- 5/5/2025
McFarlane Toys DC Multiverse Classic Animation 1940 Superman Figure
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00:00Fine, no, but he can leap tall buildings in a single bound.
00:04Here's your look at the McFarland Toys DC Multiverse Classic Animation 1940s Superman.
00:25Up in the sky.
00:27Look, it's a bird.
00:28It's a plane.
00:28It's Superman.
00:30Faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, able to leap tall buildings
00:34in a single bound.
00:35The amazing stranger from the planet Krypton, the Man of Steel, Superman.
00:39Empowered with X-ray vision, possessing remarkable physical strength, Superman fights a never-ending
00:44battle for truth and justice.
00:47Nobody's going to read a comic strip about a strong man in tights, Joe, and he'll never
00:50fly.
00:51Anybody remember that Canadian moment?
00:53Okay.
00:53How about this moment, though?
00:54The moment when, of course, we take our tape measure and see just how tall the animation
00:581940s Superman stands.
01:00Some would also really like to call this one the Max Fleischer Superman, if you're familiar
01:03with the very limited series.
01:05Superman is going to be using, of course, the same Superman body as the Silver Age release
01:09from before.
01:10The figures, because of that, it's going to stand the same at seven inches in height, or
01:13roughly 18 centimeters tall.
01:15I guess maybe 40 years out of order.
01:17Here's what the figure looks like with the figure that we looked at that technically should
01:19have really been the figure that we looked at afterwards.
01:22Yet, though, as you can see, the figure is going to be using the same body as the Silver
01:25Age Superman.
01:26I couldn't, though, help but notice that if you're looking at this figure, and then you
01:30just happen to look at the one that's just over here, the one from the Silver Age maybe
01:34looks a little bit taller, and it may have more just really to do with the sculpting
01:37of this hair.
01:38Because also, you can see that the hairs are completely different from one another.
01:41I did also want to bring in a couple of other Superman as well.
01:43Now, this is the Superman.
01:45This was the one that was packed along with Doomsday.
01:47This body's been used, I mean, how many times?
01:48This was really, for a while, the Superman go-to body.
01:52Never really was a fan of it.
01:53Superman always kind of came across a little bit squat to me.
01:56For a while, though, this was really one of my favorite Superman.
01:58This was the DC Reborn Superman.
02:00Still a fine-looking figure.
02:01I mean, it has a plastic cape.
02:02I mean, that's one thing, at least that newer figures can say, that they have fabric
02:05capes instead of plastic.
02:07All right, I guess, I suppose that's not technically the right Superman that got packed with Doomsday.
02:11That Superman had a completely different head sculpt.
02:13Well, same body, though.
02:14Same body.
02:15This figure, though, again, is using the same body as the Silver Age Superman.
02:18Because of that, the figure is also using the exact same swappable hands.
02:21Before we talk about the hands over here, let's get our hands, at least, on the things
02:24that are over here.
02:25The figure, first of all, does come include with the display stand.
02:28More just the common territory that we've covered with the DC logo being branded.
02:33Branded down below here in black.
02:34And then, of course, off to this far corner, there's a peg that can plug into either one
02:37of Supes Boots.
02:38Supes Boots.
02:40The figure does also come include with the trading card.
02:42Now, I did want to bring in, even though it really isn't technically at all, I'm not
02:45going to be grouping these guys at all.
02:46I'm kind of really keeping all my Silver Age cards together in one area.
02:50And I'll probably be putting over the 40s Superman in a different spot altogether.
02:54You can see this is, again, like the 40s animation Superman.
02:57This is, again, the Silver Age Superman.
02:59Same size card, obviously.
03:00The back of the card, though, is also very different as well.
03:03The debut, though, of this Superman is, well, actually, it doesn't really even technically
03:07say the debut, whereas this one does.
03:09This one only really says Superman's real name is Clark Kent, in case you didn't already
03:13know.
03:14Superman is presented in full Technicolor, one of the big advertisements in TVs back in
03:18the day.
03:19A lot of shows were always really being advertised now in Technicolor.
03:24Then, of course, the read-up down below here is a little bit more specific to Supes for
03:28around this time frame.
03:29Nice looking card, though.
03:31I was a little disappointed when I really saw the costume that we're going to be getting
03:35for the James Gunn new Superman film.
03:37Truth be told, though, I honestly really was hoping that he was going to go with the Max
03:40Fleischer design.
03:41Now, we have seen this suit with the, was it the Clark and Lois, the Superman and Lois?
03:45I never really watched the show.
03:46It was the CW show where he had the sons.
03:48We did get a glimpse of this costume at one point, but that's really like the only time
03:52we've ever really seen this suit in a live action.
03:55Again, I was really, really hoping that James Gunn was going to say, like, you know, again,
03:58this is my start of Superman.
04:00I'm going to go right back to the very beginning.
04:02I'm going to design Superman based on the 40s look.
04:05Yeah, unfortunately, we never got that.
04:06It's sort of just, again, a combination of, like, all-star Superman, and then there's a
04:10little bit thrown in there from New 52.
04:11It's just, I don't like the suit.
04:13I don't like the suit.
04:14Anyways, though, I do like the card.
04:15I don't really also like the fact that this figure doesn't come with, really, with much
04:18in the way of accessories.
04:19If you're familiar with the hands that came included with the Superman that's over here
04:23from the 80s, this Superman also basically has the exact same hands.
04:27So, to grab the one from the Superman over here, just the like-to-like so you guys can
04:30see.
04:32I think if anything could be said is the one from the Silver Age looks like it's a little
04:36bit lighter of a skin than the one that we're getting here.
04:38Is that the right one?
04:39Okay, let's just grab the right one.
04:40So, again, like, it's a little more darker in color, more darker in complexion.
04:45Exact same hands, though.
04:46Exact same hands.
04:47To swap out the hands that he has right now, because, again, on the ends of his forearms,
04:51he's got himself some close fists.
04:53Let's do away with those close fists altogether.
04:55Although, to be honest, though, I really do like the idea of Superman having the ways to
04:58punch bad guys.
04:59I think a lot of times he did that in the 40s series.
05:02Mad Scientist laser guns usually were all the big baddies in those shows.
05:06Never really, I guess a couple of robots also as well.
05:07But, yeah, to swap the hands out, basically, all you really have to do is hold on to the
05:11fist.
05:12Hold on.
05:12Whatever you do, don't let go.
05:14Just prop that off and take down the hand that you want to use.
05:17Thumbs will go in, whether you're Kryptonian or not.
05:19Just plug that in place.
05:20Now Superman has himself.
05:22Even though a flying hand a lot of times released Superman back in the day.
05:24I think even in the Fly Shirt series, Superman did sort of leap and fly for periods of time.
05:29Anyways, though, you can swap the hands out if you want.
05:32In the end, I think I'm probably just going to be displaying this guy anyways with close fists.
05:35But just to show you guys, that's available.
05:37Head sculpt, though, is classic-looking Superman.
05:40Now some would say, like, is Superman asleep?
05:43Is the sun too bright in his eyes?
05:44Well, they sort of did design the Superman kind of the way that he would have looked in
05:48the Fly Shirt series.
05:49So instead of actually having visible pupils, Superman sort of had more slits.
05:53Slits for eyes.
05:55I love this classic look to the character, though.
05:57It is very much different, though, than the Silver Age Superman, as you can see.
06:01Completely different head sculpts.
06:02It's not just the case that they took this head sculpt and then chose to have his eyes
06:05closed.
06:06No, they've sculpted it from scratch.
06:08He definitely does have a very good side profile.
06:11And of course, even though it's Superman, he still has a little bit of a curl, even though
06:15it's not as much predominant as the Silver Age release of him.
06:18That's a good-looking head sculpt, though.
06:20Paint's pretty good on him, too.
06:21Down below here are the lips, although the lips are a little bit more smaller and thinner.
06:25The figure does have some really nice paint work on the face.
06:27One thing I do also really like about this is the design of the S emblem.
06:32It's a little bit more simpler by comparisons with, obviously, what we're getting now with
06:36logos.
06:36But I always really was a big fan of the fact that the logo, the Superman emblem, was outlined
06:40first in yellow, and then you had the black, bold interior with, of course, the singular
06:45S.
06:46The S didn't feel the need to connect itself to the ends.
06:49It was just an S that floated in the middle.
06:51Love the look of that Superman S.
06:53Could we, again, not have gotten that for the James Gunn?
06:55Okay, I'll stop talking.
06:55Now, the figure is going to be using the same body.
06:59The colors, as you can see, for the blue are completely much, much darker.
07:02Even, like, really the cape as well.
07:04Like, whereas the Silver Age Superman did have, of course, the yellow emblem on the
07:07back of his cape.
07:08The Fleischer Superman, or the 40s Superman, doesn't have that at all.
07:12It doesn't really even need to have it either.
07:14The capes appear to be darker.
07:16Clearly, everybody can see that the darker blue is much more obvious on this figure, and
07:20it's a lot lighter on the Silver Age.
07:21They have, though, used the exact same lower trunks, and instead of actually just sculpting
07:26a brand new piece, what they've done instead is, you can see, it still has the oval emblem
07:30or the oval belt buckle on the front, and then all the parts that would have normally been
07:35yellow here on this figure's release, they've just decided not to paint that.
07:38Because, again, like this design of Superman, even if to, again, well, I guess if really to
07:42look back in the card, the card doesn't really give that idea.
07:45The card instead gives the idea that the lower trunks or the belt area has to be more in
07:50yellow.
07:52I think from what I remember, the 40s Superman never had that.
07:53He had basically just like a little oval painted in there.
07:56I mean, again, to use the mold again, the fact that we're even having this conversation
08:00of a 40s Superman, I'm fine for the fact that they're using this mold and double dipping
08:04it.
08:04And I think we're actually, in fact, getting another version of this Superman using this
08:08mold again.
08:09It seems to be sort of now the go-to Supes, the buck body that we're beginning, probably
08:13with Superman figures moving forward until the line eventually dies.
08:16I don't know why, while I'm saying this, I was looking at the bombs of the feet.
08:19Yeah, the figure does have pebbles on the bombs of his feet, obviously, because he has himself
08:23a display stand, which was right over here.
08:25For the figure's articulation, 40s Superman has the same possibility as the Silver Age
08:29in that the head rotates all the way around.
08:32You can have the head looking down and looking up, up to the sky.
08:35It's a bird.
08:36It's a plane.
08:36No, it's the sky here.
08:38The arms do rotate all the way around.
08:40The arms do hinge out.
08:42I did notice again, though, like I think I may have even mentioned when we looked at this
08:46Superman, like his arms seem not excessively loose, not to the point where his arms are
08:51going to just drop on me.
08:52I mean, obviously, they dropped, but it dropped only because I did that myself.
08:55But getting this guy out of the packaging seems to have a very similar issue.
08:58His arms just feel excessively loose.
09:00Not that they're going to drop and fall down, but they just feel like they're a lot looser
09:05than they need to be.
09:06Anyways, though, the figure does have a T-pose option.
09:09Of course, you do.
09:09You have the option to move them also forward and back as well.
09:12The figure does have a bicep swivel, a double hinge on the elbow, and the hands rotate all
09:17the way around.
09:17Whether you want to use this hand or hey, hey, hey, well, you want to use maybe this
09:21hand over here.
09:22Good options.
09:23All those are the only options.
09:25The top of the torso is going to be on a ball joint.
09:27Lower down below that as well.
09:29The figure does also have the same in the abdomen area.
09:31The legs split out.
09:32Sure enough, they do.
09:34You can take the legs and move them forward.
09:35You can move them back.
09:37The swivel there is also there at the top of the thigh.
09:39There's a double hinge.
09:40Oh, double hinge.
09:42You can see that this is the leg I wasn't really doing much of the movement for.
09:45I was doing a lot more on this side.
09:47Crick, squeak, and crack are all the things my own legs do.
09:50The figure does have no articulation down below here, although it does feel, again, like
09:54his boots are a separate piece from his calf, but yet you can't really rotate them.
09:58Up and down motion on the ankles.
10:00You can move them back and forth there, too.
10:02And the figure does also have, as the figure's before that, toe articulation, so you can bend
10:06those back and forth, too.
10:07Couldn't help but also mention as well that the figure does have a
10:09fabric cape.
10:10And the fabric cape, which you also believe, has a wire built on this side.
10:15And on the other side of the valley, the figure does also have a wire here as well.
10:18So you can bend and move the cape any which way that you want.
10:22You want to have it up an extreme like that?
10:23You can do that.
10:24Or if you just like to play it safe and have the cape flat and relaxed instead, you can
10:28easily pull that off.
10:29One thing going for the Superman, even though, again, he's using the same mold, is the color
10:33scheme.
10:34I mean, the 40s Superman design is really one of my personal favorites, to the point where,
10:38again, I really felt and hoped that James Gunn, starting his DC film verse, and obviously
10:43starting with the original classic superhero, Supes, would have then maybe gone back to the
10:47beginnings of Kal-El's story and given him the Max Fleischer or the 40s Superman design.
10:52The basic trunks, the basic emblem, and the darker blue color scheme are all the things
10:57I really like about this look of Superman.
10:59To the point, though, I'd really like to track down a t-shirt or something like that, of
11:02that dark blue with a black classic emblem with a red R-S that just, it just pops on the
11:08figure's emblem.
11:09Even though, again, like it is using the same body, I think it's the smartest use of this
11:13body, considering also this seems to be like the buck that they want to kind of use
11:16moving forward when it comes to Superman figures.
11:18I think we're also getting another release of this Superman using also, yeah, the Kingdom
11:22Come Superman.
11:23Speaking of bold black S's on a black background, the Kingdom Come Superman seems to also be
11:28using the exact same bodies as well.
11:30And, you know, again, like if you're going to stretch the mold out, at least it's a good
11:33mold to work with as we get two good-looking Superman out of it so far.
11:37As a child and the product of the 80s, my first introduction to Superman didn't in fact
11:41come from the 40s.
11:42In fact, I don't think actually the Max Fleischer series even fell into my radar until later
11:45on in life, but probably the first time I saw Superman animated at all was Challenge
11:49of the Super Friends.
11:50And yeah, the Superman Friends battling the Legion of Doom.
11:54As a side series, even though it didn't last long at all, a good side Superman show to watch
11:59if you ever get the chance is the one from Ruby Spears.
12:01It debuted in the 80s, a very short-lived run series.
12:04It actually debuted on Saturday mornings, and it had some of the best animation around.
12:08Although very much similar to Max Fleischer, Superman never really battled like Luthor big
12:13baddies.
12:13A lot of times he was usually relegated to weird introduced characters, pirates and the shadow
12:19thief.
12:20Though with this release, obviously this isn't the Ruby Spears, nor is it Challenge of the
12:23Super Friends.
12:23We're getting classic-looking Supes with loving the look of the black emblem outlined in yellow
12:27with the bold red S in the middle.
12:29This Superman strips down his colors more as also when you're looking at his trunks too.
12:34Now, I went back and looked at the series again because I thought a lot of times he had
12:37a darker belt.
12:38Depending on when you saw the episode, sometimes it actually looked like Superman in fact had a
12:42dark burgundy belt, where a lot of times it just looked like his.
12:45He just had the red trunks with the yellow oval.
12:48So the colors of this figure are accurate, right down to the darker blue.
12:51It's probably one of my favorite things about this figure is the dark use of this blue.
12:55We don't get that often at times a chance to really see Superman dark like this.
12:59So really with the dark blue and the dark contrasting red makes this figure surprisingly
13:03pop a lot more than what you would think that he would, especially when you're comparing
13:08him with the Silver Age Superman.
13:09There's nothing going to beat the Silver Age Superman for how well that mold got used.
13:13The brighter blues and of course all the primary colors work really well with the figure.
13:16But there's something really charming though about the Fleischer series 40s Superman, where
13:20I really liked, again, my dark blue, the dark red, and especially the emblem.
13:25Let me know what you guys think of this figure down below in the comment section.
13:27And even though we don't really want to get this into a big debate, what do you guys think
13:31of the James Gunn animated, but what do you guys think of the James Gunn Superman costume?
13:36Do you like it?
13:37Do you dislike it?
13:37I know really James Gunn, when it came to designing his own suit, he sort of did take and pulled
13:42it from different series.
13:43A lot of it really was more from the all-star Superman, kind of a combination of all-star
13:48and new 52.
13:49Do you like the look of the suit?
13:50Did you test the look of the suit?
13:53Let me know what you think of it down below in the comment section.
13:55If you guys did also enjoy this video, why don't you do it a solid and throw it a like.
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14:24We're going to definitely have a lot more DC Multiverse reviews coming your way.
14:27So if that's the kind of thing you'd like to come back to this yard for, I hope that you're
14:30also going to be coming back to the yard for other things as well, even like delicious milkshakes.
14:33But it's definitely giving me a lot more content coming your way.
14:36As always, thanks for watching.
14:37See you guys next time.
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