Hot on the heels of the arrival of DC Universe Classics series four, Toy Guru was nice enough to send along a review set of four of the five figures from quickly approaching Wal-Mart exclusive DCUC 5! Check out some preview pictures and a few Fwoosh comments!
Before we start though, I have a small disclaimer- please keep in mind that the four figures that we are looking at are product samples. I have no idea if they are final or, if they are not, what stage they might be. So please, keep in mind that these four may be exactly what we can expect, or we might see something slightly different. I suppose we will be finding out rather quickly as these are scheduled for an October release. October is next week!
That little disclaimer aside, I have to say that I am very happy with overall quality of the set that I have. Strong joints and quality plastic are very important to me and I can safely say that I was not disappointed with this set. All of them have strong joints and no rubbery plastic. Looks like the shift to the new factory continues to pay off as I feel there is a marked improvement in plastic and over all QC in DCUC 4 and 5 over series 3. Let’s take a quick at each figure.
FIGURE 1: AMAZO
Amazo was not included in this set… drat! I guess we will have to be in suspense on him for a little while longer, but you can check out a packaged picture of him over at Raving Toy Maniac .
FIGURE 2: THE ATOM
The Satellite Era Justice League hit just keep on coming. With the addition of Dr. Palmer here, that puts us at eight! We are about half way there (depending on who you consider to be proper members of that group).
The Atom makes good sense for this series, he primarily a reuse of the Black Manta buck body and it makes sense. His new head sculpt is very nice and accurate to the character. Paint is solid too (though his costume isn’t the most complicated design in the world) all of the sharp lines crisp and clean and the little atomic symbol on his cowl is printed without flaw. I just wish he had a matching one on his belt.
Overall, Ray is probably my favorite figure of the bunch (I may have a bias toward him though as he is my favorite character of the group) and he is great addition to the JLA. I wish there was a little miniature version of him in this package too, but I imagine Wal-Mart’s strict budget for the line but the kaibosh on that pretty quickly. Maybe we might see little versions of the Atom included in later figures. Hmm…
FIGURE 3: THE RIDDLER
It seems like with all of the Batman villains included in the old DC Superheroes, Question Mark Ed would have gotten his turn at a figure a long time ago. Well, patience has paid off and we now have a bright green suit to add to out Bat-Baddies. Fans seem to be pretty split on their favorite version of the Riddler, some like the suit and others prefer the old spandex look, but this figure is great for the former.
My favorite part is his head sculpt, it fits the Riddler very well, he has a bit of a smirk and a slightly elongated chin. His bowler hat is spot on and the big question mark printed on it is very clean.
Speaking of question marks, he also has them very nicely printed on the vest portion of his jacket- what he has is very clean. The thing is, he is missing them from the jacket sleeves. Again, I am sure this choice was made due to budget, and it isn’t a deal-breaker for me. If I would have had to make the choice, I would have gone with eliminating all of the question marks from his jacket and put one on the tie. Like I said, it is not a huge deal, but it kind of gives you a look at the give and take in this business when you join forces with an exclusive retail partner. For you customizers out there that might be interested in doing away with the question marks yourself, the jack is cast in green plastic so I think a little acetone and a Q-Tip would leave you with a solid coat.
As you can see, The Riddler shares the same base body as Clark Kent and Two Face which means he still has the split in his tie. I don’t really notice it, but it is there. Another thing about that body is that it doesn’t have the longest neck in the world an with Ed’s elongated chin it becomes a little more apparent. Overall though, I like this figure and it is always good to have more rogues for Batman to deal with.
FIGURE 4: ERADICATOR
My least favorite character in the bunch is actually one of the nicest overall figures in the set. The paint on the costume could have been disastrous with all of the sharp blue and black lines, but Mattel got them right. The "S" symbol that connects with the cape is also done very well, though the cape is EXTREMELY stiff, an issue that Mattel is still struggling with to find a good compromise between style and function.
The best and worst parts of this figure both happen above the neck. The head sculpt for this Superman stand-in is excellent. Much better, in my opinion, than the old DCSH version. The red eyes look good and I have a feeling that we will be seeing a lot of angry Superman customs showing up after series 6 when a head swap on that new classic body becomes popular for a true classic Kal-El.
Then there are the goggles. This one kind of hurts, but not as bad as I thought it would. The cool clear yellow plastic has been lost to the budget in lieu of a gold painted version. In the end, it just doesn’t look as slick as the prototype. They just kind of look like gold painted plastic. It is not horrible, but not neat either. I will say this though, there are examples from the comics of the goggle being portrayed this way and they are much more noticeable in pictures than in person. I was going to display him sans goggles at first, but I am good with them now. It is going to come down to your personal preference- leave ’em on or lose them, he looks good both ways.
The goggle not withstanding, I am pleased with Eradicator as an overall figure, and that is saying something as he is a character I have never cared for. I guess that just leaves Superboy (or does it have to be "young" Superman now?) and we will finish off our "Reign" crew.
FIGURE 5: BLACK LIGHTNING
That acquiring of Jeff here add some welcome bulk to both my modern JLA and my Outsiders display. For being one of those that actually prefers that old school look for Black Lightning, I have to admit that this figure is the sleeper of the series for me- I really like him!
Again, he is using the Black Manta body, which works just fine and his head sculpt is very nice. I like his expression and the color of plastic they used for his skin tone. Like Eradicator, his goggles have moved from clear yellow to painted gold, but in Jeff’s case, it is a total non-issue for me. They are small and I am not so sure how much the clear would have enhanced they look at this scale. No biggie. The paint on his costume is actually really nice too for a mass market figure. There are some bleed issues here and there, but overall, all of the lightning designs are very clean. Looks good. Oh, and you can check out below how just adding one of the series 2 Superman Blue energy effects to Jeff brings out his powers.
Overall, I am very surprised at how much I like this figure, especially for the version that he is. BL is a great get for this series.
COLLECT AND CONNECT FIGURE: METALLO
I am going to keep this short and sweet for a couple of reasons. One, since I did not get an Amazo, I am missing a Metallo leg as well so he is not complete. I just cannot bring myself to fully review an incomplete figure. Second, the picture will do the talking. Whoa baby, Metallo is awesome and you can clearly see the bulk of the budget went right here. His paint is perfect, he is a huge beast (like Grundy height) and although his articulation is non-traditional to fit the look of this version of Metallo, it VERY strong to keep those large limbs posed like you want them. I am in absolute agreement with ???man in that that green paint around the Kryptonite heart is very cool and makes for a great effect, it does indeed look like it is glowing.
Even if you are not a fan of this version of Metallo or even of the overall character, you are going to be hard-pressed to not like this figure. He is awesome.
Overall, I am quite pleased with this wave and it makes perfect sense for a Wal-Mart exclusive. Hopefully they will be easy to find once they hit because everyone needs to get this set, and I need to get Amazo still. A HUGE thanks to Toy Guru for sending these gems to us for review. If you have any specific questions about the figures, check out the link below. Thanks for reading and enjoy the pictures!
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