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Old 05-30-2021, 04:10 PM   #2341
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Then there's the stuff I got in the mail this weekend, all DC stuff.

First up, some more Mattel "DC Infinite Heroes" figures, with "Classic" Batman and Two-Face!


You can't NOT have blue-and-gray Batman in your collection, regardless of scale. Even if black-and-gray, no-yellow emblem is your preference, you still need this guy, 100%. I go back and forth on my preference, but I do think this one looks better than its "modern" counterpart in this line. The black-and-gray one just looks kind of flat and boring compared to this one.

Two-Face came out good, I'm just slightly disappointed that he has no coin of any kind. I'm not saying they needed to include a "coin-bigger-than-the-figure's-f*cking-head" type of gimmick like the old 4-inch Toy Biz figure did, and I get that at this scale it'd more or less just be a tiny blob of silver or gray plastic, but it's just odd in a way. I'unno, I have no idea how it'd work but I wish he had some type of coin gimmick.

Next up, two of the most popular and prominent members of the Justice League International, Fire and Ice from the Mattel "DC Signature Collection"!


They seem a bit scaled-down from the DC Universe Classics - height-wise, they scale well with Wonder Woman but the heads in particular seem a bit small - but they're still very cool-looking figures of two characters who never get enough attention in ANY DC line. Seriously, for as much attention as they got in print between 1986 and 1994, these two barely have ANY figures of them. Fire especially, as she had a ton of different costumes so you'd think there'd be variant potential for days with her, but nope, barely any figures at all. So these are a pretty big deal, for me - and NOT just because I was incredibly horny for both of these chicks when I was a kid.

Oddly, it looks like Ice is missing her ice-blast accessory, despite the package still having its factory tape on it. I looked around online, and it appears that quite a few of the Ice figures were missing it. Weird! Must have been some kind of production error, I guess. She's one of the cheaper and easier to find figures in the line, though, so if I want to and can find one with the accessory I can grab a spare.

Finally, one of the coolest things I got, this awesome Keaton-inspired Batman from the Mattel "DC Multiverse" line!

Now, this is obviously not an exact Keaton recreation - the head is pretty generic, and even aside from the white eyes the face/mouth looks nothing at all like Keaton - but the costume and accessories are damn near perfect. For 6-inch scale under some "iffy" likeness-rights circumstances, it's more than adequate. Mattel had earlier put out an all-black Batman in the "DC Universe Classics" line but that one didn't have all the bells-and-whistles that make this one a more direct "Batman '89" homage, it was just all black. So as soon as I saw this one it was a must-buy!

Sadly, despite Mattel actually getting the rights to do characters from the Chris Reeve "Superman" movies near the end, they never did anything with them at this scale; they did a Superman and a Zod in the 3.75-inch scale, but that's all, so sadly this 6-inch "Keaton" Batman can't hang out with a same-scale Reeve Superman. Ah well.
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Old 06-02-2021, 06:49 PM   #2342
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Got Airrazor today cool figure annoying transformation. Just need Tigatron and New Rhinox to have the Season 1 Crew of maximals




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Old 06-04-2021, 08:04 PM   #2343
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Let some stuff pile up for a few days. Got some cool sh*t.

First up, Some Mattel "DC Infinite Heroes" sets. I got this Weather Wizard/Mirror Master/Flash three-pack:

They released this set with both Jay Garrick Flash and Wally West Flash (the villains are identical). I don't have Wally yet, but I chose to get the Jay set because Jay's single-card figure is more expensive than this three-pack was. So it just seemed to make more sense, getting three figures for less than the price of what he alone would cost.

I also got this awesome "OMAC Attack" gift set, with Superman, Booster Gold, Wonder Woman, Max Lord, and two OMACS:

This was a must-buy set for multiple reasons. For one thing, I didn't have a Wonder Woman for this line yet. But on top of that, Booster and Max Lord never got a single-card release and are exclusive to this set, plus you get two OMACS. So there's a ton of value in this set for sure. The Superman seems identical to the one on the single card and in several other box sets, but that's no big deal.

To round out the "Infinite Heroes" stuff, I got this EPIC "Battle For Metropolis" 8-pack!

With this one you get Future Superman (one of the few Superman figures in the line that's a true "variant" and not just "eyes painted red" or "unpainted belt loops"), "Shazam"/Captain Marvel, Captain Atom, Battle Armor Lex Luthor, and a whopping FOUR LexCorp Troopers! Again, this is a must-buy set; Kingdom Come Superman, Battle Armor Lex and these specific LexCorp Troopers were exclusive to this set (there were some different Troopers in other sets and on single cards). Shazam and Atom appear to be the same as their single-card figures, but even if they are, those two figures are some of the more expensive in the line so getting them in this set just plain makes more sense if all you care about is getting all the characters, since you need the Exclusive guys anyway.

So yeah, great set. I paid just over $100 for it (I think it was $50 when it came out) but it's a great bargain when you notice that Shazam on a single card goes for around $50 and Atom around $30. Not bad!

Moving on, I added another character to my small-but-growing Mattel "DC Universe Classics" collection with Power Girl!

Leave it to my wife to point out that "Her boobs are too small and her ass is too flat". Still not a bad figure altogether, though. She is a bit too skinny for Power Girl but it's sort of expected considering how often Mattel re-used parts. The DC Direct Power Girl figures are definitely more accurately-built given their unique sculpts for each character, but as usual the trade-off in favor of the Mattel figures is that they're more sturdy with a ton more articulation.

Anyways, big Power Girl fan so I definitely needed this figure. Very slowly starting to build a respectable Classics collection. I'm trying to get as many in-package as I can, even though I'm eventually just gonna open them.
Some of them are pretty nuts, though, so there are a few I'll probably have to buy loose.

On that note, here's two loose Classics I bought on eBay: Guy Gardner from the Green Lantern box set, and Batman from the rare "Superman/Batman: Public Enemies" Wave:


Let me talk about Batman, first. Now, it is a pretty cool figure on its own; great articulation as is always the case with Classics, it's been played-with so it feels "used" but not like it's beat up or going to fall apart. The sturdiness is one of the best things about Classics figures, so if I do buy them loose I generally don't have to worry about them. And this Batman has some unique detailing, so it's not just a repaint of one of the other ones Mattel did; it's its own "unique" Batman figure (they did do a black-and gray variant in the same Wave) and that's cool.

At the same time, though, there are some "problems" with it. Nothing major, really, just saying. For one thing, the head is a bit small; look closely at those two figures side-by-side, and you'll notice that Guy's head is a bit bigger than Batman's, which seems weird. But the biggest thing, to me, is that this was a rare attempt by Mattel to try and emulate a specific artist's style - the "Public Enemies" Wave was a store-exclusive sub-set, sort of an "offshoot" of the main Classics line, and whereas the main line used sort of "generic" likenesses for the characters these figures were ostensibly based on Ed McGuinness's artwork - and to be frank, they sort of fumbled it. I mean, it *kinda* looks like a McGuinness Batman from that comic if you squint, but it's honestly not incredibly close.

For comparison's sake, this was the DC Direct figure they put out for Ed McGuinness Batman (not mine, I Googled it):

As you can see, the Mattel version has lots more articulation but the DC Direct version looks like it jumped right off of the comic book page. The Mattel one has some other issues besides just the face/head when you see them side-by-side like that; the Bat being too small and incorrectly "drawn", the utility belt being too small and lacking details, and so on. Not to mention, the figure itself uses "stock" Mattel DC body parts, so it looks even less McGuinness-like; whereas the DC Direct figures had bodies that were sculpted to emulate the artwork down to the last detail.

Again, not a "bad" figure, and in a vacuum it's a good Batman figure. But it's definitely not "comics-accurate" and they didn't even really try very hard, and that's disappointing. I understand not using unique body parts, but I wish they'd at least done a better job with the other details.

I picked this one up loose simply because they didn't have any packaged ones available when I was looking on eBay.


On the flip side, this is a GREAT Guy Gardner figure. I was a big fan of the DC Direct Gardner figures, and this one compares very well to those, even a bit better in some ways. Whereas the first DC Direct Guy figure was a very close resemblance to how he was drawn in the Justice League International comic books, THIS face sculpt is nearly identical to how Joe Staton drew him in the actual Green Lantern comics of the period. Staton is pretty much THE Guy Gardner artist so getting that likeness so perfect earns some big points for this figure, for sure. I love it.

I did order the Green Lantern box set which this figure is part of, so I picked this one up specifically to do a custom. Should be pretty easy, hoping to start on that soon.

(Cont.)
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Old 06-04-2021, 08:40 PM   #2344
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So onto some non-DC stuff, I got this awesome Bill & Ted Phone Both from Incendium:

You may recall that I got the Bill & Ted figures a couple months ago, but I kept forgetting to buy the Phone Booth to go with them until last week. This was a total surprise as I never even got a shipping notice, it just showed up today. Sweet! I still need to get the Bogus Journey Bill & Ted figures and the Grim Reaper, and then that's all the figures that Incendium has done for this line so far.

Next up, the newest addition to my very small Mattel "Masters of the WWE Universe" collection, the "Horde World Order"-version "Macho Man" Randy Savage!

This was another pleasant surprise, as it came several days early. The flip side being, I got it from the Wal-Mart website so the card is pretty banged-up. But I'm gonna open it anyways, so it's no big deal.

So far the only character I own from this line is Savage; I got the earlier 1980-style one when it first came out, and now there's this one based on his late-90s nWo attire (with a "Masters of the Universe" twist) so that was a must-buy. Very cool figure.

I like this line, I've just been staying away from it because they're impossible to find in stores and I'm already so far behind, and eBay prices are NUTS for most of them. But I do plan to cherry-pick a few that I've missed before I fall so far behind it would be impossible to catch up.

Finally, we were at Wal-Mart today and lo and behold, they actually had some Mattel "WWE Elite" figures in stock for a change, so I snagged their last "Stunning" Steve Austin:

The details really put it over. I don't think extra hands were necessary (other than EVERY "Collector's" figure from any line comes with them now as a rule), but the WCW Tag Team Title belt and especially the clapboard really seal the deal. Now I gotta find a "Hollywood Blonds" Flyin' Brian to go with this guy.

So it's been a great week! I still have some great stuff on the way but most of it isn't coming until late next week, I think.
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Old 06-07-2021, 06:18 PM   #2345
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Super-Awesome mail drop with some really great figures!

First up, we've got Battle Armor Lex Luthor from the Mattel "DC Super-Heroes" line!

I've always had a sentimental favoritism towards this Lex Luthor design, even though I MUCH prefer Evil Billionaire Lex over Super-Villain Lex as a general rule. But the Kenner "Super Powers" Lex figure was one of the first DC action figures I ever owned, so I've always had a soft spot for this look and I have a modest collection of Battle Armor Lex figures from various lines. This is definitely one of the best ones, with great sculpting, details and articulation. I'd put it slightly ahead of the DC Direct "Crisis" Lex, since I had a leg snap off of that one pretty easily, but I'm not sure it overtakes the massive DC Direct "Public Enemies" Lex as my personal favorite. Definitely pretty great, though!

I do wish more lines included a "basic" Lex in a black business suit - it's almost always just this look and/or his "Super Friends" look with the purple shirt, and that's all - but I get how that might not be the most dynamic-looking figure. The Hasbro line did a "black suit" Lex, but it was only part of a box set.

Moving on, from the same line I also got Doomsday!

Really awesome figure! Again, not sure if it's "better" than the DC Direct Doomsday, but it's still very well-done. The only real problem with it is that he's pretty short, scale-wise; he's about the same height as the regular characters in the line, but Doomsday is supposed to tower over everyone by a good bit. Most of the figures in this line scale well with the "Classics" - even though some of them have less articulation - but some of those figures were a little taller than the figures in this line, so this Doomsday sadly doesn't scale well with those. They actually did do a Classics-scale Doomsday - the final figure in the line - but it's very rare and expensive. Still, this is a great figure and more than "adequate" for now.

Moving ahead to Mattel's successor "DC Universe Classics" line, I picked up one of my must-buy characters, Booster Gold!

Excellent Booster figure! It's great that he comes with Skeets; ya gotta have Skeets. They did a "modern", no-collar variant as well, but c'mon, Booster without his collar just doesn't look right. As usual, the DC Direct version has a much better face but this one kills that one on articulation. Good stuff; well on my way to having a complete Classics JLI!

From the same line, yet another Must-Buy with The Joker!

Obviously there's been about seven million Joker figures from Mattel, DC Direct, and everyone under the sun. But this is easily one of the best ever. The face and outfit are unmistakably the "Classic" design rather than his more modern "deranged and bloodthirsty" look that so many figures have these days; no bulging bloodshot eyes or rotted yellow teeth here! And the accessories really put it over, from the cane and mallet right down to the playing cards and Laughing Fish. Many of the "Classics" figures from Mattel either directly or indirectly tried to homage the old Kenner "DC Super Powers" line, and with the sculpt and the big green mallet this is definitely one of the more direct homages in the line, for sure. I think that's great.

Finally, ALSO from "Classics" but from the offshoot "Superman/Batman: Public Enemies" wave (which was a Target-Exclusive), I've got yet another Superman figure to add to my ever-growing collection with this (alleged) Ed McGuinness-style figure!

They did a matte-finish one as well, but I opted for the "metallic" variant, since the way Ed's pencils were shaded and colored it often looked like his Superman was wearing a shiny costume.

In a vacuum, not a bad Superman figure (even though they cheaped out on not painting the belt loops... grrrrr!), but this attempt is even lazier than the Batman figure in trying to mimic the Ed McGuinness artwork. This figure bears NO resemblance at all to the artwork from the comic, not even in the face. They gave him the stock model sheet S-shield, the blue is the wrong shade, and he has the same body as every other DCU Classics Superman figure. Articulation is great as always, and it's a "good" Superman figure on its own... but in trying to recreate the style from the comics, it's an epic fail.

For comparison, here's the DC Direct Ed McGuinness-style Superman, one of my all-time favorite Superman figures from ANY line:

Again, the Mattel figure has a ton more points of articulation, but it just plain looks nothing like the comics, while the DC Direct figure is just about as comics-accurate as any action figure ever was. It's just no contest.

Flaws aside, it's a decent Superman figure, and I'm glad I bought it. This brings my current collection of Superman figures to a whopping 46! Give or take; I might've missed one or two somewhere but I'm definitely in the neighborhood of 50.
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Old 06-08-2021, 10:02 PM   #2346
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Great mail drop today! I've been waiting on this one for a while; from the Mattel "DC Universe Classics" line, it's the awesome "Green Lantern's Light" 5-pack!



A mix of repaints and exclusives, this is a really great set! Tomar Re and Guy Gardner were only ever released in this box set, and this was also the only Mattel release of a Green Lantern Sinestro. Rounding out the set are some really great repaints of Hal Jordan and John Stewart.

For me, Guy is easily the standout of the set, and I talked about why when I discussed the loose figure I bought not long ago. But to reiterate, the terrific face and completely unique costume really put it over. I'd definitely say he's the figure that "sells" the set.

Tomar Re is another great figure, but I don't think he's necessarily as much of an "essential" GL character as the others. I'm glad he's included, though; the head sculpt is great and given that he's more of a "niche" character he'd probably be the least likely of the set to have ever gotten a single-card release anyway.

John Stewart had a couple of other figures in the Classics and Multiverse lines, but this one has him in his very slick "Mosaic"-era costume, which I was always a fan of. It really stands out from the others in the box, since three out of the five figures just use the basic Hal Jordan body and costume; they very well could have done the same thing with John (or slotted in his single-card figure) and it wouldn't have been any problem, but I'm glad they went with this look. It's a lot more striking, and John only wore the "basic" GL uniform for a very short time anyway. It would've been acceptable (if cheap) but this is a great choice.

At a glance, the Hal Jordan looks pretty much the same as his single-card figure, BUT, the tiny detail that sets it apart is the streaks of gray hair at the temples, distinctly marking this as the pre-"Emerald Twilight" Hal Jordan. Not the kind of variant that would necessarily deserve its own single-card release, but perfect for this sort of thing.

The only figure in the set that's kind of "eh" in any way is the Sinestro, simply because unlike the others it's simply not comics-accurate. Lantern Sinestro always wore a mask, and for this set they just stuck a stock Sinestro head on a Hal Jordan body; understandable, and forgivable, but it knocks a point off since the other four figures are SO comics-accurate. Jordan's body is also taller than the one the single-card Sinestro figures had, so putting this figure next to those doesn't look right. Not a "bad" figure in and of itself but those things make it the least-cool of the set, other than the fact that this was the only way to own a Mattel GL Sinestro.

Overall, this set is a home run and a must-buy for any Green Lantern fan. It might've been "better", maybe, if they'd swapped in Kyle Rayner for either Tomar Re or Sinestro, BUT for one thing Kyle ended up getting a few single-card figures anyways, and beyond that the little details illustrate that this is very clearly based on the late-80s/early-90s run of Green Lantern comics and so Kyle wouldn't fit the motif even if he would have been a more desirable figure.

Each figure coming with its own Lantern Power Battery might be a bit of overkill, but I'm glad they bothered because they totally didn't have to.

If Sinestro had a mask, it'd be perfect. As it is, it's still as close as it gets. Awesome set.
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Old 06-09-2021, 06:54 AM   #2347
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That GL box set is a tougher grab to find. I look back on a lot of these and wish I would've bought more of them at retail. But at the time they seemed like cheap junk that was littering bargain bins and markdown aisles.

But as they have aged they have become more charming, and more and more the 3 3/4" and 4" scale of stuff really appeals to me. It always has, that's no secret here, but now I'd rather have that stuff than almost anything large and obnoxious in 6".
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Old 06-09-2021, 11:41 AM   #2348
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Might've been regional; these things flew off the shelves over here, especially the "main" characters. There hadn't been an "all-inclusive" DC line that was based on the comics in decades, not since the "Super Powers" line in the 80s, and most of the non-Batman and Superman characters had never been done in this scale with that level of detail. Classics was always a "hot" line.

Based on what I've read, I believe the Green Lantern box set was about $50 when it first came out; I paid about $120 for it since the box is dinged up, I've seen it go for around $150 and higher.

I like the "sister line" of 3.75-inch "Infinite Heroes", too, but for me there's just no comparison. "Classics" made way more characters (although both lines had characters that the other line did not, which is annoying; why no 6-inch Max Lord?!) and looking at the face sculpts on the ones like Gardner for example you just can't get that level of detail at 3.75.

Counting the box set I think I'm up to around 20 figures from Classics, now. Trying to focus on the "main" characters I can get for less than $50 in-package, but that pool is shrinking fast. Guys like Robin go for around $200 and are pretty expensive even loose. Pretty wild.
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Old 06-09-2021, 12:51 PM   #2349
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Do you open the toys or do you leave them in the packaging? I know some people who buy "doubles" of each figure, one to open loose and pose them and another to leave mint on card forever. Granted it's probably really expensive to essentially buy two of everything.
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Old 06-09-2021, 01:12 PM   #2350
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The intent is to eventually open everything, as I do love to get my hands on the stuff and I also have no room to have in-package toys stacked to the ceiling. I do try and be careful in opening stuff, though, since I like to hang onto the cardbacks just to look at them occasionally (it can also be a helpful reminder of which line various figures came from).

At the moment, though, most of what I've bought recently is still in the packages, in totes. I'm still doing the toy review videos (slowly) and I like to show off the in-package figure first before I take it out and mess with it. So I'm saving them for that. I'm drowning in the meantime, though. We can only shoot when my wife is feeling okay, and we still have four episodes worth of footage to cut from over a year ago before we move on to anything too dramatic.

Once we get back on track with that, though, I'll be popping stuff pretty quick.

I could never afford to buy two of everything so as to keep one "mint", nor would I even have the space. I prefer to buy in-package whenever possible (especially if the figure comes with accessories), because opening a new figure is a joy that never gets old, but some stuff like Jakks WWE figures or anything at all by Mattel is usually sturdy enough to buy loose if all I want is the figure in good shape without paying a fortune. Other stuff like DC Direct I don't like to take a chance buying loose because while they got a lot better over time SOME of those figures are rather brittle, especially the ones made pre-2006, so buying them in-package is the only way to ensure it won't be broken when you get it... most of the time.

So yeah, while I'm presently drowning in in-package figures they'll all be free one day, and when I have the room they'll be epically displayed. As mentioned, I save a few bucks here and there by buying toys with "damaged" packaging. That can really add up; on a few "Masters of the Universe Classics" figures I saved $20 or more because of a tiny dent or whatever in the plastic that I can barely even see but was enough to where the seller couldn't sell them as "mint" at full price. Things like that add up.
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Old 06-10-2021, 03:49 PM   #2351
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Thor Ragnarok Loki from Ebay it was MIB no BAF piece

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Old 06-11-2021, 12:52 AM   #2352
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Another awesome pile-up yesterday and today!

First up, my Mattel "Masters of the WWE Universe" collection grows to a whopping THREE figures, with this "Rowdy" Roddy Piper figure!

Great likeness, as usual for this line. The "gimmick" isn't the most inspired in the line but it's still fitting, and beyond that Piper himself wasn't a "gimmick" in the first place so I think he'd appreciate the execution of this figure.

I do want more of these but the ones I missed are super-expensive already. I did get my wife a Becky Lynch since she asked for one, but that's not "mine" so whatever.

Added another big name to the Mattel "DC Universe Classics" line with the one and only Captain Marvel (call him "Shazam" if you must but just know that I hate you):

Not a ton to say, other than another awesome Classics figure. There's been a good number of Cap figures from various companies, all of them pretty good. For whatever reason, this is only the third one I ever owned, the first being the DC Direct Ed McGuinness-inspired version and then the 3.75-scale "Infinite Heroes" figure from the box set. So I was really glad to pick this one up and even more glad that he wasn't incredibly expensive.

Taking a step back from the "Classics" line, we go to the precursor to that one, the also-cool Mattel "DC Super-Heroes" line. Specifically, the Kara Zor-El Supergirl figure!

This was one of the more important ones to get for a few reasons. Firstly, this line had done a Linda Danvers Supergirl a couple of Waves earlier, but by this point that Supergirl had all but been erased from canon entirely and DC was pushing Kara pretty hard. So while DC Direct had done a couple of her, this was the very first mass-market retail figure of Kara by Mattel (or anyone).

I feel like they did a great job; the face, especially, is clearly inspired by Mike Turner's artwork without being completely 1:1, and in this case I think it helps the figure despite the lack of authenticity simply because Turner's artwork is so stylized that it doesn't always translate well to action figures. The DC Direct Kara, for example, had some serious "bug eyes" going on, which was fairly accurate to the comic book art but didn't make for the prettiest figure. This one strikes just the right balance between capturing the likeness/style and just plain looking good.

This line of figures don't have quite as much articulation as the later "Classics" line, but they still scale well, and some characters were only made in This Line and not That Line, including Supergirl here. So on some level "good enough" is good enough. Still a really good figure; I can't cry about a couple points of articulation when everything else is so spot-on.

Next up we have what's essentially a "do-over" figure from the same line, the Wave 4 "S3" Series Superman figure:

A bit of an interesting story here, as they had already done Superman in Wave 2 of this line but it wasn't incredibly well-received for a variety of reasons. Some people thought the face was off, that the red was too much of a burgundy, and they didn't like the figure's rather "bowl-legged" wide stance. So for this wave, Mattel essentially re-did the entire figure from A to Z; new body, cape, different head, better red color, etc. One interesting thing is that while most figures use the stock "model sheet" S shield for his chest, for this one they chose to go with a more comic-book inspired logo, which I like just for the fact that it's different.

Another thing to note is that the head is actually re-used from another line from several years earlier; before they did the "DC Super-Heroes" line, Mattel originally only had the rights to do Batman figures, and at one point they put out a Superman & Batman two-pack as part of the Batman line. The Superman figure in the pack was well-regarded as perhaps the best-ever Superman done by anyone up to that point (although DC Direct would top it a couple years later), and I guess when people took issue with the Wave 2 Superman head Mattel decided that re-using the head from an earlier figure was more cost-effective than making a brand new one for this figure. I honestly wouldn't be shocked if it's actually the same body as the Batman two-pack, too, just with a different cape, but I won't know until I open it.

I can't honestly say which Superman from this line is "better" without having them both in my hand, since I haven't opened either one just yet, but there's a few things I do like better about this one. I think the later "Classics" Superman figure is better than either one from this line, but this is definitely a cool-looking Superman all the same.

Finally, we go out with a bang and yet another Superman figure. Specifically, "Future Superman" from the DC Direct "Superman/Batman: Public Enemies" line!

Obviously, this figure is "Ed McGuinness as inspired by Alex Ross" since it's basically Kingdom Come Superman, although I do believe that the comics "officially" declared that this is NOT the same Superman from the Kingdom Come timeline, but rather another Superman-from-the-Future who simply has the same costume for fanservice reasons.

Either way, he looks GREAT. Some artists' styles just translate incredibly well to action figures, and at least for the male figures Ed McGuinness is one of those artists (some of the women were a bit "off" but then they looked that way in print, too; Ed's female faces were always hit-or-miss and that translated to the toys based on his work). What really impresses me is how they didn't simply re-use the head or cape from the "regular" Superman figure in Wave 1 of this set; if you scroll up and compare this one to the picture I posted of that figure, you can see that the cape is much longer and the head, while similar, is entirely different. Very cool touch when they literally could have just painted gray temples on the earlier head and called it a day, but that's what made DC Direct so great, those little ways they'd go the extra mile with. Personally, I honestly like it better than the actual Alex Ross "Kingdom Come" Superman, due to the face and more points or articulation. I haven't opened this one yet, but all the McGuinness DC Direct figures were a lot more sturdy than the Alex Ross ones so I'm sure this one falls in line with the rest of them. VERY happy with this figure; the Superman figure collection may well be 50 now (I think I missed a few in my last count)!

I'm mostly collecting Mattel DC stuff right now, but there are still a ton of DC Direct figures I missed, and I think for now I'm going to focus on the Ed McGuinness ones from DC Direct because they're just so striking.
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Old 06-11-2021, 09:55 AM   #2353
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I've been buying the DC Spinmaster 4" stuff like a crazy person. Built like 75% of the collection in a few days now.

If I hadn't abandoned 6" figures other than a few key releases, this damn thread would have me digging up DC stuff as well.
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Old 06-11-2021, 07:49 PM   #2354
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Beats spending money on crack.

MEANWHILE, today we have "A Tale of Two Bizarros" with two much-needed figures added to my collection!

First up, we have the original DC Direct "Superman" Series Bizarro!

This figure is very historically important, as it was the very first ever Bizarro figure based on the comics, and only the second one ever released after the one based on "Superman: The Animated Series" a few years earlier. You'd think that such an important character with such a long tenure would have had more proper action figures, but you'd be wrong! As such, this figure was VERY popular when it first came out, which is how I always missed picking it up until now. I have the rest of the "Superman" series except for Steel, who also keeps slipping through my fingers, but when this one first came out it was never around when I had money and so it's been a big hole in my DC Direct collection ever since. Until Now!

It's essentially a repaint of the Superman figure from this series, with a new head, but that still makes it an awesome figure. These figures were among the Very First in 6-inch scale to boast "21 Points of Articulation!", so they're historical for that as well. Mass-market retail lines adopted the standard soon after, but these initially broke down the door... even if hinge-jointed wrist joints suck sh*t and often break. But they were getting there!

Likeness is great; it's definitely "inspired by" the then-current comic book artwork of Ed McGuinness without being a total 1:1 likeness (the "actual" Ed McGuinness Bizarro figure they released a few years later looked much different, but still similar in the face and coloring). It's like halfway between McGuinness and Dan Jurgens, and the end result is truly spectacular. This is a great figure!

This was the third DC Direct Bizarro figure I've owned (fourth overall, including the Mattel "Multiverse" one from a couple years ago) despite being the first released. I've had the Adam Kubert-inspired "Last Son" Bizarro and the Ed McGuinness "Superman/Batman" one since they originally released; they're all great, but this one MIGHT be my favorite.

Of course, it immediately had some stiff competition, because the Mattel "DC Super-Heroes" Bizarro ALSO came in the mail today, and is also great from a different direction!

Right off the bat, you have the coloring being more red-and-blue rather than shades of purple; mileage always varies on this but I do kind of like that better, sometimes, depending on the artwork. The "red" is the same sort of burgundy they used on the initial Superman from this series, but it fits Bizarro much better than Superman. They did later re-release this figure in his more contemporary comic book "purple" colors (and "Bizarro #1" necklace) for a later Wave, so whichever your style preference Mattel had a Bizarro for you. I got this one first because I'm mostly trying to complete the Waves more or less in release order, and also this one is just plain easier to find.

Another great face; like most Mattel DC figures (and the DC Direct figure), it's halfway artist-inspired and half-generic. Once again, the McGuinness inspiration is clear but it also goes its own way, and it looks really good. This one lacks pupils to give it a more "menacing" look; later re-releases in other Waves did have pupils, if this look doesn't work for you. He kinda looks like Frankenstein's Monster, which makes sense.

It's hard to see in the picture but he also has a tattered cape, which is another nice touch. Most Bizarro figures just use the same cape as the Superman figure they mimic in whatever line they're in, or at least a similar one, but here they went the extra mile and that's honestly a nice touch.

Mattel never released a "real" Bizarro figure for the "DC Universe Classics" line - they did re-release this figure in a two-pack with "Classics" branding, but many purists will point out that the scale and articulation between the two lines is different in several ways, some more prominent than others. Still, this figure fits in great with that line, better actually than most of the DCSH line does with Classics, and better than the Mattel "Multiverse" figure does as well. So if you're a Classics collector, by all means add this Bizarro to your Classics display with confidence.

Both of these figures are awesome, and this brings my Bizarro collection up to five figures, all great. I can't pick a "winner" between these two but I'm glad to finally have them both. It's pretty cool that they both came on the same day, too!
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Old 06-14-2021, 03:48 PM   #2355
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Very cool, Leo!


If you don’t own the McFarlane Bizarro, I recommend you get that one. It’s an all around awesome figure!
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Old 06-14-2021, 07:24 PM   #2356
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Thanks! Not yet, only have a few McFarlane figures. They're fine, but they're new-ish and out of scale with all my other DC collections, so my urgency on them is lower than it is for the Mattel stuff.

Big day today! Got some cool stuff between the mail and Wal-Mart.

Wal-Mart stuff first. The new Hasbro "The Real Ghostbusters" retro figures are out, apparently, so I picked up Fearsome Flush!

This one was actually never a favorite of mine even as a kid, BUT it's one I never ended up getting as a kid so I picked it up now just to have one. Back then I was really trying hard to collect the entire line but a few things still slipped through my fingers. Depending on what Hasbro puts out now I might be able to fill in some more gaps.

Next up is something I didn't even expect to see, the "Space Jam: A New Legacy" Lola Bunny & Wet/Fire two-pack:

Frankly, I don't give a single sh*t about the new movie or these toys. BUT, I don't have a Lola Bunny figure. So even though it's the new "Politically Correct Small Boobs" Lola and not the "Classic Coke/Pure Sex" Lola I fell in love with as a kid, it's good enough for the price. I doubt I'll be getting any more of these, though. They had all of 'em but I only cared about this one.

Another Wal-Mart pick-up, this neat "Classic Sonic" from the Jakks "Sonic the Hedgehog" line:

I guess this is Wave 2, now. They had this one and Tails, but I already grabbed a Tails from the previous Wave and I couldn't remember what (if anything) makes them significantly different. This Wave also has Knuckles and Super Shadow, apparently, but they weren't at the store.

EDIT: So I looked at the other Sonic figures I bought, and it turns out that these "Classic" Sonic figures are a bit larger. D'oh. That kinda sucks; for one thing I wasn't planning on getting every figure from both Waves. I'unno, we'll see. Kinda wish I'd grabbed that Tails figure, now.

One more Wal-Mart grab, and it's a big deal because I never find these "in the wild": Becky Lynch from the Mattel "Masters of the WWE Universe" line!

MAN, does it feel good to pay less than forty f*cking dollars for one of these! I bought one on eBay for my wife last week, but I still wanted one for myself. This was the only one they had on the shelf so I made sure to snag it. This is only the second figure in the line I've bought for the $15 retail price, after the first Macho Man they put out. This line is even more of a pain in the ass to collect than Origins, what with most of the figures already hitting $100+ on the secondary market just months after they come out. They're awesome, though.

Moving on to the stuff I got in the mail, yet another addition to the Mattel "DC Universe Classics" collection with the one and only Mary Marvel (ignore the stupidity on the package for bullsh*t legal/marketing reasons):

She's had several very cool figures from Mattel and DC Direct, but this is a great one. There's also a White Costume variant, but I wanted to pick this one up first. I might pick up the variant loose since I already got the Collect & Connect figure piece with this one, and it'll save me about half the cost. We'll see. Anyways, great figure, another must-buy that I'm glad to finally have.

To wrap it up, we've got the figure that more or less started it all: The Wave 1 Batman from the Mattel "DC Super-Heroes" line, which was once again the precursor to the Classics line later on:

Mattel went on to do several more Batman figures in both this line and Classics (and "Multiverse"), covering almost all of his various looks, but regardless, this Jim Lee-inspired figure is easily one of the best Batman figures ever made. The accessories like the Batarang and Bat-Cuffs really put it over.

So yeah, pretty great haul today!
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Old 06-17-2021, 08:44 PM   #2357
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Another Day, another awesome mail drop, but some are inevitably more epic than most.

So let me ask you this, Technodrome...

Who the F*CK You Gonna CALL?!?!


The new Hasbro "Ghostbusters Plasma Series" Ecto-1. DUDE, this thing is awesome.

I didn't even know it was out, and I was actually doing a search for the retro Real Ghostbusters Ecto-1 that's coming out, the re-issued one from the 80s that goes with the cartoon figures. But as soon as I saw this thing I immediately bought it. It is GORGEOUS.

What else can I say? What else NEEDS to be said? Get one! It's awesome.
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Old 07-05-2021, 05:46 AM   #2358
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Recent deliveries in the last couple weeks include:

Ghostbusters Plasma Series Dana and Gozer (keep calling her Zuul lol). That completes my set, but yet to open these 2. Well when I say complete, I haven't got the Lewis Tulley set.

Marvel Legends Infinity Gaunlet Thanos. He looks dope.

BST AXN Cowboy Bebop Vicious. My first BST AXN figure. I like the scale, figure is nicely detailed as well. Very good for the price, looking forward to the BST AXN TMNT!

Peace!
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Old 07-05-2021, 01:24 PM   #2359
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Neca 1/4 Penguin and Catwoman from Batman Returns
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Old 07-19-2021, 08:04 PM   #2360
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Got Sam Captain America today. Decent figure just wish his wings weren't a BAF thing. Next just gotta get Wanda and Bucky
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