Fractal Dreams

The DCU wave 2 has come and gone, and I was only able to get a glance of it, so I’m definitely pissed, and my “DC-collecting-bug” hasn’t worn off yet. Funny, if this was a year or two ago, I’d be whining about missing out on the latest Marvel Legends figs. Now that Hasbro is holding off on the MLs, I’m currently on the other side of the collecting fence. Well, at least they’ve got nice figures out there.

Anyway, I was lucky enough to get an Infinite Crisis box set for my pre-graduation gift. Finally, I can convince myself that I have a figure box set that’s in a box. (I used to argue with my cousin that the Marvel Legends Face-Off series doesn’t count as a box set, since, well, it’s not in a box. I know, I’m a nerd. Don’t rub it in.)

This is kinda of a big boost, since I want to have a justice league collection to par with my mish and mash avengers and x-men. The box set offers on the onset the holy trinity of the league: Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman, plus a cool secondary character. But is the box set something to be drooling about? Here’s my take:

BATMAN

For those fervent DC Direct collectors, this figure may be familiar to you. Since this is a retooled version of the Batman from the single-carded Infinite Crisis series, wave 2. The original bats featured a battle-damaged costume, since it was taken from an important scene in the comic book, where Batman snapped and pointed a gun at one of the main antagonists, inches away from pulling the trigger. Imagine that, Bats, the guy who’d rather see a psycho like Joker locked up in bars rather than dead, killing a man. What happens next, I won’t spoil for you. Go read the book.

For this set, the DC direct guys retooled the figure back to the normal, undamaged bat-suit. Which made the figure lose its original purpose. He still has that crazed snarl on his face, and the stance he had when he was pointing the gun, but, now, it’s kind of hard to explain why he looks so angry.

They did a good job of covering up all the damaged parts from the original, and the suit looks crisp and clean. But there is one glaring error that’s easily noticeable. The fix they did on the tattered cape shows. Look at the pic below and start from the right, and then slowly gaze to the left. See the difference? It gave the impression that the retooling was made in a hurry. Boo-hoo.

Bats, disappointingly, doesn’t come with any accessories. Again. Back on the original figure, fanboys were furious since the angry bats didn’t come with the pistol he wielded in the story. On this new version, I don’t think a gun would be appropriate, but a batarang or any tool bats uses would’ve been a nice touch. But granted, he couldn’t hold it, since both his hands are open. Tsk.

Overall, the fig is okay, Bats looks really ripped, he’s got a mean look on his face, and he looks like he’s gonna dive on somebody to clobber them to a pulp. He comes with a stand, but I didn’t use it, since he can stand on his own, although he tips over from time to time, like when I bump against my figure cabinet by accident. The stand was also a letdown too, since the small peg that is used to hold the figure on the surface, was either too lose on one end and too tight on the other to fit. As a result, it didn’t make much difference whether I just prop the figure up on the stand or just let it stand on its own.

If Batman was retooled to fix his costume, Supes was retooled to the damaged version. Again, another re-issue from IC wave 2, with minor changes. The main changes you can all see from the pic- a damaged sleeve from his left arm, a large hole on his left thigh, and a tattered cape. It’s okay, it looks tattered all right, although sometimes it looks fake to my eyes. But then again, it is hard to reproduce battle damage.

This Superman was made to be posed in mid-flight. You should’ve figured it by the picture now, since, let’s admit it, his stance is awkward. He comes with a metal pole to prop him up on the included stand, alongside with aforementioned plastic peg if standing him up is your thing (like me). What I liked most of the metal stand is that it has a small, square plastic peg attached to its end, and it fits into a square hole on supes’ back. Now a word of warning, before you ram that metal pole to the stand, make sure you’re really decided in keeping him in flight position, since when you force the metal rod into the hole in the stand, the small toothed end actually expands the hole.

And for the love of God, do NOT turn the rod around while it is stuck into the stand. Figure the best angle first before you stick it in, the figure will tip over and take the stand down with him if you put him in the wrong angle.

But if you’d rather see him standing up instead, good luck finding a decent pose. I call mine “The Pugilist”. He can stand up okay, but honestly, he looks like an idiot when his legs are so damn straight. I tried to pair him up with my DCSH bizarro (since that’s why I bought the bizarre guy in the first place) but realized that Supes dwarfs his counterpart. Wait a second- isn’t it supposed to be the other way around? Maybe this Superman is too big for the 6-inch scale, or Mattel made bizarro too small. I don’t really know.

I have to admit, this is one of the main reasons why I wanted the box set. Sam Greenwell’s sculpt of Diana is so drop-dead gorgeous! I could’ve bought the figure alone, since there was a wave 2 single carded figure of Wonder Woman in the store where I bought it, but the box set was er, well, cheaper when calculated piece by piece…since…ehem… the box set was on sale. *coughs* In my defense, it’s practically hard to find a battle damaged batman today anyway.

There are also a few differences between this figure and the first one. First of all, this Wonder Woman ditches the cape she was wearing in the single carded version. Damn cost-cutting measures! And if the images from DC Direct’s website were accurate enough, this Wonder Woman gets in exchange, drum roll please… a small hook on her waistband. Uh-huh. Scream in anger. I feel for you. The hook is used to hold her Magic Lasso, which is actually, nothing more than that gilded thread thingy I’m used to seeing in christmas decorations. Tsk. I haven’t tried out whether the lasso is removable, since the hook is so small, and I’m scared of breaking it. But I guess it’s possible.

If I were to list down the best and the worst features of this figure (based on the one I have of course), I would say what I liked the most is the sculpt of her face, since I’m an anime addict and I dig bishoujo girls (not the stories, just the girls). While distinctly American, I find that sculpt exudes an eastern allure that makes it attractive for me. The part I hated is Diana’s knees. Since she isn’t standing straight, her legs aren’t posed stiff like Superman’s. But the joints look horrible, and it gives the impression it was bent by accident.

If this was any consolation, Diana (still) comes with a second pair of hands, which are opened. With enough work, you can make her hold the lasso, if you did dare to take it off the hook. Or you can stick with the default fists and pose her in typical Wonder Woman fashion (see the box art below).

OMAC

OMAC is the interloper of the set, and is the only antagonist in the box. The name actually stands for One Man Army Corps, and the original OMAC was the brainchild of comics legend Jack Kirby during his stint in DC. I didn’t really like the original OMAC, he was a bald man with a wicked mohawk and the customary spandex suit, but this new version, I practically worship. The new OMAC is made of nanomachines and can take over humans Agent Smith style. Kewl.

OMAC is cast in translucent blue plastic. Whether he is translucent in the comics is hard to tell, but I guess the closest description I could come up with is that the OMACs (there are many OMACs, defeats the “One Man” in his name) look like they were made up of energy. I guess the translucent thing works for him, since he doesn’t have any features to brag about, anyway. My first impression is that the figure will be soft, but the translucent plastic is rock solid. Just don’t try tossing it to the floor to test its strength. I can’t make any guarantees.

OMAC sports a mohawk (or a fin?) on his head as a throwback to the Kirby original, but it becomes a detriment to the figure’s poseability. The mohawk extends all the way to his back and is glued there in place. But, he has a neck joint. If you turn his head around, you bend the fin. No thanks, I’d rather have a stiff neck in this case.

OMAC is practically featureless, save for printed circuit patterns all over his body, a “Brother Eye” logo on his chest, and a huge red monoeye where his face should be. Creepy. And since the guy is made of nannites, he can morph his arms into weapons, if the need arises. He comes with the weapon arms (a small sword and a a two-pronged weapon that resembles a tuning fork) attached, and has a spare set of regular hands ready for swapping.

As for the stands, OMAC comes also with a metal flight stand, but unlike superman, both of the edges are metal. I don’t know about you, but I’d rather have him standing instead. He can stand well enough on his own, but the one I got has loose left foot which sometimes causes OMAC to tip over. Your mileage may vary.

And, as this is a box set, you also receive a issue #1 of Infinite Crisis, printed in the same high-quality paper you find in regular comics (unlike Marvel Legends, hehehe). It has been slightly modified (all ads are from DC Direct), but it didn’t carry those annoying NOT FOR RESALE marks that toybiz loves to plaster on their freebies.

Well, the despite its blemishes, the box set is a good buy. But if you already have the wave 1 and 2 figures, you won’t be missing anything, since this is basically the same figures from those sets, with minor modifications (In OMAC’s case, none at all). So I’d recommend these to people who missed out on the earlier runs.