Mattel's time with the DC Comics license ended on December 31, 2019. So of course, now stores are finally putting some of ther product on the shelves.
Ray Terrill steps into the light and shines bright as a member of Batman's new JLA.
That bio pins this down as the New 52 version of The Ray, but it doesn't really matter: there are no significant differences between "Rebirth" Ray and the one anybody ever cared about. His biological father was the Golden Age Ray, Happy Terrill; in order to prevent his infant son's natural powers from overwhelming him, Happy gave the baby to his brother Thomas to raise, and together they concocted the story that baby Raymond had a severe light allergy that would kill him unless he was kept in near-darkness all his life; when Ray was finally exposed to sunlight, he found that he could absorb and process it to fly and shoot blasts of energy.
The '90s Ray was designed by Joe Quesada, though really all he did was turn the lower half of the '40s Ray costume white, and throw a rad leather jacket over the top of it (because it was the '90s, you see). Still, it was a good look, which is why Rebirth kept the same broad strokes: white suit with gold details, and a black jacket with also gold details. For this to be the classic version, the starburst shape up by his collar would have to be filled in, not just outlined, and the gold on his legs would be less complex and more asymmetrical.
The helmet is slightly different, too. Ray is wearing a simple helmet that covers his face and scalp - the old design covered the entire head and had a chin strap and some extraneous details, as was the style at the time. The distinctive feature is the fin on top. That's a holdover from the Golden Age, and while it doesn't really have anything to do with light, you can pretend it helps him steer.
For whatever reason, Mattel decided to finally put some effort into their toys right at the end, so Ray has swivel/hinged ankles, double-knees, swivel thighs, balljointed hips, swivel waist, hinged torso, swivel/hinge wrists, hinged elbows, swivel biceps, swivel/hinge shoulders, and a balljointed head. The sculpt is good too, making him muscular but thin, which makes sense for someone whose powers are non-physical - you don't need huge amounts of bulk to shoot lasers, right?
Ray gets a few alternate bodyparts:
hands that are open instead of fists, and a second, smiling head. Neither of those are tremendously good choices, because he's got no accessories, meaning the open hands serve no purpose, and while the smiling head is nice enough, they could have done the Old 52 helmet for retro appeal. When this figure was shown off at conventions and such, it was shown with big energy swirls that fit over the wrists, but those did not make the final cut. It's not a huge loss, they didn't look great. Of couse, that's not the only change there's been.
Ray is part of the Lex Luthor Build-A-Figure series, so he includes the arms.
Between DCU Classics, the DC Signature Collection, and DC Comics Multiverse, Mattel really did cover almost all the characters you'd want them to at least one time. So The Ray may not be his most well-known version, but they did a good job making this toy, and we at least have a 6" scale Ray before the toys go away for good.
-- 01/08/20
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