For some reason or another I love the design of Mr. Terrific, and despite some quality control gaffs, this sculpt captures that dynamic visual quite well. To start with, his lower body, torso, and hands are the standard pieces we've seen used across the entire DCUC for numerous figures. Sure you might be tired of these pieces, but they're actually quite well sculpted, offering good muscle group definition, great proportions, and just a nice style. The build they've chosen fits my picture of Mr. Terrific perfectly, so there are no problems there either. In addition to those usual pieces, he also features brand new arms, a coat piece, and a unique head sculpt. Mattel probably could have skimped with the coat sleeves and reused the ones seen on Wave 2 Firestorm, but thankfully they introduced some new pieces here, and it's a good thing, because they look great. They look loose enough to display appropriately bunched wrinkles, although tight enough to show off some of his muscles. The coat looks great too, adding a nice three-dimensionality to his costume, but I'm not sure how he ever gets that ting zipped closed, because there's no way it would fit around his chest.
    There are intricate details here and there, the sculptors even managing to work in cloth wrinkles at his hips, gloves, and ankles, as well as the more prominent ones throughout his coat. A textured zipper adorns the edges of the coat, as well as a visible edge around the entire thing, which both add a more realistic feel. His head sculpt has a pretty neutral expression, but it's very crisp, with clear features and nice textured hair. His T-sphere accessories are attached via a peg hole in his back, and mine don't fit particularly well, falling out pretty easily. Despite the actual balls themself are well-sculpted, featuring a lower letter "T", and smooth arches coming around from his back. I prefer the figure without them, but he doesn't look terrible with them in either, unless you're displaying him from behind for some reason. The one major problem with this sculpt is that old Terrific here has two left legs below the knee. He was assembled incorrectly, featuring an identical calf on both legs. I guess Mattel liked that left-leg sculpt so much, that they wanted to use it twice. This makes the figure look absurd, makes him difficult to pose, and makes me want to buy a new one, although I'd say it's not a line-wide issue, so don't worry too much. I might be able to straighten it out a bit with the old hot-water trick, and still yet I have a feeling it's going to look awkward. 

Sculpt Score: 7 / 10

      Mr. Terrific features three colors that look very good together. Mattel opted for a basic black and white that fit the character perfectly, as well as a nice bold red that makes the costume pop. I love this color scheme, and thankfully Mattel just stuck to it, so it works. All of the colors seem to match across plastics, although I would have preferred his coat to be a glossier finish than his costume. All of the white is very bright, which is a relief, because past figures have had some yellowing issues. Surprisingly, this figure actually has a lot of detail work to speak of, and applications are generally great, with super-straight lines along his feet, wrists, and waist. Those on the coat are a little less crisp, even getting downright messy near the collar. The perfect "Fairplay" and "Mr. Terrific" texts on his coat more than make up for that though, because they're clear, readable, and slop free. The spots where black meets white are a little disappointing, often too fuzzy or just messy, but then there is the great silver zipper, which is even painted around a curve in the plastic, and looks spot-on.
     Despite the picture at the bottom of the review, which makes his face look messy (remember that image is about 20 times the actual size of his face), in person his face looks almost perfect. The color of his skin, hair, and mask are all correct, and the "T" mask itself looks very crisply applied. There is an obvious extra glob of paint below his hair on his forehead, but it's not terribly distracting. The rest of the hairline looks very good, as do his bright white eyes. I've saved the worst part for last, which is his T-sphere accessory. The clear plastic looks just fine, as do the black balls themselves, but the white "T"s on them are ridiculously bad. There's messy, either way outside the sculpt lines, or too far in, and the white doesn't get full coverage over the black, making them look gray instead. An extra 10 seconds per-ball here would have made a huge difference.  

Paint Score: 7 / 10

      As expected, Mr. Terrific features the same points of articulation as a standard DCUC figure (as pictured above). This is a generally good thing, as there's more than average options to move him around, but not quite as many as some people might like. You can add life and personality to your shelf with this joint model. His dark colors really help the articulation blend in visually, so it's not at all distracting, especially with the excellent sculpting in his sleeves to hide joints. The only ugly joint is the waist swivel, but even it's not too terrible. On another good note, every point works really well; nothing feels gummy, loose, or totally stuck, and he holds his weight well in a variety of stances. Of course, because of his wonky right leg, I've had to be a little more creative (I doubt you'll end up with the same problem).

Articulation Score: 9 / 10

 

Fun Score: 6 / 10

     Mr. Terrific ranges in price from around $12-$15 depending on where you can find him, and whether at retail or online. For a modern 6 inch figure, that isn't a terrible price compared to other lines, so I don't feel too ripped off with this fellow, all problems aside.  But then there is the problematic quality control, which makes this figure worth very little to me, because I'm going to have to replace him. And on the other hand, there must be something good about him if I'm willing to hunt him down again, and there is: he's a decent sized figure, he includes and accessory, and he comes with a C&C piece, which all add up to a reasonable value. But he's broken. I think you get the point here, aside from his problems, he's actually a really reasonable value, so hope that you get lucky with yours!  

Value Score: 6 / 10  

Summary

7 - An otherwise detailed, proportionate, and accurate sculpt is ruined by a quality control problem.  

7 - Mostly good applications, nice colors, and a really ugly accessory.  

9 - Functional, attractive, and only shy a few needed points of articulation. 

6 - Relatively boring character, mildly mediocre figure, and one frustrating QC issue. 

6 - Reasonably priced, bonus laden figure, again hampered by poor quality control. 

 

 

Although Mr. Terrific is actually a pretty good figure in all technical categories, his score suffers from a production error. Your figure may end up much better, if you can avoid any issues.  

P.S. This could be the figure I'm giving away this month, just leave a comment for a chance to win (if it's the one).