DC Universe Classics Wave 13

DC Universe Classics Wave 13 is here at last! After getting inundated this past Fall and Winter with DCUC 10, Color of Fear, Justice in the Jungle, Superman/Batman Public Enemies, DCUC 11 and finally DCUC 12, the last 2 months waiting for DCUC 13 to ship has seemed like a long dry spell to me. I guess if I had picked up the DCUC Versus MOTUC sets I would’ve gotten a little fix to tide me over. Alas, I have no MOTUC monkey on my back, just a King Kong-sized DCUC jones. Luckily Enchanted Toy Chest got their shipment from Mattel last Tuesday (April 20th) and blasted out orders the same day! My set arrived this past Friday (April 23rd) and my DCUC need was fed.

Negative Man

When I first saw the pics of the 4 Horsemen’s 2-up prototypes of Negative Man I thought, “Okay, here’s a variant I don’t need.” Yeah, I thought that about the DCUC 11 Phasing Deadman and the GitD Spectre from DCUC 12 and you see how that story turned out. You’d think I would’ve learned by now that the 4H have a strong mojo and it is impossible to resist. My will started to crumble when I saw the early product pics that revealed the variant of Larry had a cool see through puss. Then I was all, “Okay, I’ll grab that if I come across it.”  Little did I know those sneaky bastards at Mattel had an Ace up their sleeves and once I saw it, I was lost. Now I HAD to have the variant Negative Man in my set from ETC! When I ripped open my DCUC 13 box I was ecstatic to find that fate had smiled upon me…

So cool!!!

Yes, Negative Man’s face flips up to reveal a beautiful, grinning skull. I’m amazed Mattel didn’t let this cat out of the bag before Wave 13 shipped. If only he had a geiger counter ticking sound feature to go off when the face is lifted. Unfortunately the flip face is only on the variant, but then I guess that’s why he’s the variant. Now I gotta hunt down the standard version!

Superboy

FINALLY!!! Mattel has finally given us a teenager with a teenage-sized body! The only fly in the ointment is that Kon-El here probably could’ve been made with the Robin/Kid Flash/Beast Boy body for this particular costume. I’m not gonna complain though. I’d much rather have them using the Sinestro body for teenage characters, even if it’s too big for that particular character. If Mattel redid the Tim Drake-Robin and WallyWest-Kid Flash with this body, I’d buy ’em. As for this Superboy, I’m not a big fan of this look, I was on a hiatus from reading comics when he came about. Most of my knowledge of the character is from the past few years of the current Teen Titans book where he’s sporting his t-shirt and jeans look. Even so, this is a pretty cool little figure and I think that fans of this version of Superboy are going to be very pleased with it. I love the leather jacket and the paint apps on mine are very sharp. His head feels a little tight on his neck peg but it has a great range of motion.

Cyclotron

More robotic Super Powers tie-in action! What can I say about old Cyclotron here that hasn’t been said on the toy boards of the world wide web? You either love him or vehemently hate him for taking up space that rightly should go to “X” or you’re just plain indifferent about him. I’m part of the indifferent camp. To me he looks like Wonder Man having a very bad costume day. But he is a DCUC figure so even if I’m indifferent to the character, it’s still a cool action figure. If you hate him, you’re in luck because he doesn’t come with a part of this wave’s C&C figure, Trigon. With no regrets, you can leave him on the pegs for the collector with the Super Powers nostalgia. And if you’re the Super Powers fan with nothing but love in your heart for Cyclotron, he comes with a commemorative Super Powers stand, just like some of the Desaad’s in Wave 12.

I must confess, I find his hidden robotic features to be pretty damn cool. The face and chest covers are well made and go on nice and tight, I have no worries about them falling off when I pick him up. I think lil old Cyclotron is gonna charm his way into the hearts of many of the indifferent and even some of the haters.

Blue Beetle

Blue Beetle (or Blue Beetle III as he is affectionately referred to by Ted Kord fans) is an awesome figure and it’s apparent the 4H and Mattel pulled out all the stops on this one. BB3 has an amazingly detailed sculpt that accurately captures his look and is the first DCUC figure to come with double jointed elbows and knees. BB3 also has wrist hinges (like Green Arrow). I’m not all that jazzed about the added POA on the wrist as it’s the one spot on him where the added articulation detracts from the sculpt, making his wrists look a little too long and his hands like the man-hands from the Marvel Legends Spiderwoman. Other than that the knees and elbows are nice and tight and allow one to put BB3 into some expressive poses.

Along with all the detailed sculpting and added POAs, Blue Beetle comes with accessories! He has removable wings made of a translucent blue plastic that plug into anchor points in the scarab clinging onto his back and a huge blade that grips his arm.

Blue Beetle is another character that I wasn’t “jumping up and down” excited about but once again, the Horsemen and Mattel have made a figure I cannot deny is cool. My prediction is that Blue Beetle will be the big seller of the Wave. So if you’re on the fence about BB3 and see one on the shelf, my advice is to grab him right then cuz he ain’t gonna warm that peg long.

Cheetah

And now we come to the character of the Wave with the 50/50 variant, Cheetah. First some general points about the figures. Both Cheetahs (and Donna Troy) are sporting the new female body which seems to be made up of the best features of earlier DCUC female bodies. It’s the same size as the Harley/Karu/Katma body with the sexier shape of the Black Canary body and the hip articulation of the Wonder Woman body. The torso has been sculpted in what I’d describe to be a “nude” style that could and probably will see quite a bit of reuse. The tummy is flatter and sexier, the breasts are separated and quite nice. Overall I’d say it’s the best looking plain female body from DCUC yet but it’s a bit on the small side and the arms and legs are just too skinny. I believe a little more mass to those appendages would go a long way to improving the aesthetic of the figure. Personally I’d love to see the females made with a bit more mass and height like Black Canary so that they aren’t dwarfed by the males. After all, these are super heroines, right?

Priscilla Rich – Cheetah

Miss Prissy here was a spoiled, little high society brat in the 1940’s that took a dislike to Wonder Woman, made herself a costume and became the original Cheetah to make a naughty girl grab at some spotlight time. Not exactly the grittiest of super villain origins but she makes for some kitschy looking Golden Age fun. She’s got heeled boots, red painted nails, a corny kitty cat hood, a wrist thingee (whichI assume shoots darts probably coated with a concoction that makes male recipients of said darts her devoted slaves) and a 40’s vamp expression sculpted on her mug. She’s a bad kitty, skinny legs and all.

Barbara Minerva – Cheetah

Babs was another glory digger (but with a degree in archaeology) that forced an African Tribe  to zap her with some cheetah spirit hoodoo which transformed her into the modern day Cheetah. If you cruise the toy boards I’m sure you’ve read a lot of the hub-bub about Babs’ 11th hour deco change from nude to black workout suit. Personally I like the black suit as I felt the “nude” look was a little boring visually.

I do agree with those that think her expression is too emotionless though. It’s a pretty face but she really needed a snarl, bared fangs, an evil smile or something to make us believe she’s a ruthless predator! Her hair is beautifully sculpted, long and wild like a jungle woman should have but it does seriously hinder any head movement. Even so, at least she’s not looking down all the time! *cough* Black Canary *cough* Unlike Priscilla, Barbara’s feet are bare with wicked looking clawed nails. Wild Thing!

Blue Devil

Blue Devil is another DC character that I don’t have much connection to. The little I know about him has been gleaned from an appearance in Teen Titans when he showed up to have a talk with his ex-sidekick, Kid Devil. I do know that I like his modern look way more than this costume. If you’re a fan of this look on Blue Devil, I think you’ll be very happy with this figure as it’s a good, solid DCUC figure. Blue Devil is built on the Manta buck but Mattel tried a few tricks to make him look bigger. The waist part has been given a some extra height to help make him taller and the shoulders stick out a little from the body in order to make them look broader. His vest is actually part of the sculpt and not a separate rubber piece and even his collar is made of a harder plastic. I like the sculpt of the horns but the smile and big pointed ears make him look like a genie from a magic lantern. As you can see in the pics, Blue Devil comes with his magic trident which he holds nice and tight.

Donna Troy/Wonder Girl

I’ve read a lot of griping on Fwoosh (seems that there was a lot that about thisWave) about Donna or a variant of her not being made offered in her star field suit. Considering the nature of this line, I’m actually surprised that the first Donna Troy figure we got was this mid-70’s update instead of  her 60’s, first appearance costume. I’m glad we got the one we did and since Donna is a member of the JLA now, I’m sure we’ll be seeing the modern suit in the very near future.

I’ve already covered a lot of ground about this new body in the section about Cheetah, but the few differences here are that Donna has slightly bigger forearms (or at least they look bigger) with bracelets, she also has fists for pummeling, sculpted boots and her W belt with lasso. The belt is a bit different design from other DCUC belts in that it simply wraps around the waist (like the ML Psylocke sash) versus other belts that are sandwiched in at the waist swivel. One concern I had when I first released her from her package was that her shoulders wouldn’t rotate. I had to put a bit careful pressure on them to break loose of whatever had them stuck. They rotate perfectly now but still feel tight. I’ve seen a lot of complaints about Donna’s face, I actually think it looks pretty good but in comparison with the Horsemen’s prototype pics it’s obvious something changed in the translation from prototype to production figure but I don’t think it should be consigned to the lose column. Like the Babs Cheetah, Donna’s hair hinders any movement of her head. Luckily she’s not a shoe gazer because of it.

Overall I think Donna Troy is a sweet little figure.

TRIGON!

Great horny toads, Trigon walks among us! Trigon is yet another great DCUC Collect & Connect figure. I was a bit concerned about the cloth cape – I have no wish to be accused of playing with dolls. The wire sewn into the cape so that you can “pose” it makes it work for me though. Only 2 small nits on Trigon for me – I wish he had bigger antlers and I wish his right hand was a fist. But neither of those are deal breakers. Trigon is an awesome looking figure.

Now I got a need for Wave 14! Curse this wretched addiction!!!

Thanx for stopping by and happy hunting!