DCUC Wave 15 Martian Manhunter!

As some of you may know, I'm a big Martian Manhunter fan. As a child, I completely ignored this DC character for whatever reason, perhaps his thunder eclipsed by some of the more A-list heroes like Superman and  Batman. I never read the Justice League series as a kid, and J'onn had an on/off history with his own title, so he didn't get the kind of face-time some characters got. Last year I read DC: Final Frontier, which prominently featured the shape-shifting Martian, and I was hooked!

 Mattel also released a variant figure of Martian Manhunter featuring an alien head and shape-shift "blade arm", that left me underwhelmed- if they would have made him more alien, as  J'onn appears in his natural form, I would have sat up and paid attention. Get a closer look at the variant at D.C.Classics.Com.

J'onn didn't come with any accessories, but Mattel nailed his classic look- the sculpt is great, and he's a sturdy figure with plenty of articulation. When I opened a few DCUC's Amazon finally sent me in February, I decided to open this guy while I was at it. I've had him for a few months, and don't know why I didn't open him sooner- what a FUN toy! I scored the first eleven or twelve issues of Vol.2 of the Martian Manhunter title (Ostrander/Mandrake) on eBay recently, and am looking forward to reading for about my favorite hero!

Here's a shot of this DCUC alongside a couple other Martian Manhunter action figures by DC Direct that are in my collection, DC New Frontier Martian Manhunter and History of the DC Universe Martian Manhunter...

... and with a few other Martian Manhunter figures from my collection, including my 13" DC Direct and 9" Hasbro Martian Manhunter...

And finally, here is J'onn with a couple of my other DCUCs, Captain Marvel and Superman- what a team!

* Visual checklist & reviews of the DCUC line at DCClassics.Com!

Hey, Mr. Postman!

Time to show off some cool toys the postman (who is actually a hot blonde-I swear!) brought me today! As you know I'm a DC Direct lover, and if my last installment of Hey, Mr. Postman! wasn't proof enough, this one will be...

*DC Direct New Gods Series 2 Kalibak! I have the Series 1 Darkseid, and so I wanted this Silver Age version of his son, modeled after the great artwork of Jack Kirby! So Cro-Mag, this evil one! They really nailed Kirby's style in these toys...

*DC Direct Crisis On Infinite Earths Series 1 Monitor! Linchpin character for the 80's graphic novel I just read this winter that I got for, like, three bucks. Now I know some people think that book was a boring, convoluted slab of crap, but it was a fun romp through the DC Universe. Unnecessariily long in places, but an interesting time capsule in my humble opinion...

*DC Direct Crisis On Infinite Earths Series 2 Monitor! I LOVE this! Monitor's nemesis who wanted to detroy all life in the mutiverse- evil incarnate. I like getting these toys from different comics I've read- it makes the experience so much more tangible...

*DC Direct Crisis On Infinite Earths Series 2 Battle Armor Lex Luthor! Does this outfit look ridiculous to you? Yeah, it does to me too- that's why I like it!  The design for this was first created for the Super Powers action figure line in reality, not the comic book, according to Yo Go Re over at OAFE.Net. I just love this, people...

*DC Direct Crisis On Infinite Earths Series 2 Robot Brainiac! There is something really disturbing about the coldness of this villain, who ironically ended up helping the heroes of Earth in order to save himself. I already opened this cool toy, and can't wait to take his picture with the transluscent plastic parts & great sculpt they gave him...

*DC Direct  Infinite Crisis Series 1 Superboy Prime! Back from Crisis on Infinite Earths and misled by Alexander Luthor, this kid gone bad makes things rough for the heroes of  Infinite Crisis- even killing some of them... a must-read!

*DC Direct Action Figure Archive!

DCUC All-Star Batman

Like the Deathstroke I posted about earlier, Bats here is a DCUC All-Star, a reissue from DCUC Wave 10. I was glad to get him, though you should be able to pick up the Wave 10 Black Bats at a reasonable price- I was glad to get the posing base that comes with the All-Star also. This might be a good time to mention that some DCUC action figures don't work well with these bases- they can be expensive in my opinion, so check the figures you want one for to be sure they fit or even benefit from a stand.

Batman comes with a batarang and another really cool accessory- a bat-laptop computer for detective work in the field! It's the coolest thing- even folds closed!

Some folks don't care for the all-black version of Batman- I think he's cool! I remember my teenage anticipation for the 1989 motion picture Batman, seeing the promotional photos of Michael Keaton in the new costume, and lining up at the theatre with a throng of very enthusiastic fans- excitement was in the air!

Here's a shot of him with some other Batman action figures I have...
*With Sinestro Batman and Azrael Batman:

*With DC Direct 6 3/4" Reactivated Batman, Hasbro 9" Masterpiece Edition Batman, DC Direct 13" Batman, Mattel 8" Retro Action Batman and 6 3/4" DC Direct New Frontier Batman. I have a few other really cool Batman action figures, too- a few unopened. Batman was my favorite childhood superhero, as he was for a lot of us toy collectors- there's always another one to collect!

* Visual checklist & reviews of the DCUC line at DCClassics.Com!

Hey, Mr. Postman!

Got the box of toys I ordered from Mike's Comics n' Stuff ...30 minutes into March 1st, in compliance with (laughs) the 28 Day Challenge! I don't usually hit the hay until 2 a.m. or so, and I was waiting to hit the order button, LOL  :D

*DC Direct History of The DC Universe Series 2 Black Lightning! This electric hero has been popping of in some of the DC super-epic graphic novels I've been reading lately. I cracked him open already, and I must say the paint job is about perfect on this guy- amazing!

*DC Direct History of The DC Universe Series 3 Brainiac! After scoring the New Krypton Brainiac, I wanted a classic Brainiac. I wonder why they originally dressed this dastardly villain like he's going to a tennis match... very metrosexual  :D

*DC Direct History of The DC Universe Series 3 Superman! How many Superman action figures do you need? One more...

*DC Direct History of The DC Universe Series 4 Superman as Nightwing! This guy is what brought my attention to this line of action figures. Confused? Read about Superman's Silver Age appearance as Nightwing HERE...

*DC Direct History of The DC Universe Series 4 Captain Atom! Like Black Lighting, Captain Atom has also been popping of in some of the DC  graphic novels I've been reading lately. I love the silver arms on this guy and the design of his outfit, and set him free from his packaging along with Black Lightning pretty much immediately. Not to be confused with the Al Pratt/Ray Palmer Atom, Captain Atom is a separate, unrelated DC character...

*DC Direct History of The DC Universe Series 4 Martian Manhunter! Like Superman, I can't have too many versions of J'onn J'onzz...

I had either ignored or totally missed this series of action figures by DC Direct, and I've got to say they are even more beautiful in person. The simplicity of their design, excellent paint, and classic character styling are a joy to behold. DC Direct catches a lot of flack for lack of articulation and scaling issues, but I just love 'em!

And seriously, where are you going to find a Superman as Nightwing action figure? My only regret about these is not buying more of them LOL!

Have a FUN weekend- I'm going to!  :D

*DC Direct Action Figure Archive!

Show Me The Droids!

In addition to compliance with the recent 28 Day Challenge, ChunkyB also used his Jedi mind trick to convince several of us bloggers to photograph some of our favorite robot toys for a post at Eclectorama called Show Me The Droids! (how does he DO THAT??). My childhood stash of Star Wars figures were safely tucked away in my Darth Vader carrying case at Mum's, where they have resided for over for over twenty-five years. My brother & I destroyed a lot of Star Wars toys back in the day, including but not limited to: 1 Death Star playset, 1 Droid Factory playset, 1 Millennium Falcon, 1 X-Wing Fighter, 1 Darth Vader Tie Fighter, 1 Landspeeder, at least 2 Micro Collection playsets, and God knows what else escapes my memory... wouldn't I love to have those in mint condition today. But as my dear Mum says, we played with them. And we did have a lot of fun, especially with our Kenner Star Wars toys!

So in taking some shots of the few remaining droids that survived my childhood, I popped a few more- take a look...

Imperials with bounty hunters...

Jabba's Royal entourage...

Ewoks of Endor...

I have more,  too- including an original Hammerhead, Walrusman, and Chewbacca from 1978, as well as some Hoth characters. The case was packed! Some of you have some serious Star Wars swag, but I have very little really- the fascination sort of fizzled after childhood. However, the humble beginnings of this blog started with a 15" Kenner Darth Vader, so there ya go...!

*Action Figure of The Day is a blog I was looking at for a long time before getting back into toys this past year... great fun, full of Star Wars goodness!

DC Universe Classic Wave 6 "Shazam" (Captain Marvel)

I recently felt like opening some DC Universe Classics I've had sitting around, including this Captain Marvel I scored at Target at the beginning of January. On the package they call him "Shazam", which is really the magic word Billy Batson utters to become the powerful Captain Marvel. The reason for this is simple really...
From Wikipedia:

   "Fawcett ceased publishing Captain Marvel-related comics in 1953, due in part to a copyright infringement suit from DC Comics alleging that Captain Marvel was an illegal infringement of Superman. In 1972, DC licensed the Marvel Family characters and returned them to publication, acquiring all rights to the characters by 1991. DC has since integrated Captain Marvel and the Marvel Family into their DC Universe, and have attempted to revive the property several times. However, Captain Marvel has not regained widespread appeal with new generations, although a Shazam! live-action Saturday morning television series featuring the character ran for three seasons on CBS in the 1970s.
   Because Marvel Comics trademarked their Captain Marvel comic book during the interim between the original Captain Marvel's Fawcett years and DC years, DC Comics is unable to promote and market their Captain Marvel/Marvel Family properties under that name. Since 1972, DC has instead used the trademark Shazam! as the title of their comic books and thus the name under which they market and promote the character. Consequently, Captain Marvel himself is frequently erroneously referred to as Shazam."

I feel like they nailed The Big Red Cheese pretty well, from his slicked back, Golden-Age grin, to his squared-off shoulders. He's flashy and FUN! For whatever reason, my CM's right leg is a full 1/8" longer than his left- it doesn't hurt his ability to stand as sturdy as he is. I'm unsure if they are all like that.  His sculpt is excellent, and combined with DCUCs great articulation he's probably one of the best 6" renditions of the character.

Some may think of Captain Marvel as a poor man's Superman, though even as he was created a year after the Man of Steel, his adolescent appeal outsold DC's flagship hero for a time in 1940. As a child, I remember watching the 70's TV show, if vaguely, and another brightly costumed hero was certainly welcome in my little world. As an adult, I've enjoyed seeing the character again in some of the graphic novels I've been reading- he's corny and FUN! "Holy Moley!"

And finally, a couple favorite moments featuring Captain Marvel in the epic Final Crisis (DC, 2008)...

*Standing up to a ranting, unruly Ultraman:

*Recruiting superheroes from across the Multiverse to battle the evil vampire-Monitor, Mandrakk and Ultraman:

I realize that some of my posts are not as clinical as some toy blog reviews, and that's why I often provide links to some other, more expert opinions- I encourage you to look at these and do your own research. Here at The Super-DuperToyBox, I want it to be about fun, dynamic photos, the love of toys, and the joy they bring me. Thanks for coming along for the ride!

*Poe Ghostal's review of this action figure at OAFE.Net!

*A couple forgotten Captain Marvels from comic book history at Gone & Forgotten Blog! Weird!

DCUC All-Star Deathstroke

I'm not sure I could say anything that hasn't already said about this wonderful toy. Originally released all the way back in 2008 with DC Universe Classics Wave 3, and I was really happy to see him re-released. Mattel pulled out all the stops producing this guy with the extra accessories, detailed and unique sculpt, and excellent paint. It's somewhat hard to believe that he costs the same as the other 6" figures in this line of toys- he has to be the crown jewel of the DC Universe Classics. I had a ball photographing him!

First appearing in Teen Titans #2 (Dec. 1980), Slade Wilson is a mercenary assassin who was originally referred to as The Terminator. He's blind in one eye, hence the single slit in his mask, a result of his wife's rage at Slade's endangerment of their son due to his vocation. Deathstroke has enhanced physical strength, speed, and senses- a product of the U.S. military's experimental "super soldier" program. He's also a tactical genius and nearly unbeatable combat expert- even Batman cannot best him. In a word, he's a total BadAss.

I recently witnessed Slade's deadly combat techniques in Identity Crisis, when he nearly bested a team comprised of Hawkman, Elongated Man, Black Canary, Flash, Zatanna, and Green Lantern before Green Arrow poked an arrow on his blind eye, causing him to lose his cool. Dr. Light managed to teleport the two villains to safety before the team of heroes subdued them. It's a great scene from a great graphic novel I highly recommend- read my post about it HERE...

*Detailed review of DCUC Wave 3 Deathstroke at OAFE.Net!
*The origin of Deathstroke at DCComics.Com!
*Deathstroke's page at DCWikia.Com!