DC Universe Classics - Black Canary

Jumping into Mattel's DC Universe Classics wave 9 set, my review today will be of the only female action figure of the set, Black Canary.

The packaging for the most part is standard so don't expect anything out of the ordinary here. Other than the background picture that changes each wave, there is nothing new.

Enough about the boring packaging and on to the action figure inside. Black Canary is has a couple of features that are unique. For starters, the four horseman have created a beautiful head sculpt.

Black Canary's body also has some interesting features, the main being that she's got actual fish net stockings over her legs (more pics below) which is something we've not seen on any of the other DCUC action figures yet. More on this in a moment.

The paint job looks great and really there is nothing to complain about. The paint on her face made to look like makeup is very clean. The rest of the paint job is also very solid.

Now as for articulation, there are a couple of differences between Black Canary and the other DCUC female action figures like Wonder Woman, Harley Quinn and Big Barda.

As you can see in the picture above, Black Canary lacks the Mattel trademark hip joints we seen on practically every single other DCUC figure and instead have the regular T hip joints we normally see in a lot of DC Direct action figures. Because of this, Black Canary's legs can only move forwards and backwards and really makes it hard to pose her in many cool fighting scenes. To make up for this Mattel has added a twisting joint in at her boots.

The other major bummer about the articulation is that Black Canary's neck can barely move due to the sculpt of her hair. The only position that her head can move is down and slightly to the left.

Looking for some accessories to compliment your very cool Black Canary action figure. Sorry folks, she comes with nothing other than an arm piece for the Collect and Connect Chemo action figure.

No question that Mattel's DCUC Black Canary is a great looking action figure but looking good comes with a price and that is in this case articulation. Still, its not that big of an issue that would make me want to skip out on this great looking action figure of this classic character. You should not hesitate picking this action figure up if you get the chance.

Sculpt/Design - 9, Paint - 9, Articulation - 6, Accessories - 0, Fun - 7

Where would you buy Black Canary you ask? Well, online is a great place to check and what better place than eBay.

To find Mattel's DC Universe Classics Black Canary on eBay, click here to find the lastest auctions.

Be sure to check back at Action Toy Review for more DC Universe Classics news, info, previews and reviews. Currently I am jumping between figures from the wave 8 and 9 sets as well as the Gotham City 5 Pack. Hopefully I'll be able to get my hands on some of the wave 10 figures soon as well.

DC Universe Classics - Wave 9 and 2 Pack Previews

As I await the arrival of my DCUC Wave 7 action figures to review, and also the arrival of Wave 8 (which have already started popping up on eBay now), I figured this would be a good time to preview DCUC Wave 9 as well as some of the upcoming 2 packs.

Starting with the 2 packs, probably the one I'm looking most forward to is the Brainiac & Superman pack, simply because I want Brainiac. The figure is crafted after Brainiac's first appearance in the Superman comics and also similar to Brainiac from the old Superfriends cartoon from the 70s. The Superman figure comes with glowing red eyes. I believe this is the same head sculpt used on Eradicator from Wave 5 and in all likelyhood the same body sculpt from the Superman variant in Wave 6.

The next 2 pack is of Clayface and Batman. Clayface looks to be a re-release from the DCSH wave 8 and the Batman appears to be a repainted version of the sculpt from DCUC wave 1 Batman.

The other 2 packs coming soon are re-releases of Lex Luthor and Supergirl from the DC Superheroes action figure series and also a Hawkman and Hawkgirl pack.

You can pre-order on line on Mattycollector.com an exclusive Alexander Luthor and Ultraman two pack

Now, on to Mattel's DC Universe Classics Wave 9.

First up, Mantis who has a variant who as some cool looking costumes.

Next is Wildcat, which looks like your standard DCUC figure as far as body parts go. Of course he has his own unique head sculp, plus your not so standard hands sculpt as well. The rest looks like reused parts.

Same case with the next figure, Guardian. As far as the sculpt goes, he appears to also have your standard body parts with a ho-hum costume but a unique head sculpt.

Next up is the Deadshot who has a unique enough looking costume to forgive the re-use of body parts. Personally, I've been waiting for this guy but I'm a little disappointed as it looks like both fists are closed which means no extra accessories.

This is the third set in a row that includes at least one female character and for wave 9 Mattel is giving us Black Canary. I'm going to guess that the body parts used on this figure will be similar to Series 2 Harley Quinn

Next up is Black Adam, a fairly standard looking DCUC action figure with no accessories.

Finally, who appears to be the lead character of Wave 9, Green Arrow rounds out the seven action figures from this set. This figure looks to be pretty good from the publicity photo and thankfully comes with a few extra accessories.

And if you're lucky enough to purchase all seven action figures from DCUC wave 9 you will get to put together CHEMO

Well, thats it for my 2 pack and DCUC wave 9 preview. Hopefully my Wave 7 will arrive soon so I can start back up on my reviews. Be sure to come back to Action Toy Review for more info, news and review on Mattel's DC Universe Classics action figures.