LEGION TOYS: Tyr (DC Universe Classics Series 14)

by Derek William Crabbe 
Named after the one-handed Norse God of War, Tyr is one of the few Legion of Super-Heroes villains to be immortalized in plastic form multiple times.

But rather than have me butcher the introduction of this Walmart Exclusive action figure, I'll let the DC Universe Classics Wave 14 Card Back do all the heavy lifting.

Sculpt:For the torso, thighs and left shoulder and bicep, Tyr is  on the slimmer 'adult' sized DC Universe Classics buck. The Leg Boots, left glove hand, forearm, gun-hand, chest overlay and head are all original sculpts.This is a faithful re-creation of the Greg LaRocque look from issue #20 of the Baxter Series, or the Super Powers look, as it is more commonly known as. Something more faithful to Dave Cockrum's original character design would entail an additional unique gun sculpt. Since the design team at Mattel leans more towards the nostalgia of the Kenner Super Powers Collection, that look was more than likely the first and only one considered for production. I like Tyr's stern brow and intense look. The gun arm and overlay piece work well within the Mattel body framework and the ability to insert or remove the abdomen portion of the overlay is well-thought out engineering. The only drawback is that the gun-arm on the DC Universe Classics figure is not removable, which is a bit of a disappointment.

 

Articulation:
There are 24-points of articulation that I count on Tyr. Head moves from left to right, and slightly up and down. 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. The Yellow overlay that goes down from his shoulders to his belt is not permanently attached to the belt and thus does not impede the ab-crunch, nor the waist swivel. His legs move up and he can also do the splits. Swivels are just above the knee. Knee joints and ankle rockers complete the standard articulation.

Paint:
You may or may not agree with the way I designate the variants of this figure. Since I was mainly introduced to Tyr via the Card Back of the Kenner Super Powers line and then later as an actual character with desires and motivations in the third Super Powers Mini-Series from DC Comics, I consider the version of Tyr with the bright red skin tone the Super Powers homage version while I tend to think of the version with the maroon-colored skin tone as the comic book version. The bright red pops more and is more "Toyetic" as Joel Schumacher might say, but Maroon skin-tone gives Tyr a bit more grit and realism so much as a Tyrrazian Warrior with a yellow sentient bionic gun arm can have.

The spherical oval canon at the center of the tip of the gun arm is a translucent orangy yellow, reminiscent of the arm canon of the Decepticon Leader Galvatron. I am and always will be grateful for the 4-color use of what I affectionately call Banana Yellow. As in, "I prefer Banana Yellow Iron Man Armor, as opposed to Golden Armor." Oddly (for me at any rate), the color on the raised detailing of his left glove hand and boots is golden in both variants. The Blacks make the Yellows pop extremely well and the detail of paint application on the Mohawk and face are above reproach. I would even go so far as to suggest it's a lost art with more recent DC Multiverse and Star Wars Black Series offerings.

Overall:
When I was first introduced to Tyr in the Super Powers comic book mini-series, I (like many other kid comic readers at the time presumably) had no idea he was a primary villain of the Legion of Super-Heroes. Given his introduction into the franchise of Super Powers, I had thought maybe he was another addition to the villainous cadre of operatives at the beck and call of Darkseid. One of the New Gods, before I knew what the New Gods really were.

Then him and Mister Freeze went off and had a buddy movie to the tune of 48 Hours in the mini-series, so I will forever associate the two characters as being 2 peas in the (Super Powers) pod.

 

I'm happy Tyr was included in the line and that folks have different variant options to display in their collections. He's a must-have if you are a Legion fan or are trying to recapture that Kenner Super Power's sense of nostalgia.