Friday, August 25, 2017

Unite the League: Superman from DC Comics Multiverse: Justice League by Mattel

    Check out the latest episode of the Confirmed Epic Podcast and you can hear my friends the Reel Brad Bell and AKA Andrew Stokes talk about upcoming Fall and Winter movie releases and how crazy it is that we're getting some of the biggest blockbusters of the year after the Summer movie season! Today I'm beginning what will surely be a long series of reviews covering toys from one of those massive end of the year releases: Justice League. Y'all, as a DC die-hard, I'm both insanely excited and just a bit apprehensive about the first ever onscreen appearance of the entire Justice League as a cohesive team. Yes, I know they've all appeared in BvS, but seeing them together in action is going to be a completely different animal. Will it succeed? Will it fail? Who knows? To be fair, I've enjoyed the DCEU immensely, but I can understand why so many other fans and moviegoers have not. I feel like Justice League is either going to finally overcome the problems of the DCEU or compound them; I don't think there is going to be any middle ground here. Of course, we're here to talk about toys and not Justice League, so let's get started with a review of the Man of Steel who kicked off the DCEU: Superman. Superman is listed as figure number one in this initial six figure subset of Mattel's DC Comics Multiverse line, so let's start of with him. Read on and see how this figure fares after the break...



 The Facts:

Height: 6 3/8ths inches

Articulation: Hinged ankles, hinged knees, swivel hips, H-hinged thighs, swivel waist, swivel/hinge shoulders, swivel biceps, hinged elbows, swivel wrists, and a ball jointed head.

Accessories: Collect & Connect Steppenwolf head and waist.

Non-Scalper Price: $20 dollars
 Comparison:

* Before we jump in at "faster than a speeding bullet" speed, let me point out that this Justice League Superman is almost exactly the same as last year's BvS Superman. The differences are a new headsculpt, a soft goods cape, and the different "Collect & Connect" pieces. For more details on the general sculpt, articulation, and other shared characteristics, go back and check out that figure's review.  (Justice League Superman on left, BvS Superman on right.)
 The Positives:


* While this is largely a repaint with a new head and cape, I still think Mattel has done a nice job of capturing the look and feel of this particular Superman outfit. While it seems that the Justice League outfit for Superman might be a bit lighter than the BvS suit (which could be based on lightning issues), they're otherwise the exact same costume so far as I can tell, so it's tough to truly fault Mattel for their reuse here. The paint work looks nice and clean, too.

* The "Collect & Connect" figure for the Justice League series is Steppenwolf and Superman comes packaged with the head and the waist. I'm pretty excited for Steppenwolf's appearance, as I'm a huge Jack Kirby fan, particularly of the Fourth World saga. I'll certainly review the entire figure once I build him (I'm missing one piece as of this review), but for now he looks pretty impressive.
 The Negatives:

* Here come the negatives. First off, I really don't think this looks like Henry Cavill at all. While I think the BvS figure did a great job, this one looks like a completely different guy. While I think this looks like Superman, it's definitely not Cavill as Superman. Considering the body is heavily reused, a phenomenal headsculpt was really needed here to make this figure pop. Sadly, it doesn't.


* Put me in the camp that usually likes soft goods on 1/12 scale action figures. Yeah, I know it's a contentious guy, but I never said I was a role model, you know? Anyways, Superman does come with an actual fabric cape that's attached to a sculpted neckpiece (it's not removable), but man is this fabric flimsy. It is see-through and just feels like it was made from whatever was setting around. I'm not a fan.
 * I know Mattel has some of the strictest safety standards and bizarre internal policies of any toy company anywhere, but why the heck do they have to put weird little numbers and such in such a visible place on the figure. These little silver numbers are stamped on right on the left side of Supes' boot, facing outward for the world to see. Unless this is some bizarre, super specific plot point from Justice League (which I'd bet dollars to doughnuts it isn't), this is inexcusable for a line aimed at collectors.
   I am not happy with this figure. He's not terrible, but I just want to point out that Mattel took the same figure from last year (which did have some problems but was overall good), gave it a worse headsculpt and cape, added a new Collect & Connect piece, and packaged it up with a new label. Other than the C&C piece, I don't feel that Mattel added anything of value to this release. Anything would have been welcome: New hand sculpts, an alternate portrait, some kind of energy effects, anything. Instead, Mattel ruind a good figure and is reselling it. I'm calling this one Crap. I don't usually give reviews this low, but I really don't think there's any reason to buy this figure other than to get the Collect & Connect piece (which of course you'll need). Not even if you missed the BvS figure. This one is truly inferior! While I'm a DC Multiverse collector, I have to give Hasbro props for Marvel Legends not screwing collectors over so much. Hasbro uses Build-a-Figure to entice collectors into buying figures of characters they might be iffy on. Mattel uses them to resell you the same figure. Ugghh... this isn't starting out well, is it?

If you're looking for more of Superman, I've reviewed the BvS Multiverse Superman, the Multiverse Earth 23 Superman, the Multiverse DKR Batman/ Suprman 2-packSplit Cycle Superman from Mattel's Man of Steel line, and Superman DC3 from the Nano Metalfigs line.

If you're looking for more DC Comics Multiverse reviews, check out the following:

DC Comics Multiverse (6 inches) by Mattel (2016)
Armored Batman (The Dark Knight Returns)
The Arrow
Batgirl (The Batgirl of Burnside)
Batman (Batman: Zero Year)
Batman & Superman (The Dark Knight Returns)
Damian Wayne Robin (Robin War) 
Earth 23 Superman 
Jim Gordon Batman (Batman: Superheavy)
The Joker (Batman: Endgame)
The Joker (The Dark Knight Returns)
Justice Buster 
Mutant Leader (The Dark Knight Returns)
Reverse Flash (The Flash TV Series)
Robin (The Dark Knight Returns)

DC Comics Multiverse: Batman: The Dark Knight Returns by Mattel (2016)
Batman
Son of Batman

DC Comics Multiverse: Batman v. Superman by Mattel (2016)
Aquaman
Armored Batman
Bat Creature
Batman
Batman's Grapnel Blaster (Collect & Connect accessory) 
Batman Unmasked
Knightmare Batman
Lex Luthor
Superman 
Wonder Woman

DC Comics Multiverse: Suicide Squad by Mattel (2016)
Batman
Boomerang
Croc (Build-a-Figure)
Deadshot
Diablo 
Harley Quinn (6 inch) 
Harley Quinn (12 inch)
Harley Quinn (Gold Dress)
Harley Quinn (Toys R Us Exclusive)
The Joker 
The Joker (Toys R Us Exclusive)
Katana
Rick Flag 

DC Comics Multiverse: Wonder Woman by Mattel (2017)
Ares
Diana of Themyscira
Menalippe
Queen Hippolyta
Steve Trevor 
Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman (Toys 'R Us exclusive)










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