Tag Archives: Amazing Androids

#3871: Hourman

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , ,

HOURMAN

AMAZING ANDROIDS (DC DIRECT)

“Created in the 843rd century, Hourman is a two-year-old android with incredible time-manipulation abilities. Encoded with the enhanced genetic code of Rex “Tick Tock” Tyler, the original Hourman, this new hero has power in abundance but is just starting to learn about human nature.”

While some of DC’s Golden Age heroes got revamped for the Silver Age, there were a good number of notable ones that did not. Rex Tyler, the original Hourman, remained the only one with that title until his son Rick was introduced in the ’80s. A third Hourman, an android from the future who frequently went by just “Tyler” was introduced in the ’90s, and is one those kind of quirky characters who’s bounced around a bit since. He did get an action figure, and was even the first Hourman in toy form, for what it’s worth.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Hourman was part of the Amazing Androids set of figures from DC Direct, released in November of 2000.  At the time of release, he was probably the most relevant of the three figures, since he was still cropping up pretty regularly in JLA and JSA, but that’s certainly shifted in recent years.  This release remains his only action figure, and given its rough aftermarket value, I guess that makes sense.  The figure stands a little over 6 inches tall and he has 10 points of articulation.  I suppose an argument could be made for 11, since there *is* a joint on the neck, but it’s effectively rendered pointless by the hood/cape.  The sculpt was an all-new one, and honestly not a bad one.  It’s pretty basic, and captures the general design of the character, in all his rather simple glory.  The cape’s neat, because it’s got some pretty fun texturing, so it’s clearly a different material than the rest of him.  Perhaps the strangest thing about the sculpt is how his action feature works into everything.  His hourglass is designed to spin, not unlike a kitchen timer, but it also means spinning part of his pecs along with it, which is super funny looking.  It’s an odd choice, and kind of showcases DCD’s struggle earlier on to figure out what exactly they were trying to do.  So, you know, it’s gimmicky.  His paint work is on the simpler side, but does what it needs to.  It’s pretty darn thick, though, much like Amazo, and that does sort of dull the detailing on the sculpt a bit.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

When this set hit, I was all about Amazo, and didn’t really know this version of Hourman.  But, after the JSA relaunch, I found myself drawn to this version of the character, so I saved up my allowance money and bought myself one from Cosmic Comix.  I can’t really say I remember much about owning the figure after that, but I do have something of a soft spot for him, which is only helped by the fact that he’s literally the only figure of this character ever made.

 

#3867: Amazo

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , ,

AMAZO

AMAZING ANDROIDS (DC DIRECT)

“Created by the infamous Professor Ivo, Amazo was the world’s first android. His “absorption cells” give Amazo the ability to absorb the powers of any super-being he meets, something he has done time and time again in his many battles with the Justice League.”

You know, I’ve got two Super Adaptoids reviewed here on the site, but thus far only a single review dedicated to the *original* green guy that replicates the super hero team’s powers, Amazo!  Introduced in 1960 (six whole years before the Adaptoid), Amazo is a Justice League foe that resurfaces with a decent regularity, since power mimicry is usually a pretty good angle for fighting a super hero team.  It took him until 2000 to finally get any sort of action figure treatment, courtesy of DC Direct’s early look into the weirder side of DC.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Amazo was released in November of 2000, as part of the Amazing Androids line from DC Direct.  He’s the set’s one proper antagonist.  He’s based on his original design from the comics, which had also just resurfaced pretty recently at the time of this figure’s release.  The figure stands about 7 inches tall and he has 9 points of articulation.  You’d be forgiven for expecting that to be 10, since it sure does look like he’s got a waist swivel, but he, in fact, does not.  It’s got no motion, just an awkward assembly point.  The figure’s sculpt is unique to him, and a little bit pre-posed, which was still rather a new concept for DCD at this point.  There’s enough articulation to *sort of* change him up, but not really in any meaningful way.  But, his chosen pose is at least an okay one.  The details are a little on the simpler side, but are generally sharp and pretty well defined.  He looks the part, for sure, and I quite like that scowl on his face.  His paint’s also pretty simple, but generally okay.  The skin’s a little thick, which hides the sculpt a bit, but I do rather like that inhumanly green pallor he has.  Amazo was originally packed with his replica of Wonder Woman’s lasso.  It was just a simple spool of gold string, but it could hang on the little spot on his hip if you wanted.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I had no clue who Amazo was when this figure was first shown off, but he fascinated me, and I really wanted one.  It was probably the Green Lantern ring that really sold me, but that’s hardly the point.  My dad gave me a few appearances to read, and made sure I got the figure, which I seem to recall showed up while I was away on a trip of some sort.  He was waiting for me when I got home, alongside a bag full of promotional Mr. Mxyzptlk and Bat-Mite pins that I was still giving out to people well into my teens.  He’s not the most technically impressive figure, but he does look cool and he casts an imposing silhouette amongst the other early DCD figures.