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Sculpt - **1/2
If you're a fan of Perez' artwork, then you won't be disappointed with
the general style of this figure. They've done a decent job of
capturing the look, particularly what you saw back in books like Batman
Year 3. There are some minor quibbles - I think the ears are a little
too long, and the bat symbol on his chest is a bit too small - but
you'll know just by looking at the figure who's artwork it's based on.
As long as you're a big enough bat-nerd, of course.
My
issues are with other aspects. Starting with the head, I'm not keen on
the set of the mouth. While the eyes and cowl are set in a grimace, the
mouth isn't quite there. It's not quite a wry smile either, so he ends
up looking a bit like a mouth breather with very white teeth. They
should have kept the same shape, but closed the lips.
The cape is
made from a very thick, heavy rubber, and makes it tough for poor Bats
to remain upright. Even with the pathetic stand, he still tends to
topple over. I don't mind rubber capes, but they need to be thin (or
less dense) to avoid this problem.
The overall body sculpt is
good, with the exception of the oversized hands. I don't remember big
hands being a Perez standard, so that is probably not a defense. The
right hand is sculpted in a very specific gripping pose, although he
comes with no accessory that he can hold with this hand. The left is a
more traditional fist.
The very smooth parts, along
with the
slightly glossy look, does make these look more toyish than the usual
DCD figure. Compare it to something like the Batman and Son Batman, and
you might see what I mean.
The figure stands about 6 3/4"
tall
without the ears, making him a little too short compared to some past
DCD lines (but dead on with others - we all know the problems they've
had with scale). It also makes him a little too big to go with Marvel
Legends and DCUC figures, but not so much that it's a huge issue. I'm
not going to deduct any for scale at this point, because this line is
really it's own beast, and I'm hoping to see the future waves remain
true to this size. If they do, it will make for a great looking overall
display. Just don't expect that you can cherry pick a few characters
here and there and they'll fit in perfectly with other lines. They
might, they might not...it's going to depend on the character.
Paint - ***
This is a specialty market figure with the price point that goes with
it. You expect zero slop, and that's pretty much what you get.
There's
a little around the eyes, and the cut line between the cowl and face
could be a bit cleaner, but it's pretty much in line with normal
expectations. The symbol is on straight, and even the tough
yellow color of the belt is consistent and covers well.
The
glossy nature of the plastic and paint might not be to your liking
(it's a little too much for me), but fans of the blue and gray costume
will be happy enough.
Articulation - **1/2
Perhaps my biggest disappointment here is in the articulation. It's not
that they didn't throw enough at the figure, but that it's poorly
thought out and engineered.
The
one shining star is the ball jointed neck. It works quite well, even
with the cape and cowl, and adds plenty of personality to any pose.
The
ball jointed shoulders with the post bicep are fairly standard, and
these work well enough. There's also pin elbows and knees, also pretty
standard.
There's also cut wrists, cut
forearms, cut shins and a
cut waist, all pretty unusual for DCD. There's a forward and back
swivel at the torso, and T style hips.
Clearly, someone told
somebody that these figures needed more articulation than the standard
DCD figure. Unfortunately, not a lot of thought seems to have been put
into what they really meant.
The pluses are the ball neck,
cut
wrists, ball shoulders and cut waist. The pin elbows are decent, but
the pin knees, cut forearms, swivel chest and cut shins are pretty much
a complete waste, since there's little you can do with them to improve
or gain any new poses.
The T hips restrict the legs
just like
always, and make the knees and shins moot. With all this articulation,
about the only decent pose I could get was standing straight up with
his arms in a couple different positions. I could have succeeded in
doing that with far fewer joints, and had a better looking figure
without them as well.
The lesson to be learned here -
add articulation to improve posability. If it doesn't do that, then
don't do it.
Accessories - *
I almost gave him a bupkis here, but he does have his stand. It's only
big enough to fit under one foot though, forcing him to stand at a
slight lean. It helps a little with the heavy cape...a little.
Fun Factor - **1/2
Kids
could actually have a lot of fun with this figure if he could stand
better on his own. It's always a frustration for kids when they can't
keep a figure upright - how can you knock him down again?
Value - **
While some aspects of this figure are higher quality than DCUC
(slightly better plastic, slightly more consistent paint), the overall
effect is one of a lesser value. For $11 or $12 I can get a better
articulated figure in the DCUC line that includes cool accessories and
a BAF piece. For $5 - $7 more, I get...not much.
Things To Watch Out For
-
You'll want to watch the paint if you're picking them off the shelf,
but that's about it.
Overall - **1/2
I can almost hear the conversation at DCD
now. Sales have dipped over the last couple years, and its due in part
to DCUC. Why are collector's buying them? Must be character selection
and articulation (very true), so let's do the same thing!
Unfortunately, the articulation angle ends up a major fail.
I'd really like this line to be
outstanding, because getting s
consistent scale, high quality, well articulated, wide ranging line
from DCD would be the dream of many collectors. Unfortunately, from the
limited look I've taken so far, I'm not feeling the love.
I'll be
picking up some more though, including the Creeper in the next wave,
and this might be one of those situations where the positives of the
larger whole (having a huge group of DC figures in a similar style)
outweighs the negatives of the individuals.
Score Recap:
Packaging - ***
Sculpting - **1/2
Paint - ***
Articulation - **1/2
Accessories - *
Fun Factor - **1/2
Value - **
Overall - **1/2
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