Review of Polka-Dot Man, Peacemaker, Bloodsport, Harley Quinn,
and King Shark - The Suicide Squad action figures

Introduction

DC has been improving their movie game lately, at least for me. The new The Suicide Squad film is far superior to the first installment, and while it's never going to be great art, it will be a film I can repeat view. That's not something I can say about a lot of the more recent DC offerings.

It also introduces several new characters to the screen universe, and does it extremely well. King Shark gets a great turn (although I love him on the animated Harley Quinn as well), and Polka-Dot Man, a true D-lister, gets to really shine. And who doesn't love the Weasel?

McFarlane Toys has continued the onslaught of DC action figures in their Multiverse line, and the four main characters of the movie are now out in stores. The wave includes Harley of course, as well as Peacemaker, Bloodsport, and Polka-Dot Man. There's an exclusive of Peacemaker and Bloodsport to hunt down as well, and when you have the four main figures, you can build a King Shark.

These retail for around $25 at most retailers.

Packaging - **
I'm going to be pretty harsh in this category. These are a collector line, clearly aimed for teens and adults. Other companies like Hasbro and Mattel have managed to develop collector friendly packaging for their lines intended for this same audience but sold at mass market, and yet McFarlane is using boxes that have to be destroyed to remove the figure and all the accessories. C'mon Todd, this isn't the 20th century anymore.

Sculpting - Harley **1/2; King Shark ***; Bloodsport, Peacemaker, Polka-Dot Man ***1/2
The quality of the likenesses on this wave are all over the place, but there's a couple real stand outs.

Of course, with Bloodsport and Peacemaker, they get a bit of a break thanks to the masks. The detail work on the armor for Bloodsport is good, and the mask itself is particularly well done. But the photos I've seen of the Walmart exclusive unmasked version didn't impress me. We'll see when I get one in hand. The unmasked Peacemaker looks a bit better, and I have higher hopes because what we can see of his face here is clearly John Cena. In fact, the half hidden likeness is the best of the four.

That's not to say Polka-Dot Man isn't strong. It's a good match, although it is a little more generic than the actor is. He has a very distinctive face, and while some of that comes through here, it's not a slam dunk. They did a nice job with the nose shape though, and I'm quite happy with the final result.

Harley is the disappointment of the group. The hair is quite thick and chunky, and the portrait is closer to 'pretty woman cosplaying Harley' than it is to Margot Robbie. The work on the costume is quite a bit better, with some good texturing and style, but then things go terribly wrong on the arms and hands, which are chunky, thick, and distracting.

The scale on the Multiverse figures is 7", and everyone comes in at a decent height. Harley is about 6 3/4", while Polka-Dot Man is 7", Peacemaker is 7 1/2", and Bloodsport is 7 1/4". They advertise King Shark as their 'biggest BAF yet!", and he's about 9" tall but with a lot of volume.

Paint - King Shark, Harley, Polka-Dot Man ***; Bloodsport, Peacemaker ***1/2
Like the sculpting, the paint work tends to be all over the scale.

However, none of it is as weak as the sculpt on Harley mentioned above. Her paint is generally sharp, and while the work on the hair doesn't do anything to improve the helmet-like appearance, the tattoos and the makeup are very cleanly applied. There's not a ton of detail on the dress, but overall she'll stand out nicely on the shelf.

King Shark is a lot of blue and gray, as you'd expect. But the teeth and lips look good, and what few details are here are clean. I don't love the gray though, where you'll see some rub marks and scratches, and there's a very toy-ish look to the transition from one shade to another.

Polka-Dot Man could have been a stand out - he has the most detail overall. But the painted dots are often off center on the sculpted dots. The work on his face keeps him from sinking lower.

Peacemaker and Bloodsport come out on top this time. While Peacemaker doesn't have a ton of detail, it's all well done, and the bright colors are consistent and even. The deadly looking mask on Bloodsport is enhanced by very sharp, very clean paint applications, and the colors are also well done overall.

Articulation - ***
I was pretty surprised by this category - there's a ton of articulation on these figures, but it doesn't always work as well as I'd expected.

King Shark actually has the least, but that's something you would definitely expect considering his design, and the fact that he's a BAF. However, he was a positive surprise. You can get quite a bit of expressive posing out of the neck, and the jaw helps with going from a simple smile to a fully open maw of death.

The shoulders, when fully attached, won't allow the arms to hang completely straight, but you can get some decent arm poses with the elbows and wrists.  The torso can crunch a little, and the waist has quite a bit of lean and tilt.

Of course, the legs aren't going to do much, even with the ankle and half foot articulation. Still, he stands great on his own, which is often a problem with big figures.

The rest of the line has a pretty consistent articulation map - ball neck, rotating hinge shoulders, cut biceps, double pin elbows, rotating hinge wrists, cut waist, hinge hips, double pin knees, cut calves, rotating hinge ankles, and a pin half foot. There's some minor variations on this theme, but it's largely consistent.

But with all that articulation, they were less posable than I expected. Not having a crunch joint had some effect, as did the softer plastic of the ball/posts/discs at the ankles, knees, and elbows. It all works, but had a clunky, unnatural feel.

Accessories - Polka-Dot Man ***1/2; King Shark Bupkis; the rest ***
Anytime I review a BAF wave, every figure with a BAF part gets at least a **1/2 here. Of course, if you don't care about the BAF, that will have a huge effect on your personal score.

Every figure comes with a small black stand and a collector card. I don't find either particularly useful - they went immediately into a bag - but your mileage may vary.

King Shark doesn't have any of his own accessories, but as an accessory himself, that's not surprising.

Harley comes with one extra, the spear given to her early in the film. Peacemaker also has one, the large sword. Bloodsport has two, also both swords. No guns with anyone, but a lot of pointy weapons.

Polka-Dot Man wins the prize in this category. He has his goggles, and making them removable means he can go without, with them over his eyes, or with them on his forehead. That makes him a very adaptable guy.

He also has the detached arm band, as well as a streaming flow of dots. This can be attached to a forearm, so it appears as though they are shooting from his hand.

Fun Factor - ***
While the articulation and accessories are a little less than you might hope, these can still be a lot of fun. They look great as a team on the shelf, and the scale allows them to go nicely with older DC Direct releases.

Value - **
I'm grading these as of today, when $25 for a figure like this is still about $5 too much. The 7" figures from NECA are $30, but they come with a ton of extras. These are more in line with the Mattel and Hasbro 6" stuff, and the extra inch does not translate to an extra $5.

However, we know this is going to change, as Marvel Legends and Star Wars Black figures jump to $25 as well. McFarlane has just beat them to the price hike.

Things to Watch Out For -
Not much. As I mentioned, some of the joints are a softer plastic, so if they are stuck, use some heat to loosen things up before putting too much pressure on them. Otherwise, you should be good to go.

Overall - ***
I bought this wave for King Shark. And yet, much like in the movie, the big winner for me is Polka-Dot Man. He was *this* close to that extra half star, and if you get one where the paint on the dots is a little better, everything else will fall into place.

Peacemaker, my least favorite character in the movie, is also almost a ***1/2 overall. He really does need a couple guns though.

The rest are fairly middle of the road, but I am really happy with the final result on King Shark, and I suspect that while he's not perfect, he will be the figure that gets the most attention on the shelf.

I already ordered the unmasked Peacemaker with Target, and I'm on the hunt for the Bloodsport. I'd be all over a McFarlane Ratcatcher or Weasel as well. And yes, I pre-ordered the Hot Toys King Shark, and I'd be like hair on a bear for any of these from them. I can't imagine why we haven't seen any announcement of the Polka-Dot Man - it would be like printing money for them.

Score Recap (out of ****):
Packaging - **
Sculpting - Harley **1/2; King Shark ***; Bloodsport, Polka-Dot Man, Peacemaker ***1/2
Paint - King Shark, Harley, Polka-Dot Man ***; Bloodsport, Peacemaker ***1/2
Articulation - ***
Accessories - Polka-Dot Man ***1/2; King Shark Bupkis; the rest ***
Fun Factor - ***
Value - **
Overall - ***

Where to Buy 
I picked this set up at Target, where I also grabbed the unmasked Peacemaker. The unmasked Bloodsport is a Walmart exclusive I believe, but other online shops may have it. Online options for the other figures include these site sponsors:

- Entertainment Earth has them for $25 each as well.

- or you can search ebay for a deal.

Related Links -
This is the only The Suicide Squad stuff I've picked up so far, but I checked out a couple of the other McFarlane Multiverse figures awhile back.

You should also hit the Search Reviews page, in case any other applicable reviews were done after this one was published.

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