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Introduction
Mattel might not be doing everything right, but they sure are slapping it silly with two lines - Masters of the Universe Classics (yep, I bought my Hordak yesterday),
and DC Universe Classics.
Wave 8 has been out with online retailers for awhile now, but has yet to show up in any numbers at brick and mortar retailers. Let's hope it doesn't end up being one of
those situations where wave 9 comes out and pushes wave 8 right out of the rotation.
I covered part of the wave a week or so ago, but tonight I'm back to finish up with the red
Parademon, Mr. Terrific and Dr. Fate. I'm also going to look at the BAF, Giganta. There's a green Parademon variant as well (which I have but haven't opened yet),
and a variant gold Dr. Fate (which I still have to find...curse you, Mattel!).
If you're a DC fan, I expect you know who Dr. Fate is, since he's been around for almost 70 years. The version I'm reviewing here is the classic yellow, intended to
look like the original Kent Nelson version. The gold highlighted variant is supposed to be more like the modern incarnation, Hector Hall.
I also assume you know who Giganta is, since she's another Golden Age character, an early foil for Wonder Woman and the Atom.
Parademons are more silver age, coming out of the New Gods series of books. If you aren't a big fan of Desaad, Darkseid, and the rest of the gang, you might not be as
familiar with these guys, but they are the henchmen of Apokolips. Since we've already gotten Darkseid,
Kalibak, Mr. Miracle, Big Barda and others in this scale, adding in the Parademons really fills out the whole New
Gods theme nicely.
The one I'm reviewing, the red version, is based on the old Super Powers action figure design. The green one seems more popular with fans right now (the mix is supposed to be even in the current cases) because he's based on the standard comic book look.
And then there's Mr. Terrific. Who? Yea, that's what I said too. Tom Terrific? No, "Mister" Terrific. I had to head to Google.
Turns out he's another Golden Age creation, just as old as Giganta and almost as old as Dr. Fate. Or at least the first version is, aka Terry Sloane. That's not this
version though - this is the relatively new Michael Holt, who was inspired by the story of the original Mr. Terrific and picked up the mantle about 10 years or so ago.
He's extremely smart, an amazing athlete, who believes in Fair Play and has one of the corniest outfits ever. Hey, nobodies perfect.
Packaging - ***
After 8 waves of figures, I think you know what you've come to expect. The packages are decent, and show off the figures well, but what was once bright and shiny has
started to get a bit dull. I don't think they should make any major changes - MOCers prefer there to be consistency to the display - but some minor upgrades might
improve the curb appeal.
Sculpting - Giganta, Parademon, Dr. Fate ***1/2; Mr. Terrific ***
Killer sculpts have been the hallmark of the DCUC figures before they were even called DCUC, and that's all thanks to the excellent work of the Four Horsemen.
Dr. Fate has the most re-use here, yet the cool classic costume still makes him a stand out on the shelf. I love the clean lines of the helmet, and the sculpted left fist and gesturing right hand are designed to work with lots of poses as well as the accessory. The cape is hard rubber, but the weight is not an issue for him.
Mr. Terrific is 80% re-use, but he does have the all new arms and cool leather jacket. Well, the sculpt is cool - the effect is kind of ruined by the lame 'fair play' insignia down either arm.
The Parademon brings the most unique and original sculpting to this wave, and the red version matches up with the more demonic look of the old Super Powers design. The sharply detailed sculpting on the head, hands and feet really adds to the evil appearance. He's smaller than the other figures, coming in at just 6" tall at the top of his head, but differentiates him nicely from the majority of the line, and puts him properly in scale. Dr. Fate and Mr. Terrific stand the usual 6 3/8" tall.
Finally, there's Giganta, easily the most beautiful BAF we've gotten. Okay, so there's not really any competition in the BAF beauty contest, but still.
The larger scale (she stands almost 10 inches tall) allows more of the detail to come out, especially in the fine red hair and textured fur costume. While her face is clearly strong and determined, it's also quite pretty in a Scandinavian super model sort of way.
All the figures stand great on their own, and the associated hand sculpts work with most poses. The scale is good as well, and these guys fit in visually with the rest of the series.
Paint - ***1/2
One of the major issues for this series early on was paint quality. There was far too much slop, and it hurt the otherwise excellent sculpts.
Ah, but Mattel seems to have tightened up their quality control on these, and the last two waves have been very, very good, especially for a mass market line, where paint is often the first cost cutting measure.
There's still some minor issues - the teeth and cut lines on Parademon could be a bit cleaner, some of the yellow on Fate is inconsistent, and even Giganta's lipstick could stand to be a bit straighter - but these issues are only obvious under magnification, and in person, the work looks terrific.
My favorite paint op out of this set is the leopard print on Giganta's outfit. They've captured the natural chaotic pattern of the spots perfectly, and also managed to find a great looking design. Notice how the size of the spots and color of the leopard skin reverses between the top and the bottom of the outfit, offsetting one another. Very nice!
Articulation - ***1/2
Mattel hasn't skimped on the useful articulation with this series, and these figures all continue the tradition. Better yet, there was no problems with any stuck
joints or breakage.
All the figures have the standard articulation for the series - post/disc ball jointed shoulders, pin biceps, single pin elbows, knees and ankles, cut wrists and waist, and the ab-crunch. There's also the hinge hips that are fairly unique to this series, but only on Fate and Terrific. Giganta and Parademon have more traditional pin/disc ball hips. Three of the four figures have thigh cuts, with the exception being Parademon.
They also have ball jointed necks, but this joint works much better on Fate and Giganta than the Parademon, where tilting in a side position doesn't work well at all. There's a little looseness in some of the joints as well, especially Giganta's hips (insert your own crude joke here), but I had no trouble getting them all to stand on their own.
Accessories - Mr. Terrific, Dr. Fate, Parademon ***; Giganta *
Three of the first four figures I reviewed in this wave were extremely well equipped, coming with three accessories each in addition to their piece of Giganta.
Unfortunately, these three are less outfitted, each only coming with one extra item.
Mr. Terrific comes with his terrific balls...er, I mean T balls. He uses these to do all kinds of nifty technological things, like hook into computers, cloak himself from detection, etc. They fly and float, so they've gone with the clear 'motion trail' plastic attachment to hold them above his shoulders. This inserts into the hole in his back, much like Booster Gold. However, while some folks were able to remove the post from Booster Gold, I was not - it was too tight, and possibly glued. Here, the T balls fall out of the hole whenever you move him.
Dr. Fate has a nifty Ankh shaped energy shield (his magical powers being from an Egyptian God and all that), and this translucent yellow plastic piece fits neatly over the extended fingers of his right hand.
Then there's the red Parademon, who comes with a yellow blaster. You know I love blasters, and this one is another unique sculpt. It's actually based on the old weapon that came with the Super Powers Kalibak, and in fact it can be attached to the belt of the DCUC wave 6 Kalibak BAF!
Now, I know I'm not reviewing the green Parademon tonight, but if I were, he'd get four stars in this category. Not only does he have the yellow blaster, but he comes with a second gold blaster that's even better. Why? Because the blaster is actually two pieces, and one of those pieces is Kalibak's Beta Club from the old Super Powers line, upgraded for the DCUC series. Now you know why you absolutely have to get multiple Parademons in both colors! In fact, I think this is so damn cool, that I'm planning to review the green version on his own.
Giganta doesn't actually come with an accessory herself - she is an accessory. Each figure comes with one part to build her, which only adds to the value of the individual figures if you want her as well.
However, you'll notice she did get a star here. That's because, like Kalibak, Mattel threw in an accessory for her with one of the other figures in the series. Gentlemen Ghost came with the miniature version of the Atom, which is designed to be displayed (held, crushed, smooched) with Giganta.
Fun Factor - Dr. Fate, Parademon ****; Giganta, Mr. Terrific ***1/2
These are all great toys, no doubt about it. I wish other action figure lines could give us the same level of sculpt, paint and articulation - can you imagine if
Playmates had treated the Trek or Terminator lines this well?
The slightly loose joints on Giganta and the tendency for Mr. Terrific to lose his balls brought their scores down slightly here, but only slightly.
Value - **1/2
The $10 - $12 each you'll pay for these is still an average value for me...but if things continue on the current trend and these manage to stay in the same price range,
I can see them going up another half star here pretty soon.
Things to Watch Out For -
It's always good to watch out for paint miffs, but the consistency and general quality has really improved with this series. Likewise, there were joint breakage
problems with waves 6 and earlier, but the last couple sets have really gotten better.
Overall - Dr. Fate, Parademon, Giganta
***1/2; Mr. Terrific ***
There aren't too many lines out these days that I anticipate with high expectations. But the DC Universe Classics is one that has my hooked, and is one of the very few
that I'm a completist on these days. Dr. Fate is my general favorite out of this set, at least on his own, but the Parademon has a leg up overall because he goes so
well with the rest of the 6" scaled New Gods figures that we've gotten as part of the DCUC.
But the real beauty of this line is that you can have a character like Mr. Terrific, who I have no history with and no real interest in, and yet the figure ends up so damn cool that I have to get him anyway.
Score Recap (out of ****):
Packaging - ***
Sculpting - Giganta, Parademon, Dr. Fate ***1/2; Mr. Terrific ***
Paint - ***1/2
Articulation - ***1/2
Accessories - Mr. Terrific, Dr. Fate, Parademon ***; Giganta *
Value - **1/2
Fun Factor - Dr. Fate, Parademon ****; Giganta, Mr. Terrific ***1/2
Overall - Dr. Fate, Parademon ***1/2; Mr. Terrific ***
Where to Buy
These should be hitting brick and mortar retailers at some point, including Target and Toys R Us. But online options include:
- Entertainment Earth has them for $139 for a case of 10.
- or you can search ebay for a deal.
Related Links -
I've covered lots of the DCUC figures:
- I did a part 1 to this wave, when I covered Gentlemen Ghost, Vigilante, Hawkgirl and Commander Steel.
- the previous wave was 7 (duh), which I covered here.- I broke wave six into two reviews, one here and one here.
- no, I never reviewed wave 5, but prior to that was wave 4 which I also broke into this review, and this one.
- of course, prior to that was wave 3.
- I covered wave 1 in two parts, one here and one at here. It took me so freakin' long to find them, I never did review wave 2, but if you're looking for one, Kastor's Korner has a great review.Discussion:
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This product was purchased for the review by the reviewer. Photos and text by Michael Crawford.
