Apr 17 2010

Doctor Who: The 11th Doctor’s Crash Set by Character Options

I was originally going to post a review of the last Doctor Who episode, “Victory of the Daleks” tonight, but I’m still digesting it, and I’ll probably watch it one more time before I compose my feelings on it, so look for that at some point tomorrow. So, keeping with the spirit of New Who, it was pretty cool that just a few hours before sitting down to watch the episode, I found a box on my stoop containing the new 11th Doctor action figure set from Character Options. So… without further ado… Allons-Y!!! or Geronimo!!! or… let’s just get on with it.

With the return of a new full season of Doctor Who comes all new figures and our friends at CO wasted no time in getting us fans figures of the newest Doctor. Now, the 11th Doctor was already released in newly regenerated form as part of “The End of Time” wave, but I passed on this figure, partly because I’m not big on owning these “regeneration” variants and partly because the figure was one big continuity error as he was wearing the 10th Doctor’s suit, but it wasn’t battered and torn as it should have been. Well, patience prevails as the 11th Doctor Crash set features not only the first definitive figure of the 11th Doc in his new outfit, but a far, far better “regeneration” variant.

There have been some running changes in the packaging of the Doctor Who figures since they first came out, but this is the first time the figures have been released using the Series 5 logo and artwork. I was pretty iffy on this new logo when I first saw it, but its beginning to grow on me, and I’ve got to say it looks very nice on the new package. The orange is replaced by blue, and the bubble and overall card is smaller and less bulky. CO is still using a sealed clamshell package with paper inserts. All in all, not bad.


The head sculpt, which is the same for both figures, is wonderfully done. I was worried here, because while I have yet to see the figure in person, the photos of “The End of Time” 11th Doctor didn’t look so hot, and let’s be honest, Matt Smith is a unique looking individual. I was concerned that his face wasn’t going to translate that well to plastic, but these figures prove that not to be the case. Not only are these the spitting image of Matt Smith, but I also really like how they sculpted his hair, with his bangs sculpted out over his forehead, instead of just molded into the head.

The newly regenerated version of Doctor features him as he was seen throughout most of his premier episode, “The Eleventh Hour. He’s wearing the remnants of his previous incarnation’s suit, minus the jacket. His shirt is half untucked, his sleeves are rolled up a bit and the shirt is sculpted with all sorts of tears and wrinkles. The untucked portion of his shirt is actually sculpted to hang down over his pants, which is a nice extra touch. His tie is sharply painted and pulled down a bit in disarray. Unfortunately, his pants are unscathed, which harkens back to the first 11th Doctor figure. I would have liked to have seen them a bit more properly distressed, but overall the effect of the “Raggety Doctor” is still very well conveyed with this figure. One other thing to note about this regeneration Doctor is that it is notably shorter than the other 11th Doctor figure, I’m guessing due to the reuse of the 10th Doctor’s lower half. Its a bit odd when you stand them next to each other. Let’s just explain it away by saying the newly regenerated 11th Doc was shorter because he wasn’t done cooking.

The other version of The Doctor is what I really wanted out of this set. He’s wearing his sure to be iconic outfit and he looks absolutely smashing. After the rather pedantic look of the 9th and 10th Doctor’s outfits, I’m glad to see a return to something with a little more character. Its not ridiculously outrageous like the Six’s coat or Five’s cricket get-up, but instead it manages to look somewhat classical with just a hint of eccentricity.

The brown tweed jacket is intricately detailed with a stitched cross-thatch pattern sculpted into it and he’s even got the two elbow patches and buttons sculpted on the sleeves. His shirt has red pinstripes, although there are no sign of his suspenders, even if you peek under his jacket flaps. The bowtie is nicely sculpted to give it a 3D look like its a separate piece, which is cool. Yeah, bowties are cool! There’s not much to say about the pants or the boots, but all in all, CO did a fantastic job bringing the 11th Doctor’s outfit ot life in plastic.

Both Doctors have almost the same amount of articulation, and if you’ve been with CO’s Doctor Who figures for a while, you should know what to expect. His head rotates at the neck, both arms rotate at the shoulders, have swivel cuts in the biceps and wrists and hinged elbows. The legs have universal movement at the hips and hinged knees. The one difference between the two is the swivel cuts in the thighs. The 11th Doc in his new outfit has them, while the newly regenerated Doc doesn’t. That’s fine by me, so long as the Doctor in his outfit comes out on top.

I picked up this set for $24.99, which I thought was a really good price, seeing as how some of the Doctor Who figures can go up to $15 a piece if they are more desireable. I’ll make no secret about the fact that I would have much rather had an Amy Pond figure in this set, rather than the newly regenerated Doctor. Its a great figure, to be sure, but I have a feeling that an episode specific set like this might have been our only chance to get Amy in her sexy police woman outfit, and I really, really wanted that figure to be made. Either way CO continues to improve on their sculpts and paint apps. The last bunch of waves have been great, and if this pair is any indication, the future waves for Series 5 will also be excellent.

Now, bring on the new Flight Control TARDIS and a new console room playset, please!!!

Apr 17 2010

Iron Man 2: Crimson Dynamo by Hasbro

Based on the frequency of my posts on Iron Man 2 toys, you can probably guess that I am really excited for next month’s film release. In the meantime, I’ve been having a field day with the sheer bulk of Iron Man 2 toys that continue to populate the pegs and shelves. I wasn’t planning on any great big toy hunts this week as I prepare my wallet for Monday’s dreaded Matty Collector Sale Day, but I couldn’t resist coming home with at least one new IR2 figure.

I’ve been looking for Crimson Dynamo ever since I first heard he was out in the initial assortments, but I’ve had a hell of a time finding him. I don’t doubt that he’s been out there hiding all this while, but there’s only so much time I’m willing to spend flipping through dozens of Iron Man figures to find one I want. Seriously, aside from Hasbro’s now infamous pallet of Rise of Cobra figures, Iron Man 2 has the greatest quantity of figures I’ve seen for a film release in a while. Well, this trip to Wally World, Dynamo was hanging right up front so I grabbed him.

Here he is in all his awesome carded glory. I’ve written several times about how much I dig Hasbro’s artwork and overall presentation on these packages, so I won’t go into it again. Just note that Dynamo is from the Comic Series, as opposed to the Movie or Concept Series.

It took me a few moments to realize who this figure reminded me of and that it hit me. Its Maximillian from The Black Hole. Yeah. Same color, similar head. The only major difference is Dynamo’s got legs. The sculpt is a bit simple, but he’s definitely on target for the comic character’s design. He’s got that organic, muscular looking aspect to his arms and legs that the Movie designs don’t have. Its not that the figure’s sculpt is not without solid detail, but being from the Comic based figures just seem less intricate than the Movie figures I own. That’s not so much a criticism as it is just an observation. Even the paintwork is pretty simple. He’s mostly one solid shade of glossy crimson with some maroon accents and a painted visor on his mask.

Dynamo’s articulation consists of a rotating head, balljoints in the shoulders and elbows, and swivel cuts in the wrists. His legs are ball jointed at the hips, his knees are double hinged and his ankles are ball jointed. He’s got a little movement in his mid torso, but its rather restricted by his sculpt. All in all, this figure has great poseability.

Crimson Dynamo comes with the same stand that’s been issued with the other figures in the series, along with the three Armor Cards, which can be slid into the stand as a backdrop display. He also comes with a molded plastic piece that simulates his visor firing. As always, I’m not a fan of these pieces, but since I can just cast them aside and they don’t detract from the figure, it doesn’t bother me that Hasbro continues to include them with the figures. I liked the ones that came with War Machine, but this guy’s weapon effect just looks stupid.

Unless you’ve been following Iron Man before the films, Dynamo is probably not a high profile character for you. As a result, he may not be a figure that is in terribly high demand because a lot of newcomers to the franchise just don’t recognize him. On the other hand, I’m guessing he’s short packed, because there seems to be like 20 of any given Iron Man figure to every one of him. Either way, he’s a great figure and considering how heavily skewed the figure assortments are to Iron Man himself and his variant armors, Crimson Dynamo is a refreshing addition to my collection, especially as it gives my Iron Man figures someone to beat up on until Hasbro gets around to giving us Whiplash.

Apr 14 2010

WildC.A.T.S.: Voodoo, Zealot and Void by Playmates

As far as I can tell, Jim Lee’s WildC.A.T.S. property doesn’t get a whole lot of love or attention anymore, or maybe I just don’t hang with the crowds that still enjoy it. Either way, I was pretty fond of the short lived cartoon and I had a few of the figures when they first came out. I’ve only read a few issues of the comic, but that’s more because I was going through a phase where I wasn’t all that into comics when the series came out. I’ll probably remedy that sooner or later. As a 90’s line, I bought a few of these figures as collectibles, since I was too old to be buying toys as toys. Later, I moved out of state and the ones I had got lost in the shuffle.

Well, a few weeks ago I picked up a Lot of figures off of Ebay in order to get at a Darkchylde figure that was in there and the Lot happened to include a carded Voodoo. It all came flooding back to me and a few days later I managed to hunt down a pretty good and nearly complete collection of the whole series loose at a ridiculously low price. That’s no great feat, since these figures aren’t exactly hotly sought after these days. Today, I’m going to look at the three ladies of the Covert Action Team: Voodoo, Zealot and Void.wcvoodoo6

One undeniable thing about Playmates is that they know how to make obnoxiously exciting packages. The figures come on a pretty simple bubble and card, but I absolutely love the presentation, mainly because they’re so colorful and feature great character art from the comic. The card fronts were all personalized with a picture of the character. The backs of the cards vary, but they all have a short bio of the character that follows the cartoon, rather than the more mature themed comic, so you won’t see anything about Voodoo being a former erotic pole dancer. I guess Playmates didn’t think the kids were quite ready for that. Let’s start with Void…

wcvoid1
In the cartoon, Void was the personification of the Covert Action Team’s computer. Besides having a wealth of information, she could open the void gates that teleported the team to wherever the Daemonites were wreaking havoc. She has the simplest sculpt of the bunch, but she’s still a damn cool looking figure, thanks to her entire body being vac-plated giving her a mirrored chrome effect. She has some muscle lines on her torso and her fingers are sculpted, but apart from that she’s pretty featureless, which is perfectly in line with her character design. Her face is regular flesh tone with red lips and blue eyes. The eyes are the only beef I have with this figure, as Playmates should have left them without pupils.

wcvoid2

Void doesn’t come with any accessories apart from her stand, which does feature a nifty back piece that snaps on and allows the figure to appear as though she’s levitating as she always did in the cartoon.

wczealot1

wczealot2

Zealot is the team’s resident femme fatale warrior hottie and her figure certainly looks the part. She’s wearing a crimson one-piece with a plunging chestline and crimson boots and arm bracers. The colors on this figure are really nicely done, even if she is mostly just crimson and skin tone with some silver and black accents. Playmates did a nice job with her headsculpt. Sure it’s heavily stylized, but it still manages to look both attractive and fierce. Her white hair is done up in a ponytail, which is actually fitted with a swivel cut, so you can position it in a variety of ways.

wczealot3

wczealot4

wczealot5

wczealot6

Zealot comes with two swords and a pole axe. Unfortunately the sword blades are soft rubber and are very prone to warping if you aren’t careful. I’m not a big fan of the axe, since she doesn’t hold it all that well and her preposed arms aren’t really designed for her to wield it all that well anyway. Zealot also comes with a pegged figure stand. All in all Zealot is a figure that just oozes comic book charm.

wcvoodoo1

wcvoodoo2

Voodoo’s character changed quite a bit in the transition from comic to cartoon, but I’ve already mentioned that above. Her cartoon counterpart reminds me a lot of Jubilee in the X-Men cartoon. She was a noob and I recall her often being picked on by Zealot. She was basically there to give the kids someone to relate to. Voodoo sports a tight purple and yellow bodysuit with removable gold kneepads. She’s a great looking figure, but she really suffers from being pre-posed, even moreso than the other two ladies. Her hip is thrown seductively to the side and one elbow is bent to rest on said hip. Her head sculpt is my favorite of the three, especially with the cool way Playmates sculpted her long flowing black hair. She’s super cute and matches her character art quite well.

wcvoodoo5

wcvoodoo4

wcvoodoo3

Voodoo comes with the two removable gold kneepads, a gold shield and a sword-spear thingy. Her pre-posing isn’t terribly well suited to her weapons, but she can hold her sword ok, and her shield clips on to her wrist. She also comes with a pegged figure stand.

I think the reason I liked these figures so much when they came out was because they walked the fine line between toys and collectibles. Their pre-posed nature and their figure stands made them great for display. On the other hand, I’m not sure how much fun they would have been to play with because of their limited articulation. Each figure has the bare minimum of five points: Rotating neck, rotating arms at the shoulder, rotating legs up at the hips. They’re good for a few poses, but I think rather limited in their play value.

wcvoid3

Playmates was marketing these figures right about the same time as their Star Trek figures. Obviously, these are bigger and I think a lot more faithful to the source material, but apart from that the two lines have a lot of similarities in their execution. Its hard to put my finger on why I love them so much, but I guess it mainly comes down to the fact that they’re colorful, flashy and look great on display and are based on a cartoon that I still dig re-watching every now and then. Sure, I would have loved to see better articulation, but apart from that they are excellent comic/cartoon figures in every other way.

Apr 10 2010

Star Trek The Next Generation: Picard and Data in Romulan Disguise by Playmates

When Playmates named this wave, “7th Season” I’m guessing what they really meant was “7th Series,” because not only are these Picard and Data figures not from the 7th Season, most of the other figures in this wave aren’t either. Nonetheless, this was a pretty cool assortment of figures, six of which I managed to pick up carded for next to nothing. Rather than just cram them all together in one post, I just thought I’d take a look at Data and Picard donning their pointed ears and Moe Howard haircuts, and we’ll get to the other figures later on down the road.

The cards on these figures have changed very little throughout the course of this series. I still dig the animated style that seems to go so well with the highly stylized figure sculpts. As I’ve commented before, these cardbacks are just littered with text, and I’m not just talking about the figure’s bio and what they come with. There are ads and exclamations for everything from Star Trek videogames to some kind of design an alien contest that possibly netted some kid a spot on Deep Space Nine. Each card also has a silver foil sticker in the upper fight corner designating it a “7th Season Figure.”

For a long time, Playmates issued collectible Skybox trading cards with the figures, but these “7th Season” figures came with “Space Caps” which were basically cards that had punch out circular button type things. I think this was to cash in on the whole pogs craze that might have been going on back then, or I could just be talking out my ass. Either way, I’ve never punched any of mine out, I just keep them as cards.

These figures of Data and Picard disguised as Romulans are taken from the 5th Season two-parter, “Unification.” This episode was famous for featuring Leonard Nimoy reprising his role as Spock and boy was it a big deal back when it aired. The story itself wasn’t so great and Spock was only in the second part, which made it seem like they really squandered his return. Either way, the story featured Picard and Data traveling to Romulus and putting on some prosthetics to make them pass as Romulan citizens while they hunt for the suspected defector, Ambassador Spock. I guess you can also use these figures as generic Romulans too.

Right out of the gate, these figures suffer from having molded plastic robes, which means their articulation is seriously limited, and there isn’t a whole lot of detail in sculpt and paint. Now, on the flipside, their head sculpts are really well done. They definitely look like Spiner and Stewart in Romulan makeup, complete with the subtle creases in the forehead that separated Vulcans from Romulans in the series. But from the neck down, there just isn’t a lot going on with these guys. Data’s robes have more detail and texture than Picard’s which are just plain. One thing in particular that does bug me is just how out of proportion their arms and hands are. Playmates’ Star Trek figures were often stylized, and its no secret that some of the figures had gorilla arms, but I think they went really overboard with the chunky arms on these two.

As noted, articulation on these figures is limited to a rotating head, arms that rotate at the shoulders, swivel cuts in the biceps and hinged elbows. That’s it. Granted, Playmates’ Trek figures were never really known as being super articulated, but like I said, the molded plastic cloaks really limite the potential articulation on these guys.

One thing you can always count on when you pick up Playmates Next Generation figures is that you’re going to get a shitload of useless and inappropriately colored accessories. Well, Romulan Data and Picard here are no exception to that rule. As noted, both figures come with their Space Cap, and each figure also comes with a Romulan insignia stand. This stand is the same one that came with the generic Romulan figure, only with their name labels stuck on.

Data’s accessories are all bright orange, except for his phaser, which is silver, but with an orange phaser beam permanently attached to it. I say permanently, just because I haven’t gotten around to snipping it off with a pair of scissors yet. He also comes with a Romulan disruptor rifle, a PADD, and a computer terminal with Klingon graphics on the display. I assume the Klingon computer is because he and Captain Picard were taken to Romulus on a Klingon Bird of Prey.

Picard’s accessories are all purple, except for his black Romulan disruptor (the same one packaged with the generic Romulan figure, and again with orange beam coming out of it). He comes with a disguise kit, a PADD and a bowl of soup. Yes, folks, a friggin bowl of soup, so that you can recreate the gripping soup eating scene when Picard and Data were staking out the Pro Consul’s office. Only Data doesn’t come with his own bowl of soup, so you can’t really faithfully recreate scene, after all. To my knowlege, this is the first action figure I have ever owned that came with a bowl of soup, and a purple one at that… kudos Playmates.

I put off adding this pair to my collection for a long while, mainly because they are so scene specific. Truth is, they’re pretty good figures. Beefy arms aside, they do look pretty close to the make up and costumes worn by the actors, and again, the head sculpts are some of the best we’ve seen in this line.

Jolan Tru, Everybody! Jolan Tru.

Apr 7 2010

Iron Man 2: Repulsor Power Iron Man, Mark VI Figure by Hasbro

There are some really awesome 1:6 scale Iron Man figures out there on the market right now, and no doubt more coming alongside the new film. If you haven’t seen the ones from Hot Toys, they’re just plain unbelievable. They also cost around $150 each, which is why they aren’t likely to wind up in my collection any time soon. Don’t get me wrong, if I had cash to burn, I’d own them, but I’ve got plenty of other vices besides toys to bankroll, so its just not going to happen.

I did, however, pick up this large scale Iron Man, Mark VI figure from Hasbro today. He isn’t quite a 12-inch figure, he’s more like a 9-inch scale. I’ve seen it a bunch of times in the toy aisles and I didn’t turn up much else of interest on the hunt today, so I figured I’d pick it up and check him out.

The packaging is really nice, as it has been on all of Hasbro’s Iron Man 2 toys. The huge window really shows off what you’re getting, and by that I mean not just the figure, but the ridiculously huge and goofy looking weapons that take up more space in the package than the figure. The back panel shows the figure in all his goofy “snap-on blaster” glory. It also has speech bubbles showing off three of the many phrases he says. Oddly enough, one of the phrases, “Inbound missile attack,” isn’t something the figure actually says. Oops. Although, there is a Try Me button, so if you play with this thing in the toy aisle long enough, you can figure that out before you buy it. Just make sure you have plenty of time, because this figure says a shitload of stuff.

Once out of the package, I was pretty impressed with the sculpt, although its admittedly nothing that isn’t reflected in the 3 3/4″ figure. In fact, the level of detail on the two figures is pretty close. Although, I think that fact is more a reflection on how good the 3 3/4″ figures are, then anything bad about this guy. He looks good. All the panel lines in the armor are represented and he even has treads on his boots. Both repulsors can be seen in his hands, and while I’m not a big fan of the new triangular Arc Reactor, its faithfully represented here and lights up when you press it, although i’m wondering why they made it light up green. Really, the only bad thing I can say about this figure’s aesthetics are the numerous screws visible on his back, but that’s par for the course for a figure in this scale and price range.

The paint on this figure is really nicely done, just like the smaller scale figures. I absolutely love the rich, glossy red lacquer they use to give him that “new car in the showroom” shine and it really pops when contrasted with the matte gold plating on his arms, legs and face.

Unfortunately, while the figure looks fantastic, the articulation really sucks. The only ball joint you’ll find on this guy is in the neck. His shoulders only rotate and he’s got hinged elbows and swivel wrists. His legs rotate at the hips and his knees are hinged. That’s it. Obviously, I’d much rather Hasbro invested more money in the joints and less on the ludicrous accessories.

And how about those accessories? Both of Iron Man’s weapons snap onto his arms, so they don’t detract from the figure in any way. One is a cluster of three huge silver rockets, that don’t do anything. This is actually the better of the two. The other one is a massive over-and-under missile launcher that has a big missile and some kind of claw thing, both of which shoot. It makes the launchers that come with the smaller figures look reasonable by comparison. Its just plain awful and he can’t even stand while aiming it. Obviously, I don’t plan on displaying him with these weapons, and I doubt they’ll ever even come out of the box again, which is probably a good thing, because I’m concerned about what snapping them on and off the figure’s arms will do to the paint job.

The speech gimmick is pretty well done, even if it isn’t Robert Downy Jr.’s actual voice. It still sounds clear and the voice has a slightly mechanical twinge to it. As I said earlier, this figure says a shitload of phrases. Here they are…

  • I am Iron Man.
  • Iron Man armor combat ready.
  • Repulsor Power!
  • Convert all power to uni-beam.
  • Uni-beam blast.
  • Mark IV armor, not bad.
  • Lets see if this dog can hunt.
  • Target engaged.
  • War Machine, see if you can keep up.
  • Rhodey!
  • Sometimes you gotta run before you can walk.
  • Repulsor charged.
  • Stand down.
  • Keep the skies clear.
  • Yeah, I can fly.

Holy crap, 15 lines! Hasbro really went overboard with the phrases and a lot of them are followed by explosion sounds or wooshing flyby sounds. And yeah, why he says the Mark IV armor thing when this is his Mark VI armor is another little gaff on Hasbro’s part. No biggie. The phrases are not randomized, so you hear them in the same order every time.

All in all, this is a pretty cool display piece with a nice sculpt and a great paintjob. The weapons are awful, but you can leave them in the box and they don’t at all detract from the figure itself. I really wish Hasbro would have invested more in the figure’s articulation. Just Ball joints in the shoulders and upper legs would have gone a long way. Still, considering how many other companies are doing larger scale figures with hardly any usable articulation, I suppose things could have been worse. Either way, considering the price point, this guy is not too shabby.

Apr 6 2010

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen: Scattorshot by Hasbro

Even when it seems like the Revenge of the Fallen toys should be winding down, I keep getting surprised with new Scout Class figures on the pegs. This last time through the toy aisle it was Scattorshot, an Autobot anti-aircraft truck that seems to be more or less an homage to the Cybertron Basic Class figure of the same name. Yeah, the Cybertron figure was a halftrack, whereas this Scattorshot is a regular truck with AA guns mounted on it, but I think the similarities hold true beyond just the name. Pretty much all the Scout Class figures in the ROTF line have been outstanding, so I was anxious to get this guy home and rip him open.

rotfscattor7
Like all the Revenge of the Fallen Scouts, Scattorshot is packaged in his robot form, but we’ll start off by looking at his alternate truck form, because that just feels right to me.

rotfscattor1

rotfscattor2

The sculpt here is solid, but nothing outrageously special. He’s basically a pick up truck with two anti-aircraft guns mounted on the roof and a plow projecting off the front bumper. Overall, the truck form is solid, rolls nicely, and the roof cannons are articulated so that they can swivel and raise. The color scheme is pretty simple. He’s mostly very dark blue with black windows, gold cannons and armor on the sides and the plow is silver. There are also two silver Autobot insignias on his sides. The only thing really missing is the NEST logo, which I thought it a bit odd that they were missing since he is a military vehicle.

rotfscattor6

Scattorshot’s transformation is rather straightforward and yet still manages to be unique. I like the way the back of the truck forms his shoulders and the split plow forms his knees. He can also arm both of his cannons as hand-held weapons. In bot form, Scattorshot trades most of his dark blue color from the truck for a lighter gray with some gold and black trim. I’m not terribly fond of this light gray plastic because it just looks kind of dull and doesn’t really show the sculpted details off all that well. Still, all in all, he’s a cool enough little robot.

Scattorshot’s articulation includes a ball jointed head, shoulders and upper legs. His elbows are both hinged and have ball joints and his knees and ankles are hinged.

rotfscattor3

rotfscattor4

rotfscattor5

I’m pretty sure Scattorshot is the last of the new molds I need for the Revenge of the Fallen Scouts. There are still a few repaints that I may yet pick up before I’m finally done with this line, and I’ve yet to find the Voyager Mindwipe figure. Still, as cool as these little Scouts are, I’m really jonesing for the stuff we saw at Toy Fair to start hitting the shelves. The movie has both come and gone in theaters and on DVD and its time to retire the figures for something new.

Apr 3 2010

DC Universe Classics Wave 12: Part 4, Mary Batson and Darkseid by Mattel

Yeah, yeah… It took me a lot longer than I intended to get to the end of this look at Wave 12 of DC Universe Classics. It seems like I got these figures a long time ago, although in reality I guess its just been a couple of weeks. Today, I’m looking at the last two packaged figures in this wave, Mary Batson in both her variants, and then we’ll look at the Collect & Connect fIgure, Darkseid. When Mattel put this wave of figures up for sale on Matty Collector, they decided to include both variants of Mary Batson. I think a lot of collectors would have rather Matty included the glow-in-the-dark Spectre variant instead, but there ya have it, we got stuck with two Marys. Granted, for me it meant buying an extra figure to complete this wave, since I never would have purchased both variants of these figures if I had the choice, but it was a small price to pay to actually complete a wave for once and get me my Darkseid.

dcucmary1

Once again, slightly new packaging. Blah, blah, blah. If you’ve read the last three parts, you know what to expect by now. Both variants of Mary are carded in the same flying pose. Both figures came with the same collector pin and both figures came with the torso of Darkseid. I’m not opening my white costumed Mary, so you might as well take a good look now.

dcucmary2

Mary Batson… do I really care a lot about this character? No, not really. I’ve never been a big follower of the Captain Marvel comics, although I don’t mind when they work a special appearance of Billy into a comic or cartoon every now and again. On the other hand, I can’t seem to recall any instances of actually seeing Mary Batson recently. Still, I’m all for adding as many of the ladies as I can to my DCUC collection, and she is a pretty nice looking figure.

dcucmary3

Mary is an extremely slight figure in terms of her overall build. Yeah, most of the ladies in this line of figures are smaller than the dudes, but Ms. Batson here is downright petite. Although in retrospect, I recall the fists on my Black Canary being ridiculously small too. Either way, Mary here looks less like a super hero and more like just a regular chick in a cosplay outfit, which I presume is pretty character accurate. DCUC hasn’t always been a slave to scale, so it’s nice to see them pay attention to it here.

dcucmary4

The sculpting on this figure is very good. I must admit, I wasn’t sure about the face sculpt when I saw initial pictures of the figure. Something about it just struck me as cheesy. But getting the figure in hand, its not at all bad and the paint apps on her lips and eyes are applied with precision. The outfit consists of a red top and skirt with yellow trim, yellow knee-high boots, and a little cape that hangs off to the side. Again, the paint apps here are all good, whether you’re looking at the red and yellow (which I prefer) or the white and yellow variant. Ms. Batson is missing a few traditional points of articulation in the DCUC line. Her head is balljointed, but her sculpted hair really makes it useless. She has ball jointed shoulders, swivel cuts in her biceps and wrists and hinged elbows. She has universal leg joints at her hips, but her sculpted skirt really inhibits her leg movement. She is also missing the torso hinge and the swivel cuts in her upper thighs. She does have hinged knees and hinged ankles.

dcucmary5

dcucmary6

The only problem I really have with this figure are her thin legs, which got somewhat deformed because of the way she was posed on the card. When I first got her out of the package, they were really bad, both bowing to one side. Since then, they’ve corrected themselves somewhat, but considering the female DCUC figures have trouble standing at the best of times, Mary Batson is even worse. I got tired of her falling over and taking out half my shelf of figures, so I finally decided to just give her the Super Powers stand that came with Desaad. Besides, its bright, bubbly colors suit her a lot more than they do Darkseid’s chief torturer.

And now… Darkseid.

dcucdseid1

dcucdseid2

You’ll have to forgive my gushing and unbridled excitement over this figure, but to better understand it let me point out two things. First, I’ve wanted a Darkseid figure ever since I was a wee lad and Kenner’s Super Powers figures were out. I only had a few of these, and its not because my parents were stingy or anything, but I just always opted for more Star Wars or GI Joe or Transformers whenever I was getting figures. Secondly, this is the first Collect & Connect figure from the DCUC line that I’ve been able to assemble. These figures are just impossible to find in my area, and when you do see them on the pegs, its always the same few over and over again. As a result, I have a small box full of arms and legs from various C&C figures, but Darkseid is my first complete one, and its all thanks to Matty offering this complete wave for sale in one shot. I’ve heard a lot of horror stories from other collectors having problems assembling their Darkseid figures. I guess I lucked out because mine went together with no problems and he holds together just fine. At least I was comforted to know that I had a spare torso in my variant Mary Baston in case I needed it.

dcucdseid4

First thing I gotta say is how friggin huge and hefty this figure is. His torso is like a huge solid plastic brick and he towers above my other DCUC figures. He isn’t over endowed with details in most of his body, but he’s got it where it counts. His grim, stoney head sculpt is fantastic as is the stoney skin on his arms and legs. His spartan blue garb is perfectly iconic. Despite being a C&C figure, Darkseid still has most of the usual DCUC articulation. He has a ball jointed neck and shoulders. His arms have swivel cuts in his biceps and wrists and hinged elbows. His legs have universal joints at the hips, which are slightly hindered by his tunic. He has swivel cuts in his thighs and hinged knees and ankles. He is missing the ability to swivel at his waist, but he does have the large torso hinge, and I find it actually a lot more useful on this figure then it is on most.

dcucdseid3

Darkseid comes with two accessories. First he has a Mother Box that fits onto the back of his belt and has some really nice sculpted detail and allows him to open a Boom Tube up all over yo ass. I’m really happy they threw this in because he can share it with my Mr. Miracle figure. He also comes with the golden “killing glove” designed by Desaad, which can be swapped out with his regular gauntlet hand. The detail on this piece is really amazing and I definitely prefer displaying him with it on. In fact, I have no idea where the regular hand got to. I’m guessing the cat claimed it and carried it off to his lair under the sofa.

dcucdseid5

And that wraps up my look at DC Universe Classics Wave 12… finally. I love this wave and I love my new Darkseid figure, but I must admit to being just a tad DC Universed out. I’ll be looking forward to moving on to a bit more variety this weekend.

 

Mar 31 2010

DC Universe Classics Wave 12: Part 3, Iron and Desaad by Mattel

Sorry. I know its been a little bit since I posted Part 2, but I’ve had a busy week and I just haven’t been able to get back to my computer much and when I have, I’ve been spending time with Star Trek Online. Now, I’ve got some toys piling up and I’m trying to make a concerted effort to finish up this piece so I can move on to other things. So, getting back to DCUC Wave 12… today I’m looking at Desaad, my most anticipated figure in this wave, and Iron, my least anticipated figure in this wave. And let me just clarify when I say Desaad is my most anticipated figure, I’m not counting the C&C Darkseid. Because:Darkseid > Everything.

DSCN2769

Yep, as we’ve seen already, these figures come in slightly different packaging. There’s a new “75 Years of Super Powers” logo and you get a collector button that I couldn’t give a shit about. Sorry, I don’t mean to be insulting to Mattel throwing us collectors a little bone now and then, but these little pins just don’t do a thing for me. There are bios and stats of each character on the back.

dcuciron1

Let’s start with Iron, because I had absolutely no desire to own this figure, mainly because unlike everyone else in the wave, I had no idea who the hell he is. Now, surprisingly, this doesn’t happen all that often with the DCUC figures, which I am pretty proud to say, because there have certainly been some obscure characters released and I’ve been nerd enough to know most of them. Conversely, I am not at all shamed by the fact that I never heard of The Metal Men until I read the bio and looked him up online. It has, however, motivated me to get some comics and bone up on my reading. I’m a great champion of a well-rounded education, especially when it comes to comic books.

dcuciron3

Now, not knowing who Iron was, doesn’t hurt my appreciation for what is still a very cool figure. He’s basically iron personified and this figure does that concept justice. His arms and legs still have an organic, muscular look to them, but his torso is one peice and made to look like it was hammered out of… well, iron. The metal motif is further conveyed by the sculpted rivets and pitting scattered around his body. Overall the execution of the sculpt on this guy is first rate. Iron doesn’t have a lot of variety to his paint apps, in fact he’s done entirely in one color, but Mattel did a great job giving him a gunmetal blue finish that really makes the figure look like he’s made of metal. The only other time I’ve seen a paint effect this cool on a figure was on Hasbro’s recent Comic Series War Machine figure.

dcuciron4

Iron comes with two attachments for his arms that socket over his hands to make these pieces look like his arms have morphed into them. The right hand takes a giant chain and wrecking ball, while the other has a huge pipe wrench. The ball has a real chain to attach it and the pipe wrench actually works. By that I mean it opens and closes, don’t try doing any real work with it. These attachments give Iron a number of variables for posing and display, which you don’t see too often in this line of figures.

dcuciron5

Mattel made a few sacrifices to Iron’s articulation in favor of his sculpt and design. Most obvious is the fact that he has no hinge in his torso or swivel in the waist as his torso is all one piece. The articulation might be buried under there somewhere, but the plastic layered on top makes it a moot point. The missing turn in the waist is a bit of a bummer, but I really don’t miss the torso hinge at all. Apart from that, Iron has all the usual DCUC articulation. He has ball joints in the neck and shoulders. He has swivel cuts in the biceps and wrists and his elbows are hinged. His legs have universal joints in the hips, which are somewhat inhibited by his “skirt,” he has swivel cuts in the thighs and hinged knees and ankles.

dcucdes1

Ah, and then there’s Desaad. As a kid, I didn’t have too many of Kenner’s Super Powers figures, but I did have a few and one of them was Desaad. I was anxious to get a bigger and better version, not only for nostalgia sake, but because I dig the character. Its also still astounding to me that we have toys based on a character who was: a) a torturer, and b) basically named after one of the most infamous sexually depraved writers of all time. The DCUC version sticks pretty closely to the original design and it really takes me back. The only thing missing is that action feature that squeezes his arms together.

dcucdes2

Desaad’s character design has him cloaked, which brings both good and bad. The good is that it makes him a really stand out figure. Let’s face it, a lot of DCUC are paint variations on a similar body, so Desaad’s creepy, druid-like appearance is pretty fresh and unique. On the bad side, Desaad suffers the fate of many plastic-cloaked action figures… limited articulation, which is also somthing we are definitely not used to seeing in the DCUC figures. Although it seems to be the running theme today. I love the Desaad’s head sculpt. He’s got a creepy, sadistic grin and all in all he just looks like some kind of sick-o pervert. His robes are rather plain, but they do feature a lot of sculpted wrinkles and his boots have buckles and straps sculpted onto them.

dcucdes3

 

Naturally, Desaad comes with his bizarre set of torture gear that he wears around his chest. This piece fits over his head like a harnass and rests on his shoulders. Its got a control panel, two articulated hoses that can be directed under his arms towards his back, and two leads that he holds in his hands, presumeably to attach to his victim. I really love the fact that Mattel made this contraption removable as it gives the figure a lot more potential for different poses.

dcucdes4

Like Iron, Desaad sacrifices some articulation because of his design. The figure body actually has all the usual DCUC articulation, but the molded plastic robes inhibit some of it. He can turn his head and swivel at the waist. He has ball jointed shoulders, swivel cuts in the biceps and wrists and hinged elbows. His legs feature universal joints in the hips, swivel cuts in the thighs and hinged ankles and knees. The robes are slit up the sides to give him a bit more movement below the waist, but the robes do get in the way. I’m not sure if this body has the torso hinge or not, but if it does, you can’t really do anything with it.

I’ve been waiting to get a Desaad figure in this line for a while now, way before he was even announced, and finally having him in my collection is something I’m really excited about, especially since now I have a Darkseid to stand him next to. As for Iron, that’s the great thing about the DCUC figures, in the same wave you can get a figure you’ve wanted really badly and another you don’t even know. Its fun to look up some of these oddball characters, learn about them and in a lot of cases, I’ll even hunt down some of their comics. And chances are the character you don’t even know is one that someone else has been hotly anticipating, and vice versa. Its all just part of the DC Universe Classics experience.

Next time, I’ll finally wrap up my look at this wave with Mary Batson, in both variants, and the Collect & Connect figure, Darkseid himself.

Mar 25 2010

DC Universe Classics Wave 12: Part 2, Dr. Mid-nite and Copperhead by Mattel

Last time, we looked at The Spectre and Eclipso, which was a pretty common sense pairing. Today, not so much. There is sometimes a certain sense of randomness to the figures being released in these waves, so apart from just wanting to look at these figures two at a time, there’s really no other reason I’m pairing these two together. Except, maybe, for the fact that they are both awesome figures based on characters that I was hotly anticipating being released through DCUC.

Once again, slightly new packaging. Ok, really not all that different apart from the “75 Years of Super Power” and the collector button, which has already been pitched into one of my junk drawers and forgotten. Bios and stats are on the back, along with photos of the other figures in the wave and Darkseid!

Dr. Mid-nite is fantastic. I love this character and for whatever reason, I get into all sorts of arguments with one of my pals insisting he is in fact awesome and not lame, as this fellow suggests. I love the fact that he’s a surgeon and I love the fact that despite his “power” of being able to see in pure darkness, his goggles give him the best of both worlds. Oh yeah, he has a sidekick… he’s an owl… and his name is Hooty. Try to top that! No, don’t try… you can’t.

The figure captures all that is great about this character right down to the crescent buttons on his red tunic. He has black sleeves and leggings, a black cowl with his infrared goggles, and brown gauntlets and boots. His green cape is pretty narrow and doesn’t get into the way of his articulation much at all.

Naturally, Mid-nite comes with Hooty the owl. This little guy is an amazing sculpt for a little accessory. All of his feathers are detailed as his his tiny little face. His paint apps are equally impressive giving him realistic glossy eyes and beak. His bottom is molded so he can clip onto Mid-nites arm as if perching there. He’s even articulated as he can rotate his head 360 degrees.

Copperhead is admittedly something of a backbench villain, but I’ve always thought he was damn cool and pretty creepy at the same time, especially the way he was portrayed in the Justice League cartoon. Yikes. Besides being a sicko in a snake suit, he’s also got a poisonous bite and constriction and contortionist skills.

Copperhead’s body sculpt is particularly cool as he’s covered in scales, save for his green boots, undies and gauntlets. His skin has a glossy orange finish. The fact that his face is visible through the snake hood’s open mouth is something I’ve always found unintentionally hilarious, made even more so by his face sculpt frozen into a maniacal laugh. Awesome. There’s really only one thing that keeps this figure from being close to perfect. Umm… where’s his friggin tail? Seriously, it was a pretty big aspect of his costume and the fact that Mattel omitted it really pisses me off.

Articulation on these figures is standard for the DCUC line. You get a ball jointed neck, ball jointed shoulders, swivel cuts in the biceps, hinged elbows and swivel cuts in the wrists. The waists swivel, there’s a huge hinge in the torso. The legs have ball joints up in the hips, swivel cuts in the thighs, and hinged elbows and ankles.

I wouldn’t change a thing about Dr. Mid-nite, and Copperhead is really a great figure too, even if he is missing his tail. Grrr. He’s good to have around for when my Batman gets tired of beating the shit out of The Joker and wants a little variety. These are two great additions to DC’s amazing figure line and I’m really glad to have them in my collection.

Next up… Desaad and Iron.

 

Mar 25 2010

DC Universe Classics Wave 12: Part 1, The Spectre and Eclipso by Mattel

I’ve all but given up finding DCUC figures at retail. I own almost three dozen of these figures, and of all of those I think only three were purchased off the pegs. Its all the more frustrating when you consider that finding an entire wave is essential to completing any of the Collect and Connect figures. Needless to say, I’m quite grateful that Mattel has started offering entire waves of these figures on Matty Collector’s site. But I’m particularly thrilled that they did so with Wave 12, because the C&C figure is Darkseid and I absolutely had to own Darkseid. Not to mention this is an awesome selection of figures. There was only one character in the bunch that I didn’t have a lot of interest in, and even he turned out to be pretty cool. So let’s kick off Wave 12 with The Spectre and Eclipso.

This wave comes in the newest style of packaging. It has the “75 Years of Super Power” on the bottom of the bubble and each figure comes with a small collector pin with vintage style artwork. The Spectre’s bubble even has some cool ghostly faces molded into the tray. The back panel still features a short bio and stats for each character as well as photos of the other figures in the wave and the C&C figure, Darkseid. Overall, its not a huge departure from the sort of packaging we’ve been getting, but I have to say it really pops.

The Spectre figure that Matty included in this assortment is unfortunately not the glow in the dark variant. That’s not really a deal breaker for me, but I know a lot of folks picking up this set from Matty Collector were disappointed by this news. Considering that The Spectre is a pretty simple figure, without a great deal of color (just off-white and green) I think Matty probably should have made all of them glow, but then I have no idea how much that adds to the cost of production.

Either way, The Spectre is still a great looking figure. The face sculpt is really nice and if you have a guilty conscience, you can practically see your fear reflected in his empty eyes. Mwahahaha! The hood on his head is actually separate from his cape and collar, so as not to inhibit his neck articulation, which is a nice touch.

Eclipso is just plain awesome. The head sculpt is fantastic, complete with his fiendish, toothy grin and devilish ears. He looks sinister through and through. I also love the fact that his left hand is sculpted to be pinching the Heart of Darkness between his two fingers. Its a shame Mattel didn’t paint it black, but that’s the only complaint I have about this figure’s paint apps. In fact, the coloring on this figure is exceptionally dynamic and the white trim lines between his boots, gloves and sleeves are all sharp and crips as is the eclipse emblem on his chest. And yes, it looks like he’s wearing a championship wrestling belt.

Articulation on both of these figures is still the standard found in this line. You get a ball jointed neck, ball joints in the shoulders, swivel cuts in the biceps and hinged elbows. There is a swivel in the waist and a hinge in the torso. The legs feature universal joints in the hips, swivel cuts in the thighs and hinged knees and ankles.

The Spectre and Eclipso are awesome characters and these figures really do them both justice. I’m glad Mattel finally got around to releasing them, and I’m even happier that they both wound up in the same wave.

Next time… Copperhead and Dr. Mid-nite!