DC Universe Classics has been the special kind of action figure line that has continued to impress me. It feels like with every wave that gets delivered, I find myself with a new favorite figure. For those keeping track, my current favorite is wave 10’s Forager. With DCUC wave 12, which was first revealed in Toyfare magazine, followed shortly by press pics released to the online media, I had the same reaction, in this case with Dr. Mid-Nite.
But there’s one figure that I think could use a little tweaking – and that’s Eclipso.
On the left is the original pic of the prototype. I was initially put off by the leering grin, but over time, realized that what was throwing me off was the large gap between the tip of his nose and the top of his mouth. In my opinion, it throws off the proportions, making his head too long.
On the right, I’ve modified the image to reduce the gap between nose and mouth. Again, it’s my opinion, but I think it’s much, much better.
Given that this wave is due in the 1st quarter next year, I’m not sure if there’s still the opportunity to make changes to the figure. I’m not sure if Mattel would be inclined to change it, even if they could.
Whether you agree or disagree a change is needed to the Eclipso head, please leave a comment. I’ll share your feedback with the good folks at Mattel and the Four Horsemen. Thanks!
It’s fine like that. He’s supposed to be an ugly villain and this offers a more unique head sculpt.
I prefer the modern look.
Oops. Meant the “modified” look.
Your modified version looks much better.
It gives him a much needed human proportion to his face. Even though he isn’t human.
I like your modified version more, but that won’t stop me from buying the fig because I need an awesome Darkseid to add to my collection!
The modified version is much nicer.
I like your changes better, and I think the ears could be a bit smaller too. I probably wouldn’t buy him either way since I don’t like the overall character asthetic.
He looks like Two-Face in that pic. What Mattel has done with DCUC though is pretty low IMO. Bad distro for Wave 9 and Wave 10 is an exclusive to Wal-Mart. Expect bad distro there too. And now DC is in a lawsuit battle for Superman may lose the character rights if they not launch a movie by 2011. And then all the Superman figures Mattel has released will go to waste. They should focus less on Superman family junk as possible. Also release some better character choices. Wave 9 had a horrible version of Black Canary. Wave 10 has even more redundant with the Batman variant and the horrible Imperiex C2C. Wave 12 Darkseid looks good but I’m not sure its worth buying the entire lot just for him and instead waiting for a loose one on E-Bay. It’ll be an easy find, the figures are coming after Wave 11 and usually the second wave released that year ends up pegwarming. Kind of follows a pattern.
The existing head is too bizarre and inhuman to pass as a “baseline” Eclipse for DCUC. Some I know have speculated that the intent is to mimic the evil elfin quality of later “House of Secrets” artists like Alex Toth or Jack Sparling, but I don’t think you could point to a single story where he looks so gaunt. Maybe Mattel is looking at the Joe Staton art in his “Metal Men” appearance? Either way, I expect this Eclipso (unless he does undergo some changes) will look at least as off-model and out-of-place among other DCUC figures as the “Public Enemies” wave.
Even more worrisome: How are all those highly detailed teeth going to look on the production versions?
The modified look is definitely better!!!
The original grin looks impossibly stretched and silly!