The Mod Squad is back for our usual look at the latest series in Mattel’s smash hit – DC Universe Classics. This time we cross the we’ve-been-doing-this-for-over-a-year-now mark with the Collect and Connect Darkseid series. Hey, it only took us over 100 pages in the Series 12 thread in the forums before we got this sucker up – we do have a reputation to maintain.
Join the usual drones for a long-winded write-up as Samuron, RoboKillah, DisThunder, Ibentmyman-thing, canonball, Prodigy, Matthew K and VeeBee figuratively speak about new toys. Ugh. Figuratively? Really? Enough for the hackneyed introductions.
Figure 1: Eclipso
When Mattel first released press shots of Eclipso, I had a pretty strong reaction – I didn’t like his head sculpt. My first impressions were that his grin was just too big. Now that I have the actual figure in my hands, I’ve dialed back the dislike most of the way – it helps to see it from multiple angles, and I can buy that there’s a physical manifestation (aside from the eclipsed coloring) of the evil within him.
This is the Bruce Gordon version of Eclipso – and while DCUC has offered a pretty good mix of classic and modern renditions of characters, I think most people wanted Gordon over the modern incarnations of Alex Montez or Jean Loring. The costume is recreated faithfully, although some might prefer the coloring of his collar and leggings to match his boots, gloves, and elfin cap. I’ve seen it depicted both ways, so I guess Mattel opted for variation in the colors to make it more visually interesting.
If I could make some changes (other than the size of the grin), I’d change his hands. The black diamond in his left hand comes off a little soft, so I would have opted to make it a little bigger so that I could get some crisp facets there. I’d also like the gem to be just a little bit more translucent. And, his right hand? It needs a fist, because as Jersey Shore has taught us, nothing is quite as menacing as a fist pump.
Figure 2: Spectre
Ah, Spectre. You rascal you.
When promo pics of series 12 started hitting, Spectre jumped out at me as an awesome figure. I’m a cape/hood kinda guy, when I’m not being a gun/knife kinda guy, so my eyes drifted towards Spectre and his piercing eyes within a cloak of darkness.
Then pictures of the production figure started hitting.
What jumped out at me initially had become something…else. Now, I’m not saying it’s bad. It’s a perfectly acceptable hood. And yes, I’m well aware of the differences that can occur from prototype to production. But to go from badass avenging spirit to crone witch is a weird leap, especially when it’s accomplished with just a change in the size of the hood. I write it off as a factory error.
But enough about the hood, Spectre is a nice figure, up there with what we can usually expect from DCUC. I happened to end up with both the regular version and the glow in the dark version and prefer the regular. The subtle shading on the chalk white skin is very nice and just pops out all the details. All of that is lost on the glow in the dark version. But he is cool in his own right, hanging out with Scareglow and amusing my son to no end.
I am very glad the eyes seem to have the same effect as the prototype, shining bright from the shading on the face. They just aren’t peeking out from under the hood…grumble grumble.
Figure 3: Copperhead
Now, I wanted to be sure to give you a fair and unbiased review of ol’ Copperhead here. I know some of you here have been under the impression the Fwoosh gang goes too easy on the Classics figures, but let me tell you- we are committed to giving you the best possible information so that you can make good, informed decisions on your toy purchases.
Copperhead here is the single greatest figure you will ever own in your entire worthless life. His genes aren’t a double helix, they’re barbed wire. Do not let your significant other stare directly at Copperhead: He will instantly impregnate them. With awesomeness. He will tuck you in at night, and tell you stories from the vaunted 75 year history of DC Comics, and none of those stories will involve the SuperFriends. Copperhead eats babies, and craps out Delta Force Members. He always listens, and will never leave you. He also can speak Braille.
.::..:.:…
He’s a solid figure. The neck joint works much nicer than the series 9-11 crowd, and he has a great glossy finish that doesn’t always come through in the pics. I noticed mine has a bit of color tone difference from his leg to his thighs, but yours may vary. He’s got classic gimmick villain cool coming out the freakin’ ears. Price change or no, that alone is worth the price of admission every time.
Figure 4: Dr. Mid-Nite
Filling an important void in both JSA and All Star Squadron lineup, DCUC finally has a Hooty.
Hooty marks the first owl in DCUC history. He’s even articulated in the neck to simulate the way Owls can creepily turn their heads all the way around, as seen in horror movies across the ages. Great sculpt with realistic feathering. Great paints. Nice detailing. Poses well.
Along with Darkseid’s C&C Piece, Hooty came with a pretty cool pack-in: Dr. Mid-Nite. Mid-Nite also fills roles in both JSA and the All-Sar Squadron and is a welcome character. He’s no articulated owl, but he’s a great figure on his own. He has a new torso with sculpted moons, a nicely flexible cape and skirt, and a great looking headsculpt. Paints were perfect. The right leg was loose in a few places, notably in hs thigh swivel. His head has the same head movement as Hooty’s. Some up and down would have been ideal, but it is what it is until that problem is fixed.
The Dr. Mid-Nite pack-in is also pretty useful, allowing Hooty to clamp onto his arm so we can all bask in the majestic nocturnal beauty that is that great Owl. It’s like having an exceptionally well done, articulated stand full of play value. What a great line, and what a nice addition. You’d think he’d have to be a separate figure all on it’s own, but no, you get both for 15 dollars.
Who could ask for anything more?
Figure 5: Desaad
Desaad serves as DCUC wave 12’s New Gods’ representative, and it’s a bittersweet release as Desaad will be the line’s final New Gods offering for the time being. The figure itself is a nice adaptation of Jack Kirby’s original “New Gods” comic art, but thanks to the inclusion of the removable “power action shock” device, we also get a nice representation of the vintage Super Powers figure, which originally featured this unique torture device. Whether you prefer the Super Powers rendition or the classic, Desaad is a very welcome addition to DCUC’s New Gods collection.
The sculpt is very nice and clean, and his facial expression succinctly conveys the obsequious nature of the character as Darkseid’s minion. As nice as the sculpt may be, it doesn’t quite save the figure’s articulation, which is sorely lacking.
Because of the robe (skirt?), Desaad’s range of motion isn’t very good at all. His arms feature the standard articulation we’re used to, but aside from that, he’s practically a statue. His robe limits his leg movement to a great degree, and his ab-crunch is nearly non-existent. Thankfully, his head has a better range of motion than most figures released recently, and is capable of a slight up-and-down motion in addition to the standard side-to-side.
But you know what? Even though the articulation is kinda sub-par, it’s really all this particular character needs. It’s Desaad – not exactly a character that needs to be able to pull off sweet king-fu moves. As long as he can stand beside Darkseid and look creepy as hell, my needs are met – and the figure is capable of pulling this off in spades.
Figure 6: Mary Batson
Mary Marvel. Such innocence, such cuteness, such a butterface………?
Well she’s not really that bad in the face dept. I think the thing that bugs me the most about the figure is the same thing that all DCUC females suffer from. Just too skinny and not enough definition and build to her.
With that said I do think she is a nice figure. Well sculpted uniform, and as iffy as the face sculpt is, it is painted very well. She is looking up a bit too much as to say “Gosh golly, Captain Marvel, what now?” But then again that kinda is the classic look to Mary.
She never has been a favorite character and only recently when DC has tried to “defile” her a bit have I found her interesting. Her battles between her inner bad girl and the lilly white history of the character have been fun to read. The nice sculpt hinders articulation in the torso and her arms and legs still are way too skinny. Overall she’s a needed addition to the shelf if you are a Shazam family fan at all.
Figure 7: Iron
Though Desaad was my most anticipated figure from this wave, Iron turned out to be my favorite. The sculpt, the accessories, the clever re-use and the the paint job puts him ahead of the rest of the figures in this fantastic wave.
I love the pitted and flecked texture sculpted into all of Iron’s ‘clothes – it looks fantastic and sells the idea of this character being made of metal really well. The headsculpt has personality and I feel like it matches up with the character I have read in the comic. He’s a nice guy, but not somebody to mess with. Plus rivets. You gotta like rivets, right? Who’s with me on the rivets?
Iron’s costume is a little unusual and I was curious to see how they would implement it in the DCUC style and still retain articulation. In order to capture the skirt/chestplate look of Iron’s costume, The mattel team created a sort of vest that covers the entire torso of a regular DCUC body. The effect gives you a bulkier figure with larger traps and a thicker neck than usual for a dcuc figure and gives him a bit more height – perfect for Iron’s look. There is a cost, however and that is the ab crunch. It’s completely immobile. The legs actually move pretty well and the skirt is fairly flexible. I’m fine with the sacrifice in this case because it looks that good.
The paint is also a really nice surprise as earlier prototype pics had a much more gray tone to them. Mattel and the Horsemen said he would look more blue in final and they were not kidding. The blue is fantastic. The paint looks like it was applied drybrushed over black. Definitely feels metallic.
The accessories snap on and off his hands easily and add a little play value as well as help the figure ‘pop’ a bit more on the shelf. The wrench can actually cinch closed! I love that sort of detail. Because of the angle at which the wrench attaches to the arm looks best if the figure is vanilla posed, though. The figure also has ‘real metal’ hands, which is kind of a neat feature, but doesn’t really affect the character one way or the other for my money. They work and look fine as regular DCUC fists.
Iron is a great kick off to what will hopefully be a complete team of DCUC Metal Men.
Collect and Connect Figure: Darkseid
I love the King. Everything about Jack Kirby appeals to me on some level or another and while I have my fair share of admired comic artists/creators (from Ditko to Maguire), I have to say that the King is my all time heavy. Now, while Kirby essentially created the Marvel Universe (with some of my favorties like the Fantastic Four, Inhumans, MODOK and Arnim Zola) his all-too-brief stint with DC brought around one of the most amazing corners of that universe – the Fourth World. The fact that DCUC, our current King of DC lines, has brought us so many creations of the King himself is really a dream come true for me (though the boys at Mattel and Horsemen still have a lot of characters to do), and now they have brought Darkseid, the biggest bad of the Fourth World (and possibly the entire DC Universe) into the DCUC line as the series 12 Collect and Connect figure. So, for a guy that never thought I would need this particular figure (since the old DC Superheroes incarnation works so well), I cannot deny how much I dig the final figure.
Let me get out in front of this now – I think that this figure eclipses the previous version in every aspect save for one – the size. Yeah, you probably knew I was going to say that, but ultimately, that is a presonal preference call. Kirby’s Darkseid was always an imposing figure, but it wasn’t really his stature that made him so feared. Sure, he wasn’t a little guy, but in comparison to other characters that he interacted with regularly, the DCSH figure was right at the height he needed to be. So, this new incarnation is really the product of the “embiggening” of a lot of villains during the 1990s and into the 2000s. So, if a more modern Darkseid size is your bag (though the “look of this figure is purely classic) this height may be ideal for you and if that is the case, and the rest is all gravy.
The Four Horsemen just keep finding ways of getting better and better and they are so on top of their game right now I think they could take over the My Little Pony line and make it bad ass. And bad ass is certainly what this Darkseid is, from his stearn face to his frikkin’ Killing Glove. His Killing Glove! This is the kind of detail you get from the Fab Four from Jersey. I always knew that from the onset of this line that we would get a crack at a new Darkseid (Eric Treadaway expressed the desire to sculpt a new version two SDCCs in a row leading up to the figure’s reveal) but I never thought I would get the Killing Glove. I guess I should have expected it since we are talking about the 4H here, but once again, I am very happily surprised. Plus, to the figure itself, Uxas here is as wide as a bus and he even has an ab crunch (I am not completely convinced that the comic Darkseid can even move that much!). Superposable Darkseid? Heck yeah.
So, ultimately, I remain torn on displaying this figure. On the one hand, he is better than the old figure in terms of sculpt, articulation, Mother Box and Killing Glove. However, my scale Nazi is really coming out for this one and it is hard to see the height of the figure on a very Kirby Apokolips shelf. These are my tough choices (a heck of a problem to have, I know). I am trying him out right now – seeing how he looks with the likes of Kalibak, Steppenwolf and Desaad, but I still have not made up my mind yet. Worst case scenario – I will find some place to display him, even if he is not within my primary DCUC collection because this figure is awesome. Long live the New Gods in DCUC… I want Big Bear. You knew that I was going to say that though.
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