I
wavered a lot on whether or not I was going to subscribe to
Mattycollector.com’s Club Infinite Earths.
Overall
I’ve been very satisfied with Club Eternia. The Masters of the
Universe Classics toy line is one of my favorites even though I
barely collected He-Man toys when I was a kid. It’s a thrill and a
pleasure every month to get those figures in the mail, and the
methods of recreating characters and balancing the popular with the
obscure is fascinating.
The
other side of that is all of the problems this line has had with
quality control, customer service, timeliness, and pricing. No matter
how you slice it, you are paying $28.70 (or more, depending on your
shipping method) for a six-inch-scale action figure. And no matter
how cool the figure is, that sucks.
There
was a catch, as well. If Club Infinite Earths didn’t have a certain
(undefined) number of subscribers by a certain date, it wouldn’t
happen.
Being a
sucker for toys – particularly “Exclusive” toys – I signed up
at the last minute. I didn’t want to be kicking myself in 2012 when
my favorites like Poison Ivy, Ra’s Al Ghul, Talia, Ragman,
Professor Pyg, Oracle, and who knew who else came out and I had to
sit on Matty’s shitty website on sale day to get them.
Of
course, none of those figures were promised. But it was implied that
anything and everything could and would happen. Unbound by retail
considerations, figures could be any shape or size and come with tons
of accessories! The sky was the limit!
The date
came and the meter showing the number of subscribers was hilariously
short. Oh, well. It was for the best. I didn’t need to be spending
that much more money next year anyway. I could call my DCUC shelf
finished and be done.
But then
Matty sent out an urgent missive (not through e-mail or anything
professional like that – on Facebook or maybe hidden in their
forums; I can’t recall) stating that everybody had just a few more
weeks to get those sub numbers up!
A few
more people subscribed. People in the Matty forums made ridiculous
claims of subscribing four, five, or six times just to save the line
and derided anybody who didn’t do the same. I feel that these
people are stupid liars.
The new
date arrived and the meter had barely moved. Matty said they would
see what they could do. It turned out what they could do was go back
on everything they had promised in the sub and offer mostly repaints
and minor retooling; most of which would be utterly accessory-free.
They did give the opportunity to cancel the sub if anybody who had
signed up wanted to. I think by that time they had announced Metron
and Atrocitus and I was already kind of hooked. I have a bad habit of
getting caught up in hype sometimes. So I didn’t cancel.
I don’t
know how I feel about that decision. I’m glad to be getting Poison
Ivy, Metron, Platinum and Tin, and Atrocitus; but I really don’t
feel I’m getting the best versions of those characters I could be
getting. Of course, that’s kind of the story of DCUC, so I should
have known.
Okay, so
Jay Garrick is the initial figure. Or “Flash 1” as Matty
continually and irritatingly referred to him.
I’ve
barely had any exposure to the Justice Society of America. I know
them and I’ve read a few stories they’ve been in, but I don’t
have any particular attachment to them. I do happen to have figures
of a bunch of them because they have a tendency to go on clearance.
So I was fine with getting the original Flash to go along with my
team. My local Walmart has about eight hundred Hourmans on the pegs,
still at full price. I’m waiting patiently.
Also,
it’s worth knowing that Matty royally screwed up my order. But in
my favor, so I’m not going into detail.
First
Glance: The figure looks like Jay Garrick. I do like the vac
metal hat an awful lot.
Sculpt:
We got a new head, a new waist, and what I believe are new boots for
this figure.
Flash
has ball joints at the neck and shoulders with the standard DCUC hip
joints. There are swivels at the tops of the biceps, wrists, waist,
and thighs. His elbows, knees, and ankles pivot. All of the joints on
my figure are solid. A bit more solid, in fact, than I am used to
from Mattel. There are no joints that are a bit too loose or tight.
The head
is very nice and the sort of head that makes you feel like minor
retoolings might just be okay. Jay’s face is very distinctive and
has a ton of character. It is lined with age and he’s sporting a
bit of a smirk that I really like. The hat is well done and is cocked
to the side just a bit, as it should be. I love the use of vac metal
on the hat, and what looked like a bad seam in the production photos
isn’t bad at all on mine. I have seen a couple of samples at this
point, though, and some are worse than others.
The new
waist features a belt and a buckle with a little lightning bolt
sculpted on. It looks good and makes a big difference in how cheap
this figure looks. If not for that belt Flash might be kind of Dollar
Tree.
The new
boots are fine. They look like they should, though rocker ankles
would have been greatly appreciated on a Speedster.
Another
nice touch that Mattel didn’t bother with would have been an extra
set of hands in the “karate chop” position. I could be wrong, but
I think most runners do not run with balled-up fists. Granted, Jay
needs those for punchin’, but it would have been nice to have the
option; especially in this new line with “no retail restrictions on
accessories or size”.
Design:
Jay’s head really does look great. The paint is excellent and
well-placed and accentuates what is a very good likeness.
The
upper torso is the basic slim torso from DCUC with a coat of paint to
make it look like a shirt. This works fine and the borders of the
shirt work naturally with his physique so the lack of sculpted seams
isn’t quite so bad. The red is vibrant and not patchy at all. The
yellow lightning bolt on Flash’s chest is solid, but the edges are
just a tiny bit mushy. Not terrible, but noticeable. Yellow has
historically been a difficult color for Mattel to deal with.
The
paint on the belt looks very good and the little lightning bolt on
the buckle is more solid than the chest one. I suppose it’s easier
to put yellow over silver than it is red.
There’s
not much in the way of washes or highlighting on Flash, but it kind
of works. In my mind he is a clean, bright character from a different
age.
Accessories:
Nothing. As I stated above, I feel that Flash should have at
least come with alternate hands. It’s probably not fair to think
that this figure should have come with a younger Jay Garrick head
from the new Earth 2 series. I have no doubt we’ll be seeing
that variant down the road.
Packaging:
It’s a neat little window box. I like it. It’s a little plain,
but even if I left stuff in the package I think I’d be happy with
it. It would display nicely. I definitely prefer it when collector
figures that aren’t ever even going to hit retail come in boxes
rather than blister cards. Since this is the first DC Signature Collection review, here are some extra packaging shots:
I cannot tell you how hilarious I find this:
"?", indeed.
Overall:
The only problems I have with Jay Garrick are fairly nitpicky. Yeah,
he could have come with hands. I mean, really should have.
There’s no way around the fact that this is a fifteen dollar figure
that you have paid a minimum of $23.70 to own. But he is essentially
a very good figure and a perfectly acceptable Jay Garrick.
4
out of 5
Check
out BigBad or eBay if you need one. He sold out in under ten minutes,
so he might be a bit pricey.
-Phantom
VERY cool!
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