Review of Jonah Hex, Creeper, Robin, Bane action figures
DC Universe Classics wave 16

Introduction

Earlier this week I looked at the first half of Mattel's latest wave in the DC Universe Classics series. Wave 16 is hitting online retailers first, but we should see them at local brick and mortar stores very soon.

The first half review included Mercury, Azrael, and Riddler. The rest of the wave included Robin (with a variant), Jonah Hex (the comic book version of course, not the movie version), and the Creeper. Buy all six figures, and you can complete your Collect and Connect Bane.

The Robin I received has the classic head sculpt, which considering the outfit is probably going to be the more desired. There's also a more modern version that's the available, and I believe they are actually shipping at about a 50/50 rate.

These figures are running over $15 at most online retailers, even hitting $20 at some places. Unfortunately, I don't think the local prices are going to be that much cheaper, with the days of $12 DCUC figures behind us.

Packaging - **1/2
I neglected to include a packaged photo in the first half review, so I've corrected that here. As you can see, the packages are taller, a trend that started with the Green Lantern series 1 set. I don't mind, although I'm not a huge fan of change for change's sake. They didn't improve anything here, just tweaked what they already had, which will probably annoy the MOCers - consistency works better visually if you display your figures carded.

More of an issue is the warped ankles that many of the figures in this series exhibit. The posed figures and tight trays are causing issues, and Mattel might want to re-examine the process.

On the plus side, I will say that the almost total lack of annoying twisties and even rubber bands is a welcome tweak.

Sculpting - Jonah Hex ****; Robin ***1/2; Creeper; Bane ***
I love westerns, and the Jonah Hex comic was always a favorite. Here, the Four Horsemen have given us a disfigured, scarred visage that would scare the crap out of just about anyone, and yet it doesn't look over the top or too extreme.

They've also matched the Clint Eastwood Man with No Name stare perfectly to the rest of the expression. The proportions are good, and there's plenty of small detail work. I love the sculpted crossed swords on the Confederate hat, as well as the fine detail on the rope braid encircling it.

On the opposite end of the spectrum is the Creeper and Bane. While neither is awful, I couldn't help but feel like we'd gotten better versions before.

The Creeper has that Joker-esque appearance, with a similar hair style, nose, and maniacal grin. The Jay Leno jawline helps differentiate him a little, but in the end he reminds me too much of the Clown Prince with jaundice and a very hairy back.

The elongated legs and arms that they used on the Creeper really don't work for me either, and when you add in the problems he has remaining upright, he ends up at the bottom of my list for this wave.

Bane is the first Collect and Connect (or Build A Figure) figure that I recall liking less than the majority of the wave. He's very pin-headed, to the extreme, and the bulky torso also looks a bit out of place with the thinner legs. He stands great on his own, though, which sets him above the Creeper in my book.

That leaves this classically styled Robin. I like the old school head sculpt, and the detail work on the costume is good. He stands fine on his own, and the hands are sculpted to work with the accessories. As much as I'm a Batman fan, I'm not much of a Robin fan, so while he's a solid figure, he just doesn't trip my trigger the same way Jonah Hex does.

Paint - Jonah Hex ***1/2; Robin, Bane, Creeper ***
I didn't have as many paint issues here as I did with the other three, but there wasn't a lot to get excited about, either.

Hex is the clear winner, with a nice dirty wash over his uniform and some dry brushing to bring out the high points. While there's some slop here, it's actually used to effect, giving the impression of a hard ride on the trail.

In contrast, figures like the Creeper, Bane and Robin need sharp, clean lines on their faces and costumes. There isn't the excessive slop I had with something like the Riddler, but the work isn't as clean as I expect given the price point.

Articulation - Jonah, Robin ***; Bane, Creeper **1/2
They've added quite a bit of additional articulation with series 16, but not all of it is as useful as I'd like.

Hex actually has less articulation than the average DCUC figure. He looses the ab-crunch, and the shoulders are a little more restricted due to the sculpted design of the coat, but considering how good he looks, it's a price well worth paying. He has all the rest of the usual DCUC joints, and they are all tight and solid.

Robin and the Creeper both add the double pin elbows and knees to the standard DCUC package. The Creeper's problem is one of remaining upright - you might get him to finally hold a standing pose unassisted, but he won't hold it long. regular readers know how much that bugs me, and he takes the biggest hit here because of it. Of course, a big part of the problem is the heavy 'fur cape' on his costume, but had the other joints (especially the ankles) been better designed, you could have worked with the weight. The ankles have almost no forward and backward movement due to the sculpt, and for the life of me I can't figure out why this happened. Creeper also has some stuck joints, especially the lower legs.

On the plus side, Creeper also has the pin/post wrists that we just saw with Mercury, and which are also available on Robin.

Robin also has the double pin knees and elbows, but his worked smoothly on both sides. He also has pin/post wrists and ankles, although the ankles are pretty restricted by the Tinker Bell booties.

Bane has the standard Collect and Connect articulation, but I had a major issue with the left leg. There's a huge gap at the calf cut joint, and try as I might, I couldn't get it corrected. Hopefully you'll avoid this issue, and that would result in a much better score here.

Accessories - Jonah, Robin ***1/2; Creeper **; Bane Bupkis
While it might seem odd that I'm mentioning Bane here, since he's an accessory himself, it's not that unusual for a BAF or CnC figure to have some accessories added to sweeten the pot. I merely include Bane here to educate, not as a measure of his overall quality.

The Creeper has his Bane piece, but that's it. If you're not interested in Bane, that makes this category a moot point.

Both Robin and Jonah Hex come with not one but two additional accessories, which is getting to be a bit of a rare occurrence with this series.

Hex has two guns, a sawed off shotgun and his six shooter. Both are fairly soft plastic, but fit in the hands well. The revolver doesn't fit particularly well in the holster (the holster is a little too short), but it's a minor issue.

Hex's bandoleer is also removable, so I suppose you can count that as an additional accessory as well, depending on your point of view.

Robin has a small batarang as well as a grappling gun. The gun fits perfectly in his right hand, and has a reasonably long (about 8" or so) string that attaches the gun to the multiple tipped hooked. I had a photo of him using it to climb a building, but didn't end up using it. Still, it works as expected.

Fun Factor - ****
I don't know how many times I can say the same thing - these are great action figures. Hex is particularly cool, and any kid that loves action figures will find a ton of fun with this character. A gruesome disfigured cowboy? It's tough to get cooler than that.

Value - **
The price point is killer. Mattel is doing what they can to incent you to buy the whole series with the variants and the Collect and Connect concept, but I think we might have hit the breaking point once prices rose above $15 at even brick and mortar stores.

Things to Watch Out For -
Of course, you'll want to pick out the best paint if you have choices on the pegs, and also watch for any excessively twisted legs or arms in the package.

Overall - Jonah Hex ****; Robin ***1/2; Creeper, Bane ***
I found the articulation a bit wonky on three of these four figures, and oddly, the least articulated was the easiest to work with - Jonah Hex. The others all were hurt in hurt in this category, although I'm not that surprised. Mattel is trying something new with some of these joints, and there's still some bugs in the designs.

Out of the entire wave, Jonah Hex is my favorite. I scored him the full four stars even considering the various smaller issues. This is one of those cases where the sum of the parts most definitely adds up better than any of the individual pieces might indicate.

The Creeper is decent, but I think we've seen better versions of both him and Bane in the past. Robin is a solid buy to complete the silver age look, but if you're not a major Bats fan, he may not be as necessary.

Still, overall wave 16 was a very good release, greasing the skids for me to pre-order all of 17. I may hate the price, but I have to admit that I'm in this one for the long haul.

Score Recap (out of ****):
Packaging - **1/2
Sculpting - Jonah Hex ****; Robin ***1/2; Creeper; Bane ***
Paint - Jonah Hex ***1/2; Robin, Bane, Creeper ***; 
Articulation - Jonah, Robin ***; Bane, Creeper **1/2
Accessories - Jonah, Robin ***1/2; Creeper **; Bane Bupkis
Fun Factor - ****
Value - **
Overall - Jonah Hex ****; Robin ***1/2; Creeper, Bane ***;

Where to Buy 
Mass market brick and mortar retailers should start getting these in, but I picked them up online at Entertainment Earth. Other online options include:

- or you can search ebay for a deal.

Related Links -
Other DCUC reviews include:

- the first part of this review covered Riddler, Mercury and Azrael.

- I covered the first half of wave 14, but I'm still on the hunt for Todd.

- I covered the new GL wave 1 set with part 1 here, and part 2 here.

- I finished off wave 15 in two parts, one here and one here.

- the SDCC Plastic Man was the previous review.

- I split the wave 13 up into two sections, part 1 and part 2.

- I covered half of wave 12, but it took awhile to pick up the second half.

- prior to that was part 1 and part 2 of wave 11.

- big surprise, wave 10 was before that, with some here and some here.

- you can find wave 9 part 1 here, and part 2 over here.

You should also hit the Search Reviews page to see reviews of the earlier 8 waves and in case any other applicable reviews were done after this one was published.

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