DC Universe Classics - 2008 Year in Review

Before i finish off my review of the DC Universe Classics wave 5 set, lets take the time to review all the DCUC action figures Mattel brought to us over the past year.

Early 2008, Mattel released the first wave of the DC Universe Classics action figure toy line. The line-up of this first set was not too impressive in my opinion. Mattel had just finished of their DC Superheroes toy line in 2007 which consisted of mostly Batman and Superman characters. So who do we get in the first wave, Batman and Penguin. They are actually both really good looking toys but some may have been looking for more characters outside the Batman world. The rest of the set consisted of mostly B list characters. Etrigan, Orion, Rex Mason and Red Tornado.

Wave 2 came along in the 2nd quarter of 2008 with a much better cast. The best of this set were probably Aquaman and Firestorm. It must be hard to stay away from Batman and Superman related characters as this set also included Harley Quinn and both Blue and Red Superman figures. Black Manta rounded out the 2nd wave.

Gorilla Grodd was the Collect and Connect figure for wave 2.

Wave 3 was headlined by Green Lantern (Hal Jordan) and Sinestro. Both were good toys, but they were far from the best figures of this set.

The best figure of DCUC wave 3 had to be Deathstoke by far. A cool sculpt with a lot of accessories makes a bad ass action figure.

The Collect and Connect figures seem to be getting bigger and bigger and for wave 3 we got a very tall Solomon Grundy toy.

We were give a few other Teen Titan characters, Robin, Nightwing from wave 3 and then Cyborg from wave 4.

The headline figure of wave 4 was Wonder Woman. An improved female sculpt by the 4HM but the joints still seem to stand out on this model.

The best figure of wave 4 was without a doubt, Ares. Great sculpt with a lot of detail and design work and 2 cool weapons to boot. Rounding out wave 4 was Batman Beyond, Captain Atom and the Collect and Connect figure, Despero.

Mattel also re-introduced the 2 packs concept, re-releasing some of the hard to find DC Superheroes action figures while adding a couple new 2 pack exclusive characters.

Finally the last set of 2008 came around the end of November and turned out to be a Walmart exclusive set. The Riddler was the only Batman related character from this set.

The Atom, Black Lightning, Eradicator and Amazo rounded out wave 5 with a Collect and Connect figure Metallo who is just as tall as Wave 3's Solomon Grundy.

Most of these figures can easily be found on eBay but they will vary in price depending on the character and/or variant.

To find Mattel's DC Universe Classics action figures on eBay, click here.

Thats it for 2008. Mattel has already announced the next 3 sets and a new round of 2 packs so be sure to come back to Action Toy Review for more news, info and reviews. Happy New Year!

Day 85: C-3PO

C-3PO is a fictional character from the Star Wars universe, who appears in both the original Star Wars films and the prequel trilogy. He is one of the four characters to appear in all six of the Star Wars feature films, and one of only two characters portrayed by the same actor in all six installments of the series.

C-3PO is a protocol droid designed to serve humans, and boasts that he is fluent "in over six million forms of communication." C-3PO is generally seen with his long-time counterpart, R2-D2.

Download the free PDF here and make your own C-3PO toy!

What would Santa do?

Some of you may be curious as to what I will be doing about the CPSC regulations taking place as of February 10. I won't go into too much detail but If you haven't heard the Consumer Products Safety Commission has required that all items meant for children under the age of 12 must be tested for lead. Although my soft toys are adult collectibles they may be perceived as children toys which would require me to have a 3rd party lab perform tests to see if they are safe or not. Even though my soft toys are made of wool /rayon felt CPSIA would mandate this unnecessary and expensive testing. Not only does this effect toymakers but anyone that sells children's products. Everything from clothing, baby products and vintage toys will be affected forcing many companies and small hand made businesses into bankruptcy and closing up their shops.

For more information and what you can do to help.
http://www.handmadetoyalliance.org/

My favorite Moody Doll purchased from vintage toy seller shop66

So how does this affect me? Frankly, not much! It has taken me over 35 years to find my artistic style. I will continue to design and make toys . Its what I LOVE to do. Most of my soft toys are sold to adult collectors. I have clearly listed all soft toys not intended for children under 12 and will label each plush also.

My paper toy PDF s will not be affected by these new regulations. I will continue to design fun paper crafts for people to download. In fact I've been working on quite a few right now and will have them available after the new year. Patterns are not affected as well. I'm working on some new patterns to make plushies of your own.

Rumor has it that as long as toys do not cross state lines that they are exempt from testing. That means more craft shows for me in the following year. I've also heard that kits are also exempt, in that case I'll be making more kits also.

New paper toys including a B-day cake with party hats available after the holidays.

Day 84: Stormtrooper

The Imperial Stormtroopers are fictional soldiers from George Lucas' Star Wars universe. Stormtroopers are the personal army of Emperor Palpatine and of his commanders, carrying out the will of their superiors without question.

Originally featured in the original Star Wars trilogy (Episodes IV, V, and VI) as the elite soldiers of the Galactic Empire, Stormtroopers were retconned into "Clone Troopers", the fighting force of the Old Republic, in The Phantom Menace and its sequels.

Download the free PDF here and make your own Stormtrooper toy!

Click on the image below for more Star Wars papertoys from Toy-A-Day.



And here's Chewbacca by Yorick Poels which came in second for the first Toy-A-Day contest!

DC Superheroes - Azrael

There are so many new Mattel DC Universe toys available right now just before Christmas. With the DCUC wave 5 set finally out (only at Walmart) and also the 4 Toys R Us exclusive 2 packs, there is a wide range of Mattel DC action figures to choose from. Today's review will be one of the figures from the 2 packs, Azrael.

Azrael was originally released in the Mattel's DC Superheroes toy line and was a very hard to find. Luckily for those missing Azrael from their collection now have a chance to snatch up this very cool action figure thanks to the new DC Universe Classics 2 pack which also features a re-release of Batgirl.

Azrael stands at about 6.25 inches tall. His cape has a double layer. The top is just six strips of soft plastic and the bottom layer is one solid piece. The gloves have some cool circuitry designs engraved on them and the flame blades are not removable. The face is completely covered by his mask so there really isnt much too it but he looks really cool. Sometimes simple gets the job done.

The head is in a position where it is, for the most part looking downwards which is a slight bummer. The neck joint does not have a wide range of motion when it comes to moving his head back.

There is not much to complain about in the paint department. There is some shading on the inside of his cape and on his legs. There isn't much to screw up on his face. The eyes are white and clean, while the rest of his mask is just red and black.

Azrael does not come with any accessories. His weapons are attached to his hands already so they don't really count.

Azrael's articulation is as good as any other of the DCSH or DCUC toys. He has joints in the neck, shoulders, biceps, elbows, forearms, abdominal, waist, hips, thighs, knees and ankles. As mentioned, the neck joint has limited movement and his head cannot be pushed back far enough to keep him from constantly looking at the floor.

Overall, Azrael is a really cool looking action figure even though there are no extra accessories and the issue with his neck joint. If you collect the DCUC toys and you don't have Azrael, you're missing out on a wicked toy and now's your chance to pick him up at a reasonable cost in a 2 pack.

Sculpt - 9, Paint - 10, Accessories - 0, Articulation - 8.5, Fun, 8

Overall Score - 8/10

As mentioned you can either buy Azrael on his own which can only be found now a days on eBay. Or you can buy him along with Batgirl in the New DC Universe Classics 2 packs only available at Toys R Us or on eBay.

To find the original Azrael from the DC Superheroes toy line on eBay, click here

To find the DC Universe Classics Azreal/Batgirl 2 pack by Mattel on eBay, click here

Be sure to check back for more reviews. I have received another 2 pack in the mail today as well as all of the DCUC wave 5 figures so check back for more posts in the near future.

DC Universe Classics - The Riddler

I have finally got my hands on some DC Universe Classics WAVE 5 action figures and since I'm a Batman fan, I've chosen to start my review of this set with the only Batman related character, The Riddler.
(For a review of the DC Universe Classics Wave 16 Riddler, click here). 

If you caught my last review on the 2007 DC Superheroes Two Face action figure by Mattel, then you'll notice that these two figures basically share the same body sculpt. The only differences are the head and hand sculpts, paint job and accessories.

Riddler comes in the same basic packaging as all DCUC toys.

Out of the package, as mentioned, Riddler is much like Two Face. You'll notice the tie even has the split line down the middle. Despite the re-use, the sculpt is a good fit for the character.

The head is sculpt is a good likeness of the Riddler. The bowler hat has a "?" molded on while the "?" on the suit jacket are painted.

Riddler's paint job is very good with the exception of a couple spots. On my figure, he has a purple paint blotch right next to his mask on the right side of his face. Also, the black paint around the collar runs a bit onto his neck. Besides that, the question marks are painted on very clean all over his jacket and everything else is smudge free.

Riddler comes with the Collect and Connect torso & head piece of Metallo as well as a question mark cane. The cane fits well in either of his hands.

Riddler's articulation is as you'd guess, exactly the same as Two Face. His joints include the neck, shoulders, biceps, elbows, wrists, waist, hips, thighs, knees, ankles. Riddler's neck joint has a little more movement that Two Face. Since the Riddler doesn't have a crazy hair style, he's got a little more range of motion. The hip joints have limited forwards and backwards movement due to his long jacket.

Even though this is virtually the same body sculpt as Two Face, I do like this Riddler action figure a bit more probably because Riddler has a better paint job. I have been waiting for Mattel to give us a Riddler action figure and this toy is a welcome addition to my collection.

Sculpt/Design - 7, Paint - 8, Accessories - 7, Articulation - 8.5, Fun - 8

Overall Score - 8/10

As the DCUC wave 5 set is a Walmart exclusive, you'll either have to check out your local Walmart or bid on eBay to get your hands on this action figure.

To find Mattel's DC Universe Classics Riddler on eBay, click here.

To find the full set of Mattel's DC Universe Classics wave 5 on eBay, featuring The Riddler, Eradicator, Black Lightning, Atom, Amazo and the Collect and Connect figure, Metallo, click here.

DC Superheroes - Two Face

The Mattel DC Superheroes toy line from 2006-2007 was filled with a good variety of Batman and Superman characters and today's review will be another popular Batman villain, Harvey Dent aka Two Face.

This figure was released in late 2007. Two Face was part of the DCSH series 7 set which also included Camouflage Bane, Knight Shadow Batman & C.Cain Batgirl. This entire set seemed to only have a limited release in certain areas so they were very hard to find. Mattel had previously given us a Bane, Batman and Batgirl (B.Gordon) in prior waves, but Two Face was a totally new character and a lot of collectors wanted to get their hands on him.

The character may be new but the body sculpt is almost a complete re-use which really is nothing new. The previously released Clark Kent action figure which was only available via the Superman/Clark Kent 2 pack supported the same sculpt. Its a less muscular sculpt than Supes or Bats but slightly taller standing at 6.5 inches tall. If you think about it, this sculpt must have been originally made for Two Face. The tie is a dead give away as it has a sculpted line split down the middle on both Kent and Dent.

One of the only differences in the body sculpt is Harvey's scarred right hand which supports similar detail as Harvey's scarred face. The head sculpt pretty good. The scaring is well done with the exception of the neck area which is just a paint wash of the same maroon type color on his face. The hair is long, wild and spiky. The normal half of his head is fairly plain with well groomed hair and fairly good looks.

The head is also painted very well with darker shading in the deeper parts of his scarring. His teeth and eyes (one red and one blue) are painted very clean. The crazy gray hair is highlighted with what appears to be white dry brushing. The brown part of his hair is fairly basic. The jacket and pants are a white/grey shade on one side and on the other is a pin stripe jacket with black pants. The pin stripes are painted on straight and clean. There is a noticeable smudge of the maroon paint on the white collar of his jacket and a couple of small marks on his shoulder. There is also some paint going over the lines down the middle of his tie and around the shirt collar.

Two Face's lone accessory is a fairly decent looking machine gun which fits well enough into either hand but what is noticeablely missing his infamous coin. I can understand that a coin would be just too small of an accessory but at the very least I think it should have somehow been sculpted in on to the figure.

You will not be disappointed with Two Face's articulation. He has most of the standard Mattel joints. Neck, shoulders, biceps, elbows, wrists, waist, hips, thighs, knees, ankles. The neck joint has only side to side movement and the hip joints have limited forwards and backwards movement due to his long jacket.

Overall, Two Face is a decent toy with a great looking head sculpt. Upon close inspection ,the paint job does have some sloppy areas on the body. But despite its minor flaws, Two Face is still a welcome addition to my collection.

Sculpt/Design - 7, Paint - 6, Accessories - 7, Articulation - 8, Fun - 8
Overall Score - 7/10

If you're interested in purchasing this action figure, eBay is probably the only place you can find Two Face right now and he can still be pricey. Ive seen Mattel's Two Face go from $25 to $50 in an auction. Its a good figure but I wouldn't break the bank for it. As with any eBay auction, shop smart and set your limits. There are a few other Two Face figures on the market but if scale and articulation are issues for you, you may want to stick with Mattel's version.

To find Mattel's DC Superheroes Two Face on ebay, click here

Thanks for checking out Action Toy Review. My next review will be one of the action figures from the brand new Walmart exclusive DC Universe Classics wave 5 set. Be sure to check back.

Also, feel free to leave a comment or email me at actiontoyreview@rogers.com if you have any questions.