Faster than a speeding bullet! More powerful than a locomotive! Able to leap tail buildings in a single bound! Look, up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's Superman! Yes, it's Superman, strange visitor from another planet, who came to Earth with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men. Superman, who can change the course of mighty rivers, bend steel in his bare hands, and who, disguised as Clark Kent, mild-mannered reporter for a great metropolitan newspaper, fights a never-ending battle for truth, justice and the American way.
Sculpt:
This sculpt is a reuse from the DC Universe Classics line that has been used multiple times throughout the line. It's a fairly standard male body type for the line, with the belt, boot cuffs, and head sculpt making up the elements that are unique to this oft-reused Superman sculpt. Unlike the previous releases, this Superman comes with a cloth cape to evoke nostalgia for the Kenner Super Powers Superman as opposed to a plastic sculpted cape.
Articulation:
There are 26-points of that I count on Superman. His head moves from left to right and slightly down. I have always been disappointed that Superman cannot really tilt his head upward for a flying pose. Arms can move up and down, as well as rotate in a circular fashion. There are bicep cuts that swivel, joints at the elbow, and the fists can rotate as well. He has an ab-crunch that moves in an approximately 30/70 ratio. He has a waste swivel. His legs move up (and a little bit back) and he can also do the splits. Swivels are just above the knee. Knee joints and ankle rockers complete the standard articulation.
Paint:
Paint Application is pretty good. Most of the colors are flat, but I think that is in line with the cartoon Super Friends theme this sub-line is going for. The cuts between the red boots and blue tights and red underwear and thighs is clean and without paint slop. Flesh tone on the fists and face is fine, if a little flat for that cartoon cell look. The yellow on the Superman S shield is good, but the red on it feels slightly off and doesn't match the red of the boots and underwear to me. The bright red of the cloth cape doesn't help to hide this flaw, either. The belt is another thing that is off in its execution. The yellow on the overall belt works fine, but the buckle is almost colored a light orange for whatever reason. The red on the belt loops is only painted on the front of the sculpt. I don't know if this was done on purpose to elicit an "animated" feel, but it just looks like somebody forgot to paint the entire belt loop red. The hair on this version is solid black, whereas previous versions usually have a midnight blue wash to elicit that four-color comic book feel. The eyes are also painted solid black, which I am sure is by design to evoke the Hanna-Barbara animation of Superman on Super Friends. Part of me wonders how it would have looked had they gone for a strict Kenner Super Powers paint application guide and made the pupils baby blues, but I understand what Mattel was shooting for with this decision. The blue tights are certainly a lighter tone of blue than the previous releases, and might've worked okay for me, but it's not quite powder blue and the other oddities with the paint applications on the head, shield, and belt would negate any benefit the blue tone would have brought (in terms of updating or replacing an previous Superman release on the shelf).
Overall:
I've always been a big fan of the DC Universe Classics line as the line is what got me back into collecting. One of the first figures I got alongside a loose Firestorm was the DC Universe Classics Superman from the Gotham City Five-Pack. I was blissfully ignorant of all the variations at the time of purchase and honestly, was very satisfied with my purchase. I think since then I was always chasing that powder blue look for Superman. I could never find the ones that were released overseas, and so I looked forward to the Super Powers Matty Collector Superman release. And that wasn't quite right. And so I looked forward to the DC Multiverse Super Friends release. Which also isn't quite right. The perfect Superman figure is a finicky thing, and some of the best ones I've seen are customs from all these different versions. The main reason to own this version in my opinion is that you can have a cape-less version and relive Superman's adventures from the Time and Time Again story from the triangle era of Superman.
No comments:
Post a Comment