DC Universe Classics Wave 11 BAF: Kilowog!

That's right folks, it's the Green Lantern Corps drill sergeant himself and the grandest poozer of them all, Kilowog! (Or as the wife-to-be likes to call him, Green Lantern pig. Real glamorous. :P)

Funny fact about DCUC figures here in Singapore: it was previously tougher to assemble the Build-a-Figures from the old waves before Wave 9.  Excluding Wave 10, which was the Walmart Exclusive Imperiex Wave, you could easily put together a Wave 9 Chemo and a Wave 11 Kilowog from what the department stores bring in.  (Heck, even the excusive Wave 10 can be found here in most specialty toy stores.)  It also looks like Wave 12 Darkseid will follow the same trend.

Thing is, there will always be certain figures that are rarer and thus harder to find.  For Wave 9 it's Black Canary and Green Arrow (though he only comes with a base), and for Wave 11, it's now John Stewart and Katma Tui (and just before the new shipments came in it was The Question.)

So luckily for me I managed to get ol' Johnny S. and Katma T before they ran out.  And despite having to pay a premium at retail from a local department store to get Question and Deadman, Both were worth it because Vic Sage is a firm fan favoirite and the Fan Choice Winner, while the Boston Brand I got was the disappearing (or re-appearing) variant with glow in the dark eyes, mouth, and "D".

Much to talk about with those characters and I will in good time (Heh).  But back to the Big K!  Here's a breakdown of which of his parts came with whom:

Now let's take a look at the 'Wog in action!

Like: His head and hip articulation. Ol' 'Woggy here has a special double jointed neck--it sits on a ball joint that is and the end of a shaft that is hinged forward and back on his shoulders!  While he still me not be able to look up ad down all the way because of a thick and beautifully sculpted neck, he gets some up and down motion when his head is turned to either side.  This is wonderful because he doesn't just look awkward when looking off to the side when punching/doing turning poses.

The hips/leg joints are also pretty darn awesome because Kilowog can do the side splits and lift his leg almost 90 degrees forward.  I think afer Wave 9's Chemo, it's a huge surprise to find a big figure which ha such great flexibility.  The bets part about the 'Wog's hip joints is that they are hidden--you cant see any H-cut on the outside of his upper thighs.  I guess this also adds to the surprise that his hips can move as well as the can. :)

Like: The fabulous detail on his head and the exposed skin on his shoulders.  Lots of care was taken to give him the appropriate wrinkles and give him the perfect jaw, lips, nose and scowl. I also like that his head is made of rubber.  It's great this way so that his head doesn't chip while moving about those massive shoulders.

Like: The wash used on his skin.  The shade of grey the used is just light enough to give depth to the wrinkles yet l'ght enough that he doesn't look like he's been through a dirt storm and not showered.  The effect is especially brilliant on his mouth and nose.  That they painted a clear coat of gloss over his nose and mouth also adds to Kilowog's brilliant appearance.

Like: The giant-sized power ring! Just look at that!  If is were removable, it would probably be able to fit on the upper arm of all the female figures from the DC Universe line.  Also, the dark, shiny green they painted it with stands out and sets it apart rom the matt green of his costume.

Like: His sheer, overall size!  I know some people have an issue with how big he is comared o the rest of he figures (he would supposedly be 9 ft tall assuming the rest are around 6'2" or thereabouts) but every artist has his or her own interpretation of character design, and this includes size. So instead of bemoaning the fact that he may be a bit too big to be "character accurate," I like to think of his size as the Mattel toy engineer's "interpretation" of the character.  Besides, this way I guess he's literally worth his weight in plastic. ;)

Dislike: This is really minor, but his skin color on his head and his neck/shoulders is slightly off.  But it's only slight, and I don't have a huge issue with it.

Dislike: This is also minor, but they could've given him some sort of hard light contruct accessory, anything that would fit on his massive fist.  Even somthing as simple as a green laser beam would be real great.  Without a constuct of his own, there's no way he can share ring effects like Hal and John Stewart (and Tomar Re, Guy Gardner and Sinestro from the 5-pack set to come) can.

RATINGS 

Aesthetics: 8.5/10 - Great head, geat exposed skin detail.  His costume is kinda flat despite some light wash on his green parts, but the attention to detail to his muscles all over the sculpt makes up for this.

Poseability: 8.5/10 - For a guy his size, Kilowog really surprises.  A great ab crunch, a waist swivel, rocker ankles, and the wonderful hip/leg and head joints allow the giant poozer to achive almost any pose you'd want him the take.  He hardly suffers from any of the ailments large, bulky figures suffer from. :)

Fun: 8.5/10 - It's Kiliowog!  He's a popular character, he's part of a team everbody loves, and he's big enough that othe igures can easily pose on him!  It'll alos be fun setting him up in the ol' toy display taking on a bunch of bad guys and towering over them. 9 ft tall be damned!
 

Value: 8/10 - Kilowog comes in a wave that is pretty attractive.  Other than the Shark and maybe Steppenwolf (but he doesn't come with a BAF part), all the other characters have aat least a decent fan following.  Well, at least from me they have a following. Heh.  I even like the Shark but this current DCUC version just looks like a dude in a Shark mask.  But he is growing on me, though.  Perhaps by the time he's out of the package and I've shot some pictures of him I might like him a little more, maybe even a lot more.


So what's great about this wave and the BAF Kilowog is that he's the first BAF that I've taken liking to every figure in the wave.  I'll even need Steppenwolf somewhere down the road to complete my New Gods vs Apokoliptans sets.   Coupled with a great sculpt, bulkiness, and some DCUC level flexibility, there's no way that Kilowog ain;t worth it.

Overall: 8.5/10 -  I had a great sense of achievement after putting together The Big K, mostly because I didn't succumb and pay for a while wave on pre-order.  I really like to take my time to find the best deals, pick out the figure(s) with the best paint, looking for variants, and in cases where I don't want certain figures of the wave, the necessary parts for the BAF. It all adds to the satisfaction when the BAF finally comes together.  And it was no different for Kilowog, except that he looked as good, if not better than all the photos I'd seen of him online. If you're thinking about whether to get a K-Dog of your own, the choice is simple--he's the best BAF out there yet, with the best characters in the wave yet.  He's even got really tight joints and the best articulation on a large figure to date.  So don't even think twice, poozers!