Killer Moth
According to the Mattel product numbers, Killer Moth was planned to be his post-Neron Charaxes version, but the giant semi-realistic killer moth didn’t cost out for the wave and they decided to do the classic Killer Moth instead. While I’d like to see Charaxes in the line too, they did a great job on this figure. He’s downright garish. He’s made from a standard buck with his unique head, wings and a belt w/ holster for his pistol. The nature of his helmet causes the toy’s antenna to be warped out of the package, but it’s an easy fix (As long as you’re careful, they’re fragile) with some hot water. The paint lines were really important for this figure and the ones on mine are excellent. This is one of the best examples of the 4H taking a character that probably shouldn’t be in the line (sorry, Scott!) and knocking it out of the park to make a great figure. I should point out that he does tower over the rest of Batman’s rogues, but not so much that it looks out-of-scale.
Regeneration Superman & “Mullet” Superman
To be honest, I’ve never been sure which Superman was supposed to be the variant. The back of the box pictures the black Regeneration Suit version so he should be the regular figure, but I always seemed to run across the “mullet” version more. Both of these versions of Superman come from the tail end of his Death/Return story. He’s first seen alive in the black regeneration suit and his hair has grown long while he was dead/stasis/whatever. When he returns to active duty, he leaves the long hair and fans dubbed him “Mullet” Superman. Personally, I don’t mind this look, but I never did like the resulting Clark Kent with a ponytail look.
Both of these figures use a standard buck with the same new head. Superman gets his trademark boots and belt while the black Supes get the wristbands (the big toe armor is painted on). Paint apps are good on both. While the Black Supes all seem to have sharp lines, I do remember a lot of thin Superman tampos on the mullet version at the time so that’s something to watch out for. The mullet version of Superman would later be released with a short haired head twice (with normal eyes and with heat vision eyes). While both of these versions of Superman have their place, neither is really the iconic version and both probably end up more towards the back of the shelf.
“Shazam!” (a.k.a. Captain Marvel)
I’ve always felt bad that Captain Marvel can’t have his name at retail, but calling him Shazam! does at least call back to Super Powers when they also had to call the figure by his magic word instead of superhero name. Shazam is another figure in the wave with a decent chunk of new pieces: the head, the lapelled torso, the cape, the squared-off shoulders, the forearms, the sash/belt, the shins, and the feet (most of this tooling will be later used on Black Adam). Captain Marvel had some paint issues as his symbol tapers off the upper chest and his face paint is a little glossier than most, but his paint apps are otherwise solid. I usually hate the mixing of gold and yellow on comic book figures – I prefer all or nothing – but it doesn’t clash as much with Shazam as it did on Dr. Fate, so I don’t mind the dual colors here.
Captain Marvel by any other name is still Captain Marvel and this figure does a great job of recreating the character right down to his grin. Wave 9 included Black Adam and Wave 12 will have Mary Marvel (referred to Mary Batson) which has us getting closer to completing the family. I’ll be content with Captain Marvel, Jr – but I’m secretly hoping to get a Wizard and a Tawky Tawny someday. Continue to Page 3…
I consider that Hawkman to be one of the greatest figures in the line so far while Doctor Impossible is a waste of plastic.
Thankfully, he didn’t include a C&C piece and I’ve left him at the store dozens of times.
I never thought about Impossible not being req’d for Kalibak, but that’s true. I still bought ’em. I still want ’em all.
No mention of Kalibak being so squat? I like his bulk, but he just needs to be bigger so he can brawl with Superman.
I didn’t mind it because I feel he’s in-scale with DCSH Darkseid. But since Darkseid is apparently a behemoth now, Kalibak will look squat if that DS ends up on my shelves.
I hate tall Darkseid. That’s a waste of a c7c.
I don’t hate it, but I agree it’s a waste.
Great review. I’m a bigger fan of the inclusion of Killer Moth than you, though– he’s that nice surprise that you’d didn’t expect, when someone pulls out one more present that wasn’t left under the tree.
My only fault with this entire wave us that Capt. Marvels seems just a tad small– perhaps it’s the head. I feel it should stand out a little more in the crowd.
All great figures for sure, even the wretched Dr. Impossible. Mattel is the opposite of DC Direct who gives us charcters that we want in ways that we don’t want them any more; DCUC on the other hand, gives us characters that we would never think to ask for (Imperiex another recent example) and make them so well that you can’t help but want them…
I do like the figure, he’s just so silly. LOL. I was a big fan of a lot of Neron’s changes to the villains.
Super review! This was the 1st wave I picked up. I really like the figure choices in this assortment. While none of them are mu favorites, they are compelling to me! I really like Kalibak, so for me, they all were a must! Very happy with the distribution of this wave as well! Even though I know nothing about the character, Dr.Impossible was visually appealing to me, so he’s with the rest of my New Gods characters!
I do like the black/purple. That’s about it though.
Great review! This too was the wave that got me started and is still of the best in terms of character selection.
Thanks. I think this wave and w13 have the best lineups.
Okay, not to make myself sound stupid, but I didn’t know that the Motherbox was there until this review. That’s really cool.
A friend told it was there the night I bought him, so I didn’t find it on my own back then either.
MR Miracle is one of the best figures in the whole line. Period.
Definitely.
Great review!
Thanks!
It’s one of my favorite waves too.
Gotta love the modern versions getting some respect!
I loved Dr. Impossible (And the rest of Meltzer’s JLA run)
It’s all good. There are some really awful comics I like too. 😉
Miracle is one of the great figures in the line!
He really is, but I’m partial to all the Super Powers figures.
I can’t wait to see Golden Pharoah by the 4H!
Out of the whole wave Hawkman really surprised me! I’ve never been a fan of him and I usually like his more barbarian look like Ed McGuiness’ design, but when this guy arrived, I was truly impressed. He is easily in the top 5 best figures from this line.
Killer Moth was another fun one. He’s too ridiculous to pass on. My brother was taking a look at my Batman’s Rogues display and when he saw KM, he asked, “who the he’ll is that?!”. He couldn’t understand how that guycould be a “super”-villain. LOL
P.S. My Kailbak has the same hip problem!