Doom is coming to the San Diego Comic Con this year. That is right, just as Doomsday was the end for Superman in the comics (at least for, like, a whole month), so too does this lumbering behemoth bring the reckoning for the Mattel/Four Horsemen DC action figure mash-up. Sure, there will be a couple more figures released as the year rolls on, but Doomsday was certainly the last figure developed that is seeing a release, and he is no doubt going to cause a stir.
Okay, I am not going to spend too much time going over the history of this line, or this figure in particular, but needless to say, Doomsday was supposed to be the DC Club Infinite Earths exclusive for this year, had it made its selling minimum last summer. We all know that it did not pan out (I am still sad), but Mattel still found a way to get the final four figures that had already been tooled for four quarterly releases throughout 2014. Doomsday also found a home in San Diego, but as you will remember, this particular version of him (in his prison containment suit) was the incentive figure for the first tier of sales. Seeing as how the sales did not even hit the first tier, there was probably no way that we would ever see the more iconic “unleashed” version get a release, which is a shame, since that was most certainly the version that most of the fandom was demanding, and I would bet it would be a much better convention seller as well.
That is not to say that this version of the character is without merit, or even demand, because I feel he does have both, and this figure does a nice job of pulling off a lot of those details. At first I felt that this would be underwhelming in terms of design and shelf aesthetics, but for an essentially jumpsuit-covered giant, there are a lot of details to love. Again, Doomsday’s grey skin and giant protruding bones are very iconic, but the work done on all of the mechanical parts and hoses is actually quite good.
So, if you ignore the fact that this would always be the runner-up to the more iconic look, this is actually a nice figure. All of the sculpted and fabricated details are very strong. I like how all of the tubes and restraints wrap around his body, but are also destroyed and hanging off. I see this version as a bit of an “in the moment” figure as this is probably the point just before he goes absolutely ape-poopy and discards his green sweatsuit. We are talking about the Four Horsemen here, so you know that no matter the subject, the sculpt was going to be strong. Monsters, even those covered in green fabric, are still their specialty, after all.
If you are familiar with the Kilowog Collect & Connect figure, this figure feels a lot like him, but it actually has a lot of new parts, so I am not sure they actually share much. I know the argument was originally made that this figure would have fewer new parts than an “unleashed” version, but really, it can’t be THAT many. Doomsday has all of the standard articulation from the DCUC line, so he will keep right up with the rest of the figures. Sure, I can see the argument that he might be *too* big on this body, but after living with a very undersized Doomsday for about eight years or so, I am happy to bring a giant brute into the fray. If I had one little niggle about the figure, it is that the neck joint on this sample is pretty loose, so you have to position his head carefully to get him to hold a pose.
Since this an SDCC item, you know that the packaging would also be something special, and I think that Mattel did a nice job paying homage to the comics, but they also present the figure in a dynamic way. The outer box is black with a metallic red Superman symbol that matches the faithful comic where Doomsday changed the game. So, if you want to keep the box, it is very classy and will most certainly look nice on the shelf. The actual box the figure is packaged in depicts a broken Metropolis scene where Doomsday has obviously been doing some rampaging. The clear bubble has crack marks thoughout, so it looks like he is busting out. The packaging does a nice job of presenting the figure, but doesn’t go overboard to add to the cost.
Well, this figure is pretty storied some by this time, and he seems like a long time coming. I would have preferred that he would have been the 2014 Subscription figure, but the past is history and, as far as we know, Doomsday helps walk our dear DCUC into the sunset. Maybe there will be hope again for more figures someday, but for now, he is a very large end. I know a lot of people would have preferred the iconic Doomsday, but this figure does a nice job of representing this look. Doomsday will be on sale at SDCC in July and then up for sale on Matty Collector in August.
*Thanks for reading and thanks to Toy Guru for sending him along for a First Look.