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Sculpting
- ***1/2
One of the areas that has improved with the more recent releases in
this series has been the head sculpts. Like the Green Arrow
before him, the Bizarro head sculpt is a nice, sharp, clean, well
defined comic book look.
There's nothing soft about this
sculpt, and the hair has some excellent detail. The face is
craggy and rough, with very lifelike eyes and teeth.
The fisted hands look great,
although they are made from a very hard plastic this time.
They stay on tightly, in fact too tightly. I couldn't remove
the right hand without damaging the peg. The stupid bendy
hands are one of the better sculpts in a long line of stupid bendy
hands, and are a bit less bulky and fat fingered than past attempts.
The bendy hands are also less of
an issue here because he doesn't have any accessories which require a
tight grip.
This figure has the same issue
they all do - it's too damn big. Oddly enough, the other
problem is that Bizarro really isn't big enough. Because
they've used the same 13" super sized body for all the adult males so
far, Bizarro is no bigger than Flash, for example, and that doesn't
look right on the shelf.
But since there's now so many
figures in the overall line, I can certainly live with the fact that
these are generally larger than other sixth scale figures.
Paint - ***
The skin tone has that sort of deathly, sickly look that has always
been a trademark, and they did a good job matching it between the head,
neck and hands. The wash they used to bring out the details
is a little heavy for my tastes, making it look a little more sloppy in
this scale than it should. This is particularly true on the hands, but
it's also a bit overdone on the face. The detail work on the
eyes and teeth is great though, and I love the strong blue color of the
pupils. There's even a little gloss on the eyes, giving them
that lifelike wet appearance.
Articulation - ***
If you've bought a 13" Deluxe figure before, then this body will hold
no real surprises for you. All the joints you're used to are here, and
they work at least in a similar fashion.
The ball jointed neck is a big plus this time, however. All the figures
have it, but many of them have very restricted movement. Not so this
time, and Bizarro's head can tilt and lean in all sorts of ways. I will
always contend (at least for today) that this single joint is the most
important once you get past the basic articulation of a figure. It
makes it possible to give the figure so much more life than the static
cut joint.
He also has ball jointed shoulders and hips, the usual cuts at the
biceps and thighs, double pin elbows, pin knees, pin/post ankles with a
cut joint just above, cut wrists, cut waist and a pin (ab crunch) chest
joint.
The outfit is a bit thicker than usual (more on that in the Outfit
section), which does help hide the cut thighs and biceps a bit more
than usual. But the body has some of the same articulation issues as
always, particularly with those damn cut wrist joints. I think I've
made my hate for the bendy hands and cut wrists well known, but just in
case you've been ignoring me - I hate them.
Accessories - **
When you drop this kind of cash, you expect a few extras with a figure.
Unfortunately, you won't be getting them with Bizarro.
There's the extra set of hands, and as I admitted in the sculpt
section, they don't look quite as bad as usual. Oh, they still pose
terribly, fall off every time you touch them, and can't hold anything,
but at least the sculpts look better.
There's also the usual black display base, and it has the reverse S
emblem, just as you'd expect.
The only unique accessory he has is his stone 'necklace', with Bizarro
#1 on it. It does have a nice sculpt, and the rope has a very realistic
look, but it tends to lay a bit too high on his chest because the rope
is a bit too short, making it stick out at an odd angle. It's a decent
accessory on it's own, but not enough to boost this Accessory score
very high.
Outfit - ***
Another area that's seen real improvement over the course of the series
is the outfits. Bizarro's continues that trend in a couple key ways.
The outfit isn't particularly complex, but the quality of stitching and
material is great. The outfit seems a little thicker to me, which hides
the cut thighs and biceps better as well as simply feeling higher
quality in your hands.
The cape is short, and the way it's sewn into the neck allows it to lay
completely flat across the shoulders, or you can fold it over a bit on
one or both sides. It has the reverse S on the back as well.
That's one area that still lacks a bit - the iron on emblems. They feel
a bit cheap, and haven't changed much over the course of the series.
Fortunately, they are applied nice and straight.
Bizarro's boots are a material that's similar to Green Arrow's, only
thicker. This faux leather makes a MUCH better looking boot than the
silly vinyl material, and I'm much happier with it. It's a little thick
here, as they used a double layer, but I can live with that.
He still has the same goofy zippers on both the boots and the costume,
and I don't expect we'll see that change any time soon.
His shorts and belt round out the costume. The shorts look pretty good,
but they tend to ride low in back and high in front, giving them an odd
angle downward along his side. But you'll only notice it from specific
angles, and you can fidget it around to look decent most of the time.
The belt was my biggest issue, and probably what held the overall
outfit back from a half star higher score. The buckle would not stay
buckled, especially over time. It popped loose right out of the
package, and as I popped it back together time after time, it became
less and less interested in staying closed. Hopefully you won't have
the same issue.
Value - **1/2
I'm usually harder on these figures in this category, and this guy
isn't worth the SRP. But you should be able to pick this guy
up for under $60, and these figures are getting more expensive from
here on out. When you see the price tag on the Dark Knight
figures in a couple weeks, you'll be wishing they were this cheap.
Fun Factor - ***
Yea, these aren't really kid's toys, but you know what? They
could be. They are fairly well built, and could hold up
reasonably well to play. Kid's couldn't handle swapping the
hands though, and let's face it - you probably can't afford to give
them $60 toys for the sand box.
Things to Watch Out For
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The big one is those hard, tight hands. I almost broke the
peg on the left hand, and I highly suggest using some hot water on the
hands before trying to remove them.
Overall - ***
Bizarro exhibits some fine improvements: better neck articulation,
better boots, great sculpt, better bendy hands (although I still hate
them). However, there are still a handful of issues that kept the
overall from reaching another half star higher. For me, the issues
around the swappable hands (the fists are almost impossible to get off,
while the soft rubber bendy hands fall off every time you touch them),
the belt not staying closed, and the general lack of accessories at
this price point hold the poor guy down.
Still, there is definite improvement here, and I could imagine a time
when these were getting consistently higher scores with just a few
minor improvements. In just a couple weeks I'll be getting the Dark
Knight Batman and Joker, and I really am looking forward to seeing what
they do with that pair.
Score Recap:
Packaging - ***
Sculpt - ***1/2
Paint - ***
Articulation - ***
Accessories - **
Fun Factor - ***
Value - **1/2
Overall - ***
Where to Buy -
If your LCS didn't pick him up (or are charging an arm and a leg), try
these online sponsors:
- Amazing Toyz has
him at $54.99.
- CornerStoreComics
has him for $54.99.
- Alter Ego has
him for $59.49.
- Things from Another World
has him at $63.
- YouBuyNow
has him at $66.49.
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