DC Universe Classics - Wave 19 Preview

With the recent announcement of the DC Universe Classics Wave 20 last month back at the San Diego Comic Con, and DCUC Wave 18 hitting the online stores and eBay this  mouth, we've almost forgotten that just back in June, Mattel had also announced the line up for Wave 19. So I thought it would be a good time to a closer look at the action figures that will make up that set.  As mentioned in my previous post, this is a JSA themed wave much to the delight of many DC fans.  So lets take a look figure by figure. 

First up is Kobra.  Looks like a cool figure.  He has the scales all over his body which we've seen before on previous DCUC action figures such as Aquaman  from wave 2, Deathstroke in wave 3 and Copperhead in wave 12. The head sculpt is of course, entirely new and his body appears to be the same general body type as most DCUC action figures with some minor unique differences such as the cape, boots and his cobra staff. 

Golden Age Hawkman looks, well, very much like Hawkman from DCUC wave 6. One main difference is the head sculpt.  His mask has an open beak and you can see pupils in his eyes.  There only other difference i can see is Golden Age Hawkman has no Hawkman symbol in the center of his chest. Other than that, the two figures are pretty much the same action figure and to be quite honest, this is the figure from wave 19 that i am the least excited about. 

 

 Magog is quite unique.  Aside from the body standard body size, I'm liking the gold armor he supports.  This action figure appears to have some cool sculpt detail and although he's not one of the most common villains in the DC Universe, he will probably be one of those pleasant surprises that you weren't expecting much from.   

Sandman reminds me of The Riddler from Wave 5 just because of the green suit, but if you look a bit closer, the two figures are not quite the same.  Sandman, obviously, is supporting a mask and purple cape with his green suit and also, his suit is double breasted, where as wave 5 Riddler's is not.  The rest of the body parts though, are very similar.

Stargirl is perhaps the most popular character in this wave, but I have never been a fan of the smaller female sculpts that we've seen on other characters like Catwoman, Cheetah, Harley Quinn and so one.  The arms are super skinny and if you're not careful, can break just by trying to take it out of the packaging.  If you can manage to be carefully handle that, there is not too much more to complain about as Stargirl is a spot on to likeness to the comic book character.  For those of you that don't mind the sculpt size, you should be happy with her.   

Fans of the Atom should get be pleased with this action figure but to non-hardcore collectors, he may be less appealing, not coming with any accessories and quite frankly, the most boring head sculpt of the bunch. 

On to the Collect and Connect action figure S.T.R.I.P.E.  Expect him to have similar parts as Stel from the Green Lantern Wave 2 series.  The legs are exactly the same.  But it works for this character.  As far as a paint job goes, S.T.R.I.P.E. is a little less interesting than Stel but still a very cool action figure to own. 

So that sums up DC Universe Classics Wave 19, due out later this year, probably towards October 2011. 

If you're looking for any DC Universe Classics action figures, be sure to check out the huge selection on eBay by clicking here

DC Universe Classics - The Creeper

All the recent news from the 2011 SDCC recently has caused me to fall behind on some of my DC Universe Classics action figure reviews.  It's been a while so since Wave 18 is just starting to come out and I've pretty much decided to skip the rainbow lantern wave 17 (for now), lets jump back to the DCUC Wave 16 set and take a look at Jack Ryder, aka The Creeper.  

In addition to The Creeper, DCUC Wave 16 consists of The Riddler, Robin, Jonah Hexx, Mercury, Azrael Batman and the CnC, Bane.   (click links to see their reviews)

Here's a look at The Creeper's packaging for those of you that keep their toys in the original packaging.  Plastic bubble packaging on the front, some nice graphics and the back shows you the entire line up of wave 16 and includes a little blurb about your creepy new toy.  

Once you take your Creeper out of the package you will notice that the giant red fur attached to his back. It's a solid piece and quite heavy.  It does makes it a little difficult to make the action figure stand upright without him falling backwards.

The skinnier body sculpt of the Creeper is very similar to that of Deadman from DCUC Wave 11 and Thaal Sinestro from the Hal Jordan/Sinestro Toys R US two pack.  There are a lot of things that make Creeper unique though.  The aforementioned fur on his back, the great head sculpt and the detailed black fur around his boots and gloves

The Creeper's head sculpt is...well, creepy!  Great detail in the hair, mouth and face nails this character's comic book likeness. 

The Creeper has got to be ranked up there as being one of the weirdest looking characters in the DC Universe. A dude who is completely yellow with a furry red back and wears green striped undies.

The paint job on Creeper is very clean.  Not noticeable flaws or smudges.  There isn't too much detail in the body so it would be hard to screw the paint job up on this action figure.  The only major difficult painting area would be just the face and it is done well. 

Articulation is also really good thanks to Mattel including the double hinged knee and elbow joints which similar DCUC action figures Deadman and Thaal Sinestro do not have. The black fur around the elbow joints slightly limits the action figure's full range of motion but other than that, The Creeper is as good as it gets in this department.  It would be nice if there was more flexibility in the ankle joints to allow deeper bends which would allow some more accurate Creeper posing. 

Forget about any accessories with this action figure.  Creeper only comes with the Collect and Connect piece of Bane (his right arm).  As nice as it is to get some kind of additional accessories with you're DCUC action figures, I'm really not sure what else Mattel could have included.

Even though The Creeper is not an A list character in the DC Universe or even in the Batman Universe for that matter, Mattel has done a good job giving us another accurate version of the comic book character.  Creeper is still a cool action figure that DC fans and DC Universe Classics collector should be very happy with.

Sculpt/Design - 8, Paint - 10, Articulation - 9.5, Accessories - 0, Fun - 7

Looking for DC Universe Classics action figures, you will find the biggest variety on eBay.  Its where I buy most of my collection and you can find some pretty good deals. 

To find Mattel's DC Universe Classics - The Creeper, on eBay, click here

To find other DC Universe Classics action figures on eBay, click here.

If you missed my previous posts summarizing the what DC Universe toys were at the 2011 San Diego Comic Convention, be sure to check out the following links:

Mattel DC Universe Classics Wave 20 Announcement

DC Universe Classics Batman Legacy

DC Direct - DCNU action figures 

DC Direct - DC New Universe (DCNU) Action Figures from the SDCC 2011

With the new DC Comics reboot of 52 different comic book series coming up in September 2011, we can't help but wonder what this means for action figure collectors.  So far, Mattel has been pretty quiet about their intentions.  They have indicated the the DC Universe Classics line will be stopped at the retail level after Wave 20 and you will need to joint their online club to get any further DCUC action figures (if enough people subscribe).  They have hinted at starting a new toy line featuring the new rebooted line up but little details have been given so i guess we'll have to wait on further news from Mattel. 




Meanwhile, DC Direct didn't waste any time as they showed up at SDCC 2011 with action figures of the revamped Justice League.  The knock, in my opinion, against DC Direct action figures, it their lack of articulation.  They are sometimes missing valuable joints in the abdominal, hips, legs and arms that give you a little more range of motion.  My other gripe is that their action figures are not always in scale with different DC Direct sets. I wish they were more in scale with Mattel's DCUC toy line as well.  But the bottom line is DC Direct does produce some really good looking action figures and they have a bigger variety of characters available so they should not be overlooked by collectors.  Lets check out the new look Justice League. 

A lot of negativity surrounding Wonder Woman's new outfit but I like it.  Gone is the short shorts and replaced by pants.  Less Gold and more silver makes her outfit look more modern in my opinion.  Thumbs up here.

 Little change with the Flash's look.  He's supporting a chin strap and the lightning bolts are going up his forearms instead of around his wrists.  I still say Thumbs up here.

I can't say I'm a fan of this version of Aquaman even though it is still fairly close to his classic look.  I'm not liking his hair or the shade of green used on his pants and boots.  He is probably my least favorite of the group.

 Green Lantern (Hal Jordan) looks pretty similar to his classic version as well.  The only visual difference i see is the detail in his shoulders.

Very little change in Batman's look as well.  Most noticeably is the lack of underpants (lol).  It actually makes his outfit look a little plain.

Superman's new look is also taking a lot of heat from fans.  Gone is the red underwear (DC doesn't like underwear anymore i suppose) and he now support a red belt instead of yellow and his collar goes right up to his neck.  Also, the design of the costume makes it look like Superman is supporting some kind of armor.  Why?...i have no idea but I actually quite like this new look. Sorry to the die hards out there.  Thumbs up for the new Superman. 

Missing from the DC Direct Justice League action figure line up was Cyborg.  He's seems to be promoted as one of the main members but a Cyborg action figure was M.I.A. at the SDCC. 

These action figure will be available later this year so be sure to keep your eye out for them.  As usual, I'm a bigger fan of eBay and make the bulk of my collection purchases from there.  There is always a deal to be found.  To see eBay's selection of DC Direct action figures, click here

Hopefully Mattel comes out with some new information surrounding their intentions with the DC New Universe reboot.  For those of you who are still big fans of the DC Universe Classics - eBay also has a very large variety of Mattel's cool toy line - click here