"[W]e'd like to see them backtrack and do DOOM 2016 or even the original, classic Doom."
Good news, past-me!
Since the beginning, the DOOM Slayer has been a force to be reckoned with, unflinching in his mission to eradicate the demonic horde.
In DOOM Eternal the Slayer is faster and deadlier than ever. Protected by his iconic armor and armed with a devastating arsenal of weapons and abilities, the Slayer is primed to wage his eternal war against Hell.
McFarlane Toys released their first Doomguy in 2019, and the Doomicorn in 2020. Alledgedly, even more figures were released in 2022, including a retro Doomguy; I waited for it to show up, always checking the shelves, but only learned while writing this review that it was exclusively available through McToys' online store. Thanks, Todd. That exclusivity means the figures goes for multiple times its original SRP now, but for all of us who missed out on it (and correctly had no interest in the also-exclusive red version that came out in 2023 and is still available as of this writing), there is a third exclusive version, but this time at a store people would actually use, Amazon.
Now, to be clear: this is not actually the classic Doombrush Guypwood, aka Buddy Dacote, aka Flynn Taggart, aka John Grimm, aka
Stan Blazkowicz, aka William Blazkowicz III, aka John Kane. This is, rather, the "Classic Doom Marine" skin from Doom Eternal, so there are differences between this toy and what a "real" Classic Doomguy toy would look like. We won't even say that "the broad strokes are the same," because going by "broad strokes," Doomguy and John Halo are the same thing. You don't need to go broad to see this as the 1993 model, you need to go fine to see where he's not. This is more a case of miniature details. Like a period film showing a character wearing a ballcap with a more modern logo.
Despite this being a Doom Eternal toy, none of its parts are
shared with the modern figure. Instead of a full suit of armor, he's mainly covered by nothing more than cloth - a fact atteted to by the fact his shirt is ripped to reveal his abs. The shirt is short-sleeved, which is why we see the bare skin of his arms (though they've neither sculpted nor painted the scars on his left forearm from where that demon on the first game's cover art grabbed him), and an armored vest covers his chest. The helmet he wears is broad and chunky, rather than looking like a futuristic football helmet.
This figure is done in Doomguy's classic green: dark for the pants and shirt, muted for the belt, and neon lime green for the armored vest.
His boots should be grey, not brown like these, but that's one of the things we were talking about before that signify where this toy's origins truly lie. Though the lime color on this release looks rather flat and undetailed, don't worry: the original release was the same way, and it didn't even have the excuse this version has:
It wouldn't do for Amazon to simply re-release the existing McFarlane Store figure (well, yes, it would - plenty of fans would have been very happy to get their first opportunity at buying it), so this figure needed something new. Their solution? Make it glow in the dark! It's just the bright armored parts, because anything else would have ruined the look when the lights are on, but the green of the GitD plastic is nearly identical to the green used on the standard figure, so this doesn't stick out as being unusual at all. So if the toy's going to look like this anyway, shouldn't it have the advantage of an extra feature?
The molds may be new, but the articulation remains
mostly unchanged: barbell head, swivel/hinge shoulders, swivel/hinge elbows, swivel/hinge wrists, balljoints for the waist and chest, swivel/hinge hips, swivel thighs, swivel/hinge knees, and swivel/hinge ankles. The hinges are all fairly stiff, so he'll stay how you pose him, but the knees should really be better; to begin with, they don't bend all that far, and although they do have a swivel, it's below the hinge, not above, so it's not as helpful as it could be. This would have been a prime opportunity for double-swivel/hinges. Though the armor overhangs the shoulders, it's made from soft PVC so it can flex out of the way.
It's the weapons that really identify this
as not being a vintage Doomguy. He comes with the same super shotgun and Doomblade as the first figure, and the articulated grenade launcher that raises up over his shoulder like a Predator's. None of those things existed in the 1993 game. None of those things existed before Doom Eternal. The shoulder gun is also molded from glowing plastic, and has the same articulation as before: balljoints at the end, and a hinge in the middle.
McToys probably could have gotten some really good sales numbers if they'd gotten Doom Slayer Classic out anywhere other than their own site; he may be from the most recent game, but he's close enough to the original look to appeal to everyone who loves getting Doom to run on their electric toothbrush's charging dock or whatever. But hey, now we've got this glow-in-the-dark variant to make the toy even better.
-- 07/21/24
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