DC Universe Classics - Crime Syndicate box set preview

The 2011 Toy Fair included several DC Universe Classics goodies including the upcoming 2011 Wal-Mart exclusive 5 pack.  Much like the 2009 Gotham City 5 pack and 2010's Green Lantern's Light 5 pack, this years 5 pack will just be 5 action figures and no Collect and Connect action figure parts will be included.  The action figures featured will be the characters from The Crime Syndicate.  If you're unfamiliar with the Crime Syndicate, I strongly suggest you watch the direct to DVD DC movie "Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths"   Although not totally true to the original story of the Crime Syndicate, its very entertaining and will give you an idea of who these characters are. 

So lets take a look at the Crime Syndicate 5 pack box set. First, we have a classic version of "Johnny Quick" who is obviously the counterpart of The Flash

Next we have the Hal Jordan counterpart, "Power Ring", also a classic version

Next, the Batman counterpart, Owlman, which appears to be a more modern sculpt

Wonder Woman's counterpart, Superwoman, also a modern version

And finally, Superman's counterpart, Ultraman.  We have seen Ultraman before in a two pack with Alexander Luthor.  The Crime Syndicate version appears to have a new head sculpt and a slightly different costume design.

So there you have it.  I don't think a release date has been announced at this point but if you compare this set to the previous two Walmart box sets that came out in 2009 and 2010, you're probably looking at a late summer/early fall release. 

If you're looking to purchase any DC Universe Classics action figures, check out the listings on eBay by clicking here. 

That's it for this post. Feel free to post any comments and check out the ATR Poll section on the left hand side menu.  Also be sure to check back for more DC Universe Classics news, info, previews and reviews. 

DC Universe Classics Green Lantern Wave 1 - Manhunter Robot

How quickly some things become old new.  All the cool new toy announcement at Toy Fair 2011 like, Wave 18's line up, the Batman Legacy toy line, the new Crime Syndicate 5 pack and DC Universe Classics Wave 16's release in stores, we've almost forgotten about the Green Lantern Classics line up.  I'm sure there are still some of you out there hunting for this action figures so today I'm going to review, Manhunter Robot from the Green Lantern Classics Wave 1 set.

Ahhh the packaging.....No complaints on this front by me but it is irrelevant.  It just gets tossed in the trash anyways but for all you collectors out there who insist on keeping their toys in the packaging, this is what it looks like (see below).  If you look closely at Manhunter Robot's picture of the back of the packaging, you'll see a slight difference in that picture compared to the actual action figure.  In the picture, Manhunter Robot is holding the lantern in his right hand and his left hand is a closed fist.  The actual action figure is the opposite.   

Manhunter Robots torso ,upper arms and upper leg pieces are standard pieces we see on a lot of  DCUC action figures.  The boots and forearms are more unique armor type pieces which look really cool and have nice detail in them.  The head piece, of course, is also unique to the character and looks really good.

From the side, you can see more detail in the boots and forearms. 

I love the metallic blue color used on Manhunter.  The metallic paint is a nice touch and I think looks much better then if they had gone the non metallic route.  The face is painted with just one shade of silver and red eyes which, is a little boring.  Wish Mattel would have at least used a dark wash over the teeth to give them some texture. 

Now for a closer look at the articulation which, for Manhunter Robot, is a plus and a minus.  First, as we saw with the awesomeness of the Black Hand action figure from this wave, Manhunter Robot also has the double hinged joints which is super cool.  You can bend the knees more so with these joints to get them into more bending positions.  BUT unlike Black Hand, Manhunter Robot only has these joints on his knees.  No double hinged elbow joints.  An a little bit more bad news, the movement of the elbow joints are obstructed by his forearm piece limiting to about 80% of normal joint movement.  All other joints are pretty standard compared to other DCUC action figures.  Neck, shoulders, biceps, wrists, abs, waist, hips, thighs and ankles are all there and in fine working condition 

Manhunter robot comes with this extra large sized green lantern which fits nicely into his right hand (left hand is closed).  He also comes with the Collect and Connect upper torso piece of Arkillo. 

Overall, Manhunter Robot is another great DC Universe Classics action figure. A great sculpt job that is painted with a cool color pallet (love the metallic blue).  The new knee joints are awesome but i wonder if Manhunter Robot could have benefited by added the double hinged elbow joints too.  Still, he is well worth the buy and a must have for Green Lantern fans. 

Sculpt/Design - 8, Paint - 8.5, Articulation - 9, Accessories - 6, Fun - 8

Value - 8

To buy DC Universe Classics GL Manhunter Robot on eBay, click here

To buy other DC Universe Classics action figures on eBay, click here.


That's it for another ATR Review.  Be sure to check back for more news, info, reviews and previews on Mattel's DC Universe Classics action figures. 

Pinocchio Printable Paper Marionette

One of my favorite memories from childhood was watching a marionette show at a summer picnic. I was so enamored by the show that the kindly elder puppeteers invited me over to their home to show me their collection of puppets. Ever since then I've been fond of puppets and have made many over the years including marionettes.

This charming Pinocchio marionette really works! It is constructed just like traditional marionettes except this one is made of paper. You can pretend to make him walk or dance by moving the controller he hangs from. Any young inspiring puppeteer would love to have this delightful toy.

Now that I have the basic puppet template designed I'm thinking of making more characters. What character would you like to see next?

The Oath of the Peach Garden (桃园三结义)

Monkey, Bean #1 and Hindergaard takes an oath of brotherhood under peach blossoms.

Monkey accessorizes his leopard outfit with Hindergaard's collar.

Happy new year!

DC Universe Classics - Wave 18 announcement

New Pictures added (Feb 20, 2011)

DC Universe Classics Wave 18 rumors have been finally put to rest this past weekend at the 2011 Toy Fair in NYC and it turns out the, unconfirmed rumors of a "Super Friends" theme wave are partially true.   Mattel has not yet released any promo photos yet, but once they do, I will post them (Update: promo pics of these action figures have been added plus a picture from the 2011 Toy Fair posted below).  Here is the official CONFIRMED DCUC wave 18 line up.

From the Super Friends TV series in the 1980s, we have Samurai.

(cool looking sword accessory)

Also from the Super Friends TV series, Black Vulcan

looks as he has hand attachments similar to Red and Blue Superman from DC Universe Classics Wave 2

and again from the Super Friends, Eld Dorado

Unfortunately, by the looks of this pic and his closed fists, I'm guessing no accesories are included with Eld-Dorodo (I thought it was "El-Dorado??)

One of two non Super Friends action figures, Bronze Tiger with removable head (like Low and Maash from the DCUC Green Lantern Wave 1 set.)

So we get a removeable head plus it appears that Bronze Tiger is hold two weapons that are similar to Nightwing's Escrima sticks from DCUC Wave 3....However, in the picture below from Toy Fair, 2011, you'll notice he is holding a sword and a staff of some sort. 

And the other non Super Friends character, a modern version of Captain Boomerang

Hopefully he is comes with some Boomerangs at the very least. 

And at last, the final member of the Legion of Doom (if you include Bizarro and Scarecrow from the DC Superheroes toy line), Toyman.

A bit muscular for Toyman but none the less, glad he's finally coming.  He appears to come with both a yo-yo and spinning top accessory. 

The Collect and Connect action figure for DC Universe Classics wave 18 will be, no surprise here, Apache Chief (Still no pictures yet)

Edit: pic posted Feb 17, 2011

The rumors had suggested that we were getting a new Bizarro action figure in this set with an interchangeable Superman head as well as a Metallo figure in DCUC Wave 18 but those rumors have proven to be false. 

Can't say I'm too crazy about this announcement. Its hard to say who, in this set, is the main action figure in this set.  I will get Toyman to finish off my Legion of Doom collection and another Flash villain is more than welcomed with Captain Boomerang in my collection, but these other characters from the show are not appealing.  I will, in all likelihood skip the rest of this set.  This will give me more time to catch up on other DC Universe Classics action figures I've missed from previous sets.

Look for Wave 18 to make an appearance sometime in the fall of 2011. 

If you're looking to buy DC Universe Classics actions figures check out eBay by clicking here

New Shop Madness!

HALOOOOOO!

So, along with the fancy new update to the blog's format (YAY - that was long in the making... short in the actual 'doing'... only took an hour or so...), come MANY MANY items up for sale in the shiny new Shop!!!!

I've been casting a bundle of resin, and finally taking the time to do some painting, which was sorely missed durring the shop and web-update phase from the past weeks.... I've got some old and some new items available. So, without further adoo (umm, adieu? Add-oo? I duh-no...), here are some pictures! All items available HERE.

YAY! Buttons! 12 for 10 bucks!

New Run of Happy Cupcake Buddhas! 2 sold in the first 5 minutes of being posted! Grab the last one quickly! The slimy guy is an homage to Heddorah the slime Kaiju!


Horray For handpainted MiniCakes! Edition of 3!

MiniCake -Artificial Color Edition with OG handpaint header card!

Local Resin AWESOME guy, Dave Sheely, ran off a few nice casts of the Cupcake Luchador! 2 left - their going like 'Hot Cupcakes!'

Next week (next Friday) I'll be putting up some ancient treasures! Keep your eyes peeled!

DC Universe Classics - Zatanna

Out of the entire DC Universe Classics Wave 14 line up, Zatanna is probably the most popular character.  An ATR poll indicated that 76% of readers who voted said they would purchase Zatanna.  The most of any other DCUC Wave 14 action figure.  So lets take a closer look. 

This action figure is obviously Zatanna in her classic magician outfit. You can see she's also got the fish net stockings we saw previously in DCUC wave 9 on Black Canary.  They look good from the front but in the back, you can see where the stocking ties together and, in my opinion, it looks a little sloppy.

There are also some other similarities between Zatanna and Black Canary with regards to body parts.  The upper legs and hip pieces appear to be the same mold as well as the upper portion (bicep) of their arms.  The other pieces are pretty much unique to Zatanna. 

Zatanna shares the general same body shape as the smaller female DCUC action figures, like Black Canary, Harley Quinn, Batgirl and Catwoman.  Their body type is skinnier than the more muscular Wonder Woman and Big Barda.  However, Mattel has made Zatanna slightly taller by making the calf pieces slightly longer.  

There is rarely any disappointment in the face sculpts of any DCUC action figures, and Zatanna's is no different.  The face is beautiful and her black hair is nicely detailed and highlighted with a dark blue coloring.  We've seen this before on other characters with black hair, like Wonder Woman and Superman.  There are faults however with the overall sculpt of this action figure as it does not blend well with the articulation.  More on this in a later.

The paint job is decent but not perfect.  My Zatanna has a couple yellow paint blotches on her white shirt close to the sculpt lines.  Generally, there aren't too many difficult areas to paint so we don't find too many problems here. 

Accessories include Zatanna's removable magician hat and her magic wand.  The hat fits nicely on Zatanna's head.  Its a nice fit but not super tight.  There is a lip on the inside of the hat to hook onto Zatanna's hair line to keep it from wobbling but its not totally secure and will fall off if she is not standing up or being moved around.  The wand fits in either of Zatanna's open sculpted hand but not securely either.  Using one of those small invisible elastic bands is essential.  Her hat can pretty good into either hand.  Also included, is one piece of the collect and connect action figure Ultra-Humanite.

Articulation is where Zatanna loses it, totally.  Much like Black Canary, because of the fish net stockings, Mattel has not included the side hip joints.  This means that her legs can only move forward and backwards but not out to the sides (like the splits).  This also makes it hard to pose this action figure in multiple standing positions.  What makes this worse Zatanna's feet.  They are high heels so and very narrow so it makes it VERY hard to get her to stand without falling over.  The swivel joints at the thighs and calfs do not help out at all.  I had the hardest time getting any kind of variety of poses with her.  There also are no holes in bottom of her feet to use one of Mattel's DCUC blue plastic stands.  Unfortunately, the legs were just part of the problem.  Zatanna's head can barely move left or right because of her long hair sculpt.  The hair is a hard plastic and does not allow for much movement.  Another problem is the lower part of her yellow vest does not allow for much movement in the waist.  The vest is a hard but thin plastic piece and although the waist can be turned, it potentially can crack the plastic of the vest in the front.

Overall, despite the pretty face sculpt and generally a great looking action figure from afar, DCUC Zatanna does have a lot of flaws with her sculpt design and articulation.  As far as character's go, Zatanna definitely is the most popular in Wave 14 which means more people are probably looking to purchase her.  If you are one of these people, don't expect to much out of her.  She looks good on the shelf, if you can get her to stand but that's about it.

Design/Sculpt - 4, Paint - 7, Articulation - 5, Accessories - 6, Fun - 3

Value - 5

Zatanna is definitely not one of my favorite action figures from the DC Universe Classics toy line but some people may still want to include her in their collection just because of the love for the character or to even collect the Ultra Humanite pieces.  Wave 14 was a Walmart exclusive set so a lot of people found it difficult to find these action figures.  Chances are, you won't find them anymore at your local walmart so the best bet to get any of the DC Universe Classics wave 14 action figures would be of course, eBay.

To find DC Universe Classics Zatanna on eBay, click here

To find DC Universe Classics Wave 14 action figures on eBay, click here

Thats it for this review.  Be sure to vote in the ATR polls which you will find along the left hand side of your screen.  Be sure to visit our sponsors and also be sure to come back for more news info previews and reviews on Mattel's DC Universe Classics action figures.