Shazam Part II

Shazam Part II

DC Multiverse and True Movies Figures

Mattel

The one true Captain Marvel is here!  So many haters have been silenced by excellent reviews and box office receipts...Shazam!  The DC Cinematic Universe is finally finding it’s footing, no thanks to Sad-Sack Snyder.  Anyhoo, we’ve got some more movie figures to look at from Mattel, and they are surprisingly great as well!

The six-inch DC Multiverse Shazam figures are some of the best figures Mattel has done to date.  The sculpting, head scans, and articulation rivals that of Marvel Legends.  Like the Aquaman movie line, the actor likenesses are spot on.  

Shazam’s colors pop, and little details like the suit texture, sharp lines, and tiger buttons all stand out. You get some extra hands for accessories, but that’s it.  I would have liked to have seen some lightning effects included and a pissed off alternate head...or maybe a bubble-gum bubble like the promo images.  You can get him in a lot of great poses.  If there was one gripe here,  it’s that the torso might appear a bit long.  Forgiven...they have double-jointed elbows!

Dr. Sivana might just be a “guy in a suit” figure, but its a totally new suit and articulation scheme than we’re used to from Mattel.  Used to be that they would cheap out on something like this if they couldnt figure out a way to reuse a buck about ten times over.  And the suit doesn’t hinder articulation...he still has an ab crunch!  He even bests the Big Red Cheese in the accessory department.  He has alternate hands, a magic 8 ball ("Outlook not so good!"), and a second head!  One with his sunglasses, the other sans glasses to show his New 52 thunderbolt scar.

As a bonus with Sivana, you can modify your basic Pedro figure to fit his head and...Shazam!  A superpowered Doc from an old comic one-shot!

The Multiverse figures look to be Walmart Exclusives for now, but I have seen them on Amazon with a summer listing.  Sivana is short packed...maybe one to every 5 Shazams by my count, so he could be a tough one to track down if you hesitate on him.  It’s strange that these figures are only a 2 character wave with no build-a-figure.  I bet Mattel will regret that as they did in short-selling Aquaman.

I also picked up their 12-inch True Moved counterparts.  As I have said before, I love these big, cheap collector and kid friendly dolls!  They have 11 points of articulation and decent sculpts for ten bucks.  They sure beat Hasbro’s attempts in this scale!  Again, Sivana looks to be short-packed.  I spotted this lone one at Target after striking out at multiple Walmarts.  Backtracking to the basics line, Target seems to be the only place to score those.  Get em while you can!  The movie is going to rock, and with Mattel checking out, this may be your only shot at them!

Mr. Freeze

Mr. Freeze

Batman Missions True-Moves

Mattel - 12-inch figure

Mr. Freeze has been a tough one to track down.  Quite a cold case, if you will.  Ba-dum-ching!  He was a late assortment refresh pack-in that I have only seen once on the shelves so far.  In fact, I picked up the one and only one I have seen.  He's been on Amazon for some time, but priced at $20 or more.  Too rich for my blood, but I might have caved if I had not been lucky enough to nab him.

The design on the suit is fantastic.  Lots of mech-tech sculpting, buckles, and straps.  And the color scheme...black, silver, and blue never looked so good!  The only thing that might have made it better would be some white, cold-frosting effects...especially on the base of the dome.  

Oh, it was a complete shock that the dome is removable.  Does that qualify as an accessory?  Maybe not, but Mr. Freeze has a gun!  Oh, wait...it's molded to his hand!  Wah-wah.  So close to perfection, but not a deal breaker.  Still loving these big, cheap Batman dolls!  As I mentioned before, they sport a decent amount of articulation for $10 and the comic book designs set them apart from all the movie garbage on the shelves.  Great for kids and collectors alike...unless you're a lame articulation snob.  Chill out!

True-Moves Batman Figures

True-Moves Batman Figures

Batman and the Joker

Mattel 12-Inch Figures

Mattel has been putting out bargain, 12-inch figures of DC characters for a while now.  While previous offerings stuck to the awful cinematic universe and animated shows, we're finally getting some comic-likeness love!  They range $9-10 in most stores, but can find them a shade cheaper at Walmart.  I feel you get just enough articulation for that price.  Sure an ab crunch and at least one accessory per figure would be nice (throw me a frickin batarang, please), but the overall look here has me won over.  When the alternative for large-scale figures is Sideshow or Hot Toys at $250 per doll, I'm happy to have a cheap alternative for display, and most importantly, play.