Tag Archives: DC

#3385: Atom Smasher

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

ATOM SMASHER

JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED (MATTEL)

When the titular team of Justice League expanded its roster for the follow-up Justice League Unlimited, they had to reach beyond just canon Leagers from the comics, including a number of other unaffiliated heroes, and, of course, rolling in some competing teams’ rosters as well.  Since the JLA’s predecessors the Justice Society had not been adapted into the earlier show (apart from their role in the comics being referenced by stand-ins the Justice Guild in “Legends”), a mix of their classic and modern rosters were added to the League.  From the modern side, there was Albert Rothstien, aka Atom Smasher.  Atom Smasher was never really more than a cameo role, with a few focuses during some of the more involved fight scenes, but never a speaking role.  Still, he did get included in the toyline, so he had that going for him.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Atom Smasher was first added to Mattel’s Justice League Unlimited tie-in line in the third assortment of three-packs, released in early 2005.  He was packed alongside re-packs of the more articulated Green Lantern and Flash figures.  He was re-released later that same year as a single release.  The figure stands about 4 3/4 inches tall and he has 5 points of articulation.  Atom Smasher is based on the larger male base body, based on tooling that originally belonged to the first Superman figure.  It’s the largest available base body, and one that matches respectably well with how Atom Smasher is depicted on the show, at least in terms of build.  He was, however, almost always shown as above average size, so he’s woefully short for Atom Smasher.  But, without the re-use, it’s not like he was going to get made.  His only new part is a head sculpt.  It’s a little on the small side, but that seems to match with his internal proportions alright.  It’s fully masked, so there’s not a ton of detailing, but it gets what it needs to.  The rest of the detailing is carried via paintwork, which is handled alright.  Not amazing, or anything.  Of note, the sections that should be blue are more of a purple.  That, coupled with the slightly darker shade of the gold for his belt, kind of muddies the overall look of his design.  At the very least, a little bit more actual line work may have helped to differentiate the costume elements just a bit more.  As it stands, it’s okay, but just sort of “meh.”  The three-pack version of Atom Smasher didn’t include any extras, which was honestly okay, since he doesn’t use much.  For the single release, he got an extra large hand clip-on piece.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This Atom Smasher didn’t start out as mine.  Back when the JLU line was running, there was a Walmart on the way home from where my family vacationed, which was out of the way enough to be the perfect spot to find new JLU figures.  On the trip that got me my Hawk and Dove figures, my brother got the set that included this guy.  He got out of action figure collecting for the most part a few years ago, and this figure was one of the ones I inherited when he purged a lot of his collection.  He’s not the line’s strongest offering, that’s for sure, but he does alright, given the confines of how these guys were made.

#3380: Kyle Rayner

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

KYLE RAYNER

JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED (MATTEL)

When Green Lantern first appeared in the DC Animated Universe in Superman: The Animated Series, the producers opted to use the then-current holder of the title, Kyle Rayner, as their introductory Lantern.  Kyle gained a good portion of Hal Jordan’s origin, being the first Earth Lantern, having gotten the ring directly from Abin Sur, but he still retained Kyle’s personality and background as an artist.  When *a* Green Lantern reappeared in Justice League, it was not Kyle, but rather John Stewart, who was chosen not only to add a little more diversity to the titular team, but also to give the show a slightly less defined Lantern to work with for some of the show’s character arcs.  Rayner still existed within the narrative however, and was granted a couple of additional cameos, as well as a small speaking role in Justice League Unlimited‘s “The Return.”  It was this appearance that finally got animated Kyle some action figure treatment.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Kyle Rayner was initially released in 2006 during the second iteration of Mattel’s Justice League Unlimited tie-in line, under the orange packaging style, in a pack that also included fellow GLs Katma Tui and Arkkis Chummuck.  He was then re-released as a single the following year, and once more in a convention-exclusive pack with Evil Star and Goldface.  As noted in the intro, Kyle is based on his design from “The Return,” which was itself an adaptation of Kyle’s Jim Lee-designed costume update from the early ’00s.  The figure stands about 4 1/2 inches tall and he has 5 points of articulation.  He’s based on the medium-sized male base body.  Rather fittingly, it started as a GL body, and it remains so here.  Kyle’s original build was a bit smaller, but by the time of “The Return,” he’d bulked up a bit, so it makes sense.  Kyle got a new head sculpt for this release, and it’s honestly a pretty good one.  We don’t see a ton of Kyle in the show, but this matches up pretty nicely with what we do see, while still being rather unique.  It’s sharp, clean, and pretty on point for the character.  Kyle’s paint work does most of the heavy lifting, as with most of these figures.  It does it well; his outfit’s detailing is pretty spot on.  The green’s a little prone to chipping, but not as bad as some figures from the line.  The head paint is alright, though a bit washed out; the brown for the hair feels a little light, as does the skin tone.  But, it still works well enough overall.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

“In Brightest Day” is far and away my favorite entry in the DCAU.  I was such a huge GL fan as a kid, and I excited recorded the episode on VHS when it aired back in the day.  The lack of a GL in the tie-in line always bummed me out.  When Kyle was replaced with John in JL, I obviously adjusted, and I was happy to get plenty of cool figures for John.  That said, I still hoped for Kyle.  Admittedly, this wasn’t the look I initially had in mind, and to this day, I still would love to get a STAS version of the character, but I do still really love this guy, too.  He honestly holds up pretty well.

#3375: Elongated Man

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

ELONGATED MAN

JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED (MATTEL)

While I’ve up to this point only really mentioned him in passing here on the site, Ralph Dibney, aka the Elongated Man, is one of my favorite comic book characters, and certainly my favorite DC character. Though he’s been rattling around the DC universe since 1960, he spent his first 44 years strangely absent from other mediums, always playing second fiddle to Plastic Man. His lick finally changed in 2004, with first a DC Direct figure, and then a figure to correspond with his first animated appearance in Justice League Unlimited. I’m taking a look at the latter of those today.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Elongated Man was released in the first assortment of Justice League Unlimited three-packs in 2004.  He was packed in a set which was supposedly based on “The Greatest Story Never Told.”  Given that the episode in question is honestly one of Elongated Man’s largest roles on the show, it made some degree of sense.  Of course, the fact that the set packed him with Batman and Hawkgirl (who, it should be noted, was not only not wearing her Thanagarian costume in JLU, but had also not yet returned after leaving in “Starcrossed”), and did *not* feature Booster Gold, who was, you know, the main character in the episode.  I mean, sure, I’m thrilled about the inclusion of Elongated Man and all, but still.  Elongated Man was also released single-careded, in both the orange and purple card styles, in 2006 and 2007.  The figure stands about 4 1/2 inches tall and he has 5 points of articulation.  He’s built on the skinny male body (which was a tweaked Flash sculpt), which very definitely fits with the character’s depiction on the show.  He got a new head sculpt.  It’s an alright offering; not quite as spot-on as some of the others in the line, but certainly not bad.  The decision to go with the full grin doesn’t work out quite as well as they’d hoped, I feel; he didn’t really show his teeth much on the show, so it throws the likeness off just a little bit.  But, like I said, hardly a bad sculpt at all, and certainly one that made him unique from the other figures in the line.  The figure’s paint work followed the show’s lead, putting Ralph in his ’80s era purple and white costume.  It translates fairly well, and the application’s generally pretty clean.  It hasn’t held up the best on my copy, who has some chipping and wear, but that could just be a me thing.  The original three-pack release of Ralph had no accessories, but the two single releases added a weird grapple thing to clip onto his wrist.  It’s an odd piece.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The three-pack that Ralph was included in was one of the trickier ones to acquire early in the line’s run, and I don’t recall seeing one at retail during the original run.  I also missed out on his single releases.  Instead, I got my Elongated Man figure loose, in fact as one of my earliest purchases from All Time Toys way back in the day.  I recall being quite excited to find him, especially since it meant I didn’t get saddled with extras of the other two figures in the pack.  He’s not a perfect figure, but he *is* an Elongated Man figure, so that gives him quite a leg up in my book!

#3370: Red Tornado

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

RED TORNADO

JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED (MATTEL)

Originally the costumed alter-ego of the humor-based Ma Hunkel in the Golden Age, the identity of Red Tornado was worked into the more serious side of DC in the ’60s, this time around as an android.  Built by T.O. Morrow to attack the JSA, Red Tornado would, unsurprisingly, turn on his creator, and join the team he was meant to destroy, before dying and then coming back and joining the JLA, and then dying some more, and then coming back some more.  Lotta dying and coming back for this guy.  Red Tornado’s first appearance in animation was as a background/cameo character in Justice League Unlimited, before getting up to a speaking role.  It wasn’t a ton, but it was a decent focus, and, most importantly, it meant toy coverage.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Red Tornado was initially released in the second round of Mattel’s Justice League Unlimited tie-in line in 2004, in a three pack that included the Flash and Green Lantern.  He then got a single release in 2005, and then another in 2010.  The figure stands about 4 1/2 inches tall and he has 5 points of articulation.  Red Tornado is built on the medium size male base body, which was originally Green Lantern.  It’s a good match for Tornado’s build on the show, so it’s a sensible choice for a starting point.  He got a re-worked set of legs featuring his boot cuffs, as well as a unique head sculpt and an add-on for his cape.  The new pieces do a respectable job of capturing his show design, especially the head, which feels especially true to that incarnation of the character.  Red Tornado winds up rather similar to Dr. Fate when it comes to the paint work, which is decent in terms of application, but misses the mark a bit in terms of accuracy.  He steers closer to Tornado’s classic color scheme, which means that his gloves are yellow and the boots are red, when they should both actually be blue.  Moreover, the blue on his cape is far brighter than it should be for proper show accuracy.  The 2010 release would correct the issues with the paint, but the 2004 and 2005 releases were both incorrect.  Ultimately, it’s really not the end of the world, and the application is at least still pretty nice.  The three-pack version (which I have) didn’t get any accessories, but the single versions both got a tornado effect piece.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I know I didn’t get Red Tornado brand new, but I know I also got him pretty new.  Like, line was still running, but it was probably in a different packaging style.  According to my records, he came from Cosmic Comix, which makes a degree of sense.  I remember being pretty happy to have gotten one.  Not a ton beyond that, but he’s definitely fun.

#3357: The Demon – Demon Knights

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

THE DEMON — DEMON KNIGHTS

DC MULTIVERSE (MCFARLANE TOYS)

“Jason Blood, once a mortal man who lived centuries ago, was bound to Etrigan after the Demon was summoned by none other than the wizard Merlin. Jason was rendered immortal and granted the ability to swap places with his demonic counterpart upon saying the magic words. Though Jason has tried many times to exert his will over Etrigan while he is transformed, the Demon is too powerful to be completely contained. Still, more often than not, Etrigan, despite his nature, is interested in the greater good—even if his motives and methods remain suspect.”

It seems quite a mistake at this time to craft a bio that features no rhyme.  Could it really be that hard, I ask of you, to describe the character in a way that rings true?  I suppose I’ll have to try my own hand, and see just how the words may land.  Behold the figure in front of you, which I must now rightly review.  It is a creation of McFarlane Toys, and they frequently avert my joys.  The DC line is often off the mark, due to its focus on the Knight who’s Dark.  This Man of Bats often leads the sales, but it’s not only his stories from whence each toy hails.  In this toy’s case, he’s more obscure, but a fan favorite you can be sure.  He’s brought forth with the proper chime of the summoning words that are a rhyme.  Gone, gone, the form of man, rise the demon, Etrigan!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Demon who’s of Demon Knights inflection is from McFarlane’s DC Multiverse collection.  The time in which this figure was done was the early part of 2021.  Demon Knights of the New 52 was the version that they chose to do.  It seems to me to be quite odd to not launch the character with a more classic nod.  But although it may be on the verge of odd, it could also just be Todd being Todd.  Although the design might not quite ring true, at the very least, he’s something new.  The figure stands just over 7 inches tall and his articulation is 35 points counted in all.  To the line’s other figures his movement matches, although it’s not without its own little scratches.  The ankles could be more secure, to keep him from falling to the floor.  The figure’s sculpt is one that’s completely new, and is really one that gives what’s due.  The character’s look is well reflected, and texturing is well perfected.  The figure’s head is my favorite piece, and really catches the character for this release.  The figure’s paint is well applied, and certainly feels as though they tried.  The color scheme is different there, then what he’s usually known to wear.  It’s very definitely a lot of silver and grey, which not the most eye catching, I have to say.  Still, it’s true to the source, so it’s only fair to let it run its course.  The Demon has amongst his cares a stand and sword, which are his wares.  His sword is hard for him to hold, and takes tricky wedging into his hand’s mold.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The Demon’s a character I greatly enjoy, and so I’d like to have him as a toy.  His costume choice is not my preferred, but still my interest was not deterred.  Getting the figure was no real chore, I just waited for his arrival at the store.  In the end, the figure’s fine, which seems the curse of this whole line.  Even when it’s at its best, it struggles rising above the rest.  The Demon’s cool, that much is true, but as always, odd choices still come shining through.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website.

#3354: Nightwing

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

NIGHTWING

DC LEGION OF COLLECTORS (FUNKO)

Remember when those weird subscription boxes were literally everywhere, shipping out, intermittently, a box of actual garbage or a thing that everyone wanted that shouldn’t be locked behind a random subscription box?  Pepperidge Farm remembers.  Yes, it was a simpler time, before people realized that, instead of paying up front for a box that might contain something they actually wanted or might contain actual garbage, they could just, you know, pay for the the things they wanted.  And also that the boxes were perhaps a wee bit scammy.  Whatever the case, everyone and their mother was getting in on the trend, and there’s no trend in the world that Funko isn’t gonna at least try to sink in their own special way, so you bet they were in on this one.  They had a bunch of them, in fact, based on just some of the cacophony of licenses they hold firmly within their grasp, which included DC, which got a service called “Legion of Collectors.”  It was largely a delivery service for more Pops, but they mixed in a few other things, including a totally exclusive line of actual 3 3/4 inch figures.  That’s crazy.  And now I’m gonna look at the Nightwing.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Nightwing was one of the four retro style figures available in the January 2018 box for the DC Legion of Collectors subscription.  The whole box was Teen Titans-themed, and there were four figures in total (Nightwing, Starfire, Raven, and Cyborg), as well as a Nightwing Pop!, a T-shirt, and a comic.  Wooo.  Apparently no one liked the figures, so they’re not, like, super expensive, but also Funko collectors have a stupid sense of value, so they’re, like, still reluctant to let them go for cheap, because there’s a sticker that says “exclusive.”  I like them, so, umm, here I am.  The figure stands just shy of 3 3/4 inches tall and has 11 points of articulation.  Nightwing makes use of the post-ReAction 3 3/4 inch articulation set-up, like we saw with the short-lived Batman ’66 and Game of Thrones lines.  It’s basic, but honestly works pretty nicely; it’s a shame Funko didn’t do more with the style.  The figure gets a unique sculpt, based on the late George Perez’s first Nightwing design.  Like the other figures in this style, it’s got a bit of a retro vibe to it, though not quite so much as the ReAction figures.  Given the use of his original costume, this Nightwing fits well with the established style.  The costume details all translate well, and the head has a respectable likeness of Perez’s look for Dick Grayson.  Nightwing’s paint work is, like the rest of the figure, basic; there’s a little bit of fuzz and slop on some of the edges, and the skin tone is a little pale, but it’s generally a decent set-up.  Nightwing is packed with no accessories, though I’m not entirely sure what you would give him anyway.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I didn’t pay much attention to the Legion of Collectors stuff when it launched or while it was running, so I didn’t actually know of these figures’ existence until a good while after they were shipped out.  The figure that actually hinted to me that they existed was actually the First Appearance Superman from a different box.  I didn’t know of the Teen Titans figures until this one was traded into All Time, loose, about a year ago.  He’s kinda goofy, but I dig him.  I dig him a lot.  It’s a shame they didn’t do the whole team line-up in this style, but Nightwing’s cool.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#3345: Dr. Fate

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

DR. FATE

JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED (MATTEL)

Justice League Unlimited‘s expanded roster brought with it a mix of characters, some all-new, and some with prior DCAU appearances.  Dr. Fate had shown up a few times before, with a guest appearance on Superman: The Animated Series during the show’s second season, as well as on JLU‘s precursor Justice League, as part of the Defenders homage team in “The Terror Beyond.”  The character had only a few rather brief appearances during JLU‘s run, but it didn’t really take much to justify giving someone an action figure with that show.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Dr. Fate was part of Mattel’s launch line-up for their JLU tie-in line in 2004.  He was in a three-pack alongside Green Arrow and The Flash, in a pack specifically referencing the episode “Initiation.”  Fate’s not really much of a player in that episode, but neither is Flash, so the whole thing winds up a bit odd.  It was honestly a rather frequent occurrence in the early multi-packs for the line.  Fate wound up getting re-packed a good number of times, as a single in 2005, alongside Vixen and Hawkgirl in 2006, alongside Starman and Flash in 2007, and solo once more in 2009.  The figure stands about 4 1/2 inches tall and he has 5 points of articulation.  Fate was built on the skinny male base body, which was patterned on the original Flash figure.  It generally fits pretty well with Fate’s depiction on the show.  He gets a new head, cape, and arms to fully sell the look.  The head’s a pretty spot-on piece, as is the cape.  The arms add his gloves, and they’re not bad, but they are a touch too long for the base body, giving him something of a monkey arms set-up.  Dr. Fate’s paint work is okay in application, but not so great in accuracy.  His colors are definitely too bright for the animated Fate, and his neck and boots both wind up being done in yellow, instead of blue like they should be for proper accuracy.  The application was at least decent, and the slightly metallic finish for the yellow parts is at least a little more visual pop.  It’s worth noting that the 2009 release actually corrected the layout of the colors, though not the actual shades of them.  For his three-pack releases, Fate got no accessories, but his single releases both got a magic effect for him to hold.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I took a while to get the Dr. Fate figure from this line.  I don’t really know why, honestly.  It’s not like I dislike the character or anything.  In fact, I generally like him, and his animation design as a whole.  For whatever reason, I wound up waiting until his first solo release, which I more than likely got with a gift card after the holidays.  He’s got some issues with accuracy, and those monkey arms are a bit much, but he’s still a pretty fun figure, all things considered.

#3340: Nemesis

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

NEMESIS

JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED (MATTEL)

Beginning as the star of a back-up feature running in Brave and the Bold (which was then serving as DC’s equivalent to Marvel’s Marvel Team-Up), Thomas Tresser aka Nemesis has never been a particularly high profile DC character, but he’s had a few notable moments over the years.  He’s certainly a different sort of character, especially for his era, being more of an espionage type of character who nevertheless still regularly interacts with the main DC heroes.  He’s kind of like a Black Widow type almost.  In this day and age of media, it’s honestly downright baffling that his only appearance outside of the comics is as a couple of cameos in Justice League Unlimited.  He did at least get a toy out of it, though.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Nemesis was released in 2007, under the third iteration of Mattel’s Justice League Unlimited line.  He was in the fifth series following the line’s move to the purple “DC Universe” branded packaging, and was available only in a three-pack alongside Lightray and a winged variant of Amazo.  The figure stands about 4 1/2 inches tall and he has 5 points of articulation.  Nemesis was built on the medium male body, which was reworked from the basic Green Lantern.  It’s a good, balanced build, and was very definitely the line’s best base body.  He got the new fancy-booted legs from the prior year’s Lex Luthor, as well as that figure’s shoulder harness add-on.  Those pieces, coupled with a brand-new head sculpt, made for a really solid recreation of Nemesis’s design as seen on the show.  The head sculpt is honestly one of the line’s best, and is just a great recreation of Nemesis not only from the show, but from the comics as well.  The paint work on this guy is very basic.  Largely, he’s just molded in black.  There’s a little bit of painted add-on work, and it does what needs to, and does it pretty well.  Nemesis was *technically* not packed with any accessories, but he’s a master of disguise and the other two figures in the pack were both built on the same base body, so maybe they’re just disguises?  Yeah, let’s spin it that way.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

My knowledge of Nemesis really came from his stint as a supporting player in Wonder Woman.  I really dug the character there, and liked how they worked him into the overall story, fitting him loosely into that Steve Trevor role.  Beyond that, I’ve always thought he had a pretty cool look.  JLU was still very hard to find at retail when this set hit, but Cosmic Comix happened to get one in back when they were still relatively new, and I was enough of a fan of all the figures included to pick it up.  Nemesis is a great example of the line’s parts re-use really working well to give us characters we wouldn’t otherwise get.

#3335: Shining Knight

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

SHINING KNIGHT

JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED (MATTEL)

In the 1940s, DC’s premiere team of super heroes was the Justice Society of America.  They weren’t the only grouping of heroes under DC at the time, however.  Some of their lower-tier heroes were banded together in 1941’s Leading Comics as the “Seven Soldiers of Victory.”  Though they never got far beyond obscurity, Justice League Unlimited‘s “Patriot Act” brought the team into the DCAU, as a deployment of Justice Leaguers handed parade duty.  The episode serves as a particular focus for Sir Justin of Camelot, aka the Shining Knight, who had been a background character throughout the show’s run.  He also got a figure from the tie-in line, because why not?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Shining Knight was released in 2006, under the second iteration of Mattel’s Justice League Unlimited line.  He was in the third series following the moving of the line under the larger “DC Universe” banner, and was packed in a three-pack with Zatanna and a repackaged Batman.  He was then re-packed on his own the following year.  The figure stands 4 1/2 inches tall and he has 5 points of articulation.  Shining Knight is built on the slightly larger mid-size male base body, patterned on the original Batman mold.  While a lot of the figures that used this base were in a weird spot, but it honestly works pretty well for Shining Knight in regards to how his build was portrayed on the show.  Shining Knight gets a new head, as well as an add-on piece for his tunic.  It’s not really the best parts selection the line had to offer.  The head is plain and simply just too small for the base body, in addition to not being a particularly good sculpt, no matter it’s sculpting.  He just looks kind of goony and off-model.  Not helping things is the tunic piece, which is rather bulky.  It just makes the head look even smaller.  Its actual sculpt isn’t bad, though; the folds are nicely rendered, and it hands pretty believably.  The color work on Shining Knight hits this weird spot that all the metallic characters hit, which is which direction do you go with the coloring.  In contrast to most of the other gold-clad characters, Shining Knight gets a flat yellow, which is honestly not a bad call.  There’s even a little bit of detailing on the arms and legs to do the scales, which is pretty cool.  The rest of the paint is pretty basic, but gets the job done.  Shining Knight was packed with no accessories for the three-pack release, while the single-pack added his sword to the mix.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

At the time Shining Knight was added to the line, the figures had gotten pretty hard to find, and I wasn’t actively searching.  Adding to that, I just didn’t really like the figure’s look, so I didn’t go out of my way.  Christian wound up getting one for his collection one way or another, so I ultimately wound up getting his when he got out of action figure collecting.  It’s not a great figure.  It’s not even a particularly good figure.  It’s the only Shining Knight figure, though, so there’s that.

#3330: Sand

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

SAND

JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED (MATTEL)

After Robin made kid sidekicks all the range, a lot of other heroes dabbled in the concept.  In house at DC, they even reworked their pulp/mystery hero Sandman into a more conventional hero (complete with a yellow and purple spandex costume) and gave him his own sidekick, Sandy Hawkins, aka Sandy the Golden Boy.  Sandy stuck with Sandman until the end of his original Golden Age run, but was curiously absent when Sandman returned in the ’60s.  To explain what happened to Sandy, writer Len Wein crafted “The Creature in the Velvet Cage”, which revealed that Sandy had been turned into a silicon monster when one of Westley Dodds’ experiments went awry.  He would eventually be returned to his human form, and years later was added to the relaunched JSA book in the early ’00s, where he manifested sand-based powers, and took on the identity of “Sand.”  Sand wound up being one of the background filler characters in Justice League Unlimited, which netted him an action figure for all his trouble.  Silver lining, right?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Sand was released in 2007 under the third iteration of Mattel’s Justice League Unlimited tie-in line, after they’d moved it under the larger DC Universe banner.  He was part of the seventh series of products under the set-up, which was also the first one to sport the purple packaging.  He was packed in a three-pack, alongside Star Sapphire and a re-pack of the more posable Superman figure.  Sand was based on his show design, of course, which was itself patterned on his first proper costume under the “Sand” name, which he’d gotten early into the ’00s JSA run.  The figure stands about 4 1/2 inches tall and he has 5 points of articulation.  Sand was built on the slightly larger mid-sized base body, which was patterned on the original Batman body.  It’s honestly the weakest on the male base bodies, due to how oddly posed it is, but it’s not terrible, and it does slightly break up the monotony of putting every one on the Amazo body.  He got a new head sculpt, as well as re-using the shoulder harness from the Injustice Gang Luthor and the legs from Mirror Master, both of which had been added to the line the prior year.  The new head is actually a really nice recreation of his animation model, and the other parts make for a respectable match as well, translating to a figure that’s really one of the more accurate JLU figures sculpturally.  His paint work does alright, too, covering all of the important details that aren’t sculpted, as well as adding the proper coloring to the parts that are sculpted.  His paint is a little thick, and definitely on the shiny side, but overall not bad.  Sand was packed with no accessories, unless you count the other two figures, I suppose.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Sand’s one of those characters I have this weird affinity for.  I was starting to get more into comics reading on my own when JSA was really hitting its stride, and Sand had this really cool look and was also getting a lot of focus.  I was honestly pretty thrilled when he was added to this line.  I got this set, as well as the one with Obsidian from the same assortment, on my way back from my family vacation, at a Walmart that served as the mid-way stop on most of our return trips.  He’s a pretty nifty little figure, and he’s the only version of Sand out there, so he’s also the best version of Sand out there.  He wins on a technicality!