Packaging - **
This has already been covered in a number of previous reviews, so I'll be brief. Nothing's really been changed since the first wave of figures. The cardboard backing is flimsy at best, and the overall design is okay but not amazing.

Sculpting - Supes **1/2; Lex ***
There are two main changes in this Superman figure. First is a new face sculpt, featuring an angry Man of Steel. This face is a little more detailed than the generic one used in the first wave. This adds to the figure since Superman's tearing through the atmosphere/ holding a chuck of solar matter/whatever.

The second change is that Mattel did away with the cloth cape. At least just this once. The cape is made from a soft plastic and curves at both ends. It has some small winkles carved into it to make it look slightly more realistic. The plastic cape also seems more accurate, since the new costume's cape seems to be made out of a rubber/leather material.

Lex, on the other hand, has a more simplistic look. He is wearing arctic clothes so his bulky look could excused, since he's probably wearing ten layers of clothes underneath that. The wrinkles in his pants as well as the details in his boots are commendable. Lex seems to be hunched forward a little to add to his villainous look. 

The reason I gave Lex such a high score is that his face sculpt is impressive. Just looking at it, I could see a clear likeness of Kevin Spacey. Much better job than last year's Christian Bale and most of the Superman figures so far.

Paint - Supes ***; Lex **
Besides his usual red and blue, Superman has a red tint applied to his chest and arms to go with his "Solar Force." While it might have been used too heavily on his upper chest, I love how it's used to highlight his ribs and stomach. Luckily, they didn't use any red tint on his face, because it wouldn't have worked out well. Most of the rest of his body's typical hit-or-miss mass produced toy work.

For better or worse, Lex has very little paint ops, mainly black on his jacket, gloves, and boots. For the most part, the paint's clean and stays within the line. Everything else is a boring grey. Nothing really exciting if you ask me.

Articulation - Supes **1/2; Lex **
Superman comes with 12 points of articulation. Besides his usual articulation, such as the ball joint head, cut joint shoulders and hips, he also comes with ankle joints! Lex has only 9 points of articulation. He has a cut joint at the neck, shoulders, and hips as well as joints at his elbows and knees. While they made slits in the side of his coat, the skirt of the coat still limits the movement of his legs.

Accessories - Supes **; Lex ***
Superman's "Solar Force" comes in two pieces. Superman holds onto a yellow transparent flame piece. The larger flame piece snaps into the yellow one and can be fired as a projectile. The lower half of the larger flame piece is painted in red, which helps with the overall flame effect. Both are decently sculpted but but more detail could have been added. 

Luthor comes with six items: a rocket, a launcher, goggles, binoculars, a green sleeve, and a Kryptonite control crystal.

The crystal is made to scale to the actual figure, but is made out of a flexible material so it doesn't feel very crystal-like. I don't know the purpose of the green sleeve, but by slipping the crystal into the sleeve, Luthor can actual hold it in his large hands. The missile is impressive enough; it looks like a stinger missile, and, oddly enough, the crystal-within-the-green-sleeve is sculpted into the nose of the missile. Unfortunately, the missile launcher itself doesn't look very realistic, and with the missile connected to the launcher, it's almost as long as the figure.

Action Feature - Bupkis
Neither come with an action feature.

Fun Factor - ***
Finally, someone for all your Superman figures to pick on! I'm sure the Luthor figure will be one of the most sought out of this series, if for no other reason than he's not another Superman figure .

Value - **1/2
I got them both for around $6.99, which is roughly the average cost of a typical action figure nowadays.

Things to Watch Out For:
Nothing really. If you're picky about paint ops, then be sure to grab the best looking on off the shelf.

Overall - Supes **1/2; Lex ***
I'm probably a little too hard on Superman and a little too generous for Lex. Superman boasts a nice paint job, addition articulation, and a slightly better sculpt. Unfortunately, I'm still not sure what he's doing, and without the flame ball accessories, he looks a little silly with the red highlights.Lex's score is basically because I was impressed by his head sculpt (this may have been affected by low expectations), and a nice collection of accessories. His overall costume is a little on the boring side, but we can't expect Lex Luthor to be in tights, right?

Where to Buy:
I got my figure at a large Superman Returns display at a local Wal Mart. Toys R Us and Target should also be getting these figures in sometime soon.

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