Truetorial:
A Wave of Doubt (DCUC12)

NoisyDvL5

Toy collecting can be a strange endeavor for me. Sometimes I love it and sometimes I hate it. I imagine there are a variety of factors involved. There’s the joy of finding the latest stuff, usually after a fair amount of frustration caused by not finding it up to that point. There’s the satisfaction of placing an entire collection together tempered by adding up the cost of everything still to come in the next few weeks. Particularly, though, how I feel towards any line seems to come and go in waves.

I know. That’s a bad pun, but it’s also very true. I almost quit buying DC Classics about a year ago. It was during the long summer gap between DCUC2 and DCUC3. If I remember correctly, it felt like forever since I’d assembled Grodd and I wasn’t that enthused by the upcoming figures. Don’t get me wrong, I like a handful of the figures from wave three and four, particularly Hal, the modern Sinestro, and Artemis. I don’t remember if we knew what wave five was yet, but it wouldn’t have mattered. For weeks, I was positive I wouldn’t be building Solomon Grundy. But any toy collector could probably guess what happened next.

Of course, I found wave three and bought them all. I had hooked myself into the line again. I picked up wave four with little fuss. I begrudgingly purchased wave five online. But it was wave six that brought me back around completely. Captain Marvel, Hawkman, Miracle, the Regen Supes were too cool to even think about passing on. Killer Moth was too crazy not to get. Kalibak is still one my favorite C&Cs. I was back at the peak of being a DC Classics collector. Then wave seven had a couple nice pieces. Eight was chock full of awesome. Right now, I’m anxiously awaiting only two figures from wave nine (that seem to be everywhere but here). But I’m really looking at wave ten to fight off my declining mood towards DC Classics – Robotman! Keaton Batman! Robotman! Forager! Robotman! Power Girl! That wave will rock, green eagle and all.

Next up, I have to remember that Public Enemies is… a special situation. Then, wave eleven is a Green Lantern fan’s dream and that makes me pretty happy, but still a little empty. After that? Well, I’ve been looking at the recent ToyFare images and I’ve realized that my current round of negative feelings are stemming from wave twelve.

First, I have to keep in mind that it’s been awhile since I got to build a C&C. BBTS hooked me up with Giganta way back in mid-April. That’s five months ago. Half a year, minus a few 2pks, with no new DCUC is probably enough to kill a lot of folks enthusiasm. So I’m more than a little willing to concede that the delay between figures may be a factor. And I’m frustrated by the lack of wave nine even if only two of the figures have me excited. But I don’t think it’s just those two things contributing to my overall hohumness.

No, wave twelve is the culprit to my decline. It’s not the lineup per se. I love the JSA, the Metal Men, the Marvel Family, and that Desaad couldn’t get better. But still something about wave twelve is just gnawing at me and I think it’s in the details. I can point to nearly every figure and think about what I’d like to be different.

First, let’s point to the couple that I’m fine with:

  • Mary Marvel – She’s looks great from what I can tell. I’m happy there is a white and red variant. A black one would be nice somewhere down the line.
  • Desaad – He’s perfect. I hope the shocker will be removable, but I’m ecstatic that it’s included.

Some minor nitpicks:

  • Copperhead – A little disappointed we didn’t get a version with the tail, but the detailing on the scales and the mocking expression make up for it.
  • Eclipso – I think I just don’t like him in general, so I won’t complain about him.

And the rest:

  • Doc Mid-Nite – Nothing is physically wrong with this figure, but I really think he should have gotten a slot that could have a variant to get his modern counterpart. My dissatisfaction here is my own fault I suppose – Mr. Terrific II in wave eight made me expect the modern version.
  • Iron – Gorgeous figure with great accessories, but Mattel should probably make him a little bluer. I say this because Lead’s going to be grey and Tin’s going to be silver. I think it will look strange to have three of the Metal Men be so close in color while one is gold and the other red.
  • Spectre – I need to see better shots of his face, because it’s looking off from here. I’ll digress on that until we get close-ups (I’d expect those to be coming from Mattel early next week). My main gripe is that Spectre’s variant is poorly conceived. Rather than having a glow-in-the-dark version, where’s the alternate head variant to make him into the modern Spectre, Crispus? If molding a new head was an issue – use the Hal head and then only a new paint scheme would be needed to make his version of the Spectre.

The variants are one of my two big issues with this wave. We’ve been spoiled by DCUC. The Parademons. The Robot Mantis. The two Steppenwolfs (wolves?). Even the older waves usually had a figure that sported a new piece or a new head. This wave? They’re just paint variants – and one of them isn’t even interesting. Getting a Crispus or a Pieter Cross might have helped out here. I’d say we could have gotten Gold as a variant, but that’s evidently not going to be a problem.

My other issue is the Darkseid. You might have read my size comparison Truetorial where I tried to determine how big this C&C Darkseid should be. In there, one of my readers pointed out it could be a Super Powers Darkseid. That made sense given the direction of the line and I started to get excited.

Well, it wasn’t. I know that I set myself up for a fall. But, even though it’s not a Kirby Super Powers Darksied, I was still shocked by how much the C&C looked like the classic DCSH figure. It’s not really an upsized figure-a careful eye can discern plenty of new parts. The 4H did their job well, it just turned out they have a vision for Darkseid that they were able to replicate both times. The new one is better though, I have to admit. The head is excellent. The killing glove is a nice touch, but I do hope it’s removable or swappable (Total Justice all over again), but that’s part of what bothers me. I hope the glove comes off. I hope it’s not too tall. But that just makes it more like the original. More like the one I already have.

So I feel like I’m in a bind. The more likable (to me) this Darkseid ends up, the more I feel fleeced by this wave. With the variants already looking to be paint-only, the C&C is leaving me that much more wanting. Combine that with Brimstone, a highly sought after C&C for me, that requires six figures I don’t want – at least not those versions- and I’m looking at two waves where I have to keep my head down until we get to next April. I plan to feel a little less negative when Wave thirteen is released, but there’s a long gap between wrapping up wave ten and next April.

I don’t know. I wrote this to discern my feelings on the matter and it might be a more enjoyable couple months than I thought. Maybe I’m just feeling a little dissatisfied and I had to let it out. It’s just wave twelve. I know I’ll feel better when I get Wave 10 in hand and from what I hear, wave thirteen sounds like it could be another “wave six” and help me stay interested through the cold winter. And there is those awesome Matty two-packs…

52 thoughts on “Truetorial:
A Wave of Doubt (DCUC12)”

  1. I understand where you’re coming from (wave 11 is doing that to me more than 12, personally) but it’s possible that the variants could still be more interesting than we know. If Mary is getting the white uniform it could be her current long-sleeve with gold armbands look (and some rumors are pointing to Black Mary instead of the white uniform for this wave) and Spectre could still have an alternate head (Hal would be the cost saving choice).

      1. Anytime the variant is a cheap gimmick, like glow in the dark plastic, someone at Mattel should be smacked around until it stops happening.

  2. To be honest, nearly every wave is like that for me and I’ve been waiting for a definitive DC action figure line since before I knew what an action figure was.

    This wave looks pretty good to me, by that standard.

    1. It’s not a bad wave at all, I just have ebbs and flows in my collecting habit. If thirteen doesn’t get shuffled again, it’s going to bring me back into the fold.

  3. It wave wave eight that made me feel like dropping out, but the Green Lanterns in Wave 11 are the ones that are really keeping me going. I hope that’s the theme for next year.

  4. If you’re serious about Gold, then the variants should have been the modern Terrific with whatever new parts it would need, Mary could have still been the paint variant, and they could have just made the *one* Spectre glow.

  5. I love DC Classics, but I haven’t finished a C&C since Metamorpho.

    Darkseid will be my second one.

    1. I got really close on Despero, but I had no interest in Future Batman.

      If I can find the eight waves, I am planning on Giganta tho’

    2. I can’t imagine not finishing off the C&Cs!! That takes serious willpower. If I start to get 40% of one, I get real close to buying the remaining figures. I’m getting close to a second Kalibak right now…

  6. @Sub-Intel

    The Scott Nietlich interview over at Action Figure Pics (via Fwoosh) declared that there will be a running theme with both DCUC and Infinite Heroes in 2010. He didn’t say what it was but given all the Lanterns coming, I’m sure it’s safe to say it’s Blackest Night.

        1. I think they’ll hold off on Blackest Night for a while. Probably to see which of the new characters will make it through. Here’s hoping for Atrocitus & Larfleeze! Or modern Hal w/ Saint Walker 2pk!

  7. My burnout wave was wave nine. I didn’t care for any of the characters except for Deadshot. I liked them when I found them though and put together Chemo with only mild regrets.

  11. What is killing my enthusiasm for DCUC (this coming from someone who has every figure so far except Walmart wave 5 and variant Dr. Fate) is the distribution. Wave 8 has never hit the Twin Cities, and I wonder if I’ll ever even see wave 9 or if Target will place Public Enemies figures and Walmart will just place the wave 10 exclusives. The exclusives again will be huge scalper bait and finding them may become an issue. When I started buying DCUC I went into it hoping I could pick them up casually in person in stores, and not online. Only a couple waves (1, 3, 4, and 6) have I found easily and over a good period of time in stores. Distribution alone will determine whether I stick with DCUC.

    1. Wave 8 wasn’t too terrible here, but Wave 9 has been a pain so far.

      When our Wal-Marts reset, they added pegs to some WMs and then filled them with the Best Of case. Then those sold out and we filled up on Wave 7.

  12. I only buy ones I like, so I don’t have to get burned out. It works for me!

    I want the Mary for this wave. From 11, I just want the Question and Karma Tui cause she looks cool. Power Girl and Beast Boy from 10, and none from wave 9. It works out cool and you can sell the extra C&C pieces to get your money back!! ^-^

  14. Aside from Darkseid, maybe the Spectre, nothing in 12 really calls out to me. I actually started collecting DCUC with wave 7, before that, only had Harley, which I bought for my wife, who loves the character. Completing Atom Smasher became a priority for me, b/c I just thought he was a really cool looking figure. Plus 7 had a lot of figures I wanted. The ones I don’t care for are Barda & Kid Flash. In wave 8, I like Vigilante & Dr. Fate, but I’m waiting for the all gold Fate variant. In 9, really only interested in Deadshot & Wildcat, although Chemo looks really sweet, but can’t justify buying the whole wave for those three. I recently found & bought wave 1 on ebay. And I already pre-ordered wave 11, couldn’t risk not completing Kilowog! I don’t care for Imperiex, but I will pick up The Joker, Power Girl, maybe Batman and, though, I’m not really familiar with him, Robotman looks really cool. DCUC produces some awesome figs, even with lesser known characters. B’Wana Beast looks fantastic!

    1. I don’t know about that all Gold Fate. I’m worried it will be like the Modern Red Tornado or the White-Faced Harley. It may never materialize.

    1. I’m glad the wave has it’s fans! I want them all right now, so I’m on board. Like I said, I like the lineup – just the end product feels a little askew.

  16. dude, you have my email… i may be willing to make some deals w/ you for some of the figs & maybe that pesky darkseid… cuz i’m in the opposite position you are, i only like 1 or 2 figs in the upcoming waves, like eclipso and the C&C music factory darkseid. i’m willing to help man. BTW the springfield TRU has finally got a few giganta figs coming in… maybe by wave 12, we’ll be up to a full actual stocking!

    that’s the nice thing about the wave packouts they’re putting out… even if you don’t like an entire wave, there’s enough to please enough fans that every figure sells to someone… so the secondary market can help buffer the costs and spousal guilt that come from buying a whole wave of figs you only like 3 or 4 figures from.

    1. I appreciate the offer, but I’m still Pokemoning it up with the line. I can’t part with any just yet.

      Our TRU has been getting B cases while Target gets the A cases. At least until wave 9, where they’re just not showing up at all.

  18. Not sure if anyone is aware of this but DCUC Wave 13 has been revealed…apologies if you are all aware, I had not seen anything on Itsalltrue as of yet. Please see below:

    Blue Beetle (Jamie Reyes)
    Blue Devil
    Cheetah (Classic)
    Cheetah (mordern)
    Cycoltron (Yah!)
    Donna Troy
    Negative Man (Classics)
    Negative Man (black variant)
    Superboy
    C&C Trigon

    Has anyone heard if these are accurate?

    Skittles

  19. I’m not that interested in wave 12 either, but you just got go to the next wave man. Keep on moving on.

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