LEGION TOYS: DC Multiverse (Lobo)

"He who devours your entrails and thoroughly enjoys it."
The Main Man.
The guy Darkseid calls when he needs someone assassinated (after Amazing Grace).
The penultimate Collect and Connect Figure from the DC Multiverse line, Lobo.

Action Figure History Lesson: 

Lobo here is part of what is commonly known to action figure collectors as the Build-A-Figure or Collect and Connect figure. I believe the Build-A-Figure concept originated with Wave 9 of the old Toy Biz Marvel Legends series. You could buy eight Marvel Legends figures and they each came with a piece that would let you build Galactus. This concept proved very popular with action figure collectors, and while Mattel could not use the name Build-A-Figure for their DC Universe Classics line, they forged ahead calling their version the Collect and Connect figure. The concept continued to be put into practice, including Lobo. He was the Build-A-Figure of a DC Multiverse Wave comprised of Batman Beyond, Kid Flash, Kingdom Come Superman, and Kyle Rayner Green Lantern. 

Batman Beyond includes the Head(s) and Crotch. Kid Flash includes the left and right arms. Kingdom Come Superman includes the torso. Kyle Rayner Green Lantern includes the left and right legs. 

Sculpt:
Sculpt is where this figure shines. The two different heads have great expression and detail on the goggles, hair, and facial hair. The head without the goggles appears to represent Lobo's time prior to joining the Justice League of America, when he was part of Amanda Waller's Suicide Squad, but it can effectively function as a standard post-Crisis DC Universe Lobo in my opinion. The head with the goggles definitely points to the DC Rebirth Justice League of America, where Batman recruits Lobo as a member of this team. He comes with a nice metal chain (about 17 inches long) that his hook accessory is attached to. His necklace sits well on his chest and the cross is nicely sculpted. The vest is sculpted plastic and works great for the leather representation it is going for. The outer crotch is entirely rubber, but the sculpting mostly hides this unless you are articulating the legs. It's similar in feel to the Dark Knight Returns Batman figure or other Masters of the Universe Classics figures in that regard. The legs, especially the shin guards and boots, are excellent. Also this Lobo is right in scale with your other DC Multiverse figures at a little over six inches as opposed to the DC Universe Classics offering, which was a larger Collect and Connect body that stood at a little over eight inches tall.

From Left to Right: Justice League Action Lobo. San Diego Comic Con Exclusive DC Universe Classics Lobo. DC Multiverse Collect and Connect Lobo (with Goggles). DC Direct Lobo. Dawg (from SDCC Lobo). Dawg (from DC Direct Lobo).

Articulation:
I count 25 points of articulation for Lobo in total. His neck can presumably move in a 360 rotation, but the newer DC Multiverse neck pieces are scary and I'd rather not put it to the test for fear of breakage. Mostly, the fear is that the neck peg that articulates the head of these newer DC Multiverse figures will break and has happened with other Multiverse figures I've had before. The hair sculpt also makes this a more difficult proposition even without the scary neck joint. The squeaks are still there and the pegs are incredibly thin. Head moves slightly up and a fair bit down,  Arms can move up and down, as well as rotate in a circular fashion. There are bicep cuts that swivel and single joints at the elbow. The fists can rotate and move slightly up and down as well. He has an ab-crunch that should move  30/70, but it's currently stuck and I'll probably need to boil or heat the joint to get it to move at all. He has a waist swivel and the legs move up and back. He can do the splits, but there are no swivels above the knee. Single-Knee joints and ankle tilts for forward and backward motion complete the standard articulation.

Paint:
Paint application is mostly fine. Both heads have certain degrees of paint slop to them. The red of the eyes somehow has tiny splotches and specs of red on the brow of his white skin. Also on the non-goggled head, I believe the three dreads or strands of hair left little black splotches on Lobo's right cheek that look like little ants crawling on your toys. The red paint applications on the goggles themselves is slightly off and either misses the mark and then overlaps into the frame or just has sloppy bleed around the edges. Some black schmutz ended up on the chest piece of mine as well. YMMV. Other than that, the silvers on the Leather vest and gloves pops fairly well and the skin tone of the body has a grayish/blue wash on it (which would be fine, but the heads don't exactly match or fade into one tone over the other). The red stars on the knee pads are clean and the black wash over the gun metal grey look works well to convey the metallic appearance of Lobo's boot guards.

From Left to Right: DC Direct Lobo w/Bike. DC Multiverse Collect and Connect Lobo with no Bike. Justice League Action Lobo w/Bike.

Overall:
It's a fun figure and I appreciate that he's not as tall as the previous offering. However, I can't help but think that a Lobo figure should really be a separate offering with a bike. The DC Direct and Justice League Action versions of Lobo understood this. With Mattel on their way to lose the DC license, they probably didn't care too much about Lobo's bike, but it would've been a nice touch. With a lot of choices out there for a Lobo figure, I won't say this one would be my first, but it certainly wouldn't be my last choice either.

Be here next week when we review this actual comic!