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.

Here we have another look at the Wave 16 packaging. I neglected to mention last time how much I like the dynamic shape of the bubble and the way each figure has an icon or emblem on the insert to represent them. In this case it’s the emblem on Mercury’s chest. Once again, despite a ceaseless outcry from collectors, Mattel was good enough to package the figure in a pose that warps the figure’s joints. Mercury’s packaged pose isn’t at all exciting, but just dynamic enough to completely screw up the super soft plastic on his legs and knee joints. Thanks, Mattel!

Speaking of super soft plastic, that’s the first thing I noticed about Mercury when I got him out of the package. After some work with a hot air gun, I was able to de-fuckify the legs into their semi normal state, but it doesn’t change the fact that this plastic feels rubbery and overall inferior. When I compare Mercury to the solid hunk of beautiful plastic that was fellow Metal Man, Iron, I can’t help but be gravely disappointed. I realize that Mercury has a slighter build and I appreciate that it’s reflected in the figure, but you can’t tell me that these two figures are of like quality. I could also point out that Iron’s paintwork is an absolutely gorgeous faux patina, whereas Mercury is just unpainted red plastic. The sculpt, on the other hand, is perfectly fine. I particularly like the characteristics captured in the face, like the pinnochio nose and the chin that would put Bruce Campbell to shame. This is not a bad looking figure at all.

Articulation includes universal movement in the shoulders and hips; swivels in the biceps, thighs, and wrists; double hinges in the knees and elbows; hinged ankles, and a ball jointed neck. You also get a swivel in the waist and an ab crunch hinge.

The first Metal Man figure, Iron, came with a few attachments for his arm, including a giant wrench that really tightened, and a ball and chain, with a real metal chain. Mercury comes packaged with his giant scissor hand and a spare hand in case you want to swap it out for the scissors. The scissor attachment is pretty cool and includes a hinge so they open and close. I also like the bubbling effect on the sculpt that is suggestive of Mercury’s transient liquid state. Unfortunately, the plastic is so soft, when I tried to get the scissors off of his wrist, It started to mangle the wrist joint, so I opted not to proceed, rendering the spare hand useless. Iron used a much better system where the attachments fit right over the hand.
Mercury also comes with the upper torso piece for the Bane C&C figure.

I don’t think it’s unfair to compare Mercury to Iron, since both figures are from the same figure line and sub-group. I don’t want to say that Mercury represents any kind of uniform decline in the quality of the DCUC line, but there’s no denying that he is a massive step down from the quality employed in the Iron figure. Iron was a better made and better painted figure, with a better selection of accessories. He also cost about three bucks less. I probably wouldn’t be so hard on Mercury without Iron to compare him to, but as a follow up figure for the Metal Men sub-group, he is a woefully disappointing figure.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.