Package Description
Superman’s awesome abilities were sapped completely by the star-consuming Sun-Eater! An attempt to reinstate his superpowers transformed the Man of Steel into two energy beings: the rational Superman Blue and the hotheaded Superman Red! Eventually, the equal-but-opposite supermen were merged following a battle with the Millennium Giants. As the single Superman absorbed the rays of Earth’s yellow sun, he was restored to his superpowered-self.
Appearance
Superman has a new DCUC sculpt with a smaller build he shares with Black Manta. The smaller build looks great, having more realistic proportions than figures like the series 1 Batman. It is a little odd that this Superman has a smaller build than the DC Superheroes classic Superman, but it’s not a problem for me. The sculpt is typical for DCUC and DCSH for having a lot of sculpted well defined muscles, but the stance of the legs is also less wide compared to older figures. Other than the muscles though, there are no details on the body, only the alternating white and blue colors and the underwear lines on the legs which are on all the generic bodies. The paint lines are generally very clean on the body, and a little messier on the face. Because of the two colors on the figure, the most noticeable features, and the most important are the color transitions between white and blue, which Mattel handles very well. There’s not a lot of texture to the figure, so the blue electricity helps alleviate that problem. The electricity does look good, but I would have been nice to be able to pose him without it. The figure does have a little bit of a hard plastic look but I don’t think it’s any worse than most figures in the line.
None of the joints are too obvious because of the small spaces between joints. Superman looks good with an established DCUC and DCSH collection, although he doesn’t look quite right next to classic Superman. I really like the differing facial expressions between the blue and red Superman. The calmer Superman Blue contrasts well with the grimacing Superman Red, and they look great together. Mattel did a good job transitioning the art to plastic. Overall, Mattel is still showing a knack for getting these characters right the first time in DC Universe Classics.
Articulation
Superman has standard joints for DCUC and DCSH figures of the standard body type. His arms bend ninety degrees, as do the knees. The ab joint moves up and down better than any DCUC figure before him, giving him an ability to do much better flying poses than the classic Superman. The head has a great range of motion I talked about as one of the new features in series 1 figures. The electricity on the arms tends to fall off easily when handling the figure, but stays on when put on if left alone. The range of motion overall is fairly standard for this line everywhere except for excellent range in the torso.
Poseability
Superman Blue looks really nice next to Superman Red, but I’m not sure who else to stand him next to. I don’t like how he looks standing next to the classic Superman, and I’m not sure what villains to pose him with. He is easy to pose in dynamic and flying poses though, and stylistically fits with the rest of the line. I think Superman Blue’s biggest problem is just where to put him on the shelf, which I suppose is one of the better problems to have.
Final Judgment: 7
There’s not a lot that I could say is wrong about this figure except being able to remove the electricity on the back. Superman Blue has a great range of motion and is easy to pose. Appearance wise there are no big problems at all. There’s also nothing extra special to push the score up beyond an excellent though, so the score is going to sit at 7.
SCALE
10. My favorite possession.
9. My favorite action figure.
8. One of my favorite action figures.
7. An excellent action figure.
6. A good, but not exceptional action figure.
5. An adequate action figure.
4. Not worth the money I spent.
3. I'll give it to somebody's kid.
2. I'll give it to somebody's dog.
1. It's going to lose a fight with my car.
