Red Tornado is one of those characters I go hot and cold on. Loved him in the Satellite era of the JLA. Then he disappeared. Young Justice (the comic) brought him back in an interesting way. Apparently he started out as a plot to destroy the Justice Society. And joined the JLA before I met the team. The most recent JLA comic featured him heavily in the beginning.
Yet his most enduring quality is that he gets blown up on a regular basis. Way back in JLoA 102 he was blown up sacrificing himself. Luthor dismantled him in the current JLA comic. Amazo blew him up on JLU. Even in Batman Brave and Bold. Starro’s ‘herald’, the Faceless Hunter, blows him up because he cannot be mind controlled. But he always comes back. I think it is his ability to come back that makes him such a target for destruction.
When Alex Ross played fast and loose with the JLA membership and Grant Morrison showed us why certain people belonged on the team (both of them adding in Plastic Man as an example), I realized it was OK to take off the rose colored glasses and re-examine the Justice League membership on my own terms. One of them that did not measure up for a while was Red Tornado.
This led to me not buying RT in either DC Direct or Brave and Bold or DCUC. I recently decided I wanted him in my JLA and picked up the DC Direct Alex Ross version. I like it very much. Yesterday I found the BBB Total Armor basic figures and added that Red Tornado to my collection as well. And here you have him.
Like all basic figures, Red Tornado comes with only one (1) accessory. That is not very many to Snap and Connect with. I continue to find this single accessory model to be odd considering that the typical figure has 9 snap and connect locations – shoulders, elbows, knees, bottom of the feet, and back. The back of the package (above), in fact, suggests that you use parts from a deluxe figure and a vehicle to armor up your basic Red Tornado figure. I think we can do better. And we will.
I find it interesting that Mattel took out a hole in Red Tornado’s cape so you can connect accessories to the hole in his back. The cloth cape is also a bit of a mystery itself as typically cloth and plastic items are sourced from different vendors. My only issue with BBB Red Tornado is that being a re-issue in a segment re-branded as Total Armor, he feels un-armored. In this day when we have multiple Iron Men and even a Batman in this line that appear to be vac-metalized, why can’t Reddy get a shiny coat? I know, then he would not fit in with the look of the rest of the line. But I think Red Tornado would look cool with some metal looking parts.
That leaves just one thing to do. Go crazy with a ton of accessories inspired by the new figure, its new accessory, and my mood. Without further ado, may I present my first attempt at Ultimate Batman Brave and Bold Red Tornado:
always liked the character but the look of the figure leaves me flat . the accessories he is with make him look like he is wind surfing.
You mentioned that Red Tornado has a hole in his back and the hole exists in the cape as well. The whole line of Batman The Brave and The Bold line has characters that have capes and they all have the same hole. Also I’d like to point out that the Red Tornado in the Total Armor Series is the same figure from the original line including the accessory. Finally is there any way that you could get more information on this toy line? I read in Matty interview on this site that it was cancelled? Thanks!
Is there anyone else in the line besides Batman and Tornado that has a cape? I just thought it was interesting. I know it is the same figure. I had just never gotten around to buying RT before.
As for the future of this line, a Batman / Superman / Metallo pack has been seen lately at Walmart. Look in the Mattel forum for a thread dedicated to this line and check the last page.
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Beyond that, We will know in a few weeks at Toy Fair.
I just got the Batman/Metallo/Superman package for my son and he loves it. The Metallo has a Masters of the Universe type chest where battle damage increases as you push in the button. However just like the Batman/Rubberneck/Plastic Man package the villain is limited in articulation i.e. Rubberneck’s arms are permanently up and Metallo’s arm is permanently extended to the side. Kinda lame but the Superman toy also has a cape. As far as who else wears a cape besides Batman, Superman and Red Tornado the answer is Despero.
Dream Toys is a Kid’s Library, which provides a wide range of Toys, Games, Books and CD’s. These can be borrowed by you for your child’s enhancement.
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