We picked up the TRU Flash a few weeks ago, but I’ve been putting off his review. I just find that I don’t have a lot to say about him. Still, he needs his DCClassics.Com entry and so we’re giving him a pint-size review. Four pics, a few paragraphs, and everything you need to know about CherryBarry.
Yep. You read that right. CherryBarry has become this figure’s nickname here at IAT. It just fits him somehow and it actually helps me to like him a bit more. If you’re not familiar with where CherryBarry fits in the line, Mattel and TRU made an arrangement for 4 exclusive figures this year. The first, Batman, took everybody by surprise. At ItsAllTrue, we were happy to break the news on him (in the midwest, you never get to find anything first!). The next two, Metallic Hal Jordan and CherryBarry, were officially announced by Mattel and received the standard treatment with preview samples sent out to the big sites. And the fourth and final figure, a black/Tuxedo Joker will be out this Fall/Winter.
As you can tell by his name, CherryBarry is a repaint of the second Flash and sports that costume in a darker, metallic red with gold trim. When I saw him at the Fwoosh, I wanted him. I thought he’d be cool. In the weeks between first look and his arrival, I wavered a little bit, but I still picked him up when he finally showed up at TRU. When I got him home and I played with him a bit, I put him with my regular Flash and after that I wasn’t so sure of his coolness anymore.
The Flash costume is one of the best in comics. It rocks. Years ago, just seeing the Total Justice Wally West ended up getting me into that toy line, introduced me to Kyle Rayner & Hook Aquaman, and got me back into DC Comics. We can all point to various things in our lives that have shaped our collections. I was a Super Powers kid, and still am in many ways, but my “adult collection” skewing back to comic superheroes starts with the Total Justice Flash. I like all the Flashes from Jay Garrick to John Fox, but Barry & Wally have the best costumes. And those costumes look best in just red & yellow.
In an Ask Matty, we were told that these repaints are more or less an “Alex Ross” subline and looking across all four, I think that’s evident. I prefer Batman blue, but I think TRU Bats looks great. TRU Hal’s metallic colors help him blend with the DC Direct figures even if it makes him the odd duck out with the other GLs. The Joker has always looked good in a tux. CherryBarry has a similar problem to the TRU Hal in my eyes. They look good individually, but once placed in the collection, the metallic paint just doesn’t work. With the Flash costume, the shiny red and gold looks good until he’s put next to the original. It simply outshines the shiny one.
I’ve been thinking about how this applies to the (hopefully) inevitable Wally West figure. Do I want him in the same basic red/yellow with just the small details telling the difference? Do I want him in a darker/shiny color scheme? I don’t know. One thing I would like to see this dark metallic red used on is the Dark Flash, Walter West. He’s an alternate reality Wally that took over the Flash title briefly about ten years ago. I loved that story arc and his version of the iconic costume. This darker red along with those silver highlights would look great on the shelf.
Being a complete repaint of the original Flash, this figure features standard articulation and movement. His joints are a little stickier overall, I suppose that’s due to the metallic paint, but I didn’t have any stuck joints on the figure.
Paint was a little bit of an issue. CherryBarry ships in a solid case, but we still had trouble picking out a solid paintjob. It’s mostly because of the exposed chin and the goopy paint being used. There are also a few imperfections in the overall paint. They aren’t that big a deal, but the metallic finish highlights them.
Overall, this figure could fit into your collection a variety of ways. You could want them all. You could be a big fan of the Alex Ross gold trim and use CherryBarry to replace your Wave Seven Flash. For me, I have the room and I’m going to keep him out on the shelf for now, but if/when things start to get cramped this guy might not make the cut and end up in storage. I loved CherryBarry on the shelf, but next to the original, he’s just not as cool.
I passed on CherryBarry and I hope they don’t use that color scheme for Wally.
Wally should be a shade or two darker, but not too dark. And yellow before gold!
He doesn’t even look that different in your comparison pictures. This one was a waste on Mattel’s part. No more Alex Ross repaints pelase.
The metallic lightened up under the bright lights of the camera. He’s pretty different in person, but yeah these Alex Ross probably aren’t the best use of Mattel’s time here.
I’m still waiting for this guy to show up at my TRU! I found Bats and GL after a few weeks, but the pegs filled up with regular figures since then and I haven’t seen any of the Flash yet.
Our Flashes showed up while we had DCUC11 still on the shelves and some Hals left over. Hopefully you’ll get ’em soon.
I’m looking forward to getting him. I usually prefer gold to yellow on my figures, and I think this looks better than the wave 7 version. The wave 7 Barry will go with other Silver Age JLA members, and the new one will go on the Flash section of the shelf.
That’s cool! I figured there are people out there who prefer these colors over the primary colors version. I am glad that he’s out there for those folks.
What cracks me up is the fact that you bitch about the metallic paint job on Flash and Green Lantern, but this wasn’t a problem when you reviewed Booster Gold?
What cracks me up is you thinking this is me bitching about something. This is mere mild dislike. If I wanted to bitch about it, I wouldn’t have bought it! 😀
In case I’ve given the wrong impression, I don’t mind metallic paints in general. Just check out any of my DC Direct Blackest Night reviews. And, as I outlined in my Hal Jordan review, if all the GLs had been done metallic, they would look fantastic! This Hal looks great with my DCD figures, but I like him less when he’s with other DCUCs like Kilowog and Kyle that are being done in flat colors.
Unfortunately, Flash doesn’t get the benefit. I thought he would look cool when I bought him, but after I got him home, he just didn’t fit in as great as I hoped.
And Booster? He’s supposed to be metallic! I would’ve been complaining if he’d been done in flat colors.
LOVE that last pic! I saw this one at TRU and I was tempted for a second until I pictured him alongside the original and then I walked out of a toy store empty handed for the umpteenth time.
Honestly, while I did think he was going to be cooler than he ended being, his purchase was partially motivated by my wanting to give all the figs on DCClassics.Com a review.
Colours look alot nicer.
I thought the gold could really appeal to some folks. I know there was some healthy debate over Dr. Fate. As a Super Powers kid, I really appreciated the use of the yellow, but I know some fans would like to have seen him in gold.
Pretty cool-looking fig, but I think I’m good with the Flash I’ve got.
Not sure if I’ll be tempted by the Joker repaint or not . . .
I think I want the Joker. Vault pointed out that a metallic Harley (with a white face) could be potentially awesome if combined with that Tux Joker
(I’m still anti-Ross repaints though!)
Stop using that damn TRU Batman! I keep kicking myself for not getting him and my leg’s getting tired.
Since I missed the b@stard I’m stuck with the Walmart 2-pk Batman as my default. It’s not bad, but it’s got a frickin’ neon yellow belt. Works great for attracting villains’ attention towards his Bat-crotch…
Sorry, Pax.
I really didn’t understand how cool the belt would be until I got him home. I’m a blue/grey Batman guy, but the Bats the darker belt sells the figure. Our closest TRU is cleaned out, but if we run across one in our travels, we’ll keep you in mind!
Ah, the thought is appreciated, but please don’t. I don’t think the bright yellow belt is heinous enough an offense to buy ANOTHER Batman figure of a character that will probably be updated sooner or later. Thanks, though!
I keep passing on this guy. Just not different enough for $15.
Repaints are steep. I try to pretend that overpaying for cheaper figures lets other figures be cooler…
I like the quick look at this figure! You might consider doing these brief review more often. I like the long ones, but not all the figures need that much attention.
Our friends over at Articulated Discussion have a system for four different levels of reviews. Pretty smart setup over there.
I bought bats and will buy joker, but no metallic figures for me.
LOL. No “metallix for metallix’s sake”?? 😀
Perhaps with a satin paint job (like the Walmart Black Manta) in a slightly darker red with a brighter gold he would have evoked the John Wesley Shipp Flash…
That’d be sweet! I’d love to get a version like that!
@Kagamigod
Booster Gold, at least lately, is definitely supposed to be metallic in the comics, while Barry and the Lanterns depend on interpretation.
I think CherryBarry could have been save with a brighter gold. The darker gold doesn’t pop since it isn’t reflective. I’d take a Wally in a similar color with the different waist bolt and white eyes like in the 90s. Both Flashes would have benefitted from sculpted bolts on the gloves and waist just to provide guidelines for the paint. Such a simple streamlined costume should be flawless and crisp. I’m glad the logo tampo turned out great!
I merely making a point that he didn’t think highly of the TRU Green Lantern and Flash because of the paint apps not being unified betwwen all other DCUC figs. I understand more of his thinking, but I guess I really like the TRU Hal and I don’t understand the dislike this fig gets from some people. As for TRU Flash, he hasn’t been release in Philly yet so I will reserve judgement on him until I see him in person. But I like the idea of these TRU exclusive repaints and would like to see them continue and with Mattel pulling plugs here and there, I will be giving TRU and Mattel enough incentive on my part to continue doing these.
On that Hal specifically, I like that he’s in his modern costume (though he technically should’ve received a new head) and he looks sharp when placed with my DCD Lantern patriarchs (check him out in my Nekron review). But when Kilowog/John/Katma/Abin are all together, that Hal gets bumped because the metallic doesn’t match (grey-templed Hal will be my de facto Hal).
I’m sure to get stoned if anyone notices the comments, but one of the things I don’t like about the line is that we’re not getting enough repaints! I don’t want to go broke here, but there are other versions of some heroes that I’d like to be getting. That’s somewhat why I’m against Alex Ross repaints, because I’d rather get Superman Red and Superman Blue (classic versions) or Zebra Batman!
If Mattel does continue these into next year, I’d love to see Harley get the metallic treatment. She’d look sharp next to the Tux Joker, she wouldn’t clash with anyone, and we could finally get the white face.