Chase Pics: Justice League Unlimted Display! (and other updates. ;] )

5 long years after the last episode aired, I've finally gotten off my lazy ass and opened up all the JLU figures that I have.  The reason I took so long was partly laziness, partly because I'd discovered DC Universe and Marvel Universe figures were more poseable (and up my alley), and mostly because I've never had the space to display 'em all.

Well, after getting married and moving into our own place, I finally have a whole room I can devote to displaying stuff!  Even then, I realized that packaging was taking up a lot of space.  And I mean a LOT.  That also meant that I was buying more stuff than I had time to open.  (Weird, right?  Ok, maybe not...)

I guess I had the lofty ambition of reviewing every toy I bought, thinking that I could do it because I'm a self-professed cherry-picker and proud of it.  But boy was I wrong.  There ain't no way I can review toys faster than I buy them.  The verdict?  I get a brand new JLU display!

I needs me Justice Lords Wonder Woman!!!

Read on for more updates! ;)


Yes, I realized after setting this up, that I need more bad guys!  Even my Justice Lords aren't actually the real thing--you see, I'd picked up the J-Lords Superman, Batman, and Hawkgirl 3-pack over the Supes, Bats, and Wonder Woman pack because the former was harder to find.  I intended to then try and get WW loose somehow.  The only other difference between the two 3-pks was that Supes and Bats had thes weird circuitry markings on their shoulders.  I couldn't recall any moment when that had appeared in the JLU series, so I shrugged it off.

Then while re-watching the entire 4 seasons with Melissa, I finally spotted the circuitry versions of the J-Lords--they were Braniac clones in one of the season finales!  I'd been cheated!  By myself, no less, but still cheated!

Haha, na, it isnt that bad.  I'm still happy that I got those Justice Lords clone because I really love that episode/story arc.  It just means I have to go back and get them, this time hopefully with Wonder Woman!

Besides the JLU, I also cracked open some sealed DCUC figures to round out my JLA Magnificent Seven and "Reserves" display.

I love this display--I may yet get to reviewing some of these guys, especially the ones involved in Brightest Day!

And I also beefed up my Masters of the Universe Classics shelf!

Still have Evil-Lyn and He-Ro I need to open. I'm such a slacker!

Bats Shows the Ropes

Uh, I'm sick as a dog. Down with the flu and my head feels like exploding, while my nose is like a faulty faucet.

But I don't feel so bad that I can't post! Here's a bit of a left over from the DCUC Batman Beyond review.

It's Bruce showing Terry McGinnis a thing or two on one of their beats:

Batman of the Future

Or rather as he is more widely known in the US, Batman Beyond!

Funny that all the VCDs and DVDs of the animated series were called Batman of the Future outside of the States. Go figure.

The name of the DC Universe Classic Wave 4 figure 4 wasn't changed though, and it's proven no less popular for collectors here in Singapore. This was one tough figure to find, with all the masked versions being ample at the department stores. I would've been happy to just get that version, but I couldn't get past the painted (or were they sculpted on as well?) teeth. Batman Beyond doesn't have teeth in the animated series, or at least they weren't drawn on. So I held out on that guy and my patience was rewarded when I saw this unmasked version going for way less than retail at the weekly flea markets.


I actually got him a couple of months back, but then GI Joe Rise of the Cobra toys hit the shelves along with the movie and I held off on opening Batman Beyond till now. And what a great figure he is!

Ratings:

Aesthetics: 9/10 - This version of the Terry McGinnis is clearly meant to be the grown up version of Batman Beyond, so his body is the medium adult size male for this range. The paint on him is well done with no slops. His eyes and hair have also been sharply painted, while the face, chest symbol and belt also don't suffer from black splashes when they so easily could since they're the only non black parts of the figure.

His costume is shiny, as you can see from the pictures, and that's where he loses points for me--I'd rather he was painted matte black instead. They got away with shiny on the figure, but no Batman would wear a shiny suit. It would reflect too much light and give him away too easily in the shadows! But Terry still looks decent, and you can't ignore the detail they put into his head sculpt, like his his unique haircut and sharp blue eyes.

Poseability: 9.5/10 - Right out of the package this guy had me worried--his left knee was jammed stiff from dried paint, as was his waist swivel. If I hadn't known he had a waist joint I would've thought that it didn't exist. But now he's nice and limber after some coaxing, and he's turned out beautifully as you can see from his poses:

Fun: 9/10 - The very first thing I thought of was to reunite the old Batman with the new. And it's fun thinking up the naggy things Bruce would say and the snarky replies Terry would give. But after a while I wish I had some future villains for him to pose with, such as the Joker gang or the Joker himself (from Return of the Joker), or even the Dee-Dee Twins!

I have to add that while he's got 2 hands sculpted to hold stuff, only his left hand can grip the batarang decently. His right was meant for the grip molded onto the mask, which is quite a piece of work in itself because it looks like you could open it up and he could wear i. But of course, it's molded plastic and you can't. :)

Value: 8.5 - This unmasked version of Terry McGinnis comes with his mask (of course, but which is un-wearable) and a Batarang (which is the wrong colour--It should be black and red) Now maybe I've been spoilt by Wonder Woman and Hawgirl, who have awesome accessories, but I wish they had given him clip on wings or something. The masked version is one accessory worse off with only one batarang, and this guy has a new head sculpt, so I can't complain too much, I guess. Would it have hurt to include the Bat Plane? (Haha just kidding. :P Then again, not really. Ok, ok. Some under water equipment, maybe? A figure stand?) Oh, and he also does come with Despero's left arm so I guess it's not that bad if you're a fan on Despot of the Third Eye. Heh.

Overall: 9/10 - Solid figure, overall. I would've still preferred him in matte black, like the black on Hal Jordan or the Black Wave 9 Batman. But I always liked this version of Batman and I guess the people at DC recognize how popular he is and thus his action figure. Great character, solid figure and well executed.

Oh, and I met Mark Waid today. He's the author of Superman: Birthright and Kingdom Come. Mark was in Singapore for the Singapore Writers' Festival and Mel and I attended an hour-long Q&A/signing session. He was super friendly and funny. He also signed my trade paperback copy of Superman: Birthright, as well as the free copies of Metamorpho Issue 1&2 they handed out at the door. I'll post the photo we took together with him sometime soon. It was great fun! I'm super happy feelings on love and joy. :P

The Man Who Broke the Bat

What the heck, he's been slimed and he's been killed. So let's check another one off the list--broken!

Enter Bane!

Here's a little of what Wikipedia has to say on this little bad boy:

"Bane has been one of Batman's most intelligent and physically powerful foes. He is best known for breaking Batman's back in the "Knightfall" story arc...

Bane was born to serve the life sentence of his father, his childhood and early adult life are spent in Peña Duro, a prison located in Santa Prisca. Though imprisoned, his natural abilities allow him to develop extraordinary skills within the prison's walls. He reads as many books as he can get his hands on, builds up his body in the prison's gym, and learns to fight in the merciless school of prison life. Despite his circumstances, he appears to have found teachers of various sorts during his incarceration, ranging from hardened convicts to an elderly Jesuit priest, under whose tutelage he apparently receives a classical education. Bane...commits his first murder at the age of eight, stabbing a criminal who wanted to use him to gain information about the prison...

Bane ultimately establishes himself as the "king" of Peña Duro prison. The prison's controllers take note and, eventually, force him to become a test subject for a mysterious drug known as Venom, which had killed all other subjects. It nearly kills him at first, but he survives and finds its effects enhance his physical strength, although he needs to take it every 12 hours (via a system of tubes pumped directly into his brain) or he would suffer debilitating side-effects."

DC Superheroes Series 1 Bane doesn't come with any accesories, but boy is he sure well detailed. And while the DCSH line has been long out of production, the detail on these figures never fails to surprise me, especially when compared with the current DC Universe Classics line.

Not that DCUC figures are poor by any stretch of the imagination (in fact it's quite the opposite), but DCSH figures such as Bane sport an older(?) method of washing that gives a different sort of paint effect.

Take Bane for example. The wash on his skin serves to give his muscles shading and definition, and at the same time makes him look a little unwashed (Like he's been Bat-bashing for hours). Haha.

DCUC figures, on the other hand, have nicely blended washes for certain colours, like the yellow on Flash and Shazam, but almost always sport flat colours (which is not always a bad thing).

I have to confess that after I impulse-snagged him for S$23 dollars, I was worried that he wasn't quite up to the mark, especially poseability-wise. You see, I realized that he didn't have a chest hinge joint present in all DCUC and leaner/smaller DCSH figures like Supes and Bats. And his leg/hip joints were probably not swivel and hinge double-joints (They're just hinges). Plus no accessory. (What?!)

But he turns out to be a very, very well articualted figure with 18 points in all. I know, that's a whole 3 points short of regular DCUC/SH figures, but what he has, he is able to move well. Bane's able to kneel on one knee (DCUC figures can't do this) all due to extra flexible swivel leg/hip joints and double ankle joints that give him forward/backward as well as side to side foot articulation. Yay!

What he lacks compared to DCUC figures are: head ball joint (Bane's is swivel), chest joint as mentioned above, 2 thigh cut joints, and 2 bicep joints. He gains the extra flexi ankles in exchange. Really, it's not bad at all. In fact, it's good. :)

And look how well he poses with Batman and Robin.

In fact, all 3 of these figures come from different generations of the DC Universe line.

Batman is from DCSH Series 3, Robin from DCUC, and Bane is of course DCSH Series 1 (which I felt has inferior versions of icons Superman and Batman. Supes with poorer face-sculpt, Bats with chest ball-joint.)

But Bravo to Mattel and DC for coming up with toys that go very well with each other across 'generations'. It gives collectors the fabulously nice option of picking fave versions of their characters and creating the ideal display. ;)

Ratings!

Character Accuracy: 9.5/10: Really nice likeness to the ideal look of the character (if there's ever such thing. Hah). Size and proportions are right for this line.

Poseability: 8.5/10: Only because his legs are in a perpetual open stance does he suffer in this category. Ok, so he has no chest joint as well. And no thigh cuts. But he can still be pose! Flexible joints. look at that wingspan! ;)

Aesthetics: 9.5 - Very nicely painted and washed. His head and tubes are just so well done! His boots are also higly detailed, right down to the soles and his hands are scary veiny due to Venom overuse. Beautiful! ;)

Overall: 9.2 - Lots more than I expected, especially after playing around and reviewing DC Direct Elseworlds Red Son President Superman (See below. Yes, I even went back and changed Pres Supes' poseability rating!). Bane is so refreshing in his poseability, yet he looks no less menacing than Kal-L. Especially when he's posed like this:

BREAK YOU!!!

BREEAAK YOU!!!

















BREEEAAAAAK YOOU!!!!

Ouch.

DCUC: The Man Who Slimed the Bat

Funny how the toys I seek the most happen to fall into my lap. Well, Sometimes, at least. It certainly was that way with DC Universe Classics Clayface!


He sure looks like a pile of crap. And that's what makes him so awesome! Originally released in the DC Superheroes line (predecessor of the DCUC Classics), he's just been re-released (no, not from Arkham) in a new DCUC 2-pack with black and grey mud-spattered Batman!

Walking to my usual haunt on Sunday afternoons at China Square Central, Mel and I stumbled upon him in a loose toy tray in one of the toy shops. (Well okay, Mel saw it first--she usually sees them rare ones cos she walks ahead of me, But she never knows that they're rare. It's almost as if she's keen to get at the toys just to hand them to me. It's true. ;P)

Picking it up, she was about to say something about Clayface's shitty demeanor when I said, "Hey! Clayface!" Turns out she was about to tell me, "It's Chocolate Man!"

So without hesitation I asked the store owner how much he was selling it for. "$25," he said, and with a shake of his head, "I dunno why the guy wanted only the Batman..."

All right then! All mine then! :D Cos you see, the DCSH version of him usually sells for S$40, and I already have the Batman of my dreams in the DCSH blue/grey Bats, so I was lukewarm about buying the 2-pack just for Chocolate Man. I mean Clayface. And the reason he's so sought after (besides his looks) is his articulation:

Head: Swivel, but can't turn 360 degrees cos some of his "clay" gets in the way. But turns side to side reasonably well.

Shoulders: Swivels as well, but 360 degree rotation.

Arms: Here's the beauty of this figure. His arms are molded out of rubber, so no joint. But they have bendable wire in 'em so they can me "molded" into whatever pose you desire. I did not know this before! Sweet!

Chest: Hinge

Waist: Swives 360! Nice!

Hips: Swivel and hinge, but motion is limited bue to excessive (But nonetheless beautiful) bits of clay.

Knees are hinges, but ar elimited to 70 or so degreee bend.

Feet: Ball joints!

So 13 points + bendy arms. Not too shabby for a pile of poop! ;)













Here's how I rate the guy:

Character Accuracy: 10/10 - Looks perfectly like the Matt Hagen Clayface out of the Batman Animated series. I like that they varied the size of his upper body with regard to his lower half.

Aesthetic: 9.5/10 - Just awesome! From the detail of his teeth to the extra bit of clay molded onto his upper torso and hanging uder his left arm, and down to his one baby toe, Hasbro seem to have done the perfect thing in just re-issuing the figure. They got it right the first time, so if it ain't broke, why fix it? ;) Gotta also love the rubbery molding of his fingers/hands--perfect for holding up, oh say, an arch enemy? (And tossing him around, of course.)













Poseability: 9.5/10 - While his regular joints are so-so, his bendable arms just way make up for them. I can imagine many would love to twist them and turn them every which way but I'm wary of bendy bits on action figures. I have some vague memory of having a Mr. Fantastic and a Hulk Hogan, both of whom I maimed because I over-bendied them. :( And in this case we don't want shapely shit to become limp lumps...

But I'm sure responsible bendy-ing should go a long way towards preserving Clayface. :)

Overall: 9.5/10 - I just can't put him down! He's fantastic to pose with Bats, just as Supes was with Mongul or Bizarro. I mean, I have my favourites when it comes to the Good Guys, but I seem to love lots of them baddies!




So get this guy if you can find him. And if you don't have Batman, even better, since they only now come in a 2-pack. And if a little thinner rub down can get rid of Bats' shit stains, all the better. If not just hand the man a roll of toilet paper. He's gonna need it every time he squares off with Clayface. ;)