I’ve
got a cool treat for you guys this week.
No
– it’s not coupons for a free Blizzard from Dairy Queen.
I
got the idea to do a retrospective on the DC Signature Collection
after the final figure – Batzarro – came in the mail. I thought
it would be interesting to look back on an entire line of figures
that I had judged fairly harshly (to the point where I pretty much
stopped reviewing them) and felt stupid for subscribing to both years
that it was offered. I wanted to see if I felt differently now that
the whole ordeal was in the past and those dollars were freed up for
other things.
Not
for me, personally. I am not a completist in any of the lines I
collect unless it just so happens that every release in that line is
good and something that I want. I have no problem leaving holes in a
collection is those holes would have been occupied by poor figures or
characters I don’t like or don’t care about. But I get why other
folks do want the full set.
Which
brings me to the most exciting part of this feature.
Knowing
how negatively I have viewed much of Mattel’s DC releases, I wanted
to get some different perspectives. I contacted Evil and the
Belligerent Monkey – knowing that they had subscribed to both
years, as well. Not only that, both of those guys are
completists and generally have a more favorable outlook on these
figures than I do. Not that they aren’t capable of criticizing; as
you’ll find out over the next week.
I
had originally intended on combining all of our thoughts into one
article, but I enjoyed reading the other guys’ stuff so much I knew
they would make great posts on their own. So today you get my
thoughts, Wednesday will bring Evil’s, and Monkey will wrap things
up on Friday.
Jay
Garrick – I was just
starting James Robinson’s Starman
when this figure was announced, and I already knew that the Justice
Society of America played a fairly large role in that comic. Also,
Batman: The Brave and the
Bold was still on the air.
Those things meant I wanted a Jay Garrick figure, something I might
not have cared about a few years ago. As I stated above, I am not a
completist, so I need a personal interest or compelling reason to buy
a toy. Jay ended up being pretty good. The vac metal helmet is
fantastic and his face looked great. Hands in a running position
would have been appreciated, though. Since I have the rest of the
JSA, I’m glad to have Jay.
Atrocitus
– This figure was too small, but otherwise the execution was great.
The head and hands look fantastic. Except, of course, for the fact
that he cannot hold his accessory – the Red Lantern. What a
butthole. Also, every single
Lantern figure ever made
should have come with construct accessories. Period.
Metron
– The chair looks absolutely amazing. It’s one of the best
accessories that Mattel has ever produced. It’s sturdy, the sculpt
is excellent, and the paint is clean. Metron, on the other hand, is a
piece of Dollar Tree crap. His sculpted head looks great.
Unfortunately the corresponding details on his body are just paint.
It’s a jarring difference and one of the things that makes me
dislike Mattel intensely. We deserved better on this one. Oh – he
did have neat hands, though.
Starman
VIII – I have no idea
who this guy is or where he comes from, but I love the figure. A
translucent, sparkly figure with a beard just hits me in the right
spot. The only thing new here was the unmasked head sculpt, but it’s
such a weird and interesting figure that I’m okay with that.
Rocket
Red – I’m not
familiar with this version of Rocket Red, but from what I understand
Matty just fucked this figure all up. I thought it looked pretty cool
except for the musculature on the armor that was a result of farming
parts when they shouldn’t have. I didn’t care much about this
figure one way or the other and moved it on eBay without even opening
it. I think I broke even. That was the other lousy thing about this
line – I was lucky to break even on eBay with the figures I got rid
of. As a matter of fact, I rarely broke even. I was lucky to make
back just the cost of the figures not including shipping. There was
zero
demand for these.
Mirror
Master – I think they
did a great job with this one. He helps complete Flash’s Rogues
(did we ever get Weather Wizard? I can’t remember), so that’s
important. I was very impressed that his guns came with alternate
barrels and that his holsters were functional. The only thing that
would have made this figure better would have been if he could
actually hold his guns properly.
Black
Mask – I don’t
particularly care for Black Mask. Mostly because he killed Stephanie
Brown, which caused me no small amount of comic book grief until they
brought her back; only to get rid of her again when the horrible
thing that is the New 52 began. But I do like a guy with a skull for
a head, and this is a pretty good figure of a guy with a skull for a
head. Heck, I bought the DC Direct Black Mask figure that was
specifically intended to be the “just tortured Stephanie Brown to
death” version just because he had a skull head. But it always
bothered me that – correct as it was – that he didn’t have a
jacket on. Now I have a Black Mask with a jacket. Mask’s
accessories were crap because none of them worked like they were
supposed to. They should have just given him guns.
Poison
Ivy – They did a
great job with this one. Unlike many figures in this line, I think
she looks exactly like the DCUC Poison Ivy should look. Well, except
for her hands. She shouldn’t have had fists.
Elasti-Girl
– I have tried, but I’ve never been able to get into Doom Patrol.
I passed on all of the figures and sold Elasti-Girl on eBay. I opened
the mailer for pictures and thought she looked pretty good and I
definitely appreciate that they attempted to finish this team. I
mean, they didn’t,
but they sort of tried.
Uncle
Sam – Despite my
general liking of strongly American things, I sold this guy on eBay.
I did open him and thought Mattel did a great job. But he just never
looked right on the shelf. Since the DC Direct Uncle Sam is way
better and is hanging on my wall I figured I could do without this
one. I did think it was neat that he came with whoever that tiny guy
was.
John
Constantine –
Hellblazer
was my first mature comic, my first Vertigo comic, and the first
non-superhero comic that was so good I ravenously tracked down every
issue that I could find. Needless to say, this figure was important
to me. In all honesty, the only good thing that has come out of the
New 52 is the fact that we got a DCUC figure of this character. I am
still baffled by the scar on its face, but otherwise it’s just
about perfect. Obviously Mattel isn’t going to include a cigarette,
but there are plenty of mystical items that could have come with this
figure if it weren’t part of such a shitty line. I know I’m being
terribly negative sometimes and you might wonder why I bought any of
these. It’s because I love DC and I wanted sturdy, well-articulated
figures of the characters that I love that looked like they shared a
common world. The Mattel figures were the best I could do.
Platinum
– This one looks fantastic, but the lack of accessories is even
more of a sin since all
of the other Metal Men came with them. And yes – it’s neat that
we got Tin as a pack-in. But guess what? He should have had
accessories too.
Lead
– I’m still disappointed in this figure. I hate that he has the
cracks in his skin – a result of farming his parts from Darkseid.
Like Platinum he has no accessories. His head is great and the
overall shape is good, but this is another casualty of Mattel’s
cheapness.
Saint
Walker – When I read
the comics where Saint Walker was an important character I was very
excited about the idea of a Saint Walker action figure. So excited
that I bought the DC Direct one that came out. And then, like two
years after everybody stopped giving a shit about all the Lantern
Corps drama, Matty released this one. I sold the DCD version because
I only need one Saint Walker and I’d prefer one that fits in with
my larger DCU collection. The figure is great aside from a lack of
actual sculpted detail. The articulation is among the best in the
line. But once again – no ring constructs. Unacceptable.
Phantom
Stranger – This might
be the best figure that came out through Club Infinite Earths. I
honestly can’t imagine a better Phantom Stranger in this style. A
must-have to go along with Constantine, Zatanna, the Spectre, Swamp
Thing, and Deadman.
Elongated
Man – My only reason
for liking Ralph Dibney is from his appearance in Justice
League Unlimited when he
and Booster Gold were put on standby during a battle. I really don’t
know anything about him. The figure looks like it should, but is
pretty dull. Better stretchy parts would have helped. Too bad Mattel
hasn’t produced any other figures of stretchy guys. Like, oh, I
dunno – Plastic Man. Then they could’ve just repainted a couple
of the parts.
Larfleeze
– Great head. Can’t hold his Lantern right. Can’t crouch. And
what’s weird is that his arms are new sculpts and positioned oddly.
Just not oddly enough. The articulation on this one was super-shitty
and he had the same lack of sculpted detail as the other Lanterns.
BUT – he looks fine standing on the shelf. I just expected more.
Which is my own fault.
Monsieur
Mallah and Brain –
This is one of the high points of the whole DCSC sub. Mallah looks
great – a new head on Grodd’s bod – and Brain is all creepy
and sci-fi-looking. There were plenty of accessories and I actually
feel like this set was one of the few releases in the sub that was
worth the money. I had a lot of fun playing with these while I was
doing the video review. Which, by the way, was a terrible idea. My
idea of a good video review is nothing like the average human’s
idea of a good video review.
Wally
West – I was stoked
to be getting Wally since he is actually an interesting character.
While I wasn’t as familiar with Wally from the comics, Michael
Rosenbaum’s portrayal of the character on the Justice
League cartoon is one of my
favorite things ever. And then this Flash arrived and he was kind of
plain and underwhelming and the only real difference between him and
Barry was the mask. I figured I could get a decent amount for him on
eBay and I was right. He sold for a profit.
Red
Hood – This is a fun
figure that I never reviewed. It isn’t spectacular. It’s just a
regular DCUC body with a cape and a big, red dildo hat. But it looks
very different from the rest of the line, stands out on the shelf,
and is from Grant Morrison’s outstanding run writing Batman. I’m
just glad they didn’t slap the dildo hat on another suit body.
Freddy
Freeman – The Captain
Marvel family is another DC thing that I have only a passing
familiarity with. I have loved Shazam (which is the name that I have
always thought of for the character – I was surprised to find out
he was actually called Captain Marvel) since I was a kid, but I
didn’t know a thing about the rest of his family. I still don’t
know anything about this character and promptly put him up on eBay.
It took four tries and I finally sold him at a loss, so I’m
thinking not many other people give a crap about Freddy, either.
Fire
– This is another character that I wanted because of Justice
League Unlimited. I thought
she and Ice were a great pair and considered them essential to my
collection. So of course Matty were dicks and (did the smart thing)
put Ice in the 2014 sub as an enticement. It didn’t work and the
sub failed, but they are still producing Ice later this year. The
Fire figure is pretty lazy. The belt doesn’t look good, the paint
seems kind of uninteresting and she should have come with a much
better fire accessory. I think of all of the great Phoenix figures
that have been made with Phoenix Force clip-ons and stands and stuff,
and then I think of the pathetic green booger that Fire came with. I
hate you, Matty.
Huntress
– Aside from the entirely unacceptable production stamp on the side
of the figure’s foot, this is a great figure. She ended up with a
good number of new pieces and actually looks good enough to be a
retail release – something many DCSC figures did not manage. But I
have to say I wish they had done her New 52 costume. This costume
looks good in pin-ups and poster art, but it’s pretty fucking
silly. Even in the same universe as a guy that dresses up like a bat.
Ocean
Master – This one is
another highlight of the sub. Ocean Master looks great. He has a
plain body, but that’s all Ocean Master should have. This one is
about as good as it could have been. I dig it.
Ra’s
al Ghul – As I
mentioned in my review, this is not at all the Ra’s I would have
wanted. And it’s not even very good for the Ra’s that I didn’t
want. But it is Ra’s al Ghul and the only one I’m going to get in
this line, so I’m keeping him and giving him a less stupid sword
from my massive drawer full of extra crap. This sword might be good
for a He-Man figure.
Batzarro
– This might be the best figure that I would have never, ever asked
for or wanted. I haven’t opened mine because I’m going to sell
it, but I did take it out of the mailer and it looks great. The head
is awesome, the body is well done, and the utility belt is hilarious.
But he was a December disappointment. With all the characters that
this line will never see and we get Batzarro to round out the line.
What a turd.
Except
that the line isn’t quite
over yet. Matty got far enough into production that they can release
four final figures at a ridiculously high price – Damien Wayne,
Ice, 90s Aquaman, Superboy, and some shitty Doomsday that nobody
wanted, even people that actually like Doomsday (I am not one of
those people). I’ll buy Damien even though he’s too big and I’ll
buy Ice because I have to. And I suppose I will review them because
for twenty-five bucks a pop plus shipping I will definitely be
getting posts out of those things.
Overall
I look at the DC Signature Collection with a sort of resigned
acceptance. Out of twenty-six releases that I obligated myself to
purchase, there were only eleven that I would consider must-haves:
Ra’s
al Ghul
Huntress
Wally
West (I know I got rid of him, he wasn’t great)
Platinum
w/Tin
Lead
John
Constantine
Poison
Ivy
Mirror
Master
Atrocitus
Saint
Walker
Larfleeze
And
only eight that I am truly happy with as figures:
John
Constantine
Poison
Ivy
Mirror
Master
Ocean
Master
Red
Hood
Black
Mask
Phantom
Stranger
Starman
VIII
Those
are terrible
numbers. Especially for a guy that is in no way a completist. I am
not going to sit here and figure out how much I spent in total on
these figures versus how much I might have spent buying just the ones
I wanted on the secondary market because I am having a great year so
far and don’t feel the need to be depressed.
But
I must reiterate – this is exactly
what I expected when I first subscribed to Club Infinite Earths and I
did it again
after the first year proved me right. So if I’m all pissy about it,
I have nobody to blame but myself.
Be
sure and check back on Wednesday for Evil's thoughts on the line, and
then on Friday... well, just be ready for the Belligerent Monkey's
pictures. Seriously.
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