Toy Review: DCUC10 - Forager, Power Girl, Beast Boy, and Robotman

DC Universe Classics Wave 10
Forager, Power Girl
Beast Boy, and Robotman

Exclusives suck.

Sad to say, DC Universe Classics Wave 10 (DCUC 10) or the “Imperiex Wave” is a Walmart exclusive. Since the closest Walmart to me is about 8,113 miles away (I checked), this poses certain problems. Since I neither have the gift of flight, nor access to a Federation Starship, I was pretty much shit outta luck. Good thing Pinoy collectors seem to have a nice sense of community. Like my DCUC 9 Green Arrow & Black Canary One of the guys on PinoyToyKolektors was good enough to sell me a DCUC 10 set. What’s more, it was his own personal set. Since he had other figures coming in, he offered to go ahead and sell me the ones he had on had. I can’t thank him enough.

The reason I wanted this particular wave so bad was that there are really only 2 groups I wanted to collect from DC; characters I liked from the JLA and JLU cartoon series, and Batman characters. Since this set includes a Batman, Joker, and Manbat, that set it right up there with that 4-pack with Catwoman and Two Face.

Before I actually got the toys in hand, I was going to sell off the other figures in the wave; Forager, Robotman, Beast Boy, and Power Girl, along with the Build-A-Figure (BAF) (I refuse to call it a Collect-And-Connect figure because that’s a whole extra word and a silly sounding acronym). But then I opened them up and I got to tell you, I’m sold on Mattel. With the Marvel Legends scale dying out, DCUC are the superhero toys to buy. 4″ figures are kind of neat, but there’s just something about that extra 2″ that makes a toy more fun to handle and play with.

Dead Shot isn’t part of the set, but I got him the same time I picked up DCUC 10 so he was drafted into the photos. As you can see, nothing has really changed from the first wave of DCUC figures to this set. 10 waves strong and the packaging still feels good to me.

It’s not as functional as say GI Joe Sigma 6, or as space saving as NECA clamshells, but they are easily identifiable, sturdy, and can be opened with a minimum of fuss. Thankfully, each figure has only about 3 or 4 twisties and maybe 2 of those clear rubber bands. Have your penknives and nail clippers handy. Each of the figures is boxed in a nice action pose that shows off the points of articulation, which is a nice change from earlier waves.

I decided to start with the non Batman figures first, saving the best for last. The weird thing was, the more I played with these unknowns (to me), the more I found myself enjoying them.

Robotman was the first I opened, since he’s well, a robot. I love robots. As a Transformers geek, robots were the first toy I owned and the first on my priority list now.

From what I can tell, he’s just a standard DCUC body with some re-tooling on the upper torso, head, and hands. There isn’t much detail needed seeing as how he’s mostly smooth all over, but he’s got some interesting doodads attached to him.

Articulation is the same as all DCUC males, with hinge and swivel joints all around. The only functional ball joints he’s got are the ones on his shoulders. Technically, his head is on a balljoint, but the much talked about 3-balled post that connects the head to the neck has killed any upward and downward movement. It’s basically just side to side now.

I like the finish on him. His whole body is basically just one color. Except for the control box on his chest and his biking pants, he’s a nice orange bronzey color. I’m not entirely sure that it’s paint (he’s still a very lightweight figure), but it has a nice dull shine to it. With the amount of real estate that the color covers, it’s probably just the plastic they used. One really great thing is that he has painted eyes. Very nice.

The biggest surprise I had was that you could open up his skullpan and touch his brain. It’s something totally unexpected for me (I’m sure those who read Doom Patrol would have realized it, but I don’t) and a nice touch from Mattel. Probably not entirely necessary, but considering who expensive these are getting, the effort is appreciated.

Next is Beast Boy.

That name never fails to get a lol out of me. Beast Boy. It’s ridiculous. Sure Marvel’s got Spider-Man and Doctor Strange and Captain America, but they all just have a more respectable ring to it. Beast Boy sounds like some kind of superhero fetish actor.

The figure however is pretty solid. Like all of the others, articulation is decent, if not the best. I’d love to see double knees and elbows, or the current Play Arts joints on these guys, but what they have is serviceable. Paint is nice, again with very little areas to comment on. Purple is purple, green is green, and black is where it’s supposed to be. It’s a very nice combination; pleasant on my eyes. He almost looks like a character from The Incredible Hulk universe.

The main difference with Beast Boy is his height. He’s a short fella, at least a head shorter than the rest of the line. A total squirt. Compared to the rest of this line, he’s the one that seems to be the least value since he masses less than any of the other figures, except maybe Power Girl.

Mattel tries to make up for this with the inclusion of an accessory; a green falcon. It’s got some articulation points. Two. If you’re persistant, you can perch it on someone’s wrist, but the claws aren’t really made to be useful. It’s ok, but considering he doesn’t come with a big piece of the BAF, they probably should have given us a wolf or something.

Of the entire DCUC10 set, Power Girl is probably the one I’m most dissappointed in. Although I love the Four Horsemen male sculpts, I haven’t seen any nice female figures. Wonder Woman is the closest I’ve seen, but there are still problems. Their foreheads are huge for one. Then there’s their faces, which are all flat. What’s wrong with noses? Wonder Woman should have a nose. She’s Greek. The worst thing is that they are all far too skinny.

That last problem is really apparent here. Power Girl (at least in the artwork I’ve seen of her) is always portrayed with a body builder’s physique, or at least a female professional wrestler. While I don’t really go for that in real life, the artwork always made it seem like a good fit. The standard DCUC body just doesn’t work for the superheroines that are supposed to have super strength.

Articulation is pretty poor compared to the males. This might have been understandable. Sacrifices were made (especially in the hip area) to give way to sculpt and allow for a smooth feminine silhouette. Unfortunately, since this is by no means a pretty toy, the effort is rendered wasted.

I also hate that she has short hair, but still can’t look up when she’s flying. Superstrength and flight. Those are her powers and neither is allowed to show through in this figure.

Sad to say, you can’t even switch heads with the nicer looking DC Direct figures. The old heads are too big and the neck on the new DCUC is too small.

I do like her sculpted cape though.

The last non-Batman figure is Forager.

From what I gather from the back of the card, he’s a bug that evolved into a kick-ass superhero. o-kay.

Not a fan of the New Gods stuff I’ve got to say. Their costumes are about as lame as Beast Boy’s name, and they have a generally wacky look to them. Forager’s perpetually surprised expression pretty much cinches my argument.

That said, I really had fun with Forager. That slack-jawed look is very good for silly pictures and the nice additions they made to the standard body makes it very unique. He’s got a weapon and sheild for one. The sheild is suprisingly secure, but comes off easily. The rubber skirt and collar don’t resrict movement as they do on other figures and are sufficiently thin to bend. If you’re willing to boil and pop his head, you can even take off his shoulder gear, bandolier, and shield and pose him on his day off.

– to be continued…

Also read the following reviews:

DCUC 6 Hawkman Review
DCUC Wave 4 Wonder Woman
DCUC Wave 8 Hawkgirl
DC Direct Nightwing & Flamebird