Huntress (Helena Bertinelli)

I'm going to be brief, because once you've reviewed one Mattel DC Universe Classics figure, you've reviewed them all. And I've reviewed dozens over the years.

Technically, this isn't a DC Universe Classics figure, but rather part of the "Signature Collection," which is just the name Mattel slapped onto the box when they moved the line from stores to their website. They have a few other lines in stores now, mainly focusing on Batman figures and characters from video games.

I generally try to stay away from Matty Collector. It's not so much the horror stories about Digital River (I've actually had good luck with my purchases) - it's the price. Sure, this is just $20, the same I'd pay at most toy stores, but that's before shipping. When all was said and done, I dropped more than thirty bucks getting this figure. Ouch.

The package is pretty standard for this line. The design is fine, though the art is a bit too fan-servicey for my tastes. 

The figure is pretty standard for the line. They've moved the leg articulation around - there's a cut just above the knee that's concealed by her costume, and the standard cuts on the upper leg and boot are gone. The belt also restricts her cut waist and legs a bit. For what it's worth, I got more range out of the neck joint than I expected.

The only accessory she comes with is a crossbow, which feels a little light at this price point. It doesn't even fit that well in her hand. I can work it into her grip, but it falls out with the slightest nudge. Plus, it seems like Mattel could have sprung for some paint. The purple is a decent color for the weapon, but I'd rather something more realistic looking.

I'd also have appreciated a stand - even the crappy ones Mattel made for DCUC (pictured above) - but they didn't see fit to include one.

I'm not crazy about the head sculpt. It's not awful, but I expect better. Compare this to some of the older sculpts and you'll see what I mean - this just doesn't hold up.

The outfit tooling is good, especially the detail work on the boots and gloves. The cape looks good, too.

Overall, this is a pretty mediocre figure. However, it's almost certainly the last Helena Bertinelli figure anyone will be making in the near future, seeing as the character has been retconned out of existence in the New 52.

Hopefully, Mattel will give us a decent Oracle someday, so we can assemble the Birds of Prey. I don't know how likely that is, but there's always hope.

Batman Classic TV Series: Batman & Robin

I guess Mattel realized that when you wait nearly fifty years to produce action figures for a show, expectations are going to be awfully high, and they'd better step up. Fortunately, they appear to be taking this property extremely seriously: the first set of Adam West Batman figures has been released, and I'm extremely pleased with how they came out.

First, let's take a minute to appreciate the packaging. These are packaged standing on their side, which shows Mattel trusted in the premise of this set - a gag likely lost on anyone not familiar with the show. In addition, they went out of their way to deliver some great box art.

Let's move on to the figures. The sculpt and paint are stellar for mass market. These definitely look like their onscreen counterparts.

I can't overstate how happy I am that Mattel didn't impose their normal hero bodies on these. Adam West and Burt Ward were in fine shape, but they weren't bodybuilders. These figures are realistic, and it's appreciated.

The figures sport fabric capes, which I have mixed feelings about. On one hand, they certainly seem more appropriate here than on more modern interpretations of the characters. In addition, there are wires embedded in the fabric, providing some extra articulation.

The wires are ostensibly present to allow the figures to pose upright with the capes extended behind them, but this doesn't quite work. There's a separate wire running down each side of the cape, which limits the posing (but of course looks better than the alternative).

You'll want to cut the tags off the fabric, obviously: they're extremely obtrusive.

Still, you can get some good flare effects, so it's not all bad. Nevertheless, I can't help but think this particular set would have been better with sculpted, outstretched capes.

Let's talk accessories. This set comes with Batman, Robin, the base, and a batarang. I'm not counting the "rope", since it's just made of paper. Odd they didn't include a piece of actual string or a sculpted version.

The base is a lot of fun. It recreates the famous wall scaling scenes from the show. In theory, it can be displayed hanging on a wall or on a flat surface, depending on whether you want it to look like it did on screen or when it was filmed. It's always great to see a decent sized base. In addition, the windows open: nice touch.

The problem with hanging it is that there's not enough holding the figures up. I was able to get them to remain in place for a few pictures, but I wouldn't expect them to remain that way indefinitely. You'll probably have to get creative with rope or wire if you want to display these vertically.

On the table's probably a better option, but you will run into issues getting the capes to look right. I think I prefer the figures better on their own, though the base is a great extra.

The batarang isn't much, though it's one of the better ones. It's made from relatively stiff plastic, it's a good shape and color (at least for this Batman), and it fits into Batman's hand. I'm a little irritated they didn't give us a second one for Robin, but I'll let that slide.

The figure's in scale with the Movie Masters line, in case you want to build a display where Christian Bale is beating up Adam West. That does mean he's quite a bit smaller than the 7 inch DC Universe Classics and related lines, but that actually seems right to me.

Finally, if you bought one of the Hotwheels 1:12th scale Batcycles a few years ago, now is the time to pull it out: it works great with West.

I picked up this set from Big Bad Toy Store for $33, plus shipping. That seems surprisingly reasonable for a starting price: I half expected these would be going for $40 or more.

I'm extremely happy with how this figure came out. It's great to finally have action figures from this show. I guess Mattel's designers agreed, since they put some effort into this set. I just hope the other figures in this line turn out as good.

"Real" Barbie

I saw this on a few news sites, and it caught my attention. The short version is that an artist, Nickolay Lamm, has made a prototype of what Barbie would look like with proportions matching an average woman's.

By and large, I'm generally a defender of Mattel's when it comes to Barbie's design (more on that in a minute), but that doesn't mean I don't love what Lamm's created here. His doll is awesome - I'd love to see this (or something like it) appear in toy stores. It'd be great to have a realistic option along with the more stylized Barbie.

In addition, as many will no doubt notice, the doll looks far more realistic in a bikini than her official counterpart. But therein lies the defense for Mattel's doll: Lamm's version wouldn't work as well in most other outfits.

Mattel takes a lot of heat for making Barbie in unrealistic proportions. It's important to keep in mind that the clothes Barbie wears are also in unrealistic proportions. Namely, the fabric is about six times thicker than what humans wear - it has to be, since it's generally real fabric tailored to fit a twelve inch figure.

If you want a fashion doll to look normal (or at least close to normal) in a flowing ball gown, you actually want to skew the doll's proportions and make her inhumanly skinny. If you put a 1:12 scale dress on Lamm's doll, it wouldn't look right (unless the dress was carefully tailored using extremely thin fabric, but that would introduce several issues in a production run).

Of course, Barbies aren't solely packaged wearing dresses: they're also produced wearing swimsuits like the ones above. In those cases, I think the above image makes it perfectly clear a realistic proportioned doll would result in a far better product. Speaking as a toy collector, I'd far rather have the one on the right standing on a shelve than Mattel's.

I understand that Mattel has a lot a factors to consider when designing dolls (including trying to maintain a small number of body molds to keep costs down), but there are a lot of people out there who boycott Barbies due to the body shape who might be interested in another option. In addition, there are quite a few collectors - young and old - who'd like some diversity in their collection.

I sincerely hope Mattel - or one of its competitors - takes a good long look at Lamm's mock-up. It's extremely cool, and I'd love to see something like it available for purchase.

DC Universe Classics: Captain Boomerang

Captain Boomerang is a fairly straightforward villain included in a very bizarre wave of DCUC figures. Overall, Wave 18 is defined by its assortment of figures from the 80's show, Superfriends. That series was a little before my time, to be honest, and while I find the concept amusing, I have a hard time sitting through episodes. So while I appreciate the much needed diversity this wave offers, I can't bring myself to drop twenty bucks a figure for a bunch of characters I have no attachment to. If they ever hit clearance, I might rethink that, but for the time being, this is the only character I was really interested in.

Captain Boomerang is the only figure from this wave who's a villain, not a hero. He's one of the Rogues, the team of criminals who are usually battling Flash. In addition, this is a modern version of the character, making him clash even more with other figures in this wave.

This is nice work. The sculpt is strong, and the paint is clean. Further, Mattel's included some "extra" joints: you get double-pins in the elbows and knees, in addition to all the other DCUC joints. Plus, the scarf's a loose piece, meaning it can face any way you want it to.

The accessories are a bit light. Other than the boomerang (which is required in this case), the only things you're getting are the head and crotch of Apache Chief, the Collect & Connect figure from this wave. Honestly, even if I were a bigger fan of the show, the head seems relatively weak.

I was expecting to be similarly underwhelmed by his boomerang - it's made of a very soft rubber - but I was pleasantly surprised. While it is flimsy, it works well in his hand and looks pretty nice.

I was surprised to find Captain Boomerang marked down to ten bucks at Forbidden Planet. For a relatively new figure, that's a good deal. Especially since he actually seems like the least obscure character from this wave (which is saying a lot, when you think about it).

Picture: Justice

Action League: Batman: The Brave and the Bold: Aquaman Vs. Black Manta

So, a while back I noticed that I owned every founding member of the Justice League in this scale except Aquaman. I knew there were two versions of the character Mattel's produced: the Brave and the Bold version from the early days of the line, and the newly released Flashpoint version. The Flashpoint one has a far superior sculpt and paint work. Unfortunately, he sort of looks like a Nazi general, since that's more or less what his character was. So I decided to keep my eyes open for the Brave and the Bold one.

I expected it to take longer than it did: I found this set in a convenience store near the Bronx Zoo. It was going for eight bucks, which is about what I'd expect to pay at retail these days, so I picked it up.

Aquaman is good, though I'm sure he'd be a lot better if they did him now. The skin tone is too orange for my tastes, and I'd like to see more detail or shading in the costume. Still, he's a decent figure, all things considered.

In some ways, Black Manta's the better figure. I like the head quite a bit. Granted, it's comically undersized given the style, but the style supposed to be comical so it all works out somehow.

The articulation here is the same as later waves: cut shoulders, waist, and neck. I'd like more, but that's life. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that Black Manta retains at least some of his neck articulation, despite those tubes on his helmet. It's limited, of course, but I'd half expected it to be stuck in place.

Mattel's made far better Action League figures, but ultimately I'm just happy I finally have the entire Justice League.

DC Universe Classics: Azrael Batman

The nineties were a strange time from comics. Actually, the 90's were a strange time, period, but their effect on superheroes is particularly relevant to this review. The decade was an extreme one, or at least it pretended to be so. In reality, the years were probably more melodramatic and angst-ridden than anything else, but, in hindsight, they're good for a few laughs.

In fact, this guy might be good for a lot of laughs. Yes, Azrael, the assassin turned crime-fighter who took on the mantle of Batman when Bruce Wayne was crippled by Bane: is there anyone more extreme?

Well, probably.

Mattel has made at least one version of Azrael previously, but I think this is their first Batman-Azrael (or Bazrael, for short).

Truth be told, I've never had much interest in this guy. He's ridiculous, absurd, and - well - stupid. But, looking back, he's also kind of fun. There was an unintentional campiness about him and his era that wasn't really evident at the time, but now it's impossible to miss.

Of course, it doesn't hurt that this is an absolutely fantastic action figure. The sculpt and paint work is top notch (though the legs are a bit bland). The added bits of armor, along with the utterly ridiculous number of spikes and pointy bits, add to the overall impression. Sure, Azrael's trying too hard, but you don't name yourself Azrael if you have a healthy sense of self.

I don't think I need many reminders of the 1990's (living through it was enough, thank you), but I'll happily take this one. That cape/wings/apple slicer on his back's a great example: what the hell is that supposed to be? What's it's purpose? And, frankly, who cares? It's a hell of a lot of fun.

Articulation is unusual this time. From the abs down, he's a normal DC Universe Classics (other than having double-pins on his knees, but even that's pretty common these days). But the top part of his body is a whole new game. His elbows and wrists are ball-jointed to take advantage of his gauntlets. His head's technically still a ball joint, but won't get much movement at all due to his suit.

The only accessory Bazrael comes with is one of Bane's legs. Jeeze, I know Bazrael got violent towards the end, but that's a little dark, isn't it?

I'm kicking myself, because I once passed this guy up for something like $12 or $13. I wound up paying twenty at a shop here in Queens and calling myself lucky: he's going for $40 and up online. In part, I bought him for the leg - I do want to finish Bane - but I'm also loving the figure. He's not a part of DC history I'm fond of, but I really dig the toy.

Robin, Revisited

I've been dishing out quite a bit of cash over the past year on new Robin figures. First, I bought the Young Justice version, which I reviewed here. Then, in order to complete Bane, I bought the Wave 16 Robin. In both cases, I bought the figures for their accessories.

The thing is, I actually did want another Robin to display: I've got a general DC shelf and a separate Batcave, and I wanted the Boy Wonder represented in each. But the Golden Age-costumed Robin, while having a good head sculpt, just didn't work for me: the outfit just didn't work with either display. The Young Justice Robin, on the other hand, had a great body but an awful head.

The solution, of course, was to swap their heads. I ran into a snag when I tried removing the head of the Wave 16 Robin. I should have immersed him in hot water first, but I skipped that step. As a result, the peg snapped, leaving half in the head and half in the body. Getting it out the body wasn't too hard: I just used a Leatherman to pry open the neck and yank it out. But if I wanted to use the head, that half had to come off as well. That required a Dremel and some assistance from my wife (while I could probably manage myself, she's far more experienced with the tool, and I don't want to take chances with something like this).

She drilled into Robin's head and removed what was left of the peg. In the process, she also wound up increasing the size of the hole. This turned out being quite a boon: Robin's head now functions like an actual ball-joint. There's a gap between the back of his neck and head now, but frankly it's worth it for the added articulation.

At some point, I should probably paint over his arms and neck: the flesh color doesn't quite match up. It's not really essential, though. If I ever want to go the other way and put the Young Justice head on the Wave 16 body, I'll definitely need to break out the paint: a darker face on a pale body works far better than the reverse.

I'm considering doing so, by the way. The Wave 16 Robin body was extremely cartoonish, and actually looks like it could work pretty well with that head. The fact the YJ head is oversized works, too: it actually seems to fit in with the larger Robin body. I'm in no hurry, though: this is the Robin I needed to pose.

Interestingly enough, this wound up similar to the Robin Mattel released back in Wave 3. I still prefer that one, by the way, but this is a close second.

DC Universe Classics: Big Barda

Wow - Wave 7. Where did the time go? We're on Wave 20 now. At any rate, I recently picked up Big Barda's husband, Mr. Miracle, and realized he was kind of boring on his own. So I ordered Barda, a former warrioress of Apokolips, now superheroine. I've actually come close to buying Barda numerous times in the past - I really like her outfit - but always hesitated due to price.

There are actually two versions of the character available: one with her helmet and one without. From a purely aesthetic standpoint, I like the other a little better. I went with this one mainly because she was cheaper. However, now that I have the figure in hand, I'm glad I went with this one. I'll explain why in a minute.

First, let's talk sculpt and paint. Overall, I think this figure looks fantastic. The scale armor is gorgeous, and the face looks good. I do think they could have done a little better on her helmet, however: say, by using metallic paint instead of primary yellow. In addition, there are gaps in her forearms around the cut joints, which is a bit disappointing.

Her articulation leaves a bit to be desired, due to her shorts and helmet, but that's to be expected. For accessories, she comes with a cosmic rod and one of Atom Smasher's arms. Not much, but I'm used to that. The accessory I'd have loved, of course, is the alternate head sculpt.

Now then. Let's discuss my real issue with this figure: scale. Look at the picture above: Barda's shorter than her husband. You know how her name's Big Barda? It's not supposed to be ironic.

Remember when I said I was glad I got the version with a helmet? It's because the other version would look even smaller.

I appreciate that this really comes down to money. Mattel doesn't have a slightly larger female body on hand, and they weren't about to invest the cash to create one. Consequently, Barda's the same size and shape as Wonder Woman, Supergirl, and every other woman they'd released. That's a shame, since her size is something of a defining character trait.

I know DC Direct also produced a version of the character and that theirs is more accurate in scale. But, despite this issue, I wanted the DC Universe Classics version. I like the articulation (even when limited) and the overall balance between toy and statue better.

Regardless of her faults, she's a cool figure. The outfit looks great, and she's a great addition to the DC shelf. Ultimately, now that I've got Orion, Mr. Miracle, and Big Barda, I'm pretty content with my collection of New Gods (at least as far as the good guys are concerned - I'd still love to have a Granny Goodness, but Mattel hasn't made one yet).