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DC Superheroes
Superman

John checks in tonight with a review of one of the new DC Superheroes - the superist himself, Superman!  Take it away, John...

The second series of Mattel's DC Comics Superheroes is out now, comprised of Superman, Supergirl, Bizarro, and Doomsday. Today I'll be reviewing the Man of Steel himself, Superman! Unlike Batman of series one, Superman seems to be a completely new sculpt.










Packaging - **
This is pretty typical packaging, nothing revolutionary. It's got nice, bright colors, fitting for a comic book line. But again nothing new or special.

Sculpting - ***
I really like the sculpt of this figure. It captures the feel of the "classic look" of Superman. It doesn't seem to be based on any artist's rendition, like many of DC Direct's figures. All of Superman's costume is faithfully translated into this figure, except for the yellow S-Shield on his cape. None of his joints really stick out as much as they do in some Marvel Legends figures.

I especially love the face sculpt. I didn't really like some of DC Direct's Superman face sculpts. With those, he just seemed to have a vague look on his face. This face sculpt, on the other hand, is awesome with a "Don't Mess With Me" expression.

His cape is sculpted from plastic. It's glued on his chest, and also by a peg that goes into a small hole in his back.

The reason why he doesn't get a full score is because of some minor flaws in my figure. There is some wear on his chest where the two joints meet, and a small dent in his left biceps. This is probably due to this being a mass-produced figure, and such errors are expected.

Paint - **1/2
The overall paint job manages to stay within the lines. There's some bleeding where the boots meet the leg, and some stray paint on the belt and left hand. The colors of Superman are very muted, no bright colors for this guy. The blue is a navy color, while the red is almost crimson or maroon. This might be because the movie's version uses darker colors. The flesh also looks a little on the pale side.

There's also some blue highlights in his hair, which is hard to notice unless you're looking for it. Thankfully, there's no strange wash all over his cape or body.

Articulation - ***
This figure has 21 POA. He has a ball-joint head, ball-joint shoulders, cut biceps, pin elbows, cut thigh, pin knees, pin ankles, a joint in his chest, cut wrists, and cut waist. His hip joint is like the joint in Action Cape Batman, where you can move the leg forward and backwards, and there's an additional hinge to move the legs sideways. His hands are permanently closed into fists. When I opened him, his joints were pretty loose, except for his left shoulder which was very tight. After some wiggling, I massaged the joint some and now moves pretty smoothly. 

I was only disappointed that his head's movement is limited and a little wobbly. Overall, Superman will wipe the floor with any of your DC Direct figures in the articulation department, but still doesn't reach the plateau of Marvel Legends.

Accessories - *1/2
He comes with a comic book. Not any comic book, but a comic book featuring Superman Blue. Yes, that Electro-Superman reject of the 90s. Why? Who knows?

Action Feature - Bupkis
Hurrah.

Fun Factor - ***
He's Superman. What kid or collector wouldn't want a Superman figure? Especially if you already have a Batman figure from series one.

Value -  **1/2
I got him for $8.99 which is about the same price of a Marvel Legends figure. That isn't too bad, except Superman doesn't come with a stand or someone's body part. I think about 7 bucks is a pretty good price for this figure.

Things to Watch For -
Just the typical things. If you find it in a store, check out the paint ops and make sure that he doesn't have any dents or nicks in him like mine did.

Overall - ***
He's a vast improvement over Batman from the first series. No ugly washes, better articulation. Did I mention that I liked the head sculpt? It's a shame that he doesn't come with anything more than a comic book that he doesn't even star in. I hope that the minor damages that I found with my figure will be a rare occurrence in the line.

Score Recap- 
Packaging - **
Sculpt - ***
Paint - **1/2
Articulation - ***
Accessories - *
Action Feature - None
Fun Factor - ***
Value - **1/2
Overall - ***

Where to Buy - 
These should hit regular retailers soon.  Online options include:

- CornerStoreComics has the singles for $9 each, or a set of five (an extra Superman) for $44.

- Amazing Toyz has the singles for $9 each.

- Killer Toys has them on pre-order at $10 each.

SCROLL DOWN FOR LOTS MORE PHOTOS!


Figure from the collection of John Emmons.

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