There's something most of the world's population seems to not understand, and no it's not how to stay out of debt, it's that rocking a mullet is simply the epitome of what it is to be cool. I hear your snarky remarks, "Then why don't YOU have one?" Though I appreciate you thinking I'm the epitome of all that is manly and amazing, I am simply not cool enough to wear one. It takes a man of dicipline and sterner stuff to not only maintain such an iconic hairstyle, but also to stand steadfast against the putrid tide of jealous libel and slander spread by those who can never be awesome enough to wear this most honorific of hairdos.

For a glorious period in the '90s, Superman was blessed with a mullet. Not only a mullet, but a magnificent specimen of lush dark curls that seemed to get curly or wavy from time to time because...uh...he likes to mix it up once in a while. You know who else had a mullet? Thomas Jefferson, the Archangel Michael, most of the kings of old whose paintings and carvings were destroyed by jealous ursurpers, and yes, of course, Brock F'ing Samson. The mullet has a rich history brimming with majesty, like a treasure chest overflowing with jewels and little shiny bits that can be traded for mugs of good ale, not that cheap stuff they serve to the peasants. With this figure, you too can own a piece of that history.

(Yeah, yeah, TAO already reviewed this figure a while ago, but if you know me, you know if I have nothing new to say then I over-compensate with lots and lots of pictures!)

Name: Superman (Classic) (The "classic", part referring to the mullet of course)
Line: DC Universe Classics
Manufacturer: Mattel
Released: 2009
Price: Retail: $13.00-$15.00, Online: $8.00-$20.00
Scale: 6 in.
Accessories: Kalibak's Left Arm, Kalibak's Mace, Inspiring Aura, Big Chin

Sponsor Listings: Ka-Razy Kings of Toys-$12.50 (sale price), Mike's Comics N' Stuff-$13.50

When new sculpts are introduced to a line of action figures, usually improvements come along with them, the DCUC line is no exception. The sculpts are much rounder than the more angular shapes of the DCSH line, the range of motion of the articulation has increased, muscles are bigger, more details like pronounced wrinkles at the ankles have been added. There are a few things I don't like though, such as the belt being a separate piece (now it looks fat) and the shoulders are too round (I liked the old squarish models), but most people seem to love the new designs.

Once you start exercising and developing your muscles to the point of visibility, you start to appreciate a figure's sculpt a bit more. You can compare your own to its curves and bulges (or lack thereof, DCUC figures still have flat crotches xD ) and see how good a job the sculptors did at recreating the human body. I don't think I'll ever get those crazy huge bulges around my knees, but apparently it is possible, so the Four Horsemen did a great job at making a really buff guy. But I will say, I have no idea what those neat little nicks on the back of the arm are supposed to be. Also, I wish I knew how the thighs were assembled, because I swear it looks like they're actually two pieces fused together.

The arm-sockets now give enough clearance for the arms to swing forward more, so it's now entirely possible for the figure touch his chest and strike more natural poses. The cape hangs naturally enough but its weight tends to force you to tilt the torso and legs back a little to balance it out. The belt looks so thick, why would you need a belt when you're wearing a spandex suit? Is Supes in constant danger of being pantsed? Are there villains out there who threaten to pull his underwear down? Well, they have guys who commit crimes based on what holiday it is, so I guess anything is possible.

Being a plain outfit, there are no seams or stiches to speak of, except for the common groove along the top of the boots to make them look less bland. there aren't any wrinkles on the blue parts so Superman looks like he has blue skin with red boots and underwear...and flesh-colored hands, har har. Supes has a sexy long hair, it's the kind of hair any manly man would love to have. It parts and flows and swirls like a cascade of black licorice, yum. The big beefy chin is present, and it pleases fans of the animated Superman series, like me.

Sculpt Score: 8 / 10

Paint applications were kept to a minimum, but there are some choices I don't understand. For example, the feet are red plastic painted over with more red to match the rest of the boots, but the red crotch wasn't painted over to match the painted red on the hips. The result is a dead dull crotch that contrasts sharply with the rest of the underwear ("overwear", I should say). At the swivel near the knees, the blue plastic is noticeably two different shades. The half-assed attempt at airbrushed shading does nothing to hide this fact.

These cost-cutting and sloppy details make me wonder why everyone is so willing to pay the same price for this sub-par quality when you can go get a DC Direct version with more realistic and unique sculpting and a complete paint-job. If I had to guess, I'd say the darker plastic the upper-thighs are made of is stiffer than the lower-legs because of the constant torque the hips must endure. That's reasonable, but then, why not make the knees with the same stuff? Maybe that would make the joints harder to assemble? Have you ever tried re-assembling a DCUC figure's knees? It's freaking hard!

I like the yellow on this figure, it isn't pure so it doesn't hurt to look at when in direct light. The chest-symbol is completely painted but a little faded, while the one on the cape is perfect, even despite being painted over wrinkles! By the way, have you ever noticed how lame Superman's symbol looks? Look at it, the S has no uniformity, it looks so random. It starts bloky at the top and ends with a curve, what is that all about? It needs something darker, somehting sharp and egdy, something from the '90s! The '90s are the future, baby!

It is with great joy that I gaze upon the hair, for it is entirely painted and high-lighted with a dark and pretty shade of blue with much care. The painter must have been inspired by such a voluminous mane, who wouldn't? The flesh is all painted, the face and neck area look good but it's flaking-off at the wrists. Something I don't like; the hands are cast in blue plastic. That means after a few weeks of beating the hell out of trucks and airplanes with those fists (that's what my Superman does, anyway), the paint on the knuckles will chip off and you'll be left with blue knucks! The eyes have a faint hint of blue, but they look mostly black with a white speck for reflection.

Paint Score: 7 / 10

 

The standard articulation model for DC Universe Classics figures is the same as their predecessors, with a few characters, like Powergirl, getting a little extra when possible, and some characters, like The Penguin, losing some when inevitable. If you're a long-time reader of AD, you'll no doubt have seen our helpful diagrams pointing-out all the joints, well, here's another one for good measure!

Though the points of articulation are similar, the range of the DCUC figures' motion is much improved thanks to more thoughtful sculpting. Now elbows can bend a bit over 90 degrees instead of slightly less than 90 like before. Knees can also bend further, the arms can swing forward more, the ab-hinge tilts farther forward and back, the legs rest more naturally. Lately, DCUC figures have been suffering from limited necks, the ball-socket joints functioning like swivels because of a misguided change in the figures' internal structure, but this Series 6 Superman has escaped that irritating defect. Unfortunately, the head is still limited but this time because of the mullet we so adore! The head can still face down and to the sides but to face up you have to tilt the whole torso back.

Other than that, I have no complaints about the rest of the artic., you can achieve many of your favorite poses (Supes can even comb his sweet hair! Assuming you have a mini-comb handy like Guile or Birdie's from Street Fighter, and assuming you switch the hands out so he can actually hold stuff xD). The increased mobility makes him much more fun to play with thatn the DCSH version. All joints were tight right out of the package, allowing Supes to support almost any pose, even with that big heavy cape. And even though there are so many joints, most of them aren't terribly noticeable. The elbow/knee/ankle pins are the most obvious, but they blend away fairly well, with the rounded tips of the pins being slightly recessed into the body.

Articulation Score: 8 / 10

Superman's strength and weakness as a toy is that he can do anything. If Livewire electrocutes him, he can shake it off and knock her lights out, if Luthor traps him in a cage miles under the earth, he can eventually break free and tunnel back to us, so how do you give him a challenge when the only villains you own so far are Killer Moth and The Penguin? There-in lies much of the fun in playing with Superman, your creativity soars as you try to devise a way for your motley crew of sinister schemers to put an end to the Man of Steel! So, in a way, this toy inspires the darker part of our imagination to erupt, like so many bubbles exploding on the surface of boiling tar.

The real magic happens when you decide only a new villain can defeat Superman, and so decide to create a custom of your own original design! This figure wasn't completely assembled when I removed it from the package, the upper-body's two halves weren't completely glued together, so it was just a matter of a little prying to cleanly and completely separate them. For any regular customer, this would be a concerning issue, especially if they are parents giving this toy to their young children who tend to put things in their mouths (the suggested minimum age of playing with a DCUC figure is 4 years-old). Someone else might think, "Hmm, I wonder what Superman looks like with Hawkman's chest", and BAM! They've got themselves a bare-chested Supes. Maybe they want to take it further, buy a little paint, a little Apoxie and make, oh, I don't know, how about Warlord! What can be a potentially hazardous situation for some can be the start of a wonderful new hobby for others, a foray into the wonderful world of customizing! No doubt most of you would consider a cracked torso as a defect, I on the other hand look at it like a door cracked slightly open, offering a glimpse into a new realm of adventure.

I think kids will appreciate how easy it is to hold Superman while he's flying. The cape's folds offer a way to grip the figure securely so he can be thrown through cardboard-buildings with style.

Fun Score: 8 / 10

Being Superman, super-god from another planet, naturally he isn't packaged with any acessories, what use would he have for a Batarang? (maybe to cut his steak with?) Still, a good toy-company should be able to find a way to add some goodies in the package to enhance play-time. What are some famous accessories Superman could have had? How about the City of Kandor? A Phantom Zone Projector? A few chunks of differently-colored Kryptonite? I would have suggested an alternate short-hair head if we didn't already know Mattel would release a version like that shortly afterwards to maximize their earnings. No sense in giving the public something for free today when they will gladly pay for it when it's given a bit later. Let's not be too gloomy though, included in the package is the left arm of Kalibak, the Collect N' Connect of this series. Also included is Kalibak's mace, look at that, there's an accessory in there after all!

For MOC colectors, there are lots of attractive graphics on the package, you're greeted by drawings and information at all viewing-angles. The orange-colored backdrop resembles a page from a comic-book, the backside depicts the other figures in the series (including Kalibak, so you know exactly what you'e bulding with those free extra pieces) and give a quick Biography and a few statistics, like the character's special abilities. I like the overall display, but I love orange and brown, both abundant on this package, so my opinion may be biased, hah.

Also, the reason I added a picture of the figure's package both empty and occupied (see the pictures at the end of this review) is to show just how easy it is to cleanly open the package. It was opened using only a dull knife, and if I glued the bubble back to the card, the package would look as good as new. This is a huge problem because there are jerks out there who will buy the figure to remove it from the package, replace it with a different (usually little-desired) figure, and return it to the store for a full refund. Employees don't seem to be briefed about this kid of scam, or if they are, the brief is so brief that they forget!, and so this kind of activity continues all too commonly.

Anyway, being a figure produced in greater quantities because apparently Superman figures sell like hotcakes (who the hell sells hotcakes? Aren't they called Pancakes? Get with the times, people!), many online-stores tend to put this figure on sale to get rid of them all. After shipping costs, the price will most likely climb back up to the near $15 dollar mark, what DCUC figures are currently selling for at retail price in brick-and-mortar stores. Is that a fair price for these DCUC figures? The argument can be made in favor of the cost when examining figures like Hawkgirl with her huge wings and multiple weapons or Ares with his large size and accessories, but what about the rest of the characters? What about figures like the Green Lanterns that are simple repaints? More to the point, what about Superman? He isn't "simply a repaint", he has sculpted details, a cape, and the greatest hair to ever grace the scalp of a heroic icon. Those details when combined with the free CnC Kalibak piece (now "supposedly" free because it feels like Mattel is charging so much to make-up for the CnC piece...) make me feel like $15 is still a fair price, even for a line that was originally around $8. Do I WANT to pay the ridiculously-inflated price though? Hell no. And neither should you.

Value Score: 6 / 10

 78 / 100 - This is a Good Toy

The most disappointing thing about this figure isn't the flaked spots of paint or the generic primary-colored design, it's the slow realization that this Superman doesn't really have a mullet, he just has long hair that he combs back. Le sigh... 

This could be the figure given away in this month's Review Commentator Contest. Join the discussion by leaving a comment on this review for a chance to win!

And now, more pictures!