DC Universe Classics - Zatanna

Out of the entire DC Universe Classics Wave 14 line up, Zatanna is probably the most popular character.  An ATR poll indicated that 76% of readers who voted said they would purchase Zatanna.  The most of any other DCUC Wave 14 action figure.  So lets take a closer look. 

This action figure is obviously Zatanna in her classic magician outfit. You can see she's also got the fish net stockings we saw previously in DCUC wave 9 on Black Canary.  They look good from the front but in the back, you can see where the stocking ties together and, in my opinion, it looks a little sloppy.

There are also some other similarities between Zatanna and Black Canary with regards to body parts.  The upper legs and hip pieces appear to be the same mold as well as the upper portion (bicep) of their arms.  The other pieces are pretty much unique to Zatanna. 

Zatanna shares the general same body shape as the smaller female DCUC action figures, like Black Canary, Harley Quinn, Batgirl and Catwoman.  Their body type is skinnier than the more muscular Wonder Woman and Big Barda.  However, Mattel has made Zatanna slightly taller by making the calf pieces slightly longer.  

There is rarely any disappointment in the face sculpts of any DCUC action figures, and Zatanna's is no different.  The face is beautiful and her black hair is nicely detailed and highlighted with a dark blue coloring.  We've seen this before on other characters with black hair, like Wonder Woman and Superman.  There are faults however with the overall sculpt of this action figure as it does not blend well with the articulation.  More on this in a later.

The paint job is decent but not perfect.  My Zatanna has a couple yellow paint blotches on her white shirt close to the sculpt lines.  Generally, there aren't too many difficult areas to paint so we don't find too many problems here. 

Accessories include Zatanna's removable magician hat and her magic wand.  The hat fits nicely on Zatanna's head.  Its a nice fit but not super tight.  There is a lip on the inside of the hat to hook onto Zatanna's hair line to keep it from wobbling but its not totally secure and will fall off if she is not standing up or being moved around.  The wand fits in either of Zatanna's open sculpted hand but not securely either.  Using one of those small invisible elastic bands is essential.  Her hat can pretty good into either hand.  Also included, is one piece of the collect and connect action figure Ultra-Humanite.

Articulation is where Zatanna loses it, totally.  Much like Black Canary, because of the fish net stockings, Mattel has not included the side hip joints.  This means that her legs can only move forward and backwards but not out to the sides (like the splits).  This also makes it hard to pose this action figure in multiple standing positions.  What makes this worse Zatanna's feet.  They are high heels so and very narrow so it makes it VERY hard to get her to stand without falling over.  The swivel joints at the thighs and calfs do not help out at all.  I had the hardest time getting any kind of variety of poses with her.  There also are no holes in bottom of her feet to use one of Mattel's DCUC blue plastic stands.  Unfortunately, the legs were just part of the problem.  Zatanna's head can barely move left or right because of her long hair sculpt.  The hair is a hard plastic and does not allow for much movement.  Another problem is the lower part of her yellow vest does not allow for much movement in the waist.  The vest is a hard but thin plastic piece and although the waist can be turned, it potentially can crack the plastic of the vest in the front.

Overall, despite the pretty face sculpt and generally a great looking action figure from afar, DCUC Zatanna does have a lot of flaws with her sculpt design and articulation.  As far as character's go, Zatanna definitely is the most popular in Wave 14 which means more people are probably looking to purchase her.  If you are one of these people, don't expect to much out of her.  She looks good on the shelf, if you can get her to stand but that's about it.

Design/Sculpt - 4, Paint - 7, Articulation - 5, Accessories - 6, Fun - 3

Value - 5

Zatanna is definitely not one of my favorite action figures from the DC Universe Classics toy line but some people may still want to include her in their collection just because of the love for the character or to even collect the Ultra Humanite pieces.  Wave 14 was a Walmart exclusive set so a lot of people found it difficult to find these action figures.  Chances are, you won't find them anymore at your local walmart so the best bet to get any of the DC Universe Classics wave 14 action figures would be of course, eBay.

To find DC Universe Classics Zatanna on eBay, click here

To find DC Universe Classics Wave 14 action figures on eBay, click here

Thats it for this review.  Be sure to vote in the ATR polls which you will find along the left hand side of your screen.  Be sure to visit our sponsors and also be sure to come back for more news info previews and reviews on Mattel's DC Universe Classics action figures. 

DC Universe Classics - 2010 Year in Review

Happy New Year everyone.  Its time for the 3rd annual DC Universe Classics Year in Review.  Mattel started off the 2010 year by releasing the DC Universe Classics wave 11 set which featured such characters as John Stewart, The Question, Kilowog and Deadman.  Personally, I feel this was the best set of the year.  A current poll of Action Toy Review readers asking which DCUC Collect N Connect figure was their favorite, is showing an overwhelming response for Kilowog compared to the other 4 CNCs.  I myself, did not go for this entire set but went out of my way to make sure i bought the all the right pieces to finish Kilowog.

Wave 12 features characters such as Dessad, Eclipso and Copperhead with the Collect and Connect action figure being a much bigger Darkseid than the one we were previsouly given in the DC Superheroes toy line.  Some decent characters but in my opinion, this was one of the weaker waves we've seen so far. 

Wave 13 had a bit of a Teen Titan theme to it featuring Superboy, Donna Troy, Blue Beetle and Trigon as the Collect and connect figure. 

I was very happy to get a classic version of Cheetah from this wave. Even by todays standards, the show sucks, when i was a kid, i loved the Super Friends cartoon with the Justice League vs the Legion of Doom so this action figure as a no brainer.

Trigon, well....i felt completely meh about him.....It looks like a very cool connect and collect action figure, but I was not ready to dish out $120 plus for this set.  I will keep my eye out for good deals on eBay on both wave 12 and 13 figures. 

Much like DCUC wave 5 and 10, when the wave 14 line up was announced, it was also announce that it would be a Walmart exclusive which pisses off a lot of collectors who already find it hard enough as it is to get their hands on these babies.  Walmart exclusives make it even harder because they're not sold at every one. 

The most appealing figures to me in this set were Zatanna, Alan Scott and the Collect N Connect figure, Ultra-Humanite.  This set also included Hourman, Gold and Tyr. I was not one of those people that ran out around from Wal-Mart to Wal-Mart stores looking for this set. 

Wave 15 was a tad bit more interesting.  First we have the winning character voted by the fans in 2009, Raven action figure released.  Also a main Justice League character, Martian Manhunter (2 versions actually), the first ever action figure of Jemm and a new Batman figure with a new face sculpt in a Sinestro Corps outfit.

By far my favorite figure in this set was J'onn J'onzz.  Very cool. 

The Collect N Connect figure for wave 15 was Validas. 

We've seen a number or re-released figures in two packs this year. Yet another Batman 2 pack this time with a repainted Robin, As well as an Aquaman/Black Manta 2 pack, both figures from wave 2 which again were just repainted.  Also (Below) you'll see the "Power Struggle" two pack which features Superman from the Gotham City 5 pack in 2009 as well as a re-release of Parasite from the DC Superheroes toy line in 2007. 

Also re-released, was a Hawgirl/Gentleman Ghost 2 pack which i assume was because of the ridiculously low supply of DCUC wave 8 figures that were out back in 09.  These two figure were VERY hard to find.  I have seen the original Gentleman Ghost figure alone go for $80.00 plus on eBay auctions recently.  The bad part of this set...no Giganta pieces included.

Mattel is also starting to gear up on the Green Lantern merchandise in anticipation of the Green Lantern movie coming out in June 2011.  A 5 pack called "Green Lantern's Light" was released in mid 2010 which included a few repaints as well as a new Guy Gardiner and Tomar Re action figure. 

Also just released towards the end of 2010 was a 2 pack featuring a taller Sinestro (compared to the shorter version in wave 2 which sooooo many people cried about).  and a repaint of Hal Jordan in shiney green. 

Finally we've also seen a DCUC spin off set featuring Green Lantern Characters.  I'm not too sure how many wave's we will see of this toy series but wave 1 has already started invading ebay and online stores as well as an official announcement for the wave 2 characters.  I hope the GL movie isnt a flop....Here is the GL Wave 1:

And GL Wave 2:

And finally, for all you hard core collectors out there, the 2010 San Diego Comic Con exclusive action figure is Plastic Man.  As you can see in the picture below he comes with a large assortment of accessories which may lead to hours of fun and excitement if you want to pay about 40-60 bucks for him on eBay. 

Well, thats it for my DC Universe Classics 2010 year in review.  Be sure to check back multiple times in 2011 for news, previews, info and reviews on Mattel's DC Universe toy line.  Wave 16 has some promising characters and Blackest Night fans will probably love the just recently announce DCUC Wave 17 line up.  Green Lantern fans will have it good in 2011 so we should see some more interesting characters in the coming year. 

DC Universe Classics - Wave 14 Preview

Its been a while since my last post so lets catch up with Wave 14 of the DC Universe Classics action figure series by Mattel.  Originally announce back in March 2010, this wave will be another Wal-Mart Exclusive set and if you're lucky and live in the USA, you may be able to find this set at you're local store in August 2010.  Lets take a look at the line up for this set. 

First we have the original Green Lantern Alan Scott:

Next up is Hourman:

Gold:

Tyr:

Obsidian

Kamandi:

Zatanna (with a removable hat):

And finally the DC Universe Classics Wave 14 BAF is The Ultra Humanite:

Here is a look at the packaging:

So it doesn't look like Mattel has given us any variants in this wave.  An interesting assortment of characters for this wave, however, Zatanna and Ultra Humanite are the ones that interest me most. 

If you're not lucky enough to find these action figures at your local Wal-Mart, you pretty much have to resort to ebay to find these action figures.  Not to many online stores will carry this wave.  DCUC wave 14 is just slowly starting to appear on ebay right now but you might have to do some digging. 

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