by wingnut1969 » Sat Jan 25, 2020 10:42 pm
Well, my final chapter of Mattel's DC Batman/Super Heroes/Universe Classics/Multiverse came to an end today when I got the last assortment of figures I needed from BBTS. The end of the road was bitter sweet as I unboxed and assembled my Ninja Batman and inspected my figures. My collection will continue to grow as I will continue to customize new figures as I have some in the works and ideas for others so fear not, my collection has not yet reached it's fullest potential.
As for my new figures? My thoughts:
Nightwing, obviously, is my favorite. He is mostly just the average body type except for the forearms which have the strap and buckle detailing on them and the knuckles have the plates - or whatever you call them - on them. He comes with an additional set of hands which are closed fists. The head sculpt is what really sells the figure to me it is outstanding. He also comes with his escrima sticks but he does not have the back clips to store them if you did not want him to hold them in his hands - which for the life of me I don't know why you wouldn't.
Starfire is my second favorite. She was my favorite of the new New Teen Titans. This figure puts the old one to shame. She is stunning. They did give her heels though. That may be sticking with the comic design but I have always found characters with those types of heels hard to stand especially when one of those heels seems shorter than the other - or something they didn't quite match up. Again, the head sculpt is beautiful, absolutely magnificent. She comes with "starburst" rings that fit, rather poorly, on her hands but I found a way to make it work.
Flash the third of the Titans in the set is also my third favorite. Again it's just the regular body type but with a new head sculpt. He too looks nice. He comes with the standard two wrist lightning guantlets or what have you that they have been doing since Red and Blue Superman but nothing for the back - they are silver. He also comes with an extra set of hands - fingers extended like flight or swimming hands.
Black Lightning is next in line. He is the most detailed and he looks really good. He comes with two extra sets of hands - fists and lightning projecting hands - like Mera's water hands or El Diablo's fire hands. The hands he comes with are open with the index finger out a bit like trigger hands(?). Obviously I used the lightning hands. The armor does kind of make him seem a little bulky in the middle like he's a little on the fat side or maybe that's just me. You decide for yourself.
Green Lantern is next. I cannot begin to fathom why this figure was made. He brings nothing new to the table except for a fantastic head sculpt - he looks amazing. Seriously though: Why was this figure green lighted - if you'll forgive the expression. He's not wearing a new costume he's got the animated look which they did in the Kilowog wave. I would have much preferred the Simon Baz GL figure they had initially shown to another John Stewart GL. At least that would have been an entirely new character that would have fit very nicely on my GLC shelf. Instead he just rounds out what is now an over crowded Rebirth shelf. He does come with an extra set of hands: The ring burst hand and a fist hand. The left hand that comes attached is standard open so he can hold a lantern that he doesn't come with(?).
Beast Boy rounds out the wave of six. Man do I HATE this design. I know it comes straight out of the comic books now but I hate that look as well but since I don't Teen Titans it has little to no effect on me. All of that aside he does look ok. I just really would have preferred Mattel do a Changeling rather than this hideous Beast Boy. One day I guess I'll have to make one.
Ninja Batman - sigh - draws a curtain on the wave. You know those figures you see and your immediate reaction is that you hate them and then you see them and buy them and you wind up really liking them? Like Rebirth Lex Luthor, yes, I'm guilty of this. That's not this. Talk about a figure no one asked for. He shouldn't be called Ninja Batman he should be called Samurai Batman as he looks more Samurai than Ninja. I didn't watch the movie that I presume this figure comes from so I'll assume it hits the mark but it just doesn't work for me. The thing that bothers me most about this figure is that there is no place to hang the scabbard for his sword and it won't fit into his free hand as it is too bulky. He also has an extra set of hands which are fists but again, as with Nightwing, why you would display your Samurai Batman without his sword is beyond me.
So there you have it, my .02c worth - or should I say my $127 worth.
Before I go I wanted to ask a question: I have yet to actually put Lobo into a display as I cannot figure out where to put him. I have three options and none of them really make me happy. Option 1 - Superman. I have room there and the 2 kinda have a thing about them - Last Kryptonian/Last Czarnian - and when they lock horns it's an instant classic plus Lobo made his animated debut on Superman. Option 2 - Legion of Super-Heroes. I immediately thought of this because of his L.E.G.I.O.N. ties but that's also what made me reconsider. This is LOSH not L.E.G.I.O.N. Option 3 - JLA. He was a member of Batman's last JLA and JLI is where I first came into contact with Lobo but I just cannot bring myself to put him in my JLA display because he's just not JLA no matter what the comics say. Thoughts?
