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JLA Ultra-Humanite

Mattel is doing all the Justice League fans a big service right now, and flooding them with some very cool stuff.  There's the Watchtower playset, which I've seen at the local Toys R Us for $40, which is an outstanding version of their headquarters.  And then, we got the newest assortment of figures, months before we had expected them.

Every assortment for the JL stuff has some sort of theme.  This time it's 'morph-gear'.  What that really means is the accessories and/or outfit pieces can be used in more than one way.  Like it says on the bubble, "2 in 1".  In three different languages no less, just in case you didn't get the point.

The assortment includes a new Flash, Green Lantern, Superman and Batman, but the one everyone has been looking forward to is the Ultra-Humanite.  We can always use more villains, and this one goes back to the Golden Age of Superman comics.  He's really a mad scientist who has this odd habit of sticking his brain in other bodies.  The giant albino ape body seems to have worked out best for him, although at one point in his history he was inside a woman's body. Clearly the guy has trans-gender AND trans-species issues.




Packaging - ***
The packaging hasn't had any significant changes, other than the different inserts for the bubble, and the slightly different lineup on the back. I still like the embossed logo, and I'm all for the small size.

Sculpting - ***1/2
While the overall sculpt isn't perfect, it is pretty close to the animated source.  It fits in nicely with the rest of the series as well, with a pretty decent scale.  Slightly smaller than Darksied, but slightly larger than the regular heroes, he looks great in the mix.

Of course, the animated style doesn't allow for a lot of detail, but they've done a particularly good job with the look of the head.  The bulging brainy veins are present, and the outfit matches his normal day wear on the show.

Another nice aspect of the scale on this whole line is that it fits in pretty good with the BTAS figures, so if you'd like UH to hang with the Joker or Killer Croc, it works pretty well.

Paint - **1/2
There's not a lot of detail on this figure in the paint category either, but there's a few areas of note.

The eyes are very clean on mine, quite well done for a mass produced figure intended for kids. All too often companies assume if it's for kids, it doesn't need to be that great.  How wrong they are!

I did knock of some points here though, because one area where there could have been more paint detail is his brain veins.  Most of the time, I believe these are not the same color as his skin, at least not that I remember.  Without those paint ops, he loses what could have been some very good looking detail work.

Articulation - ***1/2
Mr. Humanite has all the articulation he really needs, although he's not super-poseable by any means.

He has neck, shoulders, elbows, wrists and hips.  The joints all work well, with a good range of motion, and you'll have no trouble getting him to stand even when he's carrying the oversized gun.  He has just about the right amount of articulation to please both kids and collectors.

Accessories - ***
Ultra comes with one accessory that works as two.  There's a handle on the bottom, which he can hold so it operates as a gun.  The projectile launches from the front with the push of the button, although it's not the most powerful I've seen lately.

There are pegs on either 'wing' as well, so Ultra-Humanite can stand on it and use it as a mode of transportation.

The twoferone idea is an interesting one, but UH's version isn't the most exciting.

Fun Factor - ****
If you've got kids that love the show, you know they need a few villains for the team to fight.  We've only had Darkseid and Lex Luthor so far, so an additional big bad, especially one that's so unique in appearance, is a very welcome addition.

Value - ***
At six bucks, you could have added another half star, but Target is selling these at $7. That's a solid value, but it's not Scrooge McDuck good.

Overall - ***
I'm really very happy with this figure, although he's not outstanding.  Mattel is doing a nice job with the Justice League line, and we're still getting a nice variety from them.  Oh sure, we have way too many versions of Flash, GL, Batman and Superman, but it could certainly be worse, and the new assortments are coming out often enough to keep it interesting.

Where to Buy - 
I picked him up at Target on Friday.  There's two of him per case, so you shouldn't have TOO much trouble finding him.  Or at least not more trouble than finding Darkseid was!


Figure from the collection of Michael Crawford.

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