Author Topic: DC Universe Classics  (Read 43239 times)

Offline Brian

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« on: November 5, 2008, 03:35 PM »
Just read on the Fwoosh that Wave 5 (the WM Exclusive Wave) has now been found at retail.  Meanwhile, the pegs here still have either Orion or Green Lantern, or nothing at all.  I'm getting more tempted to order Series 4 online, and from here on out just rely on the single figure preorders (or wave orders) since those seem to be available for 2009 and beyond.  There's enough "hunting" involved with Star Wars the way it is, so it would be ok to just have to track down any exclusive waves/figures that I might be interested in for this line and not worry about the rest :).

Offline Morgbug

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« Reply #1 on: November 5, 2008, 03:44 PM »
Wave 5 (Metallo BAF) - Wal-Mart Exclusive
The Riddler
Black Lightning
The Atom
Amazo
Eradicator

Wave 6 (Kalibak BAF)
Hawkman
Mr. Miracle (Dr. Impossible variant)
Shazam
Recovery Suit Superman (Red/Blue variant)
Killer Moth

Wave 7 (Atom Smasher BAF) - 2009
The Flash (Barry Allen)
Kid Flash (Wally West)
Captain Cold
Booster Gold
Blue Beetle (Ted Kord)
Aquaman (Blue Costume)
Big Barda


Are there pics floating around of the wave?  I know I want Riddler and probably the Atom as well, but don't remember seeing any of these yet as previews.  Here's hoping Mikey comes in to set me straight.
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Offline Brian

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« Reply #2 on: November 5, 2008, 03:50 PM »
This site pretty much has pics of everything that is on the way so far.  I'm definitely in for the Riddler and the Atom, and I'm on the fence with some of the others.

Offline Morgbug

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« Reply #3 on: November 5, 2008, 04:02 PM »
Thanks Brian, awesome site. 

Yup, for me just Atom and Riddler, the BAF parts are up for grabs, but ya just might have to find me the figure in the first place considering how much Canada sucks ;)
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Offline JediJman

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« Reply #4 on: November 5, 2008, 06:55 PM »
I'd like to get Starfire and maybe Hawkman.  Anyone interested in going halvsies on the Atom Strange half of the AS/Starfire two pack?
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Offline Brian

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« Reply #5 on: November 6, 2008, 09:50 AM »
Action Figure Insider has posted a list from Wal-Mart's computers of upcoming Mattel product.  Other lines (Cars, DCIH, etc.) are listed, but they also a number of DCUC figures listed.  Other than the already announced Wave 7 (Flash) and Wave 8 (Hawkgirl), these figures are listed (more info at the linky):

Wildcat
Mantis
Black Adam
Green Arrow
Black Canary
Deadshot
Guardian
Forager
Katma Tui
John Stewart
Shark
Steppenwolf
Fan's Choice - The Question
Deadman

A Cyborg Superman is also listed, along with "Hall of Fame" figures (which look like re-releases of the "big guns"): Batman, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, Firestorm, Robin, and Shazam.  They are priced at $11.88 in this listing.  Also of note, the DCIH figures are listed at $6.97 each and $15.47 for three packs in this listing.  Unless they really improve the quality of those figures, the value is definitely going down for that line.

You never know what to make of these WM computer lists, but I could see the DCUC listings being true. A Green Arrow/Black Canary headlined wave makes sense, and there is still a lot of New Gods/Kirby stuff listed there as well (which we know the 4H have an affinity for).

Offline Morgbug

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« Reply #6 on: November 6, 2008, 10:20 AM »
Have the fan's choice results been announced?  Yeah, I'm that out of touch. 

Green Arrow/Black Canary are great and obviously good headliners and overdue.  I'm not sure whether I'll pick them up.  Probably, but I already have versions from DC Direct.  The Green Arrow figure is nice, but not great from that line, so a replacement is possible.  The Black Canary figure is indeed very nice from DC Direct so I guess scale issues will dictate. 

I'd have to see the remainder to make a call being less of a DC guy than most here. 

Still quite surprised to see them steering away from Bat-Villains to such an extent.  I understand we'll have had Penguin/Riddler already and the Joker is a major player in the movie toys, but I think the last recast of the Joker was back in 2002 or something, wasn't it?  No Catwoman is a bit of a surprise too.  I guess the same could be said for Superman's Nemeses as well.  Thinking about it, I'll give Mattel some credit for steering away from that aspect and making a lot of more obscure (to me anyway) characters but it is starting to seem a bit odd.  Had the older DC lineup with the alternating Batman/Superman characters had better distribution, I could understand it quite well, but many of those figures never really saw mass retail in most areas, did they?
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Offline Brian

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« Reply #7 on: November 6, 2008, 10:52 AM »
Yeah, I'm kind of in the same boat as you Brent.  I'm less of a DC guy than many people here as well, getting more familiar with it in the past few years via the JLU cartoon and more recently - the comics.  Like I mentioned earlier, I was primarily into Batman and Gotham stuff growing up (and now), with a focus also on the other "big guns" (primarily the JLA).  That being said, after becoming more familiar with the characters lately, it increases my interest in other areas of this line as well.

Anyways, if these lineups hold true, they aren't too bad.  I'm glad to see Green Arrow and Black Canary on the way, because those are a couple more of my favorites.  The real glaring omission at this point seems to be Martian Manhunter, but I'm sure he is on the way before long as well.  Some of the other characters listed are examples of ones I didn't necessarily know a whole lot about before, but I'd like to grab now (The Question, Deadman, etc.)  You make a good point about the Batman (and Superman) villains, or lack thereof.  I'm kind of surprised we aren't seeing that fleshed out a little more, at least with a new Joker.  I look at my DC figures, and the older "Batman" line Joker just doesn't look right among the DCSH/DCUC versions of Batman, Nightwing, Robin, Penguin, Two Face, Catwoman, Clayface, etc.  The Clown Prince could really use an all-new figure, which again, I'm sure will be here sooner rather than later.  I can appreciate how obscure Mattel/4H have gotten with the character lineups so far, and I'm sure its making a lot of harder core DC fans smile, but I wouldn't mind a dip back into Gotham every so often in this line either.

Overall though, this line continues to impress me.  Mattel really had the benefit of seeing what did or did not work with the Marvel Legends line, and with that line winding down, it makes DCUC look all the better right now.  Distribution issues aside, things seem really organized.  Each wave has the same number of figures (5 this year, 7 starting in 2009), a build-a-figure, and has a basic formula of: Main Guy, His/Her Baddie, Main Guy's Supporting, New God, and then the rest of the wave is filled with varying degrees of B-D list characters.  For those collecting the whole thing, its going to be quite a DC lineup in a few years.

Offline Morgbug

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« Reply #8 on: November 6, 2008, 11:16 AM »
Which Catwoman figure do you have Brian?  I have a number of them, but none recent that I can recall and none from the more recent Mattel lines. 

FWIW, I think Mattel is making something of a mistake with respect to making the lineups larger (7 versus 5).  The reason I say this is twofold:
1. they'll run through characters faster.  That's good for collectors getting the more obscure characters they want faster and may have a positive spin in that they'll release more minor characters at some point like Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen, Alfred, etc.  No idea if they'd do it, but I'd be happy if they did.  But the counter is they're following along in the Marvel Legends footsteps.  Maybe Mattel has a finite expectation for this line, but if not, then the five per wave would make the line last longer.  Sure, collectors would be clamoring for more charcters faster, but isn't that what you want?

2. More characters per BAF is going to alienate some folks from the line.  Marvel Legends did the very same thing and I think to a degree it backfired.  Sure, lots of folks bought all the figures to make a Giantman, but it irritated folks.  And the later BAFs are probably getting a lot less uptake and I think this is evidenced by certain figures not selling at all.  I agree that FFFoom needed a lot of parts but it's almost too much for most to handle.  I willingly bought a couple of characters I didn't want to get my Metamorpho, but I'm not about to buy 5-6 extra figures to make some other BAF.  Now for the hardcore DC fan it won't matter, but it's kind of analagous to the Indy line - too much obscurity isn't going to help anyone out.  I'm ok picking and choosing characters and thankfully a lot of the BAFs haven't hit a note with me, so it hasn't mattered. 

I like the line a lot and it really has taken over a lot of the ML market I'd guess.  I'd just like to see them manage it a little better over the long term. 

What's wrong with an anorexic, short Joker?
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Offline Brian

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« Reply #9 on: November 6, 2008, 11:27 AM »
Which Catwoman figure do you have Brian?  I have a number of them, but none recent that I can recall and none from the more recent Mattel lines.

This is the Catwoman I was mentioning earlier.  It came in the DCSH line, I think maybe in the last Batman themed wave prior to the switchover to DCUC.  I think it was in a Clayface/Nightwing/etc. lineup if I'm remembering right.  Not a bad figure overall.

I agree with you about the number of figures per wave increase.  I would have rather they stuck with 5 figure waves as well.  That wasn't so bad to keep up with - five waves or so a year, five figures each, plus the Build a Figures.  Like you said, I can see why some fans want more figures as quickly as possible - and its probably great for those who are familiar with every corner of the DCU.  I've got the same issue with Star Wars figures.  Although I can just stop buying them, I guess I wouldn't mind seeing them slow down/streamline that line a little bit more as well.  Sure, that universe is probably way to big to get back to the 12-24 figures that made up a year in the early POTF2 days - but like I've said before, that had to be a lot less stressful collecting atmosphere for the most part.

The Build a Figure stuff is a tough concept.  I really like the general idea, and most of them are really nice figures, but it does "force" you to buy $10+ figures that you may have skipped otherwise.  And now, with 7 figures per wave, it makes the sting a little worse.  The same goes with Marvel Legends, although those BAF are basically regular figure size now (and will be gone by the end of the year the way it sounds anyways).  If I had unlimited budget - or it was the only thing I collected - I wouldn't mind getting the whole lineup.  But, I don't, so I'm starting to get more selective already.  I don't necessarily need the Atom Smasher BAF, but wouldn't mind getting ones like Kalibak (from Wave 6) and Giganta (from Wave 8) - so we'll see.  There are figures in each of those waves that while I wouldn't mind having them, I don't really need them when I really think about it.

Offline Mikey D

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« Reply #10 on: November 6, 2008, 11:45 AM »
I found with the BAF, you just have to be patient.  I certainly don't want all the **** FFF figures (Son of Hulk and Hulk the End being the two big ones), so FFF will remain broken apart until I manage to track down their parts or there's a great sale that'll force me to buy the the crap figures just for the pieces.  I'm not too concerned about the Grey Hulk piece, because that figure just got released repainted green, so if people buy both colors, there'll be a slew of FFF left legs out there.  Same thing with Ares - after finding Crossbones, Guardian and Kang yesterday and trading for the remaining pieces (for a carded VOTC stormtrooper [thanks Brian!] and one of Rulk's pieces), all I need is his head (or a suitable replacement). 

Luckily for me, I want most of the DC characters, so getting the CnC character isn't all that troublesome.  The only two ones I didn't really want released so far were Superman red /blue and Batman Beyond.  Gave the Superman to my son and I just worked out a deal over at scum for BB's Despero piece (and it's only costing me two TAC coins that I wasn't doing anything with anyways). 

Rumored list looks great.  I'll probably buy most of them.  Not too familiar with the New Gods, but they are unique characters.  I'll start having a problem if and when Mattel starts releasing multiple versions of BatsSupesWondy that I don't want (especially if I want the CnC character.  And me not wanting the CnC character hasn't happened yet).
« Last Edit: November 6, 2008, 11:50 AM by Mikey D »
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Offline Brian

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« Reply #11 on: November 12, 2008, 03:50 PM »
Action Figure Insider has some higher res pics available of DCUC Wave 8.

Offline Jeff

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« Reply #12 on: November 12, 2008, 11:58 PM »
I agree with the guy at AFI - Gentleman Ghost is a sure-fire guarantee of a DCUC Joker in the near future.  Very similar suit, easy repaint... 

I'm still waiting for the Katma/John Stewart pics...  :)
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Offline Mikey D

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« Reply #13 on: November 13, 2008, 07:30 AM »
I agree with the guy at AFI - Gentleman Ghost is a sure-fire guarantee of a DCUC Joker in the near future.  Very similar suit, easy repaint... 


Yep.  GG could also be used for Ra's Al Ghul and maybe a business suit Luthor as well.
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Offline Brian

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« Reply #14 on: November 17, 2008, 02:33 PM »
If anyone is interested, it looks like TRU.com has a few of the figures from DCUC Wave 4 in stock.  They might all be there, but so far I saw Wonder Woman, Cyborg and Captain Atom all in stock (and Artemis was apparently at some point).