Legion of Collectors: Batman Vs Superman Box

Sorry for the big gap between posts guys! The LBC is actually in America at the moment, taking a much-needed holiday and visiting some family. So this post actually comes to you live from Texas!

Subscription boxes are a huge, huge deal in the collecting world these days. If you have a niche interest, the odds are strong you can find a distributor out there who’s created a subscription box to cater to your interest. But this wide availability comes at a price; namely, that not all collector’s boxes are created equal. Marvel has had a consistent run with its Funko Collector Corps box sets (I still regret not ordering that first Hulkbuster box), but other suppliers like Loot Crate, My Geek Box and Nerd Block tend to vary wildly from one month to another. Legion of Collectors marks DC’s first foray into the subscription box marketplace, though they’ve previously provided exclusive items for other providers. Expectations are high, given Funko’s involvement – and the inevitable comparisons to more established players, especially the Marvel Collector Corps boxes. Timed to coincide with the release of Batman Vs Superman: Dawn of Justice, this theme may be as much a hindrance as a help to the future success of the subscription. Though it has been impressively successful at the box office, it hasn’t quite made what was anticipated, and critical response has been nothing short of devastating. Though I quite enjoyed the film, it was far from perfect and it’s done nothing to shrug the perception of DC being Marvel’s poor cousin.  

But that notwithstanding, let’s take a look at the product on its own merits. I’m a little late to the party with this review; the second box is due out in the next week or so. Why the delay? Well, currently the subscription doesn’t ship to Australia. However, I have some American contacts who have been kind enough to help me get my hands on it – so let’s open the box and see what’s inside!  

Wonder Woman Embroidered Patch

The logo style is Batman Vs Superman, but the colouring is very comics/1970s-TV show based. This is a nice touch; respecting the past while paying tribute to the future etc etc. I may use it at some point…I have always wanted a patch jacket, but I’m not sure how well WW will sit next to the likes of Immortal or Bathory.

Superman Enamel Pin

It’s Henry Cavill, rendered in a black and white pseudo-Art Deco style! This is a nice nod to Superman’s 1930s origins – like the Wonder Woman patch, honouring the past while paying tribute to the future. I like the simplicity of the design, but I have never really been a pins guy. That being said, I think an opportunity to have a more explicitly “Funko” design was missed here.  

Batman Vs Superman t-shirt

This shirt takes some 1970s-era Batman and Superman art (it kind of looks like Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez's work, but I don’t think it is) and turns it into a retro luchador poster – complete with Spanish writing. It’s a neat concept, but as someone who tends to dress more like the first pic on this page, the light blue colour doesn’t really fit in with the rest of my A E S T H E T I C. No matter; I’m sure it will find a good home whether via eBay or among my circle of friends. If it had been black print on a white shirt, I definitely would have worn it though.  

Kryptonite Superman and Underwater Aquaman Dorbz set

I dunno…I just can’t get on board with the style that Funko is using for Dorbz. I said the same thing about the POP! look a few years ago, and look where that got me, but this time I think I’m sticking with that opinion. That said, if you’re collecting Dorbz, this is a great exclusive set for you. Superman is rendered green, presumably by Kryptonite poisoning. This does make his smiling expression a little odd but perhaps he is opting to embrace his death, in a truly nihilistic inversion of the traditional Superman mythos. Aquaman is a little cheerier, mimicking the underwater look of the Hot Topic exclusive Aquaman POP. The paintwork and sculpt is nice, just not to my taste.  

Batman/Superman # 5

I buy a few select comics, but generally only miniseries these days. Comic-collecting gets out of hand too quickly. This variant cover’s inclusion here is a good bonus for those who are more casual comic readers, but it’s kind of neither here nor there for me personally. It's an older issue from 2013. Nice cover art though!     

Armored Batman POP!

This was the only item confirmed prior to the box’s release, and the hook that convinced me to subscribe. Based on the Batman’s distinctive armour in the new film – which in turn was based on the armour Batman wears when fighting Superman in the seminal comic The Dark Knight Returns – it’s far and away the best item in the box. My only disappointment is that it is such a crucial part of the film, and such a cool POP in and of itself, that it’s a shame it’s been restricted to subscribers. Who knows, maybe some kind of paint variant will eventually find its way out there…though I’m still waiting with that Hulkbuster…   

Funko has obviously been spending some time adjusting the quality of their paint apps for this box. They’re infamous for their average paintwork, but if their usual standards had been applied on this occasion, it could have been a total disaster for the company. While the Legion of Collectors website devotes a good chunk of space to defining what is and isn’t considered “damaged” across packaging and paint, it’s a relief to see that the product appears to have been executed with a higher than usual standard.     

Overall

I probably don’t sound very enthused about the box based on the individual item breakdowns, but taken as a collective whole I think it’s a very solid – if not outstanding – debut from the Legion of Collectors. The Armored Batman POP is already reselling for more than I paid for the box itself, so while I have no interest in scalping I think it’s already proven itself to be value for money. The test will be whether the box can maintain – or even better, improve – on its exclusives with future boxes. The date to sign up for the next box (which is DC TV themed) draws close, so it won’t be long till we find out! 

DC Universe Action League – Superman, Wonder Woman and Bizarro

Company: Mattel

Year: 2011

Price: See below

BACKGROUND

A short time ago, I purchased some of the DC Universe Action League figurines from my local Reject Shop. Of course, I wanted to collect more of them, but I didn’t have much luck tracking down any more of them near my home or workplace, so I sent family and friends scavenging around to see if they could find any.

Ultimately it was my dad who found some – four packs different packs, in fact, covering an interesting range of characters. Most of them should end up on here at some point. This is actually a review of two different 2-packs – Superman vs Bizarro and Superman & Wonder Woman. However, the Superman in both packs is absolutely identical, so I’ve amalgamated the two reviews together. 

SCULPT AND ARTICULATION

The style for these guys is like a shrunken, super-deformed 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.

Superman is in a nice classic flying pose. You can twiddle his arms around to do a few different flying looks, but because of the positioning of his legs and cape, he’s always going to look like he’s flying. This is not really a problem, but I think it’s a bit of a shame that we didn’t get two different Supermen in the two packs. Batman has been replicated multiple times, but at least he gets a new paint job. It’s a missed opportunity to give us something like mullet Superman, Red/Blue Superman or even just a different pose for “Classic” Superman. 

Superman has four points of articulation – his shoulders, his neck and his wait. His neck is a very tight joint though, so I didn’t try and wriggle it round too much.  

Though it would have been easy for Mattel to simply reuse Superman’s sculpt, give it a new head and call it Bizarro, they took a different option. Bizarro is a completely separate sculpt, seemingly a bit larger than his original counterpart. His costume is purple, complete with reversed chest shield. He’s a very cool figure, and has become one of my favourites in the line, even though I tend to be pretty blasé about his appearances in the comics.

Bizarro has four points of articulation – his shoulders, his neck and his waist.  

Wonder Woman is a completely separate sculpt. The only other female in this range that I know of is Metamorpha, aka the Element Woman -- no Black Canary, Zatanna, Supergirl or Power Girl, apparently. The two don’t look they’ve been retooled from one another, which is good to see. Wonder Woman is posed in a classic sort of action stance, as though she's about to deflect bullets from her bracelets.  

Wonder Woman has three points of articulation – her neck, and her two arms. However, the dynamic pose of the hair means that her neck is quite restricted in its movement.

ACCESSORIES

Superman includes a transparent flight stand, so that he doesn’t fall over. Bizarro has a large piece of green rock which I assume is Kryptonite. Wonder Woman doesn’t come with anything, though her signature lasso is moulded to her waist.

PAINT

There’s a little bit of slop on these guys – Bizarro’s teeth being one of the areas I noticed it most – but nothing unforgiveable. The shields on Superman and Bizarro’s chests are also clean tampos.  Disappointingly, neither of them has the shield tampoed onto their capes  though.

Curiously, these unmasked characters have eye sockets sculpted, but no white painted in there. The effect is probably most noticeable on Wonder Woman, who also has eyelashes for a more feminine appearance. This wasn’t noticeable on masked characters, and while it’s not a major drama, I don’t know if it was the right design choice. Maybe a project for me to experiment with sometime. We’ll see.

AVAILABILITY

After finding a couple of these guys in a local Reject Shop, the next batch I found was on the Central Coast, courtesy of my dad. 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 2-packs are $5, but I don’t know how close this was to their original price or how widely they’ve been distributed – a lot of places seem to have sold out quite rapidly. I don’t think you’d have an easy time tracking them down now. eBay is always an option, of course, if not necessarily a cheap one.  

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?

These were bought several months ago, so I don’t rate your chances of getting them too highly these days.

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 obviously quite derivative of the Superhero Squad toys, these are cool, fun and stylish little toys. I’ve now got a miniature Justice League going, as well as a few villains. The Flash would be nice, as would Martian Manhunter, but if I don’t find any more of these guys I’d still be quite happy with my collection.


The Lupine Book Club is now on Facebook! Just click here

DC Universe Classics: POWER STRUGGLE 2-pack -- SUPERMAN VS PARASITE (Part 2 of 2)

LINE: DC Universe Classics

YEAR: 2010

COMPANY: Mattel

THE BACKGROUND

In my review of the other figure in this set, Superman, I explain in more detail how I ended up buying this 2-pack, so I won’t repeat them here. Suffice to say, I bought it for Supes and Parasite was a nice bonus.

Parasite is a villain I’m not terribly familiar with, beyond his appearance in Kingdom Come. Even there he’s not around for long, but his actions have some pretty serious repercussions for the rest of the story. However, Wikipedia tells me that Parasite has been plaguing Superman since the 1960s, and there have been a few different Parasites over the years. This particular figure, as you might guess from its 1990s/2000s stylings, is based on one of the more modern incarnations.

Parasite is dangerous because he can absorb energy from people – including superheroes – and use it as his own. While pretty handy in and of itself, it’s since been expanded on to include abilities like shapeshifting, absorbing memories from victims and other related paraphernalia. For a while he even posed as Lois Lane, and learned Superman's identity was Clark Kent.  

While normal people tend to die when Parasite drains their life force, Superman is turned into a regular, powerless human. The effects are temporary, but it means Parasite now has the powers of one of Earth's most powerful heroes -- you can see how that might be a problem.

SCULPT AND ARTICULATION

This figure was originally released as part of the DC Superheroes line, a precursor line to DC Universe Classics. Like a few other DCSH figures, it got re-released as part of a multi-pack. The reasons for this are likely two-fold – one, to allow people that missed DCSH to get a Parasite, and two, to get some more use out of his moulds. I daresay there was an awful lot of unique (and therefore expensive) tooling that went into Parasite – about the only thing that looks reused from other figures is his crotch piece and possibly the “T” sections of his hips.   

Given that he was designed by the legendary Four Horsemen, it was pretty much a given that Parasite was going to have a fantastic sculpt. OAFE’s review specifically points to Ed McGuinness’ art as the jumping-off point, and I don’t know enough about the character to disagree. But it certainly makes sense; when this figure was first released c. 2006, McGuinness’ artwork was quite prominent, in part thanks to his work on the Superman/Batman series that was out at the time (which is well worth a read, I might add. It struck a good balance between the more serious and camp elements of both characters).

However, while McGuinness’ work is quite cool, it’s also quite cartoony. Some of that has been smoothed out in the transition to action figure form, making something that’s inherently silly (a purple monster in a white leotard) and giving it a convincing real-world look, while not losing its comic-y qualities. This is something that has been seen a lot in the Four Horsemen’s Masters of the Universe Classics -- a series I certainly can't afford to collect, but can certainly admire from afar.

His face reminds me of Flukeman from The X-Files, though Parasite is a bit toothier. Flukeman was also a parasitical creature, so this may not be accidental. Other touches have been added to increase his inhuman appearance too -- obviously there's the inhumanly muscular physique, but there's also his three-fingered, grasping hands, and his Ninja Turtles-looking feet. Then there's all the little notches carved all over his body -- these seem to be muscle detailing, but could just as easily be scars. There's some great attention to detail on this figure -- I love it!

Parasite's "correct" pose is slightly hunched over via the ab crunch and bent knees; stand him straight up and his head is looking directly to the sky. The only real downside about this is that it makes him a lot shorter than Superman -- I'm not sure whether this is comic accurate, but it does kind of feel like he should be bigger than Supes.

Articulation is more or less standard for the DCUC line, but it has been slightly modified due to his monstrous physique.

*cut neck

*ball-jointed shoulders

*swivel biceps

*hinged elbows

*cut wrists

*ab crunch

*cut waist

*t-hinged hips

*cut thighs

*hinged knees

*rocker ankles

His shoulders are a little loose, but not so much that they won't hold poses. Additionally, be careful when you're moving them around. I'm not sure if it happened in-box or after I'd opened it, but I noticed that a small chunk of plastic on the shoulder had actually been gouged out, presumably by the shoulder socket and the shoulder ball meeting at an angle they weren't meant to. You can make it out in this pic.

ACCESSORIES

Parasite (and the two-pack as a whole) comes with no accessories, but I don’t think he’s known for any in particular.

PAINT

Parasite is cast in purple plastic, with the appropriate details coloured in as necessary. They’re all very clean, with little to no slop. His eyes are yellow, and his teeth are actually painted with two different colours. The back row looks to be orange and yellow, with white on the top row -- then the whole thing's been given a glossy finish, as have his lips. It looks great!     

There’s also lots of black shadowing. For the most part this is well-done, and makes what could have been a purple lump of plastic look much less “toy-ish” than it otherwise might. There are a few areas where it’s a bit uneven, but no major issues. 

His white harness-style outfit has a couple of chips in the paint, and overall I think it has the problem that most white-over-dark-colour paints have – the brushstrokes show and as a result the colour isn’t quite flat and even. This is accentuated by there apparently being a black wash over the top in certain places too. But though it doesn’t exactly match with the box art, I still think it works for the most part. Having it all perfectly painted stark white would probably look a little odd in contrast to the more “realistic” paint detail that’s on him elsewhere.

OVERALL

The main issue I have with this set is that the two figures don’t gel with one another terribly well. Obviously the characters have a long history together, but there are some clear stylistic differences. The Superman in this set is elegant in his simplicity; the toy evokes the image of what most people think of when you say the word "Superman", irrespective of the era you originally knew him from.   
Parasite, by contrast, is covered in lots of little details which look awesome but also make him look like he’s from a completely different toyline. Add in the drastic difference in height and things are definitely accentuated. But I think a better pairing would have been 1990s long-haired Superman, as long as the Big Blue Boy Scout was painted with some heavier shadows.

But this doesn’t change that Parasite is a great figure on his own. Though the 1990s-esque vibe will switch some off and of course date it to a particular era, but it’s just a whole lot of fun, and a great monster toy in its own right. As something that I expected to get as an extra with Superman and simply sell on eBay, I’ve been thrilled with the outcome. The two figures in the Power Struggle 2-pack come highly recommended – maybe just not together.

 

DC Universe Classics: POWER STRUGGLE 2-pack -- SUPERMAN VS PARASITE (Part 1 of 2)

Pic from Amazon.com

LINE: DC Universe Classics
YEAR: 2010

COMPANY: Mattel

Earlier this year, Mattel announced that it was re-releasing several of its DC figures in Super Powers- themed colours and packaging – a tribute to Kenner’s seminal 1980s toyline.  Though I didn’t have the Super Powers line as a kid, the announcement pushed my nostalgia button firmly – especially with the Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez-inspired artwork! If it looks familiar, that’s not surprising – DC is currently using his work on quite a lot of merchandise.
I wasn’t interested in the Riddler, Gold Superman, Mr Mxyzptlk or the Collect-and-Connect Kalibak, but the core trio of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman rapidly became must-have items. It’s not hard to find figures of these core three, but it’s hard to find three that look cohesive together – well, ones that aren’t based on the New 52, anyway. But as the release date started to grow closer approach I began to wonder whether I could justify the not inconsiderable price tag.

“Hmm…the packaging does look nice, but it’s going in the bin anyway…this kind of blue Batman isn’t really my favourite style of Batman…Wonder Woman isn’t going to include her axe and shield…”

Deliberations such as these went on for a few weeks, but I eventually decided I’d be better off looking up earlier releases of these figures, and comparing costs. If older versions were cheaper, I’d go with them instead. Superman was surprisingly easy to find, and this 2-pack was the most cost-effective method for getting him – and as far as I can see, this is identical to the figure that’s been re-released for the Super Powers tribute, bar the colouring. And he came with Parasite, too – SCORE!

SCULPT AND ARTICULATION

If I am not very much mistaken, I don’t think there was ever really a proper “Classic” Superman in the main series of DCUC. Not long before the debut of DCUC, Mattel had done a series called DC Superheroes, a line that focused almost exclusively on Superman, Batman and their respective allies and rogue’s galleries. For the most part, the two lines gel with one another, and have a similar aesthetic. But part of what killed that initial line was endless variations of Superman and Batman – they’re both awesome characters, but most people are not interested in owning 32903750923 different versions of them.

Hence, when DCUC came around, there was no Superman until wave 6 – and that was 1990s Superman, complete with long hair. It was a cool look, but it instantly marked it out as a Superman of a specific era. So a more “iconic” Superman never got a release in the main line, but there were a couple that showed up in a related 2-pack and 5-pack – and then there was this one, cobbled together from the existing “large male” DCUC body and the Eradicator’s head.
The DCUC line tended to try and replicate how a character looked on the page, rather than worrying too much about “realism”. That yielded some mixed results from time to time – some costumes work better in print than in 3D – but it’s the right call on this occasion. Superman has always been a big guy, and this figure maintains an appropriately exaggerated physique.

Somewhat curiously, he’s been sculpted without a smile. Without it, it’s actually a bit difficult to tell which artist’s work this is based on – there’s arguably a little of Jose Luis Garcia Lopes in there, but that still doesn’t seem quite right. In fact, the head is a little on the odd side in general. Front on, it looks great – maybe a little too thin at the sides, but definitely workable. From an angle, it tends to look a bit odd as the face is actually quite flat. This isn’t restricted to this figure – Wonder Woman has the same thing, and looking at one of the recent Masters of the Universe Classics toys, I noticed the same thing there too. So presumably it’s a Mattel house style thing, or possible a Four Horseman sculptural quirk.

The cape is also a little odd. The material is soft but sturdy, so I don’t really have any concerns about it rotting away, but it sticks out at the back quite a bit. Secured by a hole in his back, it’s fine from the front but looks odd side-on. From the back it works okay, though the lines are cut a little too deeply.

Articulation is standard for the DCUC line:

*ball-jointed neck

*ball-jointed shoulders

*swivel biceps

*hinged elbows

*cut wrists

*ab crunch

*cut waist

*t-hinged hips

*cut thighs

*hinged knees

*hinged ankles

The neck is technically a balljoint, but it's not super manoeuvrable. The shoulders are a bit restricted due to the cape, and the swivel biceps feel a little tight. However, these are pretty minor issues and none of the other joints gave me any problems at all. It was a welcome contrast to Hawkman. I've grown to like that figure a little more since I wrote that review, but he was extraordinarily disappointing and I was worried I've have a repeat issue.

Curiously, it’s kind of hard to get him into a good flying pose. I think this is partially down to facial sculpt, both hands being fists and the way the neck moves. It doesn’t bother me a lot, but I can definitely see it upsetting some fans.   

ACCESSORIES

Superman (and the two-pack as a whole) comes with no accessories. Some Kryptonite, Fortress of Solitude Crystal or a miniature Bottle City of Kandor would have been nice, but really he doesn’t need anything.

PAINT

Most of Supes is just cast in dark blue, and then paint is applied accordingly. There are no major issues with slop, but it does seem odd that – his hands also seem to be cast in blue, and painted in skintone. I’m not really sure why they went with this option rather than just casting them in skin colour, but I assume it’s a costing thing.  

As a nice little touch, his hair features little light blue highlights, just like in the comics.

The entire DCUC range relied heavily on parts re-use, with a great deal of the main characters just reusing one body or another. The upside of this was that the line was able to pump out a number of B-, C- and D-list characters that were unlikely to get an appearance elsewhere.  The downside is that reusing bodies tend to give certain characters odd quirks. In Superman’s case, there’s no sculpted line where his neck gives way to the suit – it’s just painted on. I might complain about this elsewhere, but the paint line is neat, so it works well enough.   

A few tampographs are used. The back of the cape has a yellow “S” symbol tampoed on – as all Superman capes should – and the chest logo is tampoed too. Additionally, the eyes have been tampoed on. They’re pretty much even, which is great. Too many action figures have an awkward or cross-overed look.  

 

AVAILABILITY

I bought this two-pack brand new from a third-party seller, for what I assume was just above retail price. eBay and Amazon seem to indicate you’re in for a difficult and/or expensive time if you want any of the other DCUC Supes figures. However, at time of writing the Super Powers figures were still in stock at MattyCollector.com

OVERALL

My very first action figure was a Superman one. Working from an approximate timeline, I don’t think it was a Super Powers figure – I’m a little young for that – but rather from ToyBiz’s DC Superheroes series. It followed only a few short years after the end of Super Powers, reused many of the same moulds and had a very similar design aesthetic, but was never quite of the same standard. Sadly, he lasted only a few months before one of the knee joints gave way, and for whatever reason he was never replaced. It’s easy to remember how much we enjoyed a toy; it’s more difficult to remember how poorly some of them were made (and I have to say, I don’t remember the Kryptonite ring at all)!

So from a nostalgic perspective, this Superman had quite a bit to live up to. He’s not quite everything I’d like from a figure of Superman, but for this price point, he’s still pretty darn good. I don’t have Hot Toys kind of money at this point, so this guy will do nicely.

Part two coming soon – we take a look at Superman’s boxmate, Parasite!