McFarlane Toys DC Multiverse Hawkman (Black Adam)

After posting about the McFarlane Flash figures I picked up back in September, I realized I had photographed this Black Adam Hawkman and neglected to share. As I've yet to see the movie, I won't go on at length about this figure, though its characters do interest me. particularly Dr. Fate and Hawkman. While somewhat under-read on the character, I've always liked Hawkman as a concept, and because of that have collected a few figures over the years. The reimagining of the character's aesthetic is fantastic here, the classic red, gold and green theme intact but in a muted palette that retains its Golden-Age splendor. His wings don't have the articulation I've seen on some other winged figures I've had, but the detail in this figure is second to none!

McFarlane Black Adam Hawkman with my DC Collectibles New 52 Hawkman and DC Universe Classics Hawkman. I have at least one other Hawkman figure still unopened in my collection and am sometimes on the hunt for another- some of the older DC Direct Hawkman figures are highly prized and can be expensive to acquire.

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DC Collectibles New 52 Hawkman & Aquaman

I've circled back about seven years to look at some of the New 52 characters DC Collectibles dropped after the relaunch of all their titles around that time. Having jumped right into Green Lantern, fresh off the ride that Blackest Night was, I also got into Green Lantern New Guardians, Earth 2, Justice League, and at least a few issues of some others. I've had my eye on Aquaman for years, and dove back in when finding Hawkman at a good price recently. DC Collectibles had recently changed their branding from DC Direct, but had yet to upgrade articulation, but what they lacked in that department was made up for in aesthetic with these stunning figures. Check out the video:

Below, Hawkman with DC Collectibles New 52 Martian Manhunter, and Aquaman with DC Collectibles New 52 Wonder Woman and Superman. I limited myself to just a few of these when I started collecting them at the end of 2012, but finding a few I missed out on at a discounted price here years later made me look again. Beautiful!

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DCUC Aquaman & Hawkman

I picked up this Aquaman & Hawkman loose in a DCUC haul back in Sept. 2011, late into collecting the celebrated 6" line from Mattel, and only a year into blogging here at the Super-DuperToyBox. I recently uncovered them while digging through the collection, and realized I never gave you a a really good look at them. Sure, they are old news, but with the line coming to an end I felt it appropriate to show how really great this action figure line this was, these two released within the first year of release, 2008.

What I can say about these action figures that hasn't been said likely amounts to nothing, but I'd mention the standardization of the parts within the line brought not only a large number of characters to the line, but unity to it as well that was rock solid. Sure, ToyBiz gave us super-articulated 6" action figures several years before, but Mattel streamlined the look with their own unique design.

Though seemingly vanilla in his buck, Aquaman's finned calves and scaled torso set him apart from a lot of the other DCUCs, and his is a huge, bejeweled trident fitting of the King of the Seven Seas. While the paint scheme is simple, the subtle highlights throughout the figure are something that's been missing in the last many waves of this line. His thin, golden collar piping and slightly metallic scales are nice up close. His perfect proportions and faithful rendering make him the archetypal Aquaman we've all come to know and love. 

The bicep/thigh swivels, combination waist swivel and abdominal hinge, and Mattel's unique swivel/hinge hips made these DCUCs very poseable. And while some later DCUCs received a double-jointed limbs and additional hinged wrists, it's easy to take for granted how great these were right from the beginning. I'm uncertain of how many of these I own really, but the number is well over fifty- once I had a few, I couldn't stop.

Released in the sixth wave of DC Universe Classics, Hawkman  included an exceptional number of accessories. I appreciate the simplicity of his belt loop, which can also hold his mace when armed with the sword. His shield clips onto his arm, nicely painted in dark silver like his other weapons, his symbol sculpted into the surface and painted in dark red. He's perfect!

The triumph of this figure is of course those awesome, fully articulated wings! They expand laterally, crafted in two sections joined by a ratchet-peg, but also swing back and forth, hinged separately onto his back. This wing mold was reused later in the New 52 and Golden-Age Hawkmen, a design also used on the DCUC Hawkgirl, which I have still boxed with Gentleman Ghost.

Among the DC Universe Classics line, and in my humble opinion, these are somewhat outstanding for their great color, unique sculpts, and faithful rendition of two classic characters. The Four Horsemen nailed it! 

DCUC Aquaman & Hawkman with Green Lantern, Flash, and Martian Manhunter!

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DC Direct Super Squad Figures

Released in the spring of 2008, the Super Squad Figures are the fourth wave of DC Directs "Reactivated" Series, which seemed to be themed A-List characters, these obviously inspired by the 1940's All-Star Comics title, featuring the adventures of the Justice Society of America. While Wonder Woman's First Appearance was in the 8th issue back in '42, and Superman & Batman were associated with the team, Hawkman is the only original team member among these- perhaps my favorite of these four. I'm all for the helmeted Thangarian warrior,  but I love Hawkman's Justice Society Earth Two costume!

I'm attracted to retro-looking action figures, particularly those produced by DC Direct, who does a great job emulating the art from different comics series. After posting about my First Appearance Series figures, I thought of these. Like Marvel Select is to Marvel Legends, DC Direct is to DC Universe Classics- DC Direct and Marvel Select often lack the articulation that Legends and DCUC enjoy, but usually trump the latter in the sculpt and paint department. The Super Squad figures are simple in their deco, but so cleanly executed in their Golden-Age styling. I ordered these about three years ago for about $5.50 each- pretty good. While I'm generally all for opening action figures, I've been enjoying these MOC figures for awhile now, as I will likely continue to.

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DC Direct First Appearance Figures

It occurred to me after posting about my DC Direct First Appearance Series Batman that I may or may not have shown the rest of my collection of this series, so here's a look at them all packaged. While DC Collectibles is making some of the most articulated and best sculpted figures ever today, I'm drawn to the simple charm of some of their earlier figures, and still hunt for them.

Characters chosen for the fourth wave in 2007 strayed from the portrayal of their original designs, the core theme of the First Appearance series, instead taking their looks from the recent, Brave New World story. Blue Beetle (Jaime Reyes), Aquaman, and Martian Manhunter are from this fourth wave, who also included Atom (Ryan Choi) and Warlord. 

The capes on the earlier waves of the First Appearance Series are a really luxurious, double-layered satin material, like Superman, Robin, and Green Lantern wear. While Martian Manhunter has a plastic cape, I like the black body suit he wore around this time period and loved The Others Among Us book from that year.

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DC Super Friends Matty Collector Hawkman

I found several of these DC Super Friends action figures on eBay last summer, including this Matty Collector exclusive Hawkman. The DC Super Friends figures have a lot in common with the DC Imaginext and DC Hero World lines produced by Fisher-Price, a wholly owned subsidiary of Mattel Toys. These also remind me of the Mattel Batman: The Brave & The Bold series, in their chunky, pre-school design. 

Mattel released a version of this Hawkman in his conventional red & green color scheme a year or two before this Matty exclusive was released on their website back in 2009, but he's not easy to come by. This version's deco emulates the Hawkworld outfit, the 1989 reboot featuring Katar Hol and Shayera Thal's adventures on Thanagar. This MattyCollector release unfortunately came without a mace: according to BubbaShelby over at Toyriffic, after acquiring exclusive distribution rights to the line, Target had safety concerns over the said accessory and stopped selling him altogether. Mine was still in his white MattyCollector box when I got him.

While these are simple toys, I appreciate the design of these as much as any DCUC, DC Direct, or Marvel Legends figure. Their happy colors and bulky tactile appeal make them both comforting and inviting- "Play with me, I'm cute!" Like any good toy, these are made for play.

While limited in his articulation, Katar does have cut joints in the wrist and a ball-jointed neck in addition to shoulders/hips/elbows, greatly improving his expressiveness. His nicely sculpted wings are also articulated. As best I can gather, the clip on the backs of these figures were intended to activate sounds in some of the vehicles from this line of toys, but I'm not sure how this feature worked.

While the JLA color scheme version of this guy is undeniably classic DC goodness, this Hawkworld variant has a certain charm I'm quite fond of. I'm a sucker for a variant, and think Katar's darker color scheme here looks really cool!

Hawkman's accessory is this peculiar glider apparatus, the mace that came with the JLA version fired out of the end of this, capped on this variant release. The gripping claws on the underside flex by pressing the button on the side, in case Hawkman needs to swoop in and rescue a friend   :D

Super Friends Hawkman with Imaginext Hawkman and  ShadowTek Hawkman:

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DCUC Haul

Let's take a quick look at the DC Universe Classics I picked up on sale this weekend for $6.69 each, an amazing deal that I took full advantage of. Some of these are a little harder to come by, especially at that price. I only started collecting these last winter, so I missed a lot from this really GREAT action figure line.

*Wave 6 Hawkman

This puppy caught my attention immediately- such an great action figure with the expanding wings. He was clean as the day he was made, with all his accessories. WOW. True, I just got a DC Direct Brightest Day Hawkman, but this DCUC is exception & unique. Plus, I have a DCUC Hawkgirl that was lonely   :D

*Wave 13 Negative Man
Tragic member of the Doom Patrol, Negative Man, will keep my keep his teammate Robotman company. His bandaged visage, meant to keep Larry Trainor's radioactivity away from innocent passersby, remind me of the invisible man. I've read little with the Doom Patrol, but it's great stuff.

*Wave 9 Deadshot

Enemy of Batman and member of the Secret Six along with Catman, Deadshot is an expert assassin who kills for whoever is paying. I thought he was unique and liked his gauntlet guns. Pretty simple.

*Wave 9 Wildcat (purple variant)
I love the clawed toes on this one! Wildcat is a golden age DC Character & longtime member of the Justice Society of America.  A heavyweight boxing champ who trained Batman, Ted Grant relies on his heavily conditioned strength & endurance to fight crime.

*Wave 2 Aquaman & Black Manta
I've been wanting A DCUC Aquaman & Flash for awhile, but not at any price I've seen on eBay- they had two other DCUC versions of Aquaman there as well, but I couldn't resist the classic! I have these two from the Retro-Action line & Batman: Brave & The Bold line as well- time for a group shot!

*Wave 8 Dr. Fate & Wave 11 Deadman (variant)
These two will be great with the DCUC Spectre I already had! The Deadman is the variant, which I preferred, his hands & feet fading into translucent plastic- Killer!

*See the DC Universe Classics checklist at DCClassics.Com! 

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