DC Universe Classics - Collect and Connect Top 10 Voted by you!

Recently I conducted a poll for the loyal readers of Action Toy Review to tell me THE ONE.....DC Universe Classics collect and connect action figure that was their favorite.  Readers could only vote for one action figure.  It was a bit of a surprise to the the winner to me, but interesting to know.  Note that this poll did not include the CNC figures from waves 17, 18 or 19 which were not released yet at the time.  So, lets take a look at the Top 10 as voted by you. 

NUMBER 10:

Solomon Grundy - Wave 3

A lot of detail in this CNC Action figure.  A very solid action figure.  I personally would've ranked him higher but it's a reader's poll.

NUMBER 9:

Metallo - Wave 5

Very cool giant robot version of Metallo. Many people are still waiting for a regular size, half man version of this character. 

NUMBER 8:

Rex Mason - Wave 1

I'm a bit surprised to see Rex rated so high because, he is the smallest of the CNC action figures.  That being said he also comes with some of the coolest accessories and supports very unique details in his body sculpt.

NUMBER 7:

Arkillo - Green Lantern Wave 1

An awesome Green Lantern Character and truly worthy of a CNC action figure, Arkillo is a great addition to your Sinestro Corps collection. 

NUMBER 6:

Stel - DC Green Lantern - Wave 2

The 2 Green Lantern wave gave us 2 great CNC action figures. 

NUMBER 5:

Chemo - Wave 9

Perhaps the HARDEST CNC action figure to complete due to the lack of production of Black Adam and The Gaurdian action figures from this wave.  Chemo is big, green, transparent and looks amazing. 

NUMBER 4:

Darkseid - Wave 12

Unfortunately Darkseid was the CNC action figure in one of the weakest waves line Mattel has come up with in the DC Universe Classics collection.  But he is an essential action figure for any Superman fan so if you do not own him, find a way to get him! 

NUMBER 3:

Giganta - Wave 8

Almost as equally as hard to finish as Chemo DCUC fans found it extremely difficult to get their hands on the Gentleman Ghost figure from Wave 8 which included Gigants head and waist.  For this reason alone, an unopened Gentleman Ghost goes for about $80.00 US on ebay these days.  Giganta is the tallest of the CNC DC Universe Classics action figure to date. 

NUMBER 2:

Kilowog - Wave 11

I thought for sure the fan favorite, Kilowog would come out as number one but I was wrong.  Number 2 is not too shabby. Kilowog was part of a heavy Green Lantern wave (wave 11) and is a kick ass action figure.  A must have for action figure collectors.

and NUMBER 1:

Bane - Wave 16

The man who broke the Bat slightly edged out Kilowog as the Action Toy Review fan favorite collect and connect action figure.  Bane has a lot going for him these days as he will soon to be featured in the "Dark Knight Rises" Christopher Nolan movie and this has surely something to do with his recent rise in popularity.  Not to take away anything from this great CNC action figure.  It is worthy of a #1 spot.

So there you have it.  Hope you guys enjoyed this post.  Have comments about the poll?   Then feel free to leave a comment about this post. Also be sure to visit Action Toy Review's sponsors to keep us going. 

DC Universe Classics - 2008 Year in Review

Before i finish off my review of the DC Universe Classics wave 5 set, lets take the time to review all the DCUC action figures Mattel brought to us over the past year.

Early 2008, Mattel released the first wave of the DC Universe Classics action figure toy line. The line-up of this first set was not too impressive in my opinion. Mattel had just finished of their DC Superheroes toy line in 2007 which consisted of mostly Batman and Superman characters. So who do we get in the first wave, Batman and Penguin. They are actually both really good looking toys but some may have been looking for more characters outside the Batman world. The rest of the set consisted of mostly B list characters. Etrigan, Orion, Rex Mason and Red Tornado.

Wave 2 came along in the 2nd quarter of 2008 with a much better cast. The best of this set were probably Aquaman and Firestorm. It must be hard to stay away from Batman and Superman related characters as this set also included Harley Quinn and both Blue and Red Superman figures. Black Manta rounded out the 2nd wave.

Gorilla Grodd was the Collect and Connect figure for wave 2.

Wave 3 was headlined by Green Lantern (Hal Jordan) and Sinestro. Both were good toys, but they were far from the best figures of this set.

The best figure of DCUC wave 3 had to be Deathstoke by far. A cool sculpt with a lot of accessories makes a bad ass action figure.

The Collect and Connect figures seem to be getting bigger and bigger and for wave 3 we got a very tall Solomon Grundy toy.

We were give a few other Teen Titan characters, Robin, Nightwing from wave 3 and then Cyborg from wave 4.

The headline figure of wave 4 was Wonder Woman. An improved female sculpt by the 4HM but the joints still seem to stand out on this model.

The best figure of wave 4 was without a doubt, Ares. Great sculpt with a lot of detail and design work and 2 cool weapons to boot. Rounding out wave 4 was Batman Beyond, Captain Atom and the Collect and Connect figure, Despero.

Mattel also re-introduced the 2 packs concept, re-releasing some of the hard to find DC Superheroes action figures while adding a couple new 2 pack exclusive characters.

Finally the last set of 2008 came around the end of November and turned out to be a Walmart exclusive set. The Riddler was the only Batman related character from this set.

The Atom, Black Lightning, Eradicator and Amazo rounded out wave 5 with a Collect and Connect figure Metallo who is just as tall as Wave 3's Solomon Grundy.

Most of these figures can easily be found on eBay but they will vary in price depending on the character and/or variant.

To find Mattel's DC Universe Classics action figures on eBay, click here.

Thats it for 2008. Mattel has already announced the next 3 sets and a new round of 2 packs so be sure to come back to Action Toy Review for more news, info and reviews. Happy New Year!

DC Universe Classics - Series 3

Welcome to ACTION TOY REVIEW

Today's review: DC Universe Classics - Series 3 (Mattel)
Click here to read my review of DC Universe Classics - Series 2:
Series 3 comes with 5 action figures which are in the 6 inch range ( they vary in sizes). Just like the previous 2 sets, each figure also comes with an additional piece of a 6th figure for you to collect and connect.

Mattel has put together a good variety of Heroes and their classic villains with this set. The characters from this series are Green Lantern (Hal Jordan version), Sinestro (Classic or Corps variants), Nightwing, Robin (Tim Drake version), Deathstroke, the Terminator (Masked or unmasked variants). The C&C figure is Solomon Grundy.

Green Lantern's design is classic Hal Jordan. The face looks good. The majority of the body looks very similar to that of Black Manta's body from the previous series. Its no secret that Mattel re-uses some of the same body pieces for these figures. The figure stands just under 6.5 inches tall. DC Comics lists Hal Jordan as 6 foot 2 inches so this figure is about right compared to others in his size range. The paint job is generally done well. There are a couple of small black spots here and there where there shouldn't be. If you look closely around the edges of his mask, its not exactly a totally clean paint job with the green and flesh tone. There are some small runs. The hair is a dark brown wash with a lighter brown highlights. Again, there are some minor runs of the brown over his ears. The face would probably benefit with a bit more shading. Its not quite as nice as Aquaman's face from the previous set.

Hal comes with his a well, Green Lantern which in the comics he uses to charge his ring. Its an okay, but nothing overly exciting.

The figure's strong point, much like most toys from these series is its articulation. Starting from the top down, he's got points in the neck, shoulders, biceps, elbows, wrists, abdominal, waist, hips, thighs, knees and ankles.


Overall its a good toy but it kind of has a generic feel to it. Still, it is a good rendition of Hal Jordan and would make any DC fan happy.

Sculpt/design - 8

Paint - 7.5

Accessories - 6

Articulation - 9

Fun - 8
Green Lantern Overall Score - 7.5



I chose the Sinestro Corps version for this figure over the classic version. The figure is a little shorter than GL standing at exactly 6 inches tall to the tip of his head. DC Comics lists Sinestro as being 6 foot 7 inches so this figure seems not close to scale. Perhaps his neck and head should've been a bit longer. That being said the face design looks really good. Most of the parts used to create the torso are new. The costume is mostly yellow and black with a silver belt.
The paint job is suspect in certain areas. The yellow over his shoulders looks like it could use another coat and shows signs are cracking around the shoulder joints. The hair is jet black with no highlights. The face is cleanly painted. He has black eyes with yellow pupils which look really good. His teeth, eyebrows and mustache all look good and do not run.
Like Green Lantern, Sinestro comes with a Lantern except his is yellow of course. Its not much, but at least its something and it fits nicely in his hands.
Even though Sinestro's body is a little smaller than GLs, the articulation is exactly the same. All joints were nice and tight out of the box. (This goes for all figures from this set).

Overall, a good figure. It uses original parts and has a great face sculpt but I'd have to question the figure's height. He should be taller. The paint is the weak part for sure.

Sculpt/design - 8

Paint - 6.5

Accessories - 6

Articulation - 9

Fun - 8

Sinestro Overall Score - 7.5

Robin stands at 5.5 inches tall so he's the shortest of the bunch. The body type is similar to that of Green Lantern but in a smaller scale. The hair is nicely done in a messy style. His cape totally wraps around his neck which kind of prevents any up and down movement.

All the yellow areas on the figure are washed with a faint red. Even the inside of the cape. The back of the cape is black but there a few minor spots of yellow. The hair is jet black with some blue highlights to give it it some dimension. It looks good. The mask is cleanly painted and his eyes are bright white with no runs.
Robin has some cool accessories. He comes with 2 batarangs and a silver staff which all fit nicely into his hands.
Articulation is the same as GL and Sinestro. The only difference, as mentioned, the neck movement is limited due to his cape design. It can only move left and right.

Overall, Its a good toy on its own and he fits in great with any Batman or rogue villain figure in the 6 inch range.


Sculpt/Design - 9
Paint - 8
Accessories - 8
Articulation - 9
Fun - 9
Robin Overall Score - 8.5




Nightwing's sculpt is very similar to Green Lanterns with the exception of his forearms and boots. They are the exact same height, 6.25 inches. He also has 2 slots on his back which hold the 2 nightsticks that come with the figure. The main difference is obviously the face and hair.
The paint is reasonably well done. He is mostly black with the exception of the blue design that runs across his upper body and arms. His hair is black with blue highlights that are a bit more noticeably than on the Robin figure. The mask is black but has areas of flesh tone around the edges where it should be black so it looks a little sloppy close up.

As mentioned, Nightwing comes with 2 night sticks which fit nicely into his hand or onto the holders on his back.
Articulation is the same as the other figures. Very well done from head to toe and there is nothing obstructing any of the joints.
Overall, much like the GL figure, this has a bit of a generic feel to it. I think that Nightwing should have been a bit shorter than Green Lantern. Dc Comics lists Nightwing as 5 foot 10 inches and Hal Jordan as 6 foot 2 inches. Perhaps they should have used more of Sinestro's body parts than GL for this figure.
Sculpt/Design - 7.5

Paint - 8

Accessories - 7 .5

Articulation - 9

Fun - 8

Nightwing Overall Score - 8
Deathstroke stands at 6.25 inches to the tip of his head. DC Comics lists Deathstroke as 6 foot 6 inches so the height of the figure is not consistant. For a mass market toy line, you're probably not going to get the height differences in for each individual figure unfortunately. Especially when they are using a lot of similar parts. That said, his body is more unique compared to the others from this set. Specifically the shiny scales around his abdominal and biceps (similar to the scales on Aquaman from series 2). He has his own utility belt similar to Robin but with smaller pockets. His gloves are wider towards the ends (again similar to Aquaman's) and his boots have big cuffs. The head is masked with the ends sticking out to the side like they're blowing in the wind. They cant be moved around.
The paint job is well done. The are some minor orange spots on the blue part of his mask. His one eye is painted on cleanly.
Deathstroke comes with a huge variety of accessories. He comes with a huge automatic rifle, a hand gun which is holstered at his left side. A sword with a holder can be detached from his belt. A round of bullets that goes around his chest and has a holder for his final weapon, a staff.
Articulation is the same as all the other figures. and there is nothing obstructing any of the joints.
Overall, this is my favorite figure of the set. Funny considering this was the figure i was least looking forward to. He looks really cool and comes with a great selection of weapons. As far as action figures go, they don't get much better than this one.
Sculpt/Design - 9

Paint - 9

Accessories - 10

Articulation - 9

Fun - 10

Deathstroke's Overall Score- 9.5


Finally we come to the C&C figure, Solomon Grundy. Grundy is big...really big. He towers over the other standing at 9 inches tall. DC Comics has him listed as 9 foot 2 inches.

His head is the highlight of the figure. Very well designed, kind of giving him that Frankenstein look. The jacket is a rubbery towards the ends and sleeves looking all ripped and torn. There are holes in his clothes all over his body.

The paint job is also really good no obvious signs of any runs or splotches. The face is nicely painted with a black wash in some of the wrinkles of his face and his teeth. The hair is gray with white highlights. The jacket, pants and boots all have the appearance that they are dirty and covered in mud.

Since Grundy himself is an accessory, he comes with nothing. His hands are perminantly closed so he cannot hold anything.

Articulation is similar to the other figures except that Grundy does not have any wrist joints. His jacket obstructs the movement of his abdominal joint so it is hard to move his upper body forwards and backwards.

Overall, this is a great bonus figure to the set, probably the best of the 3 Collect & Connect figures so far. I only wish his hands were open so he could grab or hold something.

Sculpt/Design - 8.5
Paint - 9.5
Accessories - n/a
Articulation - 8
Fun - 9
Solomon Grundy Overall Score - 9

The best place to find these figures is probably eBay or Amazon.com. Depending on where you live, they may be at a local Walmart or Target but it seems that they have only been released in limited locations.




That's it for series 3. Series 4 is expected out in October 2008 and will feature Wonder Woman, Ares, Batman Beyond, Captain Atom and Cyborg. Then series 5 is a Walmart exclusive set also due out before the end of 2008.