Mattel DC Superheroes

[Scott]

I saw 4 of the different Superman figures today.  They look absolutely horrible!

[DSJ™]

Yeah I saw a couple at Zellers today, pretty lame IMO. Whats with that Heat Vision headset thingy? 

[Ben]

I saw the second wave of DC Superheroes at WM tonight. I would have bought a full set, but I was late by a minute and some dork bought both Supergirls.  He wouldn't let me have one either.

Ah well. There'll be more.

[Morgbug]

Much to my surprise and delight the Superman series of these figures showed up at TRU.  I managed to score a Supergirl as well, though the paint scheme and head sculpt were disappointing compared to the pictures from Toyfare.  It will do though and at regular retail made me happy.

I've been seeing the Superman Returns figures as well.  My rant in the ML thread about movie related figures would fit here too - don't make crap to start the line is the short version, sadly I wrote it too late for an impact on that line   I guarantee I won't be buying any of those figures. 

Back to the DC figures though, Brian, you seem to have a couple so I'll ask specifically of you: How is the scale compared to the ML line?  I saw Superman and Bizarro at the store as well, but they seemed smallish to me.  I do have a Superman figure at home, from the BAtman/Superman two pack (zipline Batman era) and that Supes is a little small, not matching up well at all beside Thor from the ML line.  I did compare the Supergirl to the Mystique ML figure at the store and they matched up fairly well in scale, so that was nice.  But I was left with the impression that the male figures were fairly small compared with the ML stuff. 

I'm looking forward to the next wave of Batman figures as well but the Batgirl figure looks like a re-release of the Barbara Gordon version from the "Unmasked" line minus the head with the cowl off.  If it is, then the figure might be worthwhile to pick up anyway as it's a great Batgirl and I could display both the versions at the same time and this line is less expensive than the Unmasked lineup was by a couple of bucks.  There's also a chase version of the Batgirl figure as well that I'd buy if I found it, but I'm not happy with the insertion of chase figures in this line.

[Brian]

Brent, I tried to take a few quick pictures showing Superman/Bizarro alongside some other figures.  Hopefully they'll post ok here.  I don't think the scale is too bad, better than much of the DC Direct stuff I've seen anyways.  Bizarro does seem a little shorter, but then again, both he and Superman (and maybe all the DC Superheroes figures so far) have an odd hip articulation that in some cases causes their legs to start to spread apart.  Anyways, here's a couple of pics (sorry for the craptastic quality - older camera), and if you want to see him compared to any ML in specific (that I have), I'll try to get that as well.

[Morgbug]

Those are great Brian, thanks kindly.  I'd have done it myself, but for the fact the box is buried somewhere among many, many others right now

I have a hierarchical scale of figures in my mind that I like to work with.  Your first picture is a pretty good illustration of what I'd like to use for comparison and how I sort of view the figures and whether they are in scale or not. 

Colossus should be the largest figure, and is, though I'd think he should still tower over the others a bit more.  If I'm comparing Doomsday and Superman to Cap and Colossus, I'm happy with the scale.  Batman looks about right as well, but the Spidey and Wolverine are waaaaaaaay too tall for me in that picture.  Wolvie looks in scale in certain respects, but I'd need his legs to be straight for it to be accurate and I think the most recent ML version (ML 12) is pretty good, he's smaller than everyone, as he should be.  I too think of Spiderman as being shorter and somewhat smaller than Cap, Supes, Bats, etc. 

The reason I ask is at some point I'd like to duplicate the cover from some very old, oversized comics I have that pitted the DC Universe versus the Marvel Universe with figures and scale would matter to a certain degree.  I think those figures are ok for what I'd want to accomplish and it's probably more that some of the ML Legends figures are over-large (Thor) than the DC figures being undersized. 

As you also mention, the DC Direct stuff is a tad larger as well, somewhat oversized like some of the ML stuff seems.  Hawkman is a very large figure, for example, but I think I can still make it all work out alright. 

It would be nice though if someone in comics created an accurate, for-reference scale for all the toy companies to use and scale figures properly at.  It really shouldn't be that hard to specify that the difference between certain figures should be the same, regardless of what "line" they come from.  If Cap is 6'2" in reality and Thor is 6'7" in reality, that difference should be consistently scalable in figures (reality being a loose term here).  I know some of the recent Catwoman figures are pretty dramatically different in terms of scale with a half inch difference in height or more.  They are from different DC sublines, but I think they should differ only in paint scheme and the like, but not in height of finished product.  I do realize that sculpting a figure is likely quite a bit more complex than I comprehend, but I still think the standard should exist. 

I'm still trying to find a Batman and Superman that I really am happy with.  I currently have those from the Zipline era and they're pretty good, but I think they could be better.  I'm not too ecstatic about this version of Superman, though it is well done.  Bizarro is tempting as well as a major version and Doomsday wasn't there the other day.  Walmart carried the Batman series that preceded this one, so I may yet luck out there. 

BTW, much of Superman fan?

[Brian]

Sorry about not standing Wolvie up straight Brent, brain fart on my part.  I was trying to get some figures of varying sizes in a small group shot, and thought he was one of the smaller ones - but when I pulled him out of the display he was "crouched" like that.  If you need any other pic comparisons, just let me know.

I'm with you on the scale issue.  It doesn't have to be exact to the millimeter for me, but its nice to have things somewhat consistent.  The example you gave is perfect.  I was/am hoping this DC Superheroes line would be the equivalent of the Legends line and they could all be somewhat accurately scaled to one another.  We'll see I guess.  As for these figures, I really do like the Superman figure - although its not perfect.  I don't know if everyone has had this problem, but mine really has the "sliding legs" problem with the hip joint.  However, I've just been using one of the "flying stands" from ML to have him flying all the time so it isn't a big issue.  Still my favorite of the Superman figures overall I guess, as far as a combo of sculpt/artic/scale.

Yeah, I'm a bit of a Superman fan (as is my wife), but not as much as Spidey.  The Spidey shelf is a little more crowded with various incarnations, but I've been trying to keep that in check more lately.  I've always been more of a Marvel guy personally, although some of the DC stuff (Superman, Batman, Flash, JLA) interests me too.  There really is just too much stuff out there to buy nowadays.  Not like the days where "Super Powers" is what you bought if you wanted DC figures, and "Secret Wars" was what you got with Marvel.  Too many different lines, too many temptations .

[alexandertrooper]

So I really like these new dc superheroes line but I can't seem to find 3 of the figures.  I'm looking for a Batman, Bazzaro and Doomsday I have the rest so far.  If anyone can help me out that would be great. 

I don't think I'm going to collect the new superman returns toys because like everyone is saying the look like junk.  I just wish they did a better job on them.

[Brian]

I know no one is probably too interested in this line, but I noticed yesterday that our WM had expanded to a large 1/2 aisle Superman Returns section, and they had some new figures out.  I found a few of the Lex Luthor figure, so I picked one up.  I wanted a Supes and a Lex, so I think I'm set now.  Unless, by some miracle, they release other characters in the line up (Lois, regular Clark, Jimmy, etc.) - I think that should be that with this line.  They look like the really overdid it with the Superman figures, as expected.  Just thought if anyone wanted to pick up a Luthor, you might want to be on the lookout.

[Ben]

My local WM also did that reset, and I managed to find a Lex in there. I picked it up because I didn't think my life would be complete without a Kevin Spacey action figure.

It was the only one, though, proving Mattel hasn't learned a damn thing about villain toys.

I also saw a couple of new Supes variants, Solar Power and Crystal Escape. They looked better than the first two waves, but at $7 a crack, hell no.

[Brian]

I noticed that at our store too Ben.  They had a pretty considerable display set up right now (1/2 of a bonus aisle that the ROTS stuff occupied for much of last summer), and I think when I first saw the figs there were 4 Lex Luthors, and probably 100 different Supermen.  I stopped back there yesterday, and all the Luthors were gone of course.  I'm glad to have one, the figure isn't really too bad I didn't think.  On the other side of things, I picked up the "Up, Up, and Away" Superman figure, because I read it had articulated ankles and a better head/neck articulation for "flying poses", but all the artic. points in the shoulders/knees/hips/ankles are tied in to an action feature - making them constantly "spring loaded".  Mattel still doesn't seem to quite get it with their action figure lines, but I'm looking forward to the movie at least .

[Ben]

I noticed a couple of neat things in that display. That Super Sculpt line could really be something neat if applied to the DC Superheroes or, god forbid, MOTU lines.

I almost picked up the Daily Planet sculpt. I thought that would look pretty neat. But at $13, and the fact that I know it'll be on clearance in July, I waited.

I was hoping to find the Lex with that weird Kryptonite armor that's pictured on the back of the Lex figure I have, but I suppose that one will be just like Ducard from the Batman Begins line- impossible to find.

[Scott]

I should stop reading this thread because the thought of going out and picking up the Alex Ross JLA figures has crossed my mind more than once in the past week

[Brian]

I know I've been tempted more than once with those Alex Ross JLA figures as well, but with all the spending on Star Wars and Marvel (some DC) stuff this year, I just can't afford them.  They are awful purty though.

I saw this posted the other day, the next wave of the "DC Superheroes" line - a Batman themed assortment.  Probably not real exciting, especially for those who collected the previous Batman comic line, but the figures are all new to me.  I'll likely try to pick up Mr. Freeze, Robin, and maybe that new Batman.  Pics at ToyNewsI.com.

[Morgbug]

I should stop reading this thread because the thought of going out and picking up the Alex Ross JLA figures has crossed my mind more than once in the past week

Do it!

They are really, really nice figures.  Less articulation than ML, but still enough.  The sculpts are phenomenal as well.  Even some of the non-Ross stuff is pretty darn good, though I'm still disappointed by Green Arrow, so I'll wait for Series 5 to get another.