Studying the Classics: A DC Universe Classics Wave 4 and 5 Review

September 25, 2008 on 8:10 pm | In Toy Review | 1 Comment

Our pals over at Mattel sent us a package of DC Universe Classics figures earlier this week and now that we’ve finally stopped playing with them, it’s time for a toy review. Wave 4 includes Wonder Woman, Artemis as Wonder Woman (a variant), Batman Beyond, Ares, Cyborg (a variant with sonic arms), Captain Atom, Gold and Red Captain Atom and a Despero build-a-figures. Wave 5, which is exclusive to Wal-Mart boasts figures of Black Lightning, Eradicator, Riddler, The Atom (Ray Palmer version), a Metallo build-a-figure and Amazo (which actually wasn’t in the box). All the figures were sculpted by the Four Horsemen.

Wave 4

WONDER WOMAN

Wonder Woman’s one of those difficult characters to create a visual for. She’s supposed to be an ambassador of peace descended from Greek gods but also an apt and powerful warrior and I think that the Horsemen did a great job with this figure. She’s not overly bulky like some female figures can be, but she’s also well articulated and, most importantly, doesn’t feel like you’re going to break it if you actually play with the figure. She comes with a star=spangled shield and a battle axe that resembles her “WW” eagle symbol. Good stuff. But the real bonus for me is the variant figure of Artemis, the one time Wonder Woman replacement, dressed in the Wonder Woman gear. I actually started reading Wonder Woman when Artemis took over, so I was pretty excited when I saw that she’d be the variant (I would have also accepted the bicycle-shorts wearing post-WW Diana Prince). This isn’t just a different head sculpt though, as they Horsemen gave Artemis the sandels of Hermes so she can fly, switched her lasso to her left side and gave her a quiver of arrows on her right. She also comes with an arrow-loaded bow. Well done gents!

ARES

Speaking of Greeks, Mattel gives us Ares to combat those pesky Wonder Women. The god of war here looks like he stepped right out of either The Odyssey or a wicked game of Dungeons and Dragons, all the more impressive when you realize he’s actually wearing a dress. But a badass dress. You can’t look long at Ares without seeing a skull or some other vision of death. He comes with a sword and battle axe that look like they may have come from a He-Man line, but I’m not quite sure. I really appreciate the heft of this figure. It really feels like he could do some damage, offering up a good adversary for the rest of these heroes. My one gripe is that his shoulder pads and dress greatly restrict how much you can move his arms and legs, but then again, I’m not really sure how you’d get around that.

BATMAN BEYOND

I remember when Batman Beyond came out I was pretty skeptical of how cool this cartoon would be compared to the completely rad-tacular Batman The Animated Series. Well, it turned out to be a pretty great toon in its own right so I’m all in favor of a figure based on the Batman of the future. The figure is just as articulated and flexible as other Bat-figs like Nightwing and Robin which adds a great continuity to the ever-growing Bat-family. He even comes with a futuristic batarang. Overall the figure looks pretty faithful to the cartoon, though unlike the above image, the one we got in the office is a little shiny. I do have a bit of a problem with the head though. I wasn’t sure what it was, but I think I just figured it out. I knew that the head didn’t seem right, almost like it wasn’t a mask, but an actual face painted black and here’s why: the show the teeth through the mouth whole, whereas in the cartoon you couldn’t see through, it was just white. Justin had no problem with this, but I figured I’d mention. It definitely wouldn’t stop me from buying the figure though. In fact, I’d probably just dab a little White Out in there and never think about it again.

CYBORG

For a half human half cyborg, Vic Stone here sure looks good. Opting for his classic, original look, the Horsemen really outdid themselves recreating Cyborg’s most famous look, right down to the utility belt and thigh straps. We didn’t get the Kay Bee sonic hand variant, but no worries here as we got what looks like a clamp and a giant taser. But beware, only his right hand pops off to accommodate the additions. I did eventually pop the other arm off to no detriment, but it serves no purpose. I know I’m not alone in hoping the Horsemen get a chance to create the other Wolfman and Perez-era Titans.

CAPTAIN ATOM

Cap was a pretty big part of my youthful comic book-buying past as I was a regular reader of Armageddon 2001, Justice League and later Extreme Justice (what can I say? I was a kid). I’m not quite sure if I like what they did to him in Countdown, but I’m sure that can be easily retconned out. Anyway, oh Captain MY captain here is available in both his classic (though not original) silver, red and blue version (though curiously lacking the gauntlets and boots he sported in Extreme Justice, hmm) and the red and gold version that Alex Ross created for Kingdom Come based on the original design that went on to be featured in the DC/Wildstorm crossover Captain Atom: Armageddon. Neither figure comes with any accessories, but they both have pretty cool hair.

DESPERO

One of the Justice League’s greatest villains (and a personal favorite of mine) Despero has been a part of the JLA’s history for decades and now you can use him to beat up on your favorite heroes (or have him fight alongside him as the L-Ron possessed Despero from Justice League Task Force). Despero here isn’t quite as big as Solomon Grundy and definitely not as big as Metallo, but he is larger than your average DCUC figure. He comes with a hand gun in a holster and a big honkin gun you might recognize if you were lucky enough to snag the SDCC exclusive Lobo figure (the sword in the original PR photo above does not come with the actual product). As build-a-figures go, he’s not necessarily the biggest, but they did a great job with the belt/holster and the shoulder pad/neck guard thing and once you have the figure all together it doesn’t feel fragile like some build-a-figures, it feels like it was built just like all the others.

Wave 5 (Wal-Mart Exclusive)
Exclusive waves tend to have more obscure characters and come with fewer accessories. You’ll notice that most of the bodies used for these figures are either the same, basic body or resemble an earlier figure. But the same level of quality, painting and articulation is always there. Plus the build-a-figure is sick!

THE ATOM

Ray Palmer disappeared for a while, but now he’s back in the comics AND in toy form. The Atom fits in with the other agile heroes of his ilk with plenty of articulation and play possibilities. He lacks the sometimes trademark Atom shrinking belt, which I would have preferred, but, hey, he didn’t always sport it, so it’s not an oversight or anything, just my personal opinion.

BLACK LIGHTNING

Here we have the most current version of Black Lightning as he appears in Justice League of America. And it’s about time right? Black Lightning is one of those characters that has kicked around the DCU for years, even getting shafted and replaced with Black Vulcan in Super Friends, so it’s about time he made it to the major leagues in both comics and toys. The figure doesn’t come with any accessories, but he does sport his yellow and black domino mask. Here’s hoping for a both a retro version of BL with huge collar and Afro wig (yup, it was a wig) and also a full set of the classic Outsiders from Batman and the Outsiders.

ERADICATOR

Another favorite from my childhood, Eradicator has a long and complicated history that I don’t want to get into, but he did play a huge part in my first crossover (and the even that got me into reading comics) The Reign of the Supermen. This figure takes it’s cues from that series with the body suit, shield-cape and visor. I must admit that I’m a little disappointed in the visor though, as it looked translucent in the press photos and turned out to be completely opaque.

THE RIDDLER

Sure he looks like the guy in those infomercials yelling at you about getting money from the government, and sure, I’m not the first (or 20th) person to make that joke, but that doesn’t mean the Riddler isn’t a cool character. Just look at what Paul Dini’s done with him in Detective Comics. This figure seems based more on the classic look though as he seems somewhat cartoony. In general I like the figure, but the jacket, which is actually a separate piece of plastic stretched/attached to the figure itself sits kind of funny and makes the Riddler look a little out of proportion. I think I would have preferred a sculpted jacket. He also comes with a question mark cane of a particularly plasticy nature.

AMAZO

We didn’t get Amazo in house, but the figure looks pretty faithful to the body-sock wearing version of the JLA’s android, power-stealing foe.

METALLO

Holy socks, meet my new favorite build-a-figure. And that’s saying a lot considering he’s missing a leg. While the rest of the series feels like redecos and repaints, this figure is completely unique. He even looks like he was originally pieced together with metal scarp and then they made a plastic mold out of that. There’s some really creative articulation on this metallic body. But, my favorite part is the removable “M” chestplate that reveals some hunks of Kryptonite underneath, just waiting to give Superman a bad time. I would seriously consider braving the aisles of Wal-Mart to buy this entire wave JUST to put this build-a-figure together.

Whew, okay, I’m done, feel free to head on over to the message boards and discuss.