LEGION TOYS: Cosmic Boy (DC Direct 2001)

We've finally made it to the final stretch! From here on out, we'll be looking at the earliest figures in the series, focusing on the founding members of the Legion of Super-Heroes! To start, coming from the planet Braal, with the ability to generate magnetic fields, the magno-ball champion himself, rocking the pink like it's 1999 even though he's from the far-flung 31st Century, Rokk Krinn a.k.a. Cosmic Boy!

Sculpt:
While most DC Universe Classics are around 6.5 inches and fit within the 1/12 collector scale, typically adult-sized DC Direct (and now DC Collectibles figures) fall into more of a 7 inch scale. Having said that, Cosmic Boy is more of a teenage-sized figure and comes in exactly at 6 inches. Although the Mattel practice of buck re-use doesn't always come into play in these lines, you can see that Cosmic Boy shares some parts with the DC Direct Lightning Lad. The Chest, arms, one of the open palms, and the static crotch and legs have repeated use in this line. There are original shoulder rings and sculpted dots incorporated into the chest. While Cosmic Boy's neck is a bit too thick, the face sculpt is well-done and he has clearly defined facial features and a nicely sculpted hairstyle. In some ways, Cosmic Boy's face reminds me a bit of my fellow Loyola Marymount Alumni and actor, Colin Hanks.

This is most likely unintentional, but I think Cos looks a bit like Colin. He's got a determined look on his face, with a bit of perplexion in the eyebrows. Cosmic Boy comes with a few accessories, such as a sculpted Legion Flight Belt that can be attached to the waste with a square  plastic fastener. He also comes with magnets in the palms of his hands, which allow for the silver marble-sized orbs he comes with to attract and attach to said palms.  Finally, Cosmic Boy comes with a gold 1:1 Flight Ring that you could place on your own hand if you so chose (actual flight ability not included!).

Articulation:
DC Direct figures are better known for their sculpts than articulation. This set of figures are less action and more staction (a portmanteau of statue and action figures coined by Four Horsemen artists to describe Masters of the Universe figures). Cosmic Boy has a mere 10 points of articulation in total.  The head is on a swivel joint and can move 360 degrees. It cannot tilt, nor move up or down. Arms can only rotate at the shoulder, up or down, in a circular fashion in 360 degrees.  Arms cannot move out to the sides, but there is a 90 degree elbow cut, so the arms can go from being straight to a 90 degree angle. Cosmic Boy's open palms can also rotate 360 degrees. There is a waste-cut that moves  360 degrees. The legs themselves have zero articulation at the waste and arm in a permanent lunge with the right leg in front and the left leg bracing the remaining weight of the figure. Finally the knees in a somewhat pointless fashion also articulate with a single joint from straight to a 90 degree angle.



Paint:
The paint job is fine. Mostly glossy blacks, pinks and whites are all well separated. The arms have more of a flat pink color as opposed to the legs and chest which are glossy. The flesh tones on the palms and face are well done. The lips and eyes are nicely painted and the hair has some dark blue wash within the flat blacks, which is appreciated. If I had some criticisms of the paint applications, it would be that the glossy whites seem to pick up dirt and random imperfections quite easily. Also the silver on the belt buckle is poorly painted and there is a lot of bleed from the glossy black at the top of the belt buckle. Your mileage may vary as the silver on the belt buckle for my Lightning Lad is just fine.

Overall:
While the sculpt is pretty nice, this is a piss poor excuse for an "action" figure. It's really more of a pvc plastic figurine or as previously described a stacton figure. If you're a fan of posing your action figures, there's not a whole lot you can do with this figure. The action feature with the magnets is fairly clever, but the sculpt and action features don't make up for static non-articulated legs and crotch. Unless you simply adore the Silver Age interpretation of Cosmic Boy, I wouldn't recommend these unless you never bother to pose your figures.