POP! Movies -- Beetlejuice

I’m no big fan of Tim Burton. Or perhaps more accurately, I’m no big fan of the cult that’s been spawned centred around his works. But with that caveat, I do like several of his movies – Beetlejuice perhaps most of all.

I watched plenty of the Beetlejuice animated series as a kid – and of course, recall virtually nothing about it – but I had never actually seen the film until about four years ago. For whatever reason I was up late and it came onto TV as the late night movie, so then was as good a time as any.  

It’s a weird and dark film, though its heavy German Expressionist influences are mostly played for comedy rather than “true” horror. It contains many of the elements that have since become Burton clichés, though they feel remarkably fresh here; crude but effective Claymation-inspired designs, black and white stripes, weird gothy characters and a fascination with the morbid. I can’t imagine Alec Baldwin or Geena Davis starring in anything like it now, though of course for Winona Ryder it would help set the tone for her subsequent career.

Now, for convenience’s sake I’m going to refer to the film as Beetlejuice and the character as “Betelgeuse” – accurate to the movie, but not always how we tend to refer to him in the common parlance.  

Betelgeuse is quite well-sculpted, though I don’t think the expression on the face quite captures the signature smirk he displays through much of the movie. He’s recognisably the character, but definitely has shades of the Joker in the too – which is fitting in its own way, given Tim Burton’s role in launching the Batman film franchise in 1989. Paint is okay by Funko’s standards at the time, but would be better if he was released today. Check the stripes on his suit, the eyes, the teeth and the hairline. Some slop is forgivable around the hairline given that kind of fungus thing he has going on all over his face and suit, but in the other areas it looks much more overt.    

Like Spikewho got reviewed yesterday, there is a Glow Chase version of Betelgeuse. His eyes are also painted with the swirly pattern that appears on the box. It’s a good look, but as with most of his Glow Chase contemporaries, he sells for considerably more than I would care to pay.  

Betelgeuse is a solid if not quite spectacular POP. Sadly, we’ve never received any of the supporting characters from Beetlejuice in POP form*. There was a Hot Topic exclusive of Betelgeuse in a different outfit last year, I can’t imagine that we’re going to see anyone else in a hurry. It’s a shame really, because the whole film is filled with freakish and memorable designs that seem made for POP format – and if nothing else, you would have thought Funko would pump out a Lydia Deetz. I can only assume it has to do with licensing costs; Tim Burton is a huge director these days, but Beetlejuice remains something of a cult film; it’s never generated a fraction of the merchandise that accompanied A Nightmare Before Christmas. The cost-to-profit ratio may simply be too high.      

*Though there have been a few Mystery Minis

POP! Movies – Michael Myers

Company: Funko

Series: POP! Movies

Year: 2011

Halloween is a truly seminal horror film, one of the great-grandaddies to the slasher films that glutted cinemas during the 1980s and continue to be influential to this day. Yet though the franchise’s star character Michael Myers (aka The Shape) has a huge following in horror fandom, he doesn’t seem to have entered the cultural zeitgeist in quite the same way as some of the character’s he’s helped spawn in his wake, like Freddy or Jason. John Carpenter seems to perpetually find himself in this situation, making highly influential cult classics that rarely get the financial or broader popular acclaim that they deserve (see also: The Thing, Big Trouble in Little China).

My own familiarity with the character is really limited to a handful of films – Halloween, Halloween II, Halloween H20, Halloween: Resurrection and the 2007 Rob Zombie remake. All of them had varying degrees of quality, but what distinguishes them from some of their contemporaries is their relatively naturalistic viewpoint. The early films never really explain why Michael Myers can take the punishment that’s dished out to him – he’s not an undead behemoth like Jason, and he’s not a supernatural ghost/demon/thing like Freddy. The world around him seems bereft of other supernatural elements; he just sort of is, and the relatively grounded tone of the (early) films make him all the more terrifying in that context. Of course, some of the sequels veered into stranger territory – but that is a topic for another day.  

But with his legacy, Michael Myers is an essential addition to any line of collectibles based on modern horror classics, so it’s not surprising that Funko chose to release him so early in their POP! Movies collection, right after the aforementioned Jason and Freddy. This guy has been on shelves for 5 years now, so how’s he looking these days?   

The control art on the box differs a little from the actual POP. On the art, the eyebrows are differently shaped, and the skin around the eyes is a flesh-tone, rather than the grey on the POP itself. It’s slightly cuter, but the way the POP has been executed (ba-doom tish!) is closer to how he looks in the film itself. Obviously some changes were made along the way (possibly by licensors) and the final product has benefited. Part of Michael Myers’ appeal is that his face is blank and emotionless; if they’d gone with the original art it would have given him a bit of a Chucky from Child’s Play vibe.

    

Fun fact: The mask was originally a William Shatner mask – it was painted white, had the eyeholes altered and the hair trimmed and teased up. Later iterations have made it a thing of its own, but that’s how it began back in the 1970s!

So the sculpt is good, but how about the paint? Well, this is a Funko product and it’s from the very early days of the POP line. I must concede it’s better than expected, but they definitely hadn’t sorted out their quality control in a few areas. Neither of Michael’s eyes is quite covered, the black on one of his boots spills onto the right pant leg and there is a noticeable black mark on his bloodied knife. It’s no Wonder Woman for shoddiness, but it’s a long way from The Creature from the Black Lagoon too. But I must note that the work done on the hair is surprisingly clean -- all the more impressive considering its early release date. 

Overall? Michael Myers won’t pop (ha!) on your shelf as much as some of the other horror icons Funko has released – his muted colour scheme means he’s more likely to blend into the shadows than to take front and centre. But this seems appropriate enough, and he’ll likely satisfy keen fans of the character. I would love to see them do a Dr. Loomis POP too, though it seems unlikely at this stage.     

Minifigure Week! Day 3: Fitness Instructor (series 5, 2011)

Minifigures are one of my favourite things about Lego – and series 12 is on the way (possibly even out in your country by the time you read this). So to celebrate this upcoming release, every day this week, we’ll be looking at a different minifigure from the series that have come before. This is by no means a comprehensive overview – nor even necessarily a look at my favourites – but it’s an example of some of the unusual figures the line has produced since it debuted back in 2010.  Today we look at the Fitness Instructor from Series 5, all the way back in 2011.

“Don’t fall down now! We’re just getting warmed up!”

The Fitness Instructor has devoted herself to one thing and one thing only: getting people in great shape! With the help of a boom-box full of energetic workout tunes and a wall full of degrees in aerobics, yoga and more, she leads fitness sessions and promotes good health wherever she goes.
With her endless energy and enthusiasm, the Fitness Instructor makes exercise look like so much fun that you just can’t resist joining in. But if you do, be prepared for the workout of a lifetime, because she’ll keep going and going long after everybody else is ready to drop from exhaustion!

 

-- LEGO.com biography

The 1980s. An era that gave us Reaganomics, some of the best music the world has ever seen, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, RoboCop – and Jane Fonda’s workout tapes.

 

Pic from Amazon.com

I’m sure I’m generalising a bit here, but it seems that in the late 1970s and early 1980s gyms were largely for Arnie-esque muscle men, and women didn’t really have anywhere they could go to work out. But the release of Jane Fonda’s workout tapes changed all that, helping innovate the “home exercise” movement, alongside other pioneers like Richard Simmons. As far as I can tell, this isn't such a big thing these days, but it was HUGE in the 1980s and 1990s. You couldn't turn on the TV without seeing an ad for some new piece of exercise equipment or VHS that would "strip the fat away", "get those abs toned" or "give you magical powers" (advertising laws weren't as strict back then, and we didn't have the internet to fact check). There was even a TV show called Aerobics Oz Style that ran for YEARS on Channel Ten over here, and I'm sure most readers had their own local equivalents too.   

How does this relate to today’s review? Well, any of the more 1980s-savvy you will probably have clicked by now -- though the Gym Instructor isn’t specifically Jane Fonda, I think it’s a fairly safe bet to say she was the central inspiration. And of course, one can only assume that Olivia Newton-John’s Physical music video (hilarious but borderline NSFW) had a role to play too.

Released in 2011 as part of series 5, the Gym Instructor is a bit of an oddity in a Lego theme that has produced a lot of unusual figures. She doesn’t really fit with any of the other characters – maybe the Weightlifter from series 2 – or any other Lego sets that I’ve ever seen. Maybe you could slot her in with some of the really pink and girly sets from the 1990s, but I think she'd look like an anachronism there too.  

The slightly bouffant hair, pink patterned leotard, lime headband, lime belt, lime legwarmers and bright blue tights are all 1980s gold. It doesn't seem to be specifically based on a particular costume, but this one looks about right. 

She comes with one accessory – a lavender boom box – which boosts the whole thing from “pretty cool” to absolute winner.  The main thing that could really improve the whole ensemble is a Richard Simmons analogue to make a truly 80s-tastic display. Or at least an out-of-shape student or two. 
 

I’m a big fan of this minifigure. She’s very 1980s and very tacky, which tends to be a winning combo in my book. I've been watching The Goldbergs a lot lately, which has only increased my appreciation, and which I highly recommend to any fellow 80s-philes out there.  

Also, I decided to include her because I remember how disappointed my friend Boon (of TheBoonArmies fame) was when he bought something like four Minifigure blind bags and got her in about three of them. I wouldn’t have been thrilled myself, but I do remember it annoying him a whole lot, and I hoped to rekindle some of that irritation :)

Minifigure Week! Day 2: Werewolf (Series 4, 2011)

Minifigures are one of my favourite things about Lego – and series 12 is on the way (possibly even out in your country by the time you read this). So to celebrate this upcoming release, every day this week, we’ll be looking at a different minifigure from the series that have come before. This is by no means a comprehensive overview – nor even necessarily a look at my favourites – but it’s an example of some of the unusual figures the line has produced since it debuted back in 2010. Today, we look at a figure from series 4 -- the Werewolf!

"Aroooo!"

Whenever the full moon rises high in the night sky, the Werewolf undergoes a startling transformation into a half-man, half-beast creature. Unable to control his primal instincts, he rampages across the countryside, terrifying all who encounter him!

...Okay, he actually just digs holes, buries chew toys in the yard, and romps around the park fetching sticks. It's all a little embarrassing for the Werewolf, so if you happen to see him running around in circles trying to catch his own tail, please try to act scared. It'll mean a lot to him. 

-- Lego.com biography

Even a man who is pure in heart
and says his prayers by night
may become a wolf when the wolfbane blooms
and the autumn moon is bright.

The Wolf Man, 1941

 

Werewolves. Shapeshifting creatures from folklore that have been around in one form or another (ha!) for thousands of years. My favourite mythical creatures -- which is probably not a huge surprise, given the name of the blog... 

Today's minifigure is clearly inspired by Lon Chaney Jr's depiction of the Wolf Man, but it takes a slightly more kid-friendly approach, glossing over the whole "gypsy's curse" and "murder" aspects of the character. Released as part of series 4, the Werewolf was a standout figure in a great line-up.

His face is one of the most detailed faces I've ever seen on a minifigure, though it's easy to miss due to the dark print on a dark surface -- he's got dark brown sideburns and eyebrows, white fangs with underbite, grey eye sockets, a black dog-like nose and yellow/orange eyes with white highlights.

Transforming from man to wolf man obviously takes its toll on your clothes -- his shirt's shredded (displaying his impressive abs) and the left sleeve is completely gone. His pants have taken a hit too.

"Someone should make a movie about this."

Last but not least, the Werewolf shares a hairpiece with Orlando Bloom the Elf from series 3, which gives him the distinct pointed ears necessary for the character. The ears have been picked out in a reddish-brown to better distinguish them from the hair. He's much more humanoid than the Werewolf from Monster Fighters, which I think actually works to his advantage. While I prefer the Dog Soldiers look on film, I think the Lon Chaney Jr vibe works better with the minifigure aesthetic on the whole.   

The Werewolf comes with one accessory*-- a bone. Going off the Lego bio, this is probably one of his toys, rather than a bone from a human victim. Your own mileage may vary, of course.  

The werewolf is a great addition to the collection -- essential for any Lego or werewolf fan. Incidentally, it's the full moon tonight in Sydney -- so Australian readers should beware of any on the prowl!

 

 

*He comes with the usual black base too, of course.

 

POP! Heroes – Martian Manhunter

 

Company: Funko

Series: Heroes

Year: 2011

RRP: $15.95

THE BACKGROUND

First appearing in “The Manhunter from Mars” in Detective Comics, all the way back in 1955, Martian Manhunter has gone on to become one of the better-known B-listers of the DC Universe. He was a founding member of the Justice League of America, and has gone on to be a member of most of its various incarnations. He pretty much has all of Superman’s powers, but can also shapeshift, turn intangible and has telepathy/telekinesis. The only real downside is that he’s vulnerable to fire -- but then again, pretty much any normal person is too. I'd say it's an okay trade off.

Though it changes from time to time, Martian Manhunter generally works by day as a policeman or PI, calling himself "John Jones", the earth equivalent of his Martian name, "J'onn J'onnz" (yes, it's silly, but it was the 1950s). Naturally, his superpowers give him quite the edge in tracking down criminals.

Martian Manhunter has never quite broken through to true mainstream popularity, he’s still got a cult following, and it’s always a pleasure to see him turn up in a title. Hopefully if/when the Justice League movie eventuates, we’ll see him appear in a prominent role.

THE POP

Martian Manhunter uses the basic POP! body, though it’s been slightly retooled to accommodate his chest harness and belts. Similarly, the forehead on his head has been retooled to approximate his distinctive brow, though it’s not quite as prominent as it is in the comics.

The picture on the back of his box depicts him in his 1950-1990s style – namely, just cape, trunks and boots. However, the actual POP! has depicted him in a more contemporary style, with full pants. This a look I tend to prefer myself – the old-school strongman/pro-wrestling look is not one that I’m a huge fan of, though I appreciate that it’s a product of its time.  Still, it’s a slightly odd choice, as it’s not really an iconic look for the character.

Martian Manhunter is actually the best-painted POP! I own. Most of him seems to be cast in blue, with his arms and chest painted in his distinctive bright green. There’s a bit of gold slop on the harness, but nothing to get too worked up about. This is even more impressive when you consider that this was originally released back in 2011, and Funko were not doing particularly great paint work at the time.  

OVERALL

In my collection, Martian Manhunter fulfils much the same role that he does in the comics. He’s not the most prominent member, and he probably doesn’t get as much attention as she should, but he’s good to have around nonetheless. Highly recommended to Martian Manhunter and JLA fans alike. I just hope that in the future we'll eventually get a more Martian-looking version, and a John Jones.

POP! Heroes – Wonder Woman

 

Company: Funko
Series: Heroes
Year: 2011
THE BACKGROUND

And so we come to the first female POP! of Funko Week – Wonder Woman.

Wonder Woman is one of my favourite superheroes. One of the first females to join what is still a very heavily male-dominated crowd, she’s been in the game for more than 70 years now, appearing in her own title and serving as one of the early members of the Justice Society and a founding member of the Justice League of America.

Yet despite having some good runs (e.g. Lynda Carter in the 70s TV show, George Perez in the 1980s comics) she’s often been poorly handled by creators who aren’t quite sure what to do with her. One case in point was her 2006 relaunch, which regularly had issues delayed, a revolving door of writers and artists and dull stories that tested the brand loyalty of the fans (myself included). The only consistently good thing was the covers.   

Still, the New 52 seems to be writing some of these wrongs and the upcoming Superman vs Batman: Dawn of Justice looks to be featuring her prominently, with Gal Gadot in the role. Hopefully the future holds good things for her – but now, onto the POP!

THE POP

Wonder Woman wears her best-known outfit of red bustier, blue trunks and red boots, complete with tiara and bullet-deflecting gauntlets. It's a classic look, that could fit just about any era between the 1960s and now, though at a guess it's based on the standard Jose Luis Garcia-Lopes or George Perez depiction of her.

She uses the basic female body, which is okay, but I don’t think it looks quite feminine enough. I commented earlier this week that a lot of the early POP!s used the same basic body – and the female one kind of looks like it’s just been retooled from the male body, with minor variation. The arms are fine, but the legs seem a little off.

In her right hand, she clutches her signature weapon, the Lasso of Truth. While she whips out a sword from time to time, the Lasso is easily her best-known accessory and it would have been remiss of Funko not to include it in some form. If they ever decide to do a variant, she should have her throwable tiara off and held in her other hand.

Wonder Woman was one of Funko’s earlier POP!s, so her paint is on the questionable side. I picked her up last year at Supanova, and while I looked for a good one in among the pile they had, I don’t recall seeing any that were better. The tiara is sloppy, the earrings  have bleed and there's just lots of rough edges around the whole thing. It's disappointing, but pretty typical of the older POP!s – they're not at A-grade level these days, but they have definitely improved.

AVAILABILITY

This same sculpt of Wonder Woman has since been re-released in her New 52 outfit, which is similar but different. The reds and blues are darker, the yellow areas are now rendered in silver, and she’s got fewer stars on her trunks. I like what I’ve read of her characterisation in the New 52 (namely, a few issues of Justice League), but I don’t love the changes to the outfit. While it looks okay on the page, it doesn’t translate well to POP! form; the colours are too muted on what is an inherently brightly coloured and cutesy toy. Both versions are reasonably easy to track down though, so you should be free to take your pick.

OVERALL

While I’m happy with the broad strokes of the figures, the paint issues made her ultimately disappointing. I’d like to see this figure get a re-release with better paint, but in the meantime she’s still an essential part of the Funko Justice League – and most of her compatriots are in a similar (paint) boat.  

What’s more disappointing is that there have been very few females released as part of the Funko Heroes or Marvel lines. Raven and Starfire from the Teen Titans cartoon have both been released, as have Harley Quinn and a couple of variations of Catwoman. Marvel has had Jean Grey, Black Widow and Gamora, but that’s been about it.

Both Marvel and DC have a lot of cool female characters that would be likely to sell, so it’s disappointing that they’re being overlooked in favour of numerous re-releases of Batman, Spider-Man, Iron Man and Captain America. Even Hulk has had two or three figures by now!  These are all cool characters and I understand that they are big drawcards for more casual fans of the lines, but it’s time to go deeper.

Lego Review -- Rise of the Sphinx (7326)

Pieces: 527

Build Time: 1 ½ hours

Year: 2011

Theme: Pharaoh’s Quest

RRP: See “Availability”

THE BACKGROUND

I love Ancient Egypt, and Ancient Egyptian religion has always particularly fascinated me. Their curious animal-headed gods and the myths that surrounded them were particularly intriguing to me, as someone who had been raised (and still identifies) as a Christian. But in the 20+ years that I have been reading about Ancient Egypt, none have fascinated me more than Anubis. Jackal-headed, he appealed to my early fascination with dogs. Osiris and Horus may have been more prominent in the popular Egyptian pantheon, but for me it was all about Anubis.

Though there is very little mythological material surrounding Anubis, he was a very important deity, particularly in the New Kingdom era. The Egyptians of the New Kingdom believed that the path to the afterlife was guarded by various threats and hazards, and thus undertook all sorts of protective measures – usually in the form of spells, many found in the Book of the Dead, to protect themselves as they made this journey.

After the deceased had made their way through the various challenges, they would encounter one final test – the weighing of the heart, overseen by Anubis. The heart would be weighed against maat, here represented by a feather. My (limited) understanding of maat seems to be that it was some kind of universal order, and things could be either in or out of harmony with maat. We don’t really have a direct modern counterpart in other world religions that I’m aware of, but perhaps we might be able to draw an analogy with the concept of karma – namely, good deeds will be rewarded, bad deeds have consequences.  

If the heart balanced with the feather, the deceased was judged worthy to enter the afterlife. But if the heart was heavier than the feather, it would be devoured by Ammit, seen here as the crocodile-headed beast lurking beneath the scales. Ammit almost looks cute by modern standards, but she was terrifying to the Egyptians. To have your heart consumed by her was a “second death” – total obliteration of the soul, to my understanding, and the ultimate horror which seemed to exist in Egyptian metaphysics. So on this basis alone, Anubis would have a fairly vital role in Egyptian religion.

Additionally, Anubis was seen as important to the mummification process – to the extent that one of the priests overseeing the mummification process would dress as Anubis, presumably noting important details and reciting prayers and/or spells to ensure the safe passage of the deceased.

Were we to give Anubis a DnD-style alignment, we would probably call him “lawful good”. What relevance does this have to today’s review? Well, despite his reasonably benevolent presence in the pantheon, more modern takes on Egyptian mythology tend to paint Anubis as a villain – understandable, given his association with death, if inaccurate. This particular Lego set follows that mould, casting him as a sphinx and – judging by the context of the set – an evil one who springs to life when certain ancient artefacts are disturbed.

THE MINIFIGURES

This set comes with three minifigures – Jake Raines and two Mummy Warriors.

Jake Raines is okay, but suffers from the same problem that plagues most of the Monster Fighters human characters – and indeed, most human characters in any sort of monster/horror movie. Namely, he’s just not that engaging. He does come with a few accessories though, most of which have slots on the car for you to stick them in – a pick (for archaeological digging), a bundle of dynamite (for old-school archaeological digging) and a shotgun (for blasting the undead back to their graves).

The Mummies are identical, with printing on both sides of their head. One side depicts a face with two unwrapped eyes, while the other shows only one unwrapped eye. You can use them to differentiate the two if you want, but I was happy enough with them looking the same. Additionally, they come with two weapons – a spear and a scimitar. How you divvy them up is of course your choice.

I do kind of prefer the minifigure Mummy from series 3 of the minifigures range. White wrappings and green skin just worked a little better for me, personally. Nonetheless, they’re cool troopbuilders, and they do look like they’d present a genuinely menacing threat to Jake Raines and his companions.

THE BUILD

The set consists of three main elements. The first is the car. It’s a 1930s-style jalopy with a bit of hot rod thrown in, looking straight off the set of an Indiana Jones movie. I’m no real car fan, but it fits the pulp adventure style well and also wouldn’t look out of place with the Monster Fighters theme.

  

The second is the "temple" itself. This is the resting place of the golden sword, one of the artefacts which will apparently resurrect the long-dead Pharaoh if it falls into the wrong hands. This being an adventure-based set, I think it’s fairly safe to say that in most cases, it will fall into the wrong hands and the evil Pharaoh will return – but good will eventually triumph over evil. As a side note, the golden scimitar is identical to the regular one for the Mummy warrior, save its casting colour.  

The action feature of this section is kind of cool, though fairly unnecessary to me, personally. Pushing on a lever, the section of wall between Anubis’ front legs pops out, simulating the explosion of dynamite – you’ll see there’s even a little clip in there to click Jake Raines’ bundle of it in. The “explosion” then thrust the sword forth, revealing the ancient artefact to the world – now it’s up to you to decide whether the Mummy soldiers are successful in defending it.

 

Here is where the third element comes in – once the sealed chamber has been broken open and the golden sword revealed, Sphinx-Anubis can lurch to life, raising his legs up off the ancient podium it has sat atop for untold millennia, ready to wreck destruction on all whoever has disturbed him.

Sphinx-Anubis has a reasonable amount of articulation – his knees and ankles have ratcheted joints, and his hips all have swivel hinges. Additionally, his jaw can be opened and closed. I like to go for closed while dormant, open as he springs to life.

All of the hieroglyphics that dot the set are applied as stickers. I have mixed feelings about this; I tend to prefer printed bricks when possible, but I can also appreciate that people who build “outside the set” may have had their use from these bricks subsequently reduced. Fortunately I managed to align them all more or less correctly, a rarity for my often clumsy hands.   

AVAILABILITY

This set is a few years old now, so your chances of finding it at retail are pretty slim. Finding it on the aftermarket shouldn’t be too problematic, but be prepared to pay through the nose. I found this set in a Barnes and Noble while visiting Hawaii a few weeks ago, for $USD50 – which seems about right (though I don’t think throwing in an extra minifigure would have hurt). However, I seem to recall it being far more expensive in Australia, which probably put me off at the time. The B & N I visited had one more of this set left when I bought it, but whether it will still be there now is pretty uncertain.

OVERALL

Despite my love of Ancient Egypt, I wasn’t too impressed with the Pharaoh’s Quest theme when I first came across it. I was also buying the second series of Atlantis at the time, and with my limited resources I couldn’t afford to be split between the two. However, the benefit of hindsight has revealed that there were a couple of cool sets in the range – particularly this one and the Scorpion Pyramid (7327), which was the big set of the theme.  

Wildly historically inaccurate, the Sphinx is nonetheless a fun set which fits well into an Indiana Jones-style pulp adventure setting, which is exactly what I hoped for. Purists will decry the exclusion of a more historically accurate version – and it would be nice to get one in future – but whether it would offer the same sort of play value is questionable. For the time being, I have a giant Lego Sphinx-Anubis, and that makes me very happy…and I’ve enjoyed it enough to also buy the Scorpion Pyramid!

  

DC Universe Action League -- Batman and Deathstroke

Company: Mattel
Year: 2011
Price: See below

THE BACKGROUND

The Marvel Superhero Squad style figurines have definitely been influential. They spawned an imitation line of Star Wars figures, and now Mattel and DC have gotten in on the act. I found these bad boys in a Reject Shop near my work. I suspect I missed their initial shipment, as there were only a tiny handful left – unfortunately, the Superman and Wonder Woman 2-pack was missing, if it had ever been there at all. Perhaps even more disapppointingly, no Superman and Bizarro 2-pack! Never mind; but eBay may turn up a bargain yet.

THE PACKAGING

I don’t often comment on packaging anymore, as I am a chucker. But I thought I’d mention these ones, as they are clearly done in homage to the DC Classics Universe – a series I always wanted to buy from, but could never find the characters I wanted. The colouring and blister style is very similar, and the box is also decorated with lots of illustrations of various DC characters – but this time in the Action League style. It’s a nice example of brand consistency.  

SCULPT AND ARTICULATION

The style for these guys is like a shrunken version of the Batman: The Brave and the Bold cartoon, super-cartoony with large exaggerated hands. It’s a cool, dynamic look which gives the figures a lot of personality even before you start moving their arms around to get them into different poses.

Both figures in the set are built around the same basic body shape, but they each have their own individual touches. I’ll talk about each of them individually below.

The first time I saw Deathstroke was in a reprint of a 1980s Teen Titans comic, from the George Perez run on the series – I think it was the Judas Contract storyline where the original Terra revealed herself as a traitor. I wasn’t immediately impressed with the character. But over the years, I’ve grown to appreciate him a bit more – and he was one of the better parts of last year’s Arkham Origins.

This Deathstroke is modelled after his “classic” appearance – blue chainmail and flared orange boots. In one hand he wields a massive sword, with the other bunched into a fist. He's also got his staff stuck to his back, which is a nice touch.

 

 

Batman’s suit is very much like his outfit in the 1989 Tim Burton film, which I still think is one of the best versions of the Batsuit that’s been done. All black, large yellow oval Bat-logo on his chest. He’s got a very lantern-jawed look, serious and determined. He’ s a great little figure and I would have picked this set up on his merits alone. In his left hand he wields a metallic grey Batarang, while his right is bunched into a fist. Batman’s cape is also made out of the same hard plastic as the rest of the figure, moulded into a dynamic pose.

The articulation is pretty basic on these, as might be expected – cut necks, cut shoulders* and a cut waist. It’s more or less what I expected, and does the job just fine.

 

*Batman has swivel-hinged shoulders, whereas Deathstroke simply has cut ones. 

PAINT

Some slop would definitely be forgiven as the figures are obviously quite small. However, the paint is mostly quite crisp and clean, with very few issues. It’s a little thick around Batman’s mouth area, obscuring the (admittedly limited) detail.

ACCESSORIES

Some of the more recent sets of these guys apparently include accessories such as stands, but these early ones don’t – unless you count the weapons moulded to their hands.

AVAILABILITY

As mentioned above, I picked these guys up in a local Reject Shop. The 2-pack was $5, but I don’t know how close this was to their original price or how widely they’ve been distributed (sending friends from the Central Coast looking has proven fruitless). For my overseas readers, The Reject Shop is kind of like a factory seconds shop or dollar store – a lot of discontinued or off-season toys find their way there.

The Action League line seems to have finished in 2012 or maybe 2013, but still seems to be readily available online, though (naturally) at a premium. Maybe one of my American readers could shed a little more light on this in the comments section?

OVERALL

I’ve heard other reviewers talk about “hand candy” – toys that are just a whole lot of fun to play with. The DC Action League definitely falls into this category. Though they’re quite derivative of the Superhero Squad toys, these are cool, fun and stylish little toys. Given the opportunity, I’d quite happily assemble my own little Justice League out of these guys, with a few key villains. I don’t see myself getting obsessively completist about the Action League, but if I come across any more anytime soon, I’ll probably grab them – the day after I bought these, I picked up a Green Lantern (Hal Jordan) and White Lantern Sinestro set.