Toy Review: DCSH Battlesuit Lex & DCUC Superman

07/17/10

DC Superheroes Battlesuit Lex Luthor (& DCUC Superman)

One of the guys at Cybertron Philippines who frequents Divisoria sent me a text message about 2 weeks back that he’d found a Lex Luthor there for only p300.00 and asked if I wanted him to pick it up for me. My first thought was that it was the new Legion of Doom Lex from the Gotham City 5-pack; the one in the purple tights and webgear? Yeah, that one. Because I’d seen so many overruns from China these days, it wasn’t that big a jump. I mean I already got the Superman and Two Face from that same 5-pack loose at various specialty shops, and the guy told me that the purple Catwoman (without googles or whip) was available at Divi as well, so it was logical to assume there were overruns of the Lex figure.

Imagine my surprise when I got the DC Superheroes (DCSH) Battlesuit Lex Luthor instead!

I’ve been wanting this figure for a while now, ever since I saw it during one of the toy events. I thought it was a great look for Luthor, and the perfect costume to pit against the Man of Steel. Because of my focus on Marvel and Transformers though, I never really prioritized it. I’m sure I’d have paid a ton more if I had bought it from one of the collectors on the boards, so I’m really glad for this happy accident.

DCSH Battlesuit Lex Luthor is sculpted by The Four Horsemen, a group of artists who used to do work for McFarlane Toys. McFarlane Toys was the company that jump-started the toy industry by introducing the idea that toys didn’t need to LOOK like toys. It was after they came on the scene that we got Marvel Legends which introduced “super-articulated” toys. The Horsemen designed figures like Cy-Gor, The Crow, Mandarin Spawn, and The Flukeman for McFarlane before deciding that they needed to make toys that could be played with as opposed to ones that were just for display in one static pose. What came out of that idea was a partnership with Mattel and the Masters of the Universe Classics (MotUC) line.

Like their work on MotUC, their work on the DCSH line (and the subsequent DC Universe Classics or DCUC) was the definition of great toy design. While neither shares the same insane amount of articulation you find in Marvel Legends figures, the balance between sculpt and joint work is almost perfect. They all LOOK the part of the comic superheroes as well; big guys in tights.

Battlesuit Lex is a little different though, since he’s in a, duh, battle suit. You can’t expect a normal human to go up against the Last Son of Krypton in spandex. He’d get pulped. So, Lex went and built himself an exo-skeleton that could make him a match for old Clark Kent. This version is a little diffrent that it was when it appeared in the comics. From the images I’ve seen on Google, it was a much smoother looking armor, a lot like the original Iron Man costumes. The Horsemen decided to modernize it a bit, with some dohickery added in to make the suit look more like it was manufactured.

It was an excellent decision if you ask me.

He reminds me a lot of the DCSH Mr. Freeze I bought a few months back. That figure was also sculpted by The Horsemen, so it came as no surprise. It got me wondering if I could somehow kit-bash another of these Lex Luthor figures and make a nicely articulated Mr. Freeze (that figure has very little useful articulation).

Speaking of articulation, this thing has it. Again, it’s not as spectacularly abundant as it is in the Marvel Legends line, but all of it is useful. From the feet up he has hinged ankles, swivel boot tops, hinged knees, swivel thighs, the now standard DCUC hip joint (combination of a swivel and a hinge that gives it the same range as Legends balljoints), a torso balljoint that acts as crunch joint and swivel waist, swivel-hinge shoulders, swivel biceps, hinged elbows, swivel glove tops, and a limited balljoint neck.

Holy crap.

The feet are a little weird, seeing as how they have now nub to stop them from going all the way round, but I’m not going to complain about MORE range of motion than is needed.

The face sculpt is pretty awesome in and of itself. It’s sculpted with a look of smug arrogance that’s perfect for kicking Superman’s butt. It’s pretty easy to get it to turn in the armor too, so you needn’t worry about that.

Paint is top notch on this item, more than any of the new DCUC figures at least. Everything feels right where it’s supposed to be. Even the reds aren’t bleeding into the green, which is normally a big problem.

Unfortunately, there is a downside to buying overruns. Accessories aren’t usually included in with them. While reviewing the reviews online, I found that this toy originally came with a way cool Kryptonite pistol, with it’s own piece of Kryptonite. I’d love to have that weapon and zap Supes into oblivion.

You also have to watch out for the red tubes on his torso. I think the vendor in Divisoria glued the things back on after they fell off. It’s barely noticeable and doesn’t bother me, but I’m sure there are collectors that wouldn’t like to have a repaired figure.

As I said, I also picked up the Gotham City 5-pack Superman. Again, there are caveats when buying surplus toys. This figure in particular had a heat damaged cape, and a very, VERY loose head. I can’t complain since I got it at p300.00 and I only really wanted him so Batman could pound on him anyway.

Still it’s a great figure, identical in most respects to all the other DCUC Supermen except that he has normal eyeballs (the one in the Brianiac 2-pack had heat vision eyes), and a neck joint that allows him to look up. It’s a great addition and should be standard for all figures from now on Mattel!

Honestly, Superman is a must for any DC collection, and I still think that the DCUC one is the best there is. I suggest you get one (any one of them will do really). It’s a good thing that this particular one was re-released in the 25th Anniversary line, so go out and pick one up.