Mattel. Oh Mattel. I used to be so into you, with your DC Universe Classics and your….other DC Universe Classics. I enjoyed the uniformity. The classic characters and possibilities. But you refused to innovate. In fact, you started devolving and making really odd decisions. You eventually faded away. Now you try to weasel your way back into our hearts, but are you trying hard enough?
Some say yes. Some say no. For me, I think there’s a nostalgia, but not a strong enough nostalgia to jump back into the line fully. Or even halfly. Probably not quarterly, and eighthly would be pushing it. Hell, I skipped the King Shark wave, despite really wanting King Shark. But when I saw Dr. Psycho when he was revealed (which seems like forever ago) I knew I’d have to grab it. It’s Dr. Psycho. Thankfully he’s small enough to be split between only two figures.
The Wonder Woman and Wonder Girl are okay for what they are, or what DCUC was and Multiverse now is: Yearbook Figures. They have articulation, sure, but as far as action shots go they aren’t up to snuff. These are meant to stand on the shelf in groups, looking at the camera to be immortalized for posterity. You know the shots I’m talking about. Sitting around the League table. Playfully interacting on bleachers. Standing in front of a wall of framed pictures of older teams. And that’s okay, if that’s what you’re looking for. Absolutely nothing wrong with that. I have most of my figures vanilla on the shelves to save space and maximize toy density.
But c’mon. It’s frikfrakking goldurn 2017. Vanilla is fine, but the possibility of action should be standard.
I mean, who leaves out rocker ankles on purpose anymore? Who knowingly restricts knees to less than 90 degrees? I’ll admit that elbows seem to be a sticking point for a lot of companies but really, Mattel, adding useless articulation just for the sake of articulation? Wonder Woman’s forearm swivel does nothing to the overall movement scheme. Cassie has both a bicep swivel and an elbow swivel, one rendering the other unnecessary. Why give Wonder Girl a torso cut if it doesn’t do anything?
Your hips are improving though. So good job there. And your commitment to the same style for this many years is endearing. There just needs to be more pluses and less minuses.
Also, Mattel, reign in the legal department. When designing eye-pleasing packaging I think the furthest thing from anyone’s mind should be legalese and warnings right on the front beside the window. Kudos to whoever came up with the “Figures may not stand as shown” disclaimer on the back though. Seriously, it’s the first sentence under the picture of Dr. Psycho on the back, scroll down and look. Oddly enough, my figures actually do not stand as shown, so what do I know. Cassie is back heavy and Psycho’s feet aren’t level with each other along with having no articulation from the waist down to tweak the stance. So maybe that base had to be covered in writing to avoid all those “My toy doesn’t live up to the standards set by a picture on the packaging!” lawsuits we hear about all the time.
But this:
C’MON!
Despite all that, I do like the Wonder Woman. It’s ugly, but matches the art style really well and fits right in with my MOTUC, where I keep the similar Batman figure. Wonder Girl, who seems tall, is probably going in the bin until that future time that I have space to put out DC again. And Dr. Psycho is too small, I feel, but looks great. He’s placehold nicely on my Secret Six overflow shelf until I get my custom groove back and make a redneck disguise version from the time Ragdoll was in the hospital.
Package:
Wonder Woman:
Wonder Girl:
Dr. Psycho:
Wonder Woman accessories:
Comparisons:
Action:
