So, this First Look ALMOST didn’t even happen. Seriously, for the about the first time ever, I struggled with opening up and taking a toy out of the package. The San Diego Comic Con exclusive DC Infinite Heroes Starro the Conquerer set has one of the coolest you packages I have ever seen, and now I have opened it up. Yeah, I’m gonna need to buy another this week.
But that is not to say the the figures you get in this set aren’t cool, Starro is especially fun and really, I think this set not only represents a neat exclusive but also a defining point in the DCIH line where Mattel is stepping up just about all aspects of the line. But I will get to the figures in just a second, I am going to talk packaging for awhile.
Of course, it is no secret that Mattel goes all out with the Con packaging. In recent years we have seen a rumbling Solomon Grundy sewer, a screeching Man-Bat cage, talking Castle Grayskull, Power-Activating Wonder Twins, just to name a few. However, this set is something apart from even those great structures of cardboard and plastic. Really what you have here is an interactive display piece. You know when you go to museums or galleries or science centers and they have the talking interactive displays? Well, that is what this set really is. The thing that makes it better than those things is that you get a Justice League history lesson AND is is narrated by THE voice of Batman, Mr. Kevin Conroy. Different colored flashing lights for each character (Green for Green Lantern, Orange for Aquaman, Blue for Wonder Woman, Yellow for the Flash and Red for Martian Manhunter) let you pick the character biography you want to hear about and everything is displayed like a 3D recreation of Brave and the Bold #28. Whew! Set this thing up in your toy room or rec room and let your friends get to know the Justice League, it really does look that nice.
I have never opened up a toy and then instantly felt at a loss for not being able to have it mint on card anymore – NEVER. However, like I said, I am picking up another one of these this week so I can have my display piece. If I had to guess, there is probably a little over three minutes of interactive dialogue, and it is overall very impressive.
Then there are the actual figures, and as much as I need to have another to display MOC, I am glad I do have these figures to enjoy, especially the, ahem, STAR of the set, Starro. Let’s look at each of the figures.
STARRO
You essentially get three opportunities to play with this figure once he is out of the package. First, with the obvious Infinite Heroes figures, also, he fits relatively well with DCUC figures too (face it, if we ever see Starro as a Collect and Connect in that line he isn’t going to be much, if any bigger) and finally as a role play toy. Yep, even though you get a bag of four Starro Spores if you go to the Con (I will get to those soon), as you can see, this figure is perfectly scaled to act as a spore for real life people, if you know anyone you would like to conquer.
He is nicely sculpted on both the front and back, well, especially the back and his look is kind of an amalgam of different Starro appearances. I am one for the straight up classic look, but this one is good too. He is made from a very soft and pliable rubber material and has bendy wires running through his arms so you can set him into some limited poses. Or have him hug your face if you are into that kind of thing. Like I said, he really is three toys in one.
WONDER WOMAN
So, this figure has brand new DCIH female articulation and I especially like the hips. I think the DCIH figures will continue to be a work in-progress until Mattel finds just the right combination of sculpt and play, but this classic Wonder Woman is beyond DCIH females I have encountered. Now, we need some ankle, elbow and wrist articulation. She does FINALLY have a gold string lasso, a first, I think, for Mattel Wonder Woman figures.
FLASH
One of my favorite figure in the set, along with J’onn and Aquaman, Flash has a ton of articulation, especially compared to past DCIH incarnations of the character. He is nearly as articulated as his six-inch counterpart and if this is going to be the direction of DCIH going forward, I think they are on the right track.
MARTIAN MANHUNTER
J’onn pretty much has the same articulation composition as the Flash, and that is a good thing. He is very posable and his head sculpt is very appropriate for this set as it is very Silver Age in look and feel (he is even smiling a bit). If I wasn’t already drooling for my DCUC Martian Manhunter figure, I would be now.
GREEN LANTERN
Every multi-pack has to have a weak figure, and I am sorry to say that GL holds that position in this set. If this figure came out a year, or even six months ago, he might be a par figure for DCIH, but compared to his package mates, his sculpt and articulation is outdated. His standard T-hips are what really limit him and he needs to be on a little flight stand to hold a convincing pose. One thing of note though, the green fist construct feels eerily the one that came with the DCUC John Stewart, which leads me to…
AQUAMAN
By far my favorite of the little figure in the line, I think that Art here might be my favorite DCIH figure so far, and I have my Ted Kord. Why? Well, he has just as much articulation as any figure in the line, he has bright colors that really pop too. But there is something else… Yeah, he pretty much looks like the Four Horseman’s beautiful DCUC Classic Aquaman figure shrunk down to bite size. Last I heard, the 4H were NOT working on this line, but Mattel might have had their in-house sculpted copy the head, or even pantograph it down for this figure it is so similar. Frankly, that is just fine with me. In fact, I think that figure should serve as the model for current Aquaman art in the comics. I kinda like it. Yeah, just kinda…
And finally, if you are going to SDCC next week (because that is going to be the only place you are going to be able to get them) there are the poly-bagged Starro Spores that fit in just perfectly with your DCUC figures. You get four in the bag, but I am going to need lots of casts of these very detailed babies to create a submissive army for the one of the most feared conquerers the universe has ever seen!
I really like a lot of Mattel’s SDCC items this year, but this is the belle of the ball. I never keep stuff packaged, but I will need to have a display version of this set, it all just works together so well for a very impressive set.
*A BIG thanks to Toy Guru and the Mattel DC crew for sending this set along, and extra kudos to the package design team for another Con home run. Fellas, I don’t know how you are going to top this next year, but it will be fun to see if it can be done!
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