Tag Archives: mattel

Aug 29 2012

DC Universe Signature Collection: Mirror Master by Mattel

I didn’t mention it during my Voltron features, but Matty did another great job handling my subscriptions this month. Once again, I was billed the correct amount, everything was processed about five days before the Day of Sale and the package was shipped out about two days ahead of the Sale Day. I realize it’s kind of crazy to have to be praising a company for getting it right, but with how screwed up Matty Collector has been in the past, it’s worth giving credit where credit is due, and I haven’t had any difficulties with Matty for quite a few months. I was really looking forward to this month’s Club Infinite Earths figure, as I really love me some Flash and I’m always happy to add more villains to my collection. Put the two together and it’s no wonder I was happy to get Mirror Master.

There’s that Signature Collection packaging that I love so much. It’s a simple window box with some really kick ass character art on the side and back panels. The package is totally collector friendly and includes a little blurb on Mirror Master on the back, pointing out that this is indeed the Evan McCulloch incarnation of the character. Until I can reorganize my DCUC display, I’ve been keeping all my Signature Collection figures in the boxes and they sure look great lined up on the shelf.

Out of the package and we see that Mirror Master gets by with a very simple sculpt. What we have here is a very basic buck with sculpted boots and wrist bracers. There’s a sculpted belt with two functional holsters, each with fastening flaps and there’s a sculpted neckerchief draped above the figure’s shoulders. The body is cast in brown plastic with green paintwork on the bracers and boots. Both hands are sculpted to hold his weapons.

Mirror Master’s head sculpt is well executed, but I don’t think it’s one of the more remarkable ones we’ve seen from the Club to date. That’s not meant to be critical. Truth is there’s nothing wrong with McCulloch’s head, it just doesn’t pack that extra wow factor that I’ve experienced with figures like Jay Garrick or the unmasked Thom Kallor head. A bit more character in the expression might have helped, because as it is, it’s just rather neutral and flat. The paint work on the head is overall pretty good, although there are a few orange smudges on his chin.

Naturally, we get the standard DCUC points of articulation. The head is ball jointed. The arms are ball jointed at the shoulders, hinged at the elbows, and have swivels at the biceps and wrists. The legs have universal movement at the hips, hinges at the knees and ankles, and swivels in the thighs. The torso swivels at the waist and features the standard ab crunch hinge.

Mirror Master comes with his rather distinctive looking pistols, both of which fit snugly into his holsters. They also each include swappable barrels that feature them deployed in firing mode as well as the standard configuration.

No, Mirror Master isn’t the flashiest of figures (har har) but he is a great representation of a really great character. This figure has gone through some major improvements since it was first revealed. Original images suggested the figure wouldn’t be able to hold his guns, let alone hint at the guns having dual configurations. It’s likely that the improvements were planned from the beginning and what we were seeing was just an early prototype, but you never quite know with Mattel, and fans were pretty vocal about the changes they wanted to see. Whether those changes were always planned or the result of a response to fan feedback, it’s nice that Matty put the extra effort into the figure.

Aug 28 2012

Voltron: Blue Lion by Mattel

Today we’re checking out the latest release from Matty’s Club Lion Force and it’s the Blue Lion, number four. Blue is the second of the robo-cats that make up Voltron’s legs and that makes him the same size as Yellow, in other words, he’s one of the big ones. He arrives in a white mailer with the Allura figure bundled inside. At this point, there aren’t a lot of surprises, so let’s dig right in…

Ah, the packaging. It looks so good when it first arrives. As with the other lions the package consists of a cardboard base and backer and the rest is clear plastic. The box is color coded to coordinate with the Blue Lion theme and the back of the box shows off some pictures of the toy’s features as well as a little blurb about Princess Allura. You also get a tantalizing shot of Voltron showing where the Blue Lion fits in. The lion is posed inside with the help of a tray and heavy duty clear plastic straps and his weapon is rubber banded to the back. It takes some deft scissor work to get him out without tearing the hell out of the package. This whole ensemble is just collector friendly enough so that you can get the lion back inside, but it’s not very durable and once unstrapped, the lion just rattles around inside the package. I really would have preferred a straight up box with some artwork to store the lions in. I’ve saved all the packages so far, but chances are once I can build Voltron, I’ll be pitching these to reclaim some space in one of my toy closets.

When Yellow Lion arrived, I was blown away by his size and the same was true when I got Blue in hand. As expected, Yellow and Blue are both built on the same basic body, but there are plenty of resculpted parts to make Blue distinctive. He has a flat back, minus the grey half cylinder on Yellow. His head is also more squared off and less organic looking than Yellow’s. The legs are identical to Yellow’s, giving the toy the same nagging articulation limits. As with all the lions, I really wanted mid joints in the legs that could move both ways. Sure, there are still some good poses available here, but not as good as it could have been.

There have been a number of reported QC issues with the coloring on the lions. I know more than a few people have received lions composed of two shades of plastic. I’ve been really nervous since then about having a similar issue, but so far I’ve had no problems and I’m happy to say that the coloring on my Blue is spot on. In fact, the color here is pretty spectacular. I love the shade of blue used for the body and it contrasts beautifully with the white and yellow. All the paintwork on the head is bright and sharp. About the only flaw I can find is a little uneven application around the edges of the cockpit, but that’s only visible with the cockpit open and even still, I have to get pretty nitpicky to find anything to complain about.

As with Yellow Lion, Blue’s cockpit is hinged at the back and is opened by pressing the key (or key or any pointed object) into the button to release the catch. Once open you get a simple sculpted seat and stickers to add the details of the controls. It’s a roomy cockpit and little Allura has no trouble fitting inside.

Blue comes with a spikey dagger that he can hold in his teeth. There aren’t any little dimples in this one to match up with the teeth, but Blue’s jaws close up pretty tight so he can hold it very securely. I’m not a big fan of these weapons, but I suppose it’s nice to have them.

As it stands, I think Blue here is my favorite of all the lions. He’s beautifully colored and I love the sculpt. There are certainly some things that could have used more attention, particularly the featureless black plate on the top of his head. Either way, I really like this guy and I’m still digging the 80’s retro vibe I get from these toys. I’m also officially starting to get really excited about finishing off my BFV* and quite frankly having all the limbs and no Black Lion is driving me crazy. I’m still having trouble fathoming just how huge Black Lion is going to be, not to mention the Voltron figure itself. What I do know is that I’ll be lining all the lions up at least a week before Black Lion is shipping, just so I’m all ready to go when he gets here.

 *Big Fucking Voltron

Aug 27 2012

Voltron: Princess Allura (Blue Lion Pilot) by Mattel

Yep, it’s Voltron time again… if you’re keeping score, we’re up Lion and Pilot #4 (ok, Pilot #5 if you count Sven) this month. Today we’re going to check out the Blue Lion pilot and sole girly-girl of Team Lion Force: It’s Princess Allura. As usual, she comes in a white mailer box tucked away in the larger white mailer that contains her Lion. We’ll be checking out Blue Lion tomorrow and throwing all our attention behind the pilot figure today. The pilot figures have been pretty formulaic, so if you’ve been with me from my first look at Lance back at the beginning of the year, a lot of this will seem awfully familiar…

…like the packaging! Allura comes in the same collector friendly box as all of the other pilots (minus Sven, of course!).  And like the others, Allura’s box is color coded to match her lion, so in this case it’s blue. The front of the box has a decent piece of artwork showing off the figure’s animated counterpart. There’s also a window to show the figure itself. The back of the box has a blurb about Allura and Blue Lion and some shots of the figure and her accessories. Take note, the photo on the back erroneously shows the key-stand being pink, while the one you actually get is appropriately blue.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it one more time in a few months, this package design is nearly perfect. The only thing I would have preferred is having the figure’s name printed on the side for when I store them on the shelves lined up like books. Oh well, at least they’re color coded.

Open up the box and slide out the tray, we get a great look at everything that comes inside. You get the figure with the swappable head, the key style figure stand, the piece of the Blazing Sword, in this case it’s the top of the hilt and the base of the blade, and you also get one of the two clear stands for the Blazing Sword. I’m still resisting the temptation to start assembling the sword until I get everything.

Some early pictures had me a little worried about Allura’s body sculpt. She looked a little too chunky, but with the figure in hand it looks like those were probably just from unflattering angles. The proportions and build of the final figure look really good. Once again, Mattel has done a decent job of using different builds for each of the figures making them look as diverse in size and shape as the characters were in the cartoon. I am, however, a little iffy on Allura’s heads. The sculpts seems ok, I like the shape of the face and the sculpting on the hair, the helmeted head looks great, but I think it’s the eyes that just seem a little weird or creepy to me. It may just be conveying the animation style, but there’s just something about those eyes that doesn’t gel right with me. Once again, the figure’s gun is sculpted into the holster and once again, I’ll point out that at $15 each, these figures should have had removable guns.

The paintwork on this figure is excellent. The aforementioned eyes are a style choice, and not caused by sloppy paint. I’m particularly impressed by the paint on her thin, silver tiara. The pink on her uniform is great, and while some of these figures have been prone to some smudging on the white uniform, Allura has none of that.

Articulation here is exactly what we got with all the other figures. In this case, that’s a bit of a relief because sometimes female figures get a few points of articulation cut out. That’s not the case here. Allura has ball joints in her neck, shoulders, elbows and knees, and universal movement at the hips.

As usual, the figure comes with the key that can be used to open the accompanying Lion’s cockpit and it doubles as a stand. It’s a good thing, too, because Allura’s tiny feet make it difficult for her to stand on her own. One of my running gripe’s with this line is that Matty couldn’t pony up for an extra sticker on both sides of the key and yes, that still irks me a bit.

So, there are no big surprises here. Overall, Allura is a solid figure. We deserved better at this price point, but by now we all know what to expect and we’re either comfortable with that or we’re not. I still haven’t decided whether I’m going to be displaying these figures in front of my completed Voltron, leaving them in the cockpits, or just keeping them in the boxes. I suppose that’ll be determined by how much space I have. Tomorrow, I’ll be back to check out Allura’s lion.

Aug 24 2012

Voltron: Club Lion Force Exclusive Sven by Mattel

As promised, I’m back with some content, and just to minimize the shock of there being no Vintage Vault today, I’m at least looking at something that is rather retro. Yes, those of us who subscribed to Matty’s Club Lion Force not only can sleep at night knowing that our Voltrons won’t be missing a limb for having missed a lion on a Sale Day, but we also got to add the exclusive Sven figure to our collections. I’ve gone on record many times here saying that I’m strictly a fan of Voltron based on concept and the fact that he’s a pop 80’s icon, so I’m not exactly the kind of collector this figure was aimed at. I can, however, still appreciate it and be happy for the fans that have been waiting to get this figure for 30 some years.

Of course, Matty can rarely do anything without eliciting buckets of controversy, and so they decided to package Sven on a retro-style card, rather than in the collector friendly boxes that the rest of the pilots came in. This act of treachery has pissed off many fans who will have to tear open the figure in order to display it with the rest of the pilots. And, of course since this figure is only available as an exclusive with the subscription, you can’t exactly buy an extra for openers. Not unless you were one of the ones that laid out $80 for him at Big Bad Toy Store before they sold out. Crazy! As a result of this madness, I’m only going to be looking at the packaged figure. Nope, I’m not opening mine. I have no desire to display Sven loose with the rest of my pilots, and I really dig this packaging, so mine will remain tucked away in the white mailer until I can find a Zolo-style clamshell to fit it and hang it on my wall.

And there’s that beautiful packaging. The design is obviously a delightful nod back to the cardbacks used for the vintage Panosh Place figures. It’s not a direct facsimile, but there are a lot of similarities, right down to the angled corners of the card, the animated character art and backdrop design. The key stand and helmet are positioned differently inside the bubble and Sven’s modern card has a snazzy reflective ink used for the Voltron logo. I even like the little “First Ever Sven Figure” medallion up in the left corner. The presentation here is first rate and the figure is displayed very nicely, with the helmetless head attached to the figure and the helmeted head beside it, just like the other pilots came in their boxes.

The back of the card is similar to the back of the other pilot’s boxes. It has a little blurb about Sven and it shows how he fits into the Blue Lion’s cockpit. There are also some nice shots of animation from the original cartoon.

Also included in the white mailer is a little double-sided mini-poster. One side has a great shot of Voltron wielding the Blazing Sword. The other side reads, “Let’s Go Voltron Force” and has a shot of each of the pilots, with Sven in place of Princess Allura. I have no clue what I’m going to do with it, but it was a cool little bonus nonetheless.

As for the figure itself, Sven shouldn’t present any surprises to anyone who has been getting these figures since the beginning. In fact, Sven appears to use the exact same body as Lance. If there are any differences in the sculpt, I can’t see them. Both of Sven’s head sculpts are quite good, and I still really like the use of the clear eye shield on the helmeted heads. Once again, I’ll take the opportunity to point out that the gun is sculpted into the holster, and that we should have gotten better on what is essentially billed as a $15 figure. The paintwork on my Sven looks excellent, although it’s hard to tell if there’s any major flubs on the back.

The articulation has been consistent throughout all the pilots and Sven is no different. You get ball joints in the neck, shoulders, elbows and knees, and universal movement in the hips. The figure has solid poseability, but once again, should have been better considering the cost.

If you’re really pissed off about Matty’s choice of packaging here, you might consider that they could have really been dicks and put a piece of the Blazing Sword in with Sven so you had no choice but rip it open. As it is, Sven just comes with the extra head and an extra Blue Lion stand/key.

I’m very pleased with Sven, and I think most collectors will be happy with the figure. It’s the packaging that will fuel the drama over this release, but it is what it is. I’ll admit it would have made infinitely more sense to keep a uniform package style for all the pilots and most everyone would have been happy. I appreciate Matty trying to do something special for this sub exclusive figure, but if they were going to go this route they should have ponied up for a re-sealable clamshell package or something, especially since it’s just not feasible or affordable for most collectors to buy a second Sven for opening. Me? I’m happy to hang mine on the wall right behind wherever my Voltron is going to stand. And chances are the rest of the pilots will be in their packages too.

[And that’s it for me this week, folks, I will be back on Monday to start covering the rest of my Matty Collector stuff, including Voltron’s Princess Allura and the Blue Lion and my much anticipated Mirror Master figure from Club Infinite Earths. There will likely be some more bonus updates next week too as I continue to try to get all caught up. –FF]

Aug 21 2012

Young Justice: Martian Manhunter & Miss Martian by Mattel

[And it’s a bonus Tuesday update, because I’ve got crap action figures piling up everywhere… there will likely be another on Thursday too! –FF]

After collecting almost every last one of Mattel’s 4-inch Young Justice figures in order to build the Hall of Justice, I got thwarted by the inability to find Stealth Kid Flash and the last piece I needed. At that point, I swore off these goddamn figures. And that should just go to show you what a weak, weak person I am, because now I’m back like a kicked puppy, picking up a couple more 2-packs, so I can at least complete the team in this scale. Today’s feature takes a look at the “Alien Mindreaders.” It’s been a while since I’ve looked at any of the Young Justice 4-inch line, so I’ll toss out the usual disclaimer with these figures and point out that they are done in the most retro of manner. If you were on board with Mattel’s JLU figures, you can probably find a lot to love with these, everyone else may want to proceed with caution.

 

The package is a nice window box that shows off the figures pretty well. I like the fact that Mattel retained the DC Universe logo. The giant Amazo cut-out in the center of the window is kind of an eyesore, but that’s probably because I really don’t care about building that figure. Either way, the C&C pieces are concealed beneath the cardboard. The back panel has portraits of the animated characters as well as a little bio for them. The panel below that shows you what you need to build Amazo. Everything is pretty collector friendly, so you can return the figures to the package and store them that way if you so choose, although this is a lot of box for just two little 4-inch figures and no accessories.

All of the 4-inch figures in this line have been pretty good representations of their animated counterparts, but I dare say Miss Martian is one of the better ones. The sculpt is excellent, particularly the head, which really captures her on screen appearance perfectly. The hair looks good and the paintwork on the eyes, lips and even the tiny freckles is all applied with precision. Her outfit consists of a blue cape, blue skirt, blue gloves, and blue heels, and she has a white t-shirt with an “X” deco. The paintwork on the rest of the figure is executed perfectly. It’s worth pointing out that the combination of her tiny legs and bulky cape make for a rather back-heavy figure, but it’s still possible to get her to stand on her own with a little patience.

Martian Manhunter is solid enough, but he isn’t the slam dunk of a figure that his niece is. For one thing, I think his head is a tad too small. Mattel may have been going for a stylized look here, but I don’t think his head was that small in the cartoon. There isn’t a lot of original sculpting on Jon either. He’s a standard painted buck with a cape and a new head. Can I also take this time to point out how much I hate that almost all the adult figures have the same exact hands?

Both figures have the same five points of articulation. The heads turn, the arms rotate at the shoulders, and the legs rotate at the hips. It ain’t much to work with, but I suppose it gives the figures something of a retro charm.
As already pointed out, Jon and his niece come with two limbs for the Collect & Connect Amazo figure. You  also get a figure stand. Wait… what? One figure stand? ONE FUCKING FIGURE STAND??? Are you serious Mattel? $20 for a pair of 4-inch figures with just five points of articulation each and you can’t pony up for two figure stands? It’s not like it’s a particularly elaborate stand. It’s just a clear piece of sculpted plastic. I’m sorry, but throwing just one stand into this set is worse than none at all. It’s Matty saying, “Hey remember how we made sure you had no chance of finishing the Hall of Justice? Well here, take one figure stand in your two-pack!” At that point they throw sand in my eyes and run out of the room laughing. I seriously turned this package inside and out because I simply couldn’t believe that the world’s largest toy company on the planet could be that fucking cheap. Looks like I was wrong.

All rage aside, this is a pretty good set. Sure, I still don’t have a 4-inch Artemis, but Miss Martian finishes off my collection fairly well and she is a very solid figure. And considering that Batman, Aquaman, and Flash were all bundled with repacks of the single carded figures, I also appreciate the fact that I didn’t have to buy a figure I already have in order to get Martian Manhunter. I picked up the set for about $20, which is about right considering the single carded figures were all $9.99 each. It’s not exactly a great deal for such simple figures, but I guess there’s just something about them that made me want to complete my collection. Stay tuned for a look at the other 2-packs in the weeks ahead.

Aug 13 2012

DC Universe Classics Wave 14: Gold by Mattel

Holy hell… we’re looking at some old skool DC Universe Classics today! Remember Wave 14 of DCUC? Yeah, it was that lovely Walmart Exclusive wave and I had better chance of seeing a Sasquatch commuting to work in the car next to me than actually seeing any of these figures at retail. I was able to pick up Kamandi and Zantanna through trades, and then I wrote the rest of this wave off. That  included Gold, because I never in a million years thought Mattel was ever going to complete The Metal Men and that my Mercury and Iron were destined to stand on the shelf alone. Fast forward a couple of years and now we have confirmation of Platinum, Tin, and Lead all coming this year in the DC Signature Collection, and that sent me scrambling to find me a Gold before every other collector that missed him tried to do the same.

It’s been a while since we saw this packaging. I still dig it, although not as much as the collector friendly boxes that Matty is using for the Signature line. Nonetheless, the big bubble and sturdy card show off the figure wonderfully. Gold comes with his two arm attachments on the figure and the Ultra Humanite BAF piece tucked under the insert. Ooooh, look there’s a collector button too. I remember those! Somewhere I have a cigar box full of those! The back panel shows the publication history of the character and a short bio. The bios have carried over to the Signature Collection, but I wish the publication stats had too.

This time, I’m going to start with coloring, because there isn’t a lot of paintwork on this figure, and yet the coloring is just downright gorgeous. The gold is similar to the shade used for Golden Pharaoh and I absolutely adore the way it looks on this figure. It’s just the right mix of matte and sheen and I’m glad that Mattel didn’t decide to try to give it a wash or anything, as I think it would have really ruined the figure. Granted, the Gold’s finish doesn’t quite have the amazing look of the patina used on Iron, but it is a striking color just the same, and in all fairness it is an entirely different look they were going for.

Of course, the sculpting here is no slouch either. I’m really digging the somber, heroic look of the head sculpt, that really gives Gold some major personality. The muscle sculpting on the figure looks great, as do the strategically placed rivets. His triangle chest plate is cleverly designed so as not to intrude on the articulation. Both hands are sculpted into fists, which allows for the attachable accessories, which we’ll get to right after we talk…

Articulation! If you own any of the other Metal Men from the DCUC line, you’ll know what to expect here. You get a ball jointed neck, the arms have ball joints in the shoulders, there are swivels in the biceps and wrists, and the elbows are hinged. The legs have universal movement at the hips, swivels in the thighs, and there are hinges in the knees and ankles. The torso swivels at the waist and has the usual ab-crunch hinge.

As with the other Metal Men, Gold has the ability to morph his hands into weapons and implements and you get two arm attachments to reflect the skill. Gold comes with a spinning buzz saw and a pick axe, both of which attach in the same way as Iron’s. They have sculpted hollows shaped to fit the figure’s fists. They stay on pretty well, and I really do like this method a lot more than the swappable hands used on Mercury, mainly because I’m constantly worried I’m going to break Mercury’s posts and the fact that I don’t have to keep track of the tiny hands when I have the weapon attached.

So, I’ve done a lot of hemming and hawing over whether to track this figure down since it came out. He commonly sells for over $30 on the Ebays, even when he’s loose and without the Ultra Humanite piece. I was lucky to be able to pick one up off a fellow collector for only $20. Had Club Infinite Earths not promised to deliver on the rest of the Metal Man, I probably never would have picked this figure up. Needless to say, I’m glad everything is working out for the Metal Men, and I’m going to be really happy to have the collection complete (minus Dr. Magnus) by the end of the year.

Aug 8 2012

Matty Collector Subs Are A Go…

I interrupt the regular flow of updates this week to celebrate the fact that the DC Club Infinite Earths will be sapping my wallet for one more year. I’m also taking this opportunity to cover the fact that I’m running a little behind this week on updates. Turtle Week will continue on Thursday and Friday, Vintage Vault will get pushed back to Saturday, and Star Trek Saturday will either double up or it may take the week off, seeing as how things go. It is my Birthday this weekend, and I plan on drinking a lot more heavily than usual.

Anyway, as for the Matty Collector news… All of the subs have gone forward. I have never subbed Club Eternia, although I do have a sizeable collection of MOTUC figures purchased day of sale. This current year, I haven’t purchased any, and personally I think Matty criminally mishandled the 30th Anniversary with shitty concept and contest figures, but thankfully the property isn’t so important to me as to fill my with rage over the fact.

I was very tempted to sub the Watchman line just because I would have really enjoyed having a set of Watchman figures in the scale and style of DCUC. The $25 a pop seemed rather high, especially for figures like Dr. Manhattan, which is nothing more than a new head sculpt and a painted buck, but I was still willing to go for it. What stopped me? The uncertainty of Club Infinite Earth going through meant that I could wind up paying shipping on just the Watchman figures, which would bump them up to about $35 a piece with tax. No thanks. Ironically, CIE went through, and Matty screwed themselves out of my Watchmen sub money by playing these ridiculous games.

Obviously, the CIE going through was the big news for me, and obviously I subbed again. I’ve been happy with every single figure that I’ve received from this year so far. Yes, even Rocket Red is cool as a stand alone figure. And next year’s are looking good too. I could take this opportunity to suggest that Matty played games with the thermometer, as I really doubt it jumped that high on the last day, but I’m not going to piss in the punchbowl. I’m just happy its going through and I’m going to keep getting my DCUC fix for another year and a half. Unfortunately, it means I’m going to have to do some re-arranging, because I’m just about out of room on my current display and I have about a dozen figures that aren’t even up yet…

On a related note, I dropped Matty a line via their Forums to inquire about the Young Justice 2-pack. I was actually willing to drop $50 on Superboy and Miss Martian to complete my set, but I found it odd that Matty wasn’t revealing any ship date on the figures. Turns out the reason why is because they won’t be shipping until 3rd Quarter of 2013. I realize the lead time required between concept and mass production for action figures, but there’s no way I’m buying two figures at a premium this week and not getting them for another year. Not where Matty and Digital River are concerned.
Ok, enough about toy politics… I’ll be back tomorrow to check out Raphael.

Jul 30 2012

DC Universe Signature Collection: Starman by Mattel

Quick! Before July is over let’s check out July’s monthly figure from Club Infinite Earth! Yeah, Matty’s shipping was actually pretty decent this time around and I got my figures in about a week, as opposed to the 10 to 12 days it’s been taking in the past. Anywho, this month’s figure is Thom Kallor, aka Starman. I know this is a figure that a lot of fans have been waiting to get into their collections, myself included, and that’s what makes me adore the CIE sub so much. There was a time when we might have seen this guy in the now defunct DC Universe Classics line, but with the direction the last couple waves went, now I’m not sure it would have happened without this more collector-focused sub. Too bad it looks like there’s almost no chance of the CIE sub going through for next year.

By now, we know what to expect from the Signature Collection packaging. Starman comes in an attractive and functional window box that also happens to be very collector friendly. The figure comes with his “masked” head on and the Thom Kallor head mounted beside it. The side and back panels have some decent character art. I really dig the artwork on the side panel, but I don’t think the back panel illustration is among the better we’ve seen. Granted, Starman is a little tougher to work with than some of the other characters in the line. You also get the ubiquitous bio blurb connecting him to both the Legion of Superheroes and the Justice Society of America.

Out of the package, and it doesn’t get much simpler than this sculpt. Starman is a straight buck with painted boots and fisted gloves. The cool thing here is the semi-translucent black plastic used with sparkly flecks throughout the body. Matty could have gone another direction on this guy and almost certainly failed, but with the figure in hand, I’ve got to say this is the only way the figure would have worked, and it works brilliantly. If you hold the figure up to the light, you can see the joints inside, which is a little distracting, but in any kind of normal light, the effect is really well done. I especially like the shimmery pearl colored paint used for the boots and gloves. The spare Thom Kallor head is a fantastic sculpt. The hair and beard are perfect as are his high cheekbones. It’s like Mattel understood how little sculpted detail was needed in the figure and went nuts on the spare head. I’m really torn on which head I’m going to use to display the figure, but right now I’m leaning toward the Kallor head.

Starman features standard DCUC articulation. You get a ball jointed head, the arms have ball joints in the shoulders, hinged elbows, and swivels in the biceps and wrists. The legs have universal movement in the hips, hinged knees and ankles, and swivels in the thighs. The torso swivels at the waist and has the usual ab crunch hinge.

And there you go, folks. Another monthly CIE figure, another great addition to my DCUC collection. As simple as he is, Starman could have been an easy figure to screw up, but clearly Mattel knew exactly the right way to go with him and the end result looks great. I’m also really digging the fact that Mattel went with the more traditional Starman design, rather than the look from the 2005 reboot. I do actually like both, and I wouldn’t be opposed to getting another version down the road, but with how unlikely it seems the CIE sub will be going through next year, I’m just content to have this figure on my shelf.

Jul 26 2012

DC Universe Signature Collection: Rocket Red by Mattel

Hey, look! It’s another bonus feature! I decided to just go full guns this week or else I’m going to get too far behind, and this way we can break up the streak of Marvel stuff with a pinch of DC…

It’s been another smooth month for my Matty subs, where I was actually charged the correct amount and my figures were shipped out ahead of the Sale Day. That’s three in a row, I believe, so keep it up, Matty, you’re getting better. I’ve got two Club Infinite Earth figures to look at this month, and I decided to start with the oversized quarterly figure: Rocket Red. This guy has been a pretty controversial figure, mainly because of the size and design that Matty decided to go with.This version obviously wasn’t my first choice for the character, I know I’m not alone in that, but we’ll try to get past that and have a look…

 

Ok, so obviously, I knew going into this one that he was an oversized figure, but holy hell, look at this packaging. Look how massive it is next to one of the regular sized figure boxes. That’s nuts! Otherwise, the box is just a larger version of the same design we got with Jay Garrick and Atrocitus. The window is big and really shows off the figure nicely. The back panel has a big piece of character art and a blurb about the Rocket Reds. I’ve been gushing over the character art on these packages, but this time around I’ll just say it’s nice, not spectacular, and leave it at that. Hey, Matty, you need to be up to date on your DC lore or at least read your own bio. These are dudes in suits… why is he so damn big? As always, the box is collector friendly so you can take him out and play with him and return him to the packaging for display.

Rocket Red is built off the buck used for Atom Smasher, the Build-A-Figure from DC Universe Classics Wave 7. So think about that right now, A Rocket Red as big as Atom Smasher? Yeah, and he’s even bulkier when you consider his armor. The helmet and arms are almost to scale for a regular big-sized dude, but for the legs to work, the guy in the armor would have to be a giant. So to make this guy work in my display, I’m either going to consider him a straight robot or some kind of freak specially engineered to wear the armor. I think I’ll go with the first.

So with the scale issues set aside, I really do dig the look of this guy. The chest armor, shoulder armor and backpack are all cast in one piece of softer plastic and worn over the figure’s torso. The armor has a simple, almost retro-primitive look to it, which really scratches my itch. The cool wrist weapons are permanently attached to the arms with molded, painted straps. The blank-faced Cobra Commander styled helmet really tops everything off nicely. On the down side, I’m not a fan of the veins sculpted into the arms, because it’s at odds with the robot theory that the size of this figure is making me adopt.

The paint is fairly simple here with only two colors used on the whole figure. The base body is red and the armor is silver and most of the pieces are molded in their respective colors. That’s pretty much it! He has a star and “01” stenciled on his chest plate, which looks nice and crisp. There’s a little bit of scuffing to the right wrist weapon, and some abrasions to the faceplate, but overall the colors are fine.

The articulation here is pretty solid and predictable for this size DCUC figure. The head is ball jointed; The arms feature ball joints in the shoulders, hinged elbows, and swivels in the biceps and wrists. The legs have universal movement in the hips, the knees and ankles are hinged, and there are swivels in the thighs. You also get rockers in the ankles, although they don’t have a lot of range of motion. The torso swivels at the waist and has a workable ab crunch hinge hidden under the chestplate. I’ve seen quite a few complaints about review samples of the figure not holding together well, but I don’t see that problem on my figure. I’ve spent quite a lot of time fiddling about with him and I haven’t had anything pop off him yet.

Rocket Red cost me $30 plus shipping, which is no little sum for a single action figure, and that price was because I’m a Club Infinite Earth subber. If you bought him off the Matty Collector site, you paid a ridiculous $45 plus shipping, and that’s just insane. No doubt, he’s a big, solid and satisfyingly large figure, but the sculpting and paint apps don’t hold up to the $55 you’d have to pay to get him a la carte. Now, don’t get me wrong, as a stand-alone piece, I really do like this figure, and I’ll even find some justification to shoehorn it into my DCUC display, but there was absolutely no reason for Matty to have given the Reds the super-sized treatment to this extent. Besides making the figure cost way more than it should have, the scale will be too much of a stumbling block for a lot of fans to accept this figure into their collections. Amazingly enough, by the time you read this, Red will have long since sold out, so in the end, I guess Matty was justified. It’ll be interesting to see what he goes for on the secondary market.

Jun 28 2012

Voltron: Green Lion by Mattel

Alrighty then, time to wrap up this four-day run of Matty Collector madness with a look at the third lion from the Club Lion Force subscription, Green Lion! This guy is an interesting release, since he pairs up with the Red Lion in forming Voltron’s arms. I was very curious to see how similar the two toys would be, and in the end I’m very pleased by how unique Matty managed to make this guy, while still conforming to the Voltron component. Let’s check him out…

Green Lion comes in the same half window, half box as the other lions. I loved this package the first time around, but the charm is starting to wear off on me. Don’t get me wrong, it looks great when the toy is MISB, but getting him out without damaging the package is a pain in the arse, and it’s virtually impossible to get him back in the proper way without him just knocking about in there. I’ve taken care to save all three lion packages, but I’m pretty sure once Voltron is complete, I’m going to wind up pitching them. Maybe I’ll just hang onto the white mailer boxes in case I ever want to put the Lion’s into storage.

Out of the box, The Green Lion is the same size as Red Lion, but these guys are certainly not identical twins. I’ve been avoiding pictures of these toys before their release so I was honestly expecting a lot of heavy parts sharing between Red and Green with just a little re-sculpting for good measure. I was pleasantly surprised to see that apart from the legs and tail, the bulk of this figure is either significantly re-worked or brand new. Green Lion has a sleeker, more rounded style than his boxy red brother, which is pronounced enough to make him distinctive but shouldn’t be distracting when he’s paired with Red to serve as Voltron’s arms.

The cockpit in the Lion’s back does open the same way as the Red Lion’s. It splits in half and separates in the middle. The hatch on this one, however, doesn’t lock as well as the Red Lion’s and you really don’t even need to push the button to open it. It does however stay closed and latched pretty well, so I’m not sure if this is a minor QC control issue or just a variation in the strength of the mechanism from the Red to the Green.

Articulation? The Green Lion shares all the good and the bad with the Red Lion. The legs are jointed at the top, middle and foot, but they are each only designed to bend one way and that means you can’t get all the great poses you can get out of some other Voltron sets (*cough* Toynami *cough*). On the other hand, the ratcheting joints are nice and strong and the auto transform feature from Voltron limb back to Lion is still present, like it or not. Limited leg movement aside, my biggest gripe with the articulation is the head. I would have liked a lot more neck movement. All that being said, I think I’ve said before that these lions feel more like 80’s vintage toys than highly poseable collector figures, and I’m perfectly fine with that.

Green Lion also comes with his little three-pointed blade weapon. I’m not a big fan of these things, but I’ll give credit for Matty including them. It has two little dimples in the handle to match up with Green’s teeth and he can hold it in his jaw pretty well.

And that’s Green Lion for ya. As with the pilot figures, there are things Matty could have done better here, but overall I’m pretty pleased with him. By now we know what to expect and apart from being a little surprised with the amount of new sculpting, there’s no big differences here between Green and Red. The end the result is kind of a “been there, done that” attitude when I got him out of the package. I suspect the same will be true for the next release, as Blue Lion will have a similar feel to Yellow. Of course, Black Lion will be brand new and have a lot of wow factor because of his sheer bulk, not to mention being the final piece needed to assemble Voltron!