Tag Archives: DC

#0060: Ultra Humanite

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

ULTRA HUMANITE

DC UNIVERSE CLASSICS (MATTEL)

Hey, two new thingies to my blog:  DC Universe Classics and Build-A-Figures.  DC Universe Classics was a great line of DC figures released by Mattel over the past few years.  It was one of the most expansive DC lines to date, and even though not every decision was perfect, it was a really fun line.  Unfortunately, the advent of the New 52*, DC mandated that the classic looks of the characters wouldn’t appear at retail.  So, Mattel attempted to move the line to their online store, Matty Collector.  However, questionable character choices, no advertising, unreasonably high prices and an over-reliance on a blind-faith all or nothing method of distribution on the figures meant that the sub just barely made it through two years before dying with a whimper (Batzarro?  Seriously!?!  That’s the line’s final figure?).  But, the line did give us some great figures, like the one I’m looking at today.

This figure’s a build-a-figure, or Collect-n-Connect as Mattel branded them.  That meant that each figure in a particular series included a piece to one larger figure, so if you got the whole series, you’d have a cool extra figure.  This time around, it’s everyone’s favorite body-hopping mad scientist with a propensity for albino apes:  The Ultra Humanite!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Ultra Humanite was the Collect-N-Connect figure for the 14th series of DC Universe Classics, which was also the 3rd series of the line exclusive to Wal-Mart.  He stands around 8 inches tall and has 22 points of articulation.  Humanite’s had a few distinctive looks over the years, but Mattel decided to go with his albino ape in a red unitard look.  It’s a good choice, as it’s by far the most distinctive look that the character’s had over the years, and had some prominence a few years ago when the character appeared on the Justice League animated series.  Humanite is mostly a new sculpt, though he does share arms with previous C-n-C Gorilla Grodd.  It makes sense given their design similarities.  Everything else is new, and it’s all very well done.  The hair detailing continues over his whole body, and looks good enough. His clothing is a bit jarring in its smoothness when compared to the rest of the body, but that’s accurate to the characters design, so I suppose it’s to be expected.  The head sculpt is easily my favorite part of the figure.  It perfectly conveys Humanite’s smug superiority, while perfectly replicating his ape features.  The paint is nice and consistent with no slop or bleed.  There’s a nice wash on the body to bring out the detail in the sculpt.  It’s a bit heavy in a few places, but it does the job well.  Humanite didn’t include any accessories, but given he’s technically an accessory himself, that’s okay.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Due to the unfortunate distribution of the DCUC line, this was actually the first C-n-C I got all the pieces for.  And even then, it was more a stroke of luck finding the necessary figures at a nearby Wal-Mart.  But I’m really glad I was able to get him built with relative ease, as I feel he’s one of the strongest figures in the line.

*In 2011, DC decided to do a line-wide reboot of their entire line of comics, AGAIN.  So, they redesigned all the characters, and launched 52 new titles, referred to as the “New 52.”  I feel there’s enough nerd rage in this review already, so I won’t delve into my opinion on that idea at this time.

#0054: Green Lantern – Emerald Shield

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GREEN LANTERN – EMERALD SHIELD

GREEN LANTERN: REBIRTH (DC DIRECT)

So, I’m a big Green Lantern fan, and as such, I have a whole lot of Green Lantern stuff.  Here’s a piece of that collection.  It’s another DC Direct review, this time from one of their many Green Lantern lines.  This line was done to correspond with Green Lantern: Rebirth, the series that brought the long dead Hal Jordan back from the dead.  I’ll be looking at one of the variants of Hal Jordan from that line.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Hal was released as a part of DC Direct’s Green Lantern: Rebirth line.  He was a Toyfare exclusive*.  He was a recast of the regular Green Lantern from the line.   He stands a little over 6 inches and has 13 points of articulation.  Like I said, he shares his sculpt with the basic Hal Jordan from the line, but this is the first of the two I’ll be looking at, so I’ll examine it here.  It’s a nice sculpt, with basic smooth lines.  The details of the costume are etched in.  The musculature of the body is handled pretty well, with no odd proportions.  The head is a decent approximation of Hal, looking somewhat cocky.  With the exception of his logo on his chest, GL  has no paint to speak of, because this particular figure’s gimmick is being molded in translucent green plastic to replicate when GL is all powered up.  GL includes a display stand, a piece that hooks onto the stand to allow GL to hover, and a power batter molded in translucent green.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This figure, along with the regular version, was a birthday gift from my parents.  It’s great because it combines my love of translucent action figures with my love of Green Lantern!  While the idea has been used several times since, this was really the first time that a GL figure was released in clear green, which made him extra cool at the time!

*ToyFare magazine was a pretty fantastic resource for collectors back in the day, providing not only news on upcoming releases, but also augmenting collectors’ collections with a few exclusive items here and there.

#0041: Robin & Beast Boy

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ROBIN & BEAST BOY

TEEN TITANS GO! (BANDAI)

Keeping with the theme of cartoon adaptation toy lines from two days ago, I’ll be looking at two of the figures from Bandai’s Teen Titans Go! toy line, released to coincide with the Cartoon Network Teen Titans show.   The figures were released packaged with large, nonsensical vehicles, or packaged in two-packs.  I opted for the second option.  Today, I’ll be looking at the basic versions of Robin and Beast Boy.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

This two-pack was released as part of the first series of figures in Bandai’s 3 ½ inch line.

ROBIN

First up is the team leader, sidekick to Batman, Robin.  Robin is based on his look from the show.  He stands 3 ½ inches tall and features 9 points of articulation.  I feel it’s necessary to point out that this line was NOT 3 ½ inch scale, but rather every character was exactly 3 ½ inches tall.  It’s fine for the two I’m looking at today, but it will quickly become an issue.   Robin is a decent sculpt, but not the greatest.  The arms have been sculpted to hold the handles of the vehicle it was possible to purchase him with, making them awkward if you bought his separately like I did.  The legs also have a wide stance, and seem to be a tad long and definitely too bulky.  To top it all off, the head is passable at best, but certainly looks off in comparison to the show’s design.  The paint is okay, but there is a fair amount of overspray and fuzzy lines.  As you’ll notice, the paint was also not the most durable variety, with lots of the details scratched off with very little play.

BEAST BOY

Next is the team’s resident funny-man, Beast Boy.  Like Robin, he’s based on his look from the show.  He too stands 3 ½ inches tall and had 9 points of articulation.  He’s got an okay sculpt, but he’s definitely too tall, and his head is too small for his look from the show.  He has the same issue with the oddly positioned arms, and legs that aren’t the right proportion.  The paint on Beast Boy is a bit rougher than Robin, with even more noticeable slop, and a whole lot more wear, with very light play.  Also, the two different purple paints don’t really match very well.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

These guys were found on an excursion to Toys R Us with my Mom (who is super awesome, and super supportive of my insane hobby).  I recall being really excited to get them at the time, as there was a bit of a delay from the show’s premiere to the release of the toys.  I remember liking them at the time, but as time has gone by, I’ve started to see the flaws more and more.  The line did improve a bit, but man was this first wave a rough one!

#0039: Ferro Lad

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FERRO LAD

LEGION OF SUPERHEROES (DC DIRECT)

Today, we’re taking a look at another DC Direct figure.  This time around, it’s Ferro Lad, member of the Legion of Superheroes!  For those not in the know, the Legion of Superheroes is a group of teenaged superheroes  from the 30th Century, inspired into heroism by the stories of Superboy (this was back when Superboy was just a younger Clark Kent).  Ferro Lad, who joined the team not too long after they initially appeared, possessed the ability to turn his body into iron, kinda like Colossus of the X-Men (though Ferro Lad appeared about 10 years earlier).  Ferro Lad is mostly noteworthy for his place as the first Legionnaire to die (and stay dead) in the line of duty, sacrificing himself to defeat the Sun-Eater.  According to his creator Jim Shooter, Ferro Lad was meant to be the first black member of the team, an idea that the editors at DC at the time decided to veto.  So, instead, the first black legionnaire was Tyroc.  Thanks guys…

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Ferro Lad was released as part of the fourth series of DC Direct’s Legion of Superheroes line.  He stands roughly 6 inches tall and features 11 points of articulation.  Ferro Lad was built on the basic legion body that DC Direct introduced in the second series of the line.  It’s a well done base body, and features a decent set of proportions.  I wish it had a bit more articulation, but at least he fits in with the rest of the line.  He features a newly sculpted head, belt and wrist braces.  The belt and wrist braces are add-on pieces.  This works fine for the wrist braces, but the belt doesn’t sit quite right on the body, so it looks a bit odd.    Not terrible, but it could be better.  The head is the most important part, and it’s done very well, in all its simplistic glory.  The rest of the details on the figure are carried out with paint.  With the exception of the flesh tones, all of the paint is done with a nice metallic sheen that fits the character well.  I do wish the rivets were sculpted instead of painted, but the paint does a serviceable job of handling them.  All in all, a solid figure, not the greatest, but far from the worst DC Direct had to offer.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Ferro Lad has long been my favorite member of the Legion.  Needless to say, I was extremely excited by DC Direct’s announcement that he’d be in the fourth wave of Legion figures.  It marks one of the earliest instances of me pre-ordering a figure, starting me down a very dangerous path.  When the figure finally arrived, I was thrilled beyond belief to have him.  I recognized the flaws, but I didn’t care, ‘cause I had a FERRO LAD ACTION FIGURE!

#0038: The Penguin

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PENGUIN

BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES (KENNER)

Today, we’re jumping back to the 90s for a bit!  This is a piece from Kenner’s tie-in line for the immensely popular Batman: The Animated Series.  If you’re not familiar with B:TAS, go find some clips online.  You’ll thank me.  Anyway, Kenner produced a line of action figures based on the title character and his many nemeses (Incidentally, Jonathan Coulton’s “Nemeses” is playing on my iPod right now, which is pretty sweet!).  I’ll be taking a look at one of those foes:  The Penguin!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Penguin was released as part of the first series of B:TAS figures, though in all honestly, my version might be a rerelease from later on.  He is, of course, based on the Penguin’s appearance from B:TAS, though I feel I should specify that it’s based on his appearance from before the series was brought back and all the characters got redesigns.  The figure stands about 4 inches tall, which puts him in proper scale with the 5 inch scale of the line (Toy Biz should’ve taken note!).  He has 5 points of articulation, the Kenner standard at the time.  He was a totally new sculpt.  It’s well done, and captures the stylized look of the show’s animation fairly well.  He’s not spot on, but it’s not too bad.  Looking at some images, I feel his head in particular is a bit off.  Perhaps if it were just a touch larger.  For the most part, the figure is molded in the necessary colors, so there’s not a whole lot of paint, but what’s there is applied evenly and consistently.  There’s very little actual detail work to speak of, but it works for the style.  The images I’ve been able to find online of the figure show him including a coat and umbrella, but I honestly don’t remember mine having those, furthering my belief that he was a rerelease.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This figure was a gift from my Nana, given to me one year for Christmas along with a few other Batman figures.  I recall kind of wanting it, though I don’t really know why, as I’m not a very big fan of the Penguin.  Regardless, he spent many hours fighting the caped crusader and associates.

# 0035: Catwoman

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CATWOMAN

BATMAN ‘66 (MATTEL)

Today, I’ll be taking a look another new addition to my collection.  It’s Catwoman from Mattel’s Batman ’66 line, which I have yet to look at on this blog, so this’ll be a first.  Awesome.  I’m going to assume everybody knows Catwoman, but if you don’t know the 1960s Batman TV show this version is based on, you should definitely read up on it.  It’s a lot of fun.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

This figure is obviously based on Catwoman from the 1960s show, but specifically, this one’s based on Julie Newmar’s portrayal of the character.  I’m more of a Lee Merriweather fan myself, but Newmar was the first, the longest running and is typically the best remembered Catwoman by fans of the show, so she was a good choice to do right off the bat.  Catwoman was released in (kind of) the second series of the Batman ’66 line, although she was released separately from the other two figures in the series.  She stands roughly 6 inches tall and has 22 points of articulation.  Unlike many of Mattel’s previous DC lines, which rely heavily on reuse, Catwoman is an all new sculpt.  Admittedly, it’s one of the better sculpts they’ve done, in that it does come fairly close to a real woman’s proportions, which is a nice change.  It’s not perfect, mind you, but not terrible.  The head sculpt is also well done, with more than a passing resemblance to Julie Newmar.  Unfortunately, the paint doesn’t quite live up to the sculpt.  It’s not terrible, but the face especially is really thickly painted, and the eye lashes and eyebrows are painfully obviously patterned designs.  None of this ruins the figure, but I can’t help but think that the likeness would increase ten-fold with a better paintjob.   Catwoman also includes a sound effect labeled stand and a character card featuring a screen cap from the show.  The stand is the same as every other stand in the line, but Catwoman’s reads “CRRAACK!” like the sound a whip would make, making it a good fit for Catwoman.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I acquired my Catwoman figure from Amazon, like the other Batman ’66 figures, when they all went up for preorder.  Amazon has quickly become my go to for ordering toys because it just makes life a whole lot easier!

#0032: Mr Mxyptlk

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MR MXYPTLK

SUPERMAN/BATMAN (DC DIRECT)

Today’s figure is technically only half a figure.  Or rather, half a two pack that was sold as a single figure.  And this figure’s only half the figure he used to be…no, wait… Sorry, I’ll come in again!

Occasionally, there is a character that is of a much smaller stature than most other characters in the line.  Toy companies have gone back and forth on how to handle releasing such characters.  Selling the character by themselves means you either have to come up with a new price point (too difficult), or overcharge for them (which pissed off the fans).  The solution that a lot of companies tend to settle on is including smaller characters as an accessory with another character.

That’s the case with today’s figure:  Mr. Mxyptlk* from DC Direct’s Superman/Batman line.   Mxy was originally packed with the Joker, but I have several Jokers and increasingly less and less space, so I just kept Mxy.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Mxy was released as part of the fourth series of DC Direct’s Superman/Batman line.  The series was based on the S/B comic’s “With a Vengeance” story line, which was drawn by artist Ed McGuinness.  As such, Mxy’s based on McGuinness’s rendition of the character.  This isn’t really an issue, as his design stayed pretty much in line with the classic depiction of the character.  Mxy stands about 4 inches tall, and has 5 points of articulation.  The biggest tweak that McGuinness made to Mxy for the story was giving the character a top hat in place of his trademark bowler.  DC Direct decided to please everybody, though, and included both hats with the figure.  The hats are held in place via magnets in the head and each hat.  They work like a charm, and allow you two cool looks for the character.  The paint and sculpt on the figure are both done very well, translating Mcguinness’s clean style to three dimensions expertly.  The paint highlights the sculpt nicely, especially on his face, where the paint makes Mxy’s crazed look even more pronounced.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

So, as I said above, this guy was only available as part of a two pack with the Joker, who I already have several figures of.  But this is the only Mr. Mxyptlk figure that’s ever been released, or is ever likely to be released, so no way was I passing him up!  So, I bought them both and sold off Joker.  I know, that doesn’t sound like me.  But I had to draw the line somewhere!

*Pronounced: Mix-Yes-Spit-Lick.  Thanks go to Paul Dini for explaining that for everybody!

#0029: Hawkman

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HAWKMAN

DC REACTIVATED (DC DIRECT)

Okay, so today’s review marks a slight change in the format of the blog.  Up until now, I’ve been actually picking the figures I review, with a little bit of purpose, plus a slight bit of alphabetizing , with the occasional review of a figure I just got.  Well, here’s the thing:  That’s a lot of work.  And I’m lazy.  So, from here out, I’ve created a randomized list of all the stuff currently in my collection that I’ll be working from, with possibly a few deviations.  New stuff will still be filtered in when I get it, as that makes life easier.

On to today’s review!  We’re looking at Hawkman from DC Direct’s Reactivated! line.  This was a line where DC Direct would reuse older tooling with a few new pieces in order to create various classically styled versions of the characters.  The line was pretty well done, though it had the ability to be a bit hit and miss.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Hawkman was part of the fourth series of the Reactivated! line.  He’s depicted here in the costume his Earth 2 version* wore during the many Justice League /Justice Society team-ups of the 60s and 70s.  It’s pretty much just his basic costume, but instead of a helmet that resembled a hawk, he had a generic yellow cowl.  At least it had a hawk symbol on the forehead, I guess.  It’s far from his most memorable look, but it was a look he had for a good chunk of time.  Anyway, that’s the look this figure’s based on.  He stands about 6 ½ inches tall, which puts him in scale with some of DC Direct’s other lines.  (They weren’t really good at picking a consistent scale and sticking to it).  He’s got 13 points of articulation, and a basic translucent blue stand with the Reactivated! logo on it.  His sculpting is solid, with good proportions all around, and the paint is nice and clean.  The wings are nicely textured, and have a nice wash over them to bring out the details in the sculpt.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I got this figure because I wanted a Hawkman for my JSA, and I was always really liked the old team-ups that this look was featured in.  That’s pretty much it.

*In the sixties, DC comics decided to relaunch a number of their characters, such as Green Lantern, Flash, and Hawkman with new takes on the characters.  When they decided to bring back the original versions of those characters, as well as explain why characters like Batman and Superman could be in their 30s in both the 40s and the 60s, DC decided to come up with the concept of the multiverse. They dubbed the main earth “Earth 1” and the older earth “Earth 2.”  This concept allowed them to tell stories on both earths without having to infringe upon the validity of the other.

#0025: John Stewart

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JOHN STEWART – GREEN LANTERN

DC MINIMATES

So today is yet another Minimate review.  I promise to take a bit of a break from the Minimates, but they do make up a fairly large chuck of the collection, so they’ll tend to pop up fairly often.

We’re looking at a Minimate from the DC line today.  This figure is Green Lantern John Stewart, the first Minimate produced in DC Direct’s attempted revival of the DC Minimates line after the initial Lego inspired C3 line failed.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

John was a San Diego Comic Con give away, meant to drum up interest in the full DC Minimates line.  Like many Minimate give aways, he features no additional parts, but that’s not an issue with this design.  John is built, unsurprisingly, on the basic Minimate body.  He stands about 2 inches tall and he has 14 points of articulation.  John is based on his appearance from the Justice League cartoon, which is a good look.  The lines are all very clean and sharp looking.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Although he was released a while ago, John is a fairly recent addition to my collection.  I don’t know why, as I’m a huge Green Lantern fan and a pretty big fan of John himself, but I’d say it’s mostly to do with him only being available at SDCC.  Anyway, I’ve got one now, and he’s a great addition to my collection.

#0004: Night Flight Batman

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NIGHT FLIGHT BATMAN

BATMAN FOREVER (1995)

0004a

Today’s review is the last of the Batman Forever reviews.  It’s a third variant of Batman.  This is another brief review.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

0004bThis is another Batman from the Batman Forever line.  He’s yet another fairly-typical-but-not-THE-typical-version(let’s go with FTBNTTV for short).  Night Flight Batman probably has the most descriptive name of the many batmen in the line, as his big feature was a giant set of wings(Lost long ago by silly child-Ethan).  There was certainly a fanbase for the pre-face “Night” amongst the Kenner think tank.  I get that he’s Batman and all, but seriously, Night’s a bit unoriginal.  The actual figure is pretty basic.  Note that I didn’t lose the cape on this one,  he never had one.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I do actually recall getting this one.  I liked the “basicness” of this one, so my grandmother bought it for me.   He actually didn’t get much playtime as Batman himself.  Instead, he had his face and torso covered in black tape so that I could use him as Black Panther with my Avengers.  Yeah, I was that kid…

Read the Flashback Friday Figure Addendum here!