe
Accessories: Ultraman doesn’t have any obvious accessories, although in this case an alternate head would definitely be my choice. But we know that McFarlane Toys considers the extra heads to be variants, so that wouldn’t happen.
It comes with a Collect to Build Starro part. This piece looks massive with a crazy amount of detail with the suction cup elements and teeth in the center. Ultraman also has a smaller Starro to attach to his face.
It’s worth it? McFarlane Toys didn’t hesitate with the $20 price tag and for the BTC figures, the price goes up to a still reasonable $25. I was able to get it at a sale at McFarlane’s toy store for $20, which made it a no-brainer.
Rating: 9 out of 10
I wish Ultraman was just a bit bigger and had an alternate, angrier head sculpt. Otherwise, this was another great addition to the Crime Syndicate collection.
Where to get it? Ultraman is now out of print on McFarlane’s site, but you can still get it on Amazon for just under $25.
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.