Firefly
is a character that I honestly don't even remember being used in The
Animated Series
or The
New Batman Adventures
all that much. I like his design but I could swear he wasn't on more
than one episode. But he's cool and he has a history from the comic
books and is definitely more badass than Killer Moth.
As
this line goes on I get more excited about non-Batman related
characters, but there are still quite a few residents of Gotham City
that I'll be happy to see and oddly enough Firefly was one of them.
He has a cool design and the fact that he was featured in the Arkham
games makes me like him more as a character. I wouldn't call him
essential but just looking at this figure makes me glad I got it.
He's another one of those that once I had him in hand I remembered
why I like this line so much. The design is simply fantastic for this
format.
FIRST
GLANCE
He's
sleek and big I'm surprised at his proportions - he's larger than I
thought he would be and he has big, creepy hands. His head is also
creepy. It's very Mothman-esque, which is fine and appropriate. His
little tiny wings are making me laugh.
PACKAGING
These
come in just about the simplest blister card you could ask for and I
love it. The character specific information is all on the plastic
blister because the backing cards are all the same.
It’s
classy packaging, but it’s as simple as can be – much like the
style of the cartoon these figures are adapted from.
LOOKS
Firefly's
helmet is really cool and specifically moth-like. The eys sport a
really solid paint job - the black is flat and well-placed. The red
highlights are a little odd because he looks like he's kind of
looking up, but it's okay because it does give him this alien look.
The figure actually comes across as creepier than I remember him
being on the show. That's probably due to it looking so alien and as
you know, I do not like aliens. The antenna on the side of his helmet
is distinct and has a nice sculpt.
His
torso is thick. I don't know if off the top of my head I would have
thought of Firefly as being this large, but it's kind of cool. It
gives the figure more presence and more distinctness among a lot of
sleek, slender characters. The straps holding his jetpack on are a
raised sculpt and the paint on them looks good. This figure just has
a really appealing and distinct profile. I dig it.
Firefly's
jetpack is basically a little canister with a couple of flat wing
things on it. I realize in my head I'm thinking of Killer Moth's
wings, but I feel like Firefly's wings should be larger.
Obviously
I am wrong.
There
is a hole in the bottom of the jet pack that makes it look like there
should be a flame effect, but there isn't one. The belt is a separate
rubber piece that is attached to the holster. It looks great and all
of the fuel canisters or whatever those are are distinct and the
paint is applied well.
The
gun fits nicely into the holster and sits much better than I thought
it would.
Fireflies
gloved hands look good. They're thick and I like the cuffs of the
gloves and how distinct they are in the sculpt.
The
boots are just these little booties. Not much to say about them. I
appreciate that they are sculpted to look like boots and aren't just
a paint job. By which I mean the top of the boot is separate from the
leg of the figure. Otherwise they're just straight-up plain matte
plastic, which is just fine.
ACCESSORIES
Firefly
comes with six extra hands, his flame gun, and a stand.
The
hands all look great. I'm going to comment once again on how large
they are because it just seems weird. Compared to the tiny hands of
the other figures in the line he's like some kind of giant handed
freak. These switch out easily and are posed to grasp or just be
neutral. There's one pair that I can't quite figure out because they
don't seem specific to any of the accessories - by which I mean the
flame gun, the only accessory – but are these random open hands.
But better too many than not enough.
The
flame gun is cool but I don't quite understand where the fuel supply
fits into it. This is accurate to the character design, you just
don't think about it as much watching a cartoon as you do when
there's a 3D thing in your hand. I guess maybe those cartridges on
his belt just plug into the gun. That's not visually apparent, but
maybe that's what's up. Whatever the case, it fits nicely into his
hand and has a solid bit of paint on it.
The
stand is the big, clunky thing that I’ve come to resent but also
realize that there’s no way around using them. After taking all of
my figures off of the stands, I’m now going to have to dig back
into storage and pull them all out. I still wish they were black
instead of white.
FUN
Fireflies
joints all work fairly well. As I've mentioned he's kind of a bulky
figure for this line, but his shoulders, elbows, and wrists work
better than you might expect them to considering how thick they are.
He has the ugly hips that all of these figures have, but what are you
gonna do?
I'm
definitely disappointed in his head articulation. It just swivels
around - there's no up and down or side-to-side movement at all. It
very much limits the types of poses you can get out of the figure.
Any character that flies should at least have the ability to look up
and down. After Killer Croc's strange head, I don't see why they
couldn't have done a better job with Firefly.
I'm
a little surprised at the lack of accessories on this one. Obviously
he had to come with the gun, but I feel like he should have come with
some flame effects. That's not something that has been done in this
line, but both the gun and the jetpack have hollow portions that look
like a flame effect should fit into them. Considering the amount of
accessories that other figures in this line of come with I feel like
Firefly could have used a couple more. Flame effects are really the
only thing that would have made sense.
As
is this figure looks good but I can't say he's a whole lot of fun.
OVERALL
Despite
the flaws that I see I do like this figure. Firefly has a great
profile and he stands out from the rest of the line. I'm happy that
he'll be on my shelf. He's not exactly a whole lot of fun, but I have
to admit that this line for the most part is more about aesthetics,
despite how much articulation DC collectibles crams into each figure.
Firefly
is not a must-have. He's cool and I like his look but you could
probably safely pass on him and still be happy with your DC animated
collection.
4
out of 5
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