Have I ever mentioned I loathe fan polls? (I know I have, but it’s fun to ask). I’ve been thinking about them a lot while photographing DC Universe Classics Metron. He’s just (about) right, but I’m also glad that he’s not “Red Rocket” or Black Lantern Swamp Thing.
When Mattel kicked off the Classics line, the New Gods were well represented. Orion was in the first wave and an improved Orion came in a 2pk with Lightray the next year. Mister Miracle & Big Barda followed shortly thereafter, Forager found his way into the Walmart wave, and plenty of evil New Gods were salt & peppered into the line those first couple years too. Then things kinda dried up. It wasn’t that big a deal – there are hundreds of DC characters that sorely need figures, but some of the notable New Gods were visibly missing. Metron was first on that list for many.
I voted for Metron to be the Club Exclusive in last year’s fan poll. I always thought he’d win, but the “eww” factor of the alternative (Black Lantern Swamp Thing? Really?) gave me pause. I wouldn’t have minded the Shaggy Man or Rocket Red (until I saw him anyway…), but Metron was the best option and I’m tremendously grateful to all the like-minded voters out there.
And that was before I had him in hand. There are a few issues that I’ll cover as we go along, but this is one really impressive toy. The Metron figure we deserve & the Metron figure we need right now! He makes me happy that we have the DC Subscription. I know there’s been fan debate about where Toy Guru & Co. might have cribbed Metron from. Was he the “missing” SDCC exclusive? Was the just going to be a regular chairless figure? Was the Chair going to be a new C&C form factor? That kind of geek discussion can be fun to engage in, but it’s just that, geek discussion, and it’s not particularly important. However Mattel intended (or didn’t) to get this figure & chair out to us, I’m just glad they did.
If you’re not familiar with Metron (hopefully that didn’t lead you to vote for Black Lantern Swamp Thing…), he’s one of the basic New Gods created by Jack Kirby in the early 70s. Metron more or less fits neatly in the “observer” archetype like Uatu. He seeks to learn everything he doesn’t know and doesn’t really join into the fray too often (and when he’s does it’s usually by doling out a key item or revealing a pro-tip). Metron’s not necessarily aligned with the Highfather’s noble New Gods or Darkseid’s notorious bunch, but it’s hard to learn new stuff when you’re dead, so he’s more often seen hanging out with Miracle, Orion, & the gang.
Metron’s most notable feature is the Mobius Chair (that’d be the big, green hunk o’ plastic in the pics). The chair is powered by an unknown element that allows Metron to move through time and space instantly and effortlessly. As you can imagine if you had a chair like that, Metron is almost never seen not sitting in it. It’s one of those things that put toy companies in a logistical jam. There’s little point to making Metron without his chair, so his name usually ends up on the cutting room floor. It took Mattel years to get this far. DC Direct did produce a chair-less Metron a few years ago. It looked nice, but no chair, no sale.
Before I get to Mattel’s Mobius Chair, which will probably be the highlight of the Club Infinites Earth subscription this year, I do need to spend some time on the figure. (See, that’s how important the Chair is, it’s the star of the show. As any long-time DC Collector would expect, Metron is built on the basic buck and only required a new head and hands to get the details right. I will take a moment to mention that I wish the folks at Mattel had more vision (& tooling budget) to create a vaster array of bucks that would include a lean, adult sized torso. This figure works on this buck, but it could be better. Unfortunately, Mattel and I aren’t interested in the same type of bucks. Continue to Page 2…
I think Metron came out pretty well. The chair fared a lot better than the figure. In my case, there is slop on his chest tampo along with his eyebrows and forehead. There is blue paint on the inside of the clear plastic in his box but no harm was done to the nose. Guess I lucked out better than most. Paint issues aside, Metron and his Mobius Chair were well worth my vote and waiting time.
…
Want.
That is all. 🙂
That chair is amazing.
How about a shot of MOTUC Zodac sitting in it? I’m really curious as to how well he’d fit, considering he has a similar chair in the original DC mini.
And man, those painted ears look weird!
Awesome review as usual. Love the photos!
I would also love to see a shot of Zodac in the chair
Great review and pictures, as always, Noisy.
I have to say, I was not all that excited about getting an action figure of a guy who sits in a chair all day (even if it is a Kirby-character, and even though most of us are just going to display him, not play with him). Especially when there are so many other oversize figures that need to be made (if Elasti-Girl is not announced at SDCC this year, then everyone at Matty needs their collective heads examined.) But the other choices in that fan poll were… well, “horrible” would be putting it kindly. But no matter what character won, you just knew the 4H would knock it out of the park, so no worries, right? And of course, that’s just what they did, and Metron looks awesome, and the chair is amazing, and hopefully B.L. Swamp Thing will reamian in comic Limbo for all eternity. Considering how wrong this fan poll could have gone, this Metron exceeds all expectations!
Great review! Always enjoy your DCUC reviews. Thanks, and looking forward to more in the future.
This really was a great release. Mabye not perfect. Mine had some very small issues, but nothing terribly at all. The chair came out wonderfully. I put the cap from some black spray paint underneath it (my shelves are black). Gives it all a wonderful “floating” effect. I absolutly LOVE all the Kirby-esque details the Mobius chair has. Wonderful subscriber bonus.
I’m worried, now. I really love this release. I’m not sure what they could do to follow this for next year’s exclusive. It’s really a case of heting to be the following act. The chair is such a wonderful, unique release in this line. There’s just nothing else like it in DCUC, so far. Even if we get a really killer release, like a to-scale Killer Croc or Doomsday, without a great “hook” like the Mobius chair, it would somehow just feel a bit “flat” in my book. I’ll just have to cross my fingers for next week’s news…
It’s a cool figure, but I do agree that the CHAIR is what cinches the deal. I picked up that DCD Kirby-style Metron at my LCS right before they announced the poll, so now I have two of this “low rung/priority” figure.
One of my first comics was the X-Men/NTT crossover, where the chair featured more prominently than Metron did, and I had no clue who he was …or Darkseid, or Phoenix, Slade, or…most of the cast, to be honest. It was such a high concept comic that I was hooked instantly, but unfortunately, I only had one rack of comics in each of two separate stores 15 miles apart and no back issues or internet to dig up any more information on them back then.
I’d like to recreate the X-Titans piling on the chair scene, but a- I’m too lazy, and b- I really have nowhere to set them up at. :/
other pic gags I would have liked to see: Zodac and Zodak (at least peeking into the side of that last panel) and, since you called it a “chair which rides the dimension winds of time-space”, you need the TARDIS and A Doctor peeking in with an “excuse me?” bit. (But I realize y’all might not have any Who toys.) You really need to give us a heads up what you’re going to review next, so we can suggest gags like this. 😉
All that said, I opened mine, gave it a once over, and put it back in the box. Same for Jay and Atrocitus. I am just NOT feeling the need for these, for some reason? Maybe it’s because there was no “thrill of the hunt”? I simply saw my card had been charged and waited for them to show up. Even ebay stuff there is the thrill of watching those last few seconds tick down to see if I got something or not. I just missed a fairly cheap DCD Arkham Robin the other night, and this was after a purchase of “pick and choose” Who toy lots I “won” by getting to them first that I also felt that buzz on, and we all know the momentary glee in finding something on the shelves we didn’t expect. There’s nothing like that with the sub. I do feel it a bit with MOTUC, not being a subscriber and being “late to the game” with that line, only picking it up last fall with the clearance sale. (and today’s “Most Wanted” sale, everything is still available, including the only non-MOTUC item, the PKE meter, six hours in!)
Then again, it might be all the dissatisfaction with DC as a whole at the moment? I’m down to a minimum pull and at least two of my titles will be ending shortly, on top of all the “flash and awe” IMAGE-ification that has sputtered out almost immediately with the nu52 reboot. Of course, I only have two non-DC titles, and that’s counting one as quasi-annual tpb release.
oh yeah, was there a reason you don’t have Forager in the group shot? There’s still a few up here in Washington WM clearance ($3) if you’re in the area and need one.
you also need to add an edit button. I almost forgot AGAIN, that I never really got a shot at Lightray, only coming across that 2pk ONCE and it had horrible paint apps and twisted limbs. I’ve let that slide in the past, esp on exclusives, but these even I had to pass on. 🙁
Nevermind on Forager. seems like dropping the price to $3 cleared out all those figures except two PGs. either that, or they finally tossed them out! LOL
My biggest reveal at SDCC is just Rita Farr. Classic Doom Patrol is my all time favorite series and I really just need her to feel complete with this line. Getting The Chief in a wheelchair would just be gravy. Speaking of which, he would be a good sub exclusive figure since his wheelchair is definitely something that has probably kept him from being produced in this line so far. Get him his superchair and I will die a happy man.
Yeah, I know it can’t really happen (yet) but it will be cool if the DCUC line can eventually get more awesome dio stuff like this.
Killer work on that chair.
Very nice review as always! I’m just now getting to open my Metron today since I was one of the last subs to get shipped out last time and then I’ve been out of town for what seems like forever. I’ll have to check my two and open the one with the better looking paint job.
Missed a good opportunity to throw a Zodac/Zodak into a photo shot with Metron for the article.