Toy Fair ’20: McFarlane Toys celebrates 25th Anniversary

At Toy Fair ’20, McFarlane Toys once again delivered the goods. Considering that this year marked McFarlane Toys 25th Anniversary, you know they were cooking up something good. It’s a fitting year then for Todd McFarlane to announce the company’s first Kickstarter to essentially “remaster” the very first Spawn figure with a modern day sculpt in retro packaging.

Early in January, McFarlane Toys unveiled the first wave of its much anticipated DC Multiverse figures after obtaining the license last year. Over the weekend at Toy Fair ’20, McFarlane Toys unveiled more exciting figures from its DC Multiverse line hitting shelves later this year as well as its other popular licenses.

Those who watched the DC Daily interview with Todd McFarlane will recall that he teased the words “White Knight” regarding what to expect. Sure enough, McFarlane was referring to the highly successful alternate universe comic book miniseries from writer/artist Sean Gordon Murphy that inverts traditional hero/villain role of Batman and the Joker, the latter now going by the name Jack Napier (a nod to the Tim Burton film) reformed and cured of his insanity. The sequel series Curse of the White Knight, released in 2019, introduced fan-favorite Azrael.

Murphy’s unique designs for the characters such as his take on the Caped Crusader exemplified by a high collar and chunky leathery belt are brought to life. You can decide for yourselves how much influence Murphy’s work had on the suit that will be adorned by Robert Pattinson in the upcoming The Batman film. Forgoing the most iconic image from the mini of Joker sporting a Batman shirt with suspenders, which has already been produced as a statue by DC Collectibles, McFarlane Toys opted to go with Joker in Gotham Terrorist Oppression Unit gear with an interchangeable Jack Napier head. Also among the Joker accessories is the Clown Prince of Crime’s overly long barrel gun.

For months now, Warner Bros. has been releasing cryptic images on social media that has fans speculating that a new Arkham game is coming. When or if a new Arkham game is announced, McFarlane Toys is going back into that beloved universe with Batman and Joker figures from the game.

You’ve probably seen the already released Batman: The Animated figure. Check out the variant figure with a dark blue cape and cowl coming this fall. Though Batman is no stranger to sporting blue palette in various media, it may be a bit jarring to see that color on a Bruce Timm designed Batman. Apparently doing something that’s never been done is part of the fun for McFarlane Toys.

The image of Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman decked out in golden armor in the first Wonder Woman 1984 trailer received a massive response. So it’s not surprising that McFarlane Toys is producing a 7″ Wonder Woman GOLD EDITION Deluxe figure now available for pre-order.

On display were the Batman Hellbat suit and Superman Unchained as part of the DC Armored figures line. While readers may recognize the Hellbat suit from various Batman books written by Peter J. Tomasi, the Unchained is certainly more obscure. In fact, it only appeared for a few panels in issue 7 of the Superman Unchained book from writer Scott Snyder and artist Jim Lee before it was destroyed and never seen since. According to McFarlane himself, regardless if a costume known outsider the comic reading audience, all that really matters is if it’s aesthetically interesting.

Take a look at rest of photos from Toy Fair ’20 McFarlane Toys booth for some of its other major licenses such as Mortal Kombat, Cyberpunk, and Bloodshot.