One of the best things we were promised at the outset of the DC Club Infinite Earths was that we would get a chance to finish all of those teams that still had members outstanding and not included in the original DCUC line. SDCC 2011 left a lot of doubts in the minds of collectors as Mattel did not have all of their ducks in a row for the subscription at that time, and many collectors were rightfully skeptical. This past February, though, brought Toy Fair 2012 and better rays of hope to help fulfill that promise of team completion. October brought us one step closer to finishing the Doom Patrol with the long-awaited Elasti-Girl. We also got a sneak peak at a two-pack of Platinum and Tin of the Metal Men (my favorite DC showing of TF), so it looked as though that team was going to be well on its way to completion as well. Finally, at SDCC this past July, my number one hope for a team builder was revealed — the last of the original core members of the Metal Men: Lead. Better still is that he was slotted for a December release, right alongside Platinum and Tin, so we could get a trifecta of elemental team building just in time for the holiday season. Sure, Doc Magnus and some of the other some-timers of the team like Copper (who would make for a pretty awesome figure, actually) have not been revealed, but now that we have the core of a never-been-done in figure form team assembled (we did get a couple in the Brave and the Bold line), it is pretty awesome.
I have always liked the Metal Men, but when this whole DCUC thing got started so long ago now, they were not necessarily at the very top of my list in terms of team completion. I was more concerned with getting stalwarts like the JSA, JLI, and the Satellite JLU squads, and when things were getting started, I actually was not sure that we could go as deep into the universe with teams like the Metal Men. Now that we have arrived at the end of 2012, though, the assembled Metal Men is one of my most-loved teams on my shelf, and I don’t even have Platinum and Tin yet. They are some of the most faithful representations of characters in the line, and I think that Mercury and Iron are overall standouts as well. Lead is the kindly rock of the team, and while he is not perfect in execution, it is hard not to smile when looking at him.
As you know, this figure was selected to fill a “deluxe” spot in the release schedule (that usually means over-sized figures), so if anything was going to be concerning about the figure due to that, it would be his size. So let’s face it, I am not telling you anything you don’t already know when I say he is big, but he is also about 30 percent too tall. See, Lead is a lot like the Masters of the Universe character Ram Man (coming soon) in that he is as wide as bus (a slight exaggeration), but is not really any taller than any of his teammates like Iron and Gold. For the sake of figure, though, Lead was built on the DCUC series 12 Darkseid Collect-and-Connect body, and, as you know, that puts him as too tall for his classic (and just about any other) representation. It is shame really, because other than the height, he is such a great figure and if that Darkseid base was not so tall, it would actually be a fine base for the body.
The base allows for Lead to be wide and his patented Metal Man shirt “overlay” helps broaden the shoulders while hiding the Darkseid tunic. The arms and legs retain the craggy sculpt of the leader of Apokalips, and while those are not really representative of Lead’s construction, I find that they don’t really bother me. He does have new lower legs, boots and gloves to fit his look, and while some of the height is taken down due to the former, it is not all that much. The tunic overlay is kind of a half shirt into a skirt thing (strange sounding, I know), but the upper part was constructed so that his arm and abdominal articulation is not overly-hindered. The skirt portion does restrain some of the leg movement, so I wish that the overlay plastic was softer to help with this, but I think you could cut slits into the side of the skirt to allow for more movement. He is mostly a “lead” color from head to toe, which is appropriate, but there are some black details here and there to help bring out all the sculpt’s details.
As you can see, Lead does not come with any accessories, like form attachments that the rest of the team has had, and that is kind of a shame. Lead generally builds the defense walls for the team, but I am sure something could have been included to help show his form creation and malleability. I am sure it all comes down to “the budget,” but one of the best parts of the DCUC Metal Men is their ability to show off their powers, so I am kind of sad we did not see anything here. Maybe I can find something in accessory bins.
His head sculpt is most certainly the highlight of the figure and I make no apologies when I say that I positively love it. If I did not already know that Cornboy, of the Four Horsemen, was an avid Metal Men fan, I would know now. The care put into capturing the look and personality of Lead in his face is just great and shows the work that CAN be done in this line when the utmost care is given. He has a warm smile, and for not having any real color variance, there is a light and brightness in his eyes that makes me just want to hang out with him. I know, that sounds weird, but I did not think they would be able to capture the persona of a Metal Man better than what they did with Mercury, but Lead absolutely takes the cake. Like I said, it is hard to see him smile and not smile back.
So here it is — if Lead just stands by himself he looks absolutely great. The 4H captured his look and personality perfectly. However, he is too tall, plain and simple. I REALLY wish they would have considered using the old DC Superheroes Darkseid base for this figure as I think I would be been a better effect, but it was not meant to be. You can bend his knees a little bit to help bring him down some, but you just will not be able to get him down to the height of Iron or Gold without some serious custom modifications. I am displaying him standing behind the rest of the Metal crew, so from a display aspect, he helps fill in the space, but I do wish he were shorter. Platinum and Tin will be along shortly, and even despite Lead’s height, the team will look great. So, if the height doesn’t get you, I think you will be very pleased with this figure since he looks great, but the scale concerns are most certainly there. Overall, I am more happy with him than not, and I love how the Metal Men look in my display, but I will be looking forward to seeing if anyone is brave enough to modify Lead to bring him down to his actual comparative height. So let’s see it. Metal Men fans rejoice — what we once thought was well out of the realm of probability a few short years ago is going to be reality come December 15th.
*Thanks to Toy Guru for sending this figure along and thanks to the team for seeing the Metal Men through in Classics.
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