DCClassics.Com Review:
Swamp Thing (SDCC 2011)

The paint, like the sculpt, is spectacular. Mattel always seem to make sure the QC on the SDCC exclusives is exemplary and Swamp Thing is no exception. I love the different shades of green and the little vine and fungus details are all painted just right. I really love his eyes. They’re painted well and give him a great stare. I hate to spend so much time on the parts I don’t like and spend so little on what I do – but dislike sometimes takes more explanation than liking something it seems.

Whether you bought your Swamp Thing at SDCC or today on Mattycollector, it will include a small insert that acts as Alec Holland’s personal journal. It’s a nice little piece with a handful of nice little tidbits for long time Swamp Thing fans that indicate it was damaged in the fire that took Alec Holland’s life and later found by Matt Cable, who’s on the search for Swamp Thing. And, combined with the “sort of bio” on the back of the box, it might help you along if you don’t already know the character.

Also included is a base. It has some nice detailing on it and it blends with Swamp Thing pretty well. It does features some human bones… are we to assume those are the remains of the dear, departed Alec Holland? Swamp Thing plugs into the base via his right foot only. It’s a nice piece, but my Swamp Thing has stayed upright just fine without it, so it’ll probably end up in the spare parts box despite being a cool little add-in (space is at a premium).

If you purchase an SDCC version of Swamp Thing, you’ll also get two Un-Men Cranius & Ophidian (no relation to the Orange Lantern entity). They come in the box, with no notification on the outside, so that might prove tricky on eBay once the Mattycollector ones start arriving. Anyway, I had to have these little guys, so the SDCC version was a must for me. The two Un-Men are more suitably scaled for the rest of the figures and are both fun pieces to add in to the display (though Ophidian is missing about six legs). They make me long for an Arcane, but those chances already seemed pretty slim before this subscription/rebranding fiasco.

Overall, this is a beautiful figure. It’s well-sculpted and, honestly, it’s even well-executed. Mattel wanted to go this route with the rubbery skin and they did a good job with it. The problem is that it made the figure too big (even for my rather lenient scale tolerance) and it severely limited the figure’s articulation. In the end, I think it defeated the purpose – the rubbery skin was no doubt done to make this figure a little more fun and exciting, but when you’re worrying about damaging the skin, unable to get many good poses, and don’t really want to display him with your other figures – he ends up not being very much fun at all.

For more DC reviews, check out our
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26 thoughts on “DCClassics.Com Review:
Swamp Thing (SDCC 2011)

    1. That’s why I love Noisy’s reviews. Anybody could just rail on it for two pages.

      Great job, Noisy. You hit all the right points, I think. Im still buying tomorrow because I’ve gotta have this guy, but like Rod said, I would be happier with a little hard plastic one.

  1. Swamp Thing is my second favorite DC character after Batman, and I’ve wanted a good figure of him for a long time. This figure is beautiful (in a gloriously ugly way)….but damn that scale issue really bothers me. I could never get past how big Lobo was, but this is ridiculous. Swampy’s size can vary, at least, so we can make a loose argument for the height…but still. Looks like he’ll be displayed solo, away from my DCUC…

    That picture of him with the Kenner Swamp Things is EPIC. The Kenner Swamp Thing line is highly underrated.

    1. I loved the Kenner picture!! Seeing Swamp Thing bust through the Swamp Trap was awesome.

      And I never realized it before but that Camoflage Swamp Thing would make an excellent Black Lantern Swamp Thing!

  2. Great pics, great review, too bad about the ridiculous scale. You’re absolutely right, Mattel did not think the advantages vs. disadvantages of this rubber skin thing through at all. It’s “amazing fishnets” all over again.

    Guaranteed almost every collector would’ve preferred a 7.5″-8″ hard plastic Swampy to this, which is essentially a beautiful standalone curiosity.

  3. Caution is always advisable when mattel gets ambitious…

    It’s a shame this was such a dissapointing figure, even by the (in my experience) unimpressive DCUC standards. I’m not 100% sure why they would even go for the rubber suit, since one of the reasons given for not using double joints across the line is for consistancy.

  4. Yeah I was sold on Swamp Thing, but meh, forget it. I’ll spend $30 on something else. He’s a giant mass of a figure, but the rubber skin and stuff, it’s just too much. If it just had one thing against it, that’d be okay. This has four or five.

  5. Looks like a number of collectors will be holding on to their DC Direct figure or seeking one out.

  6. Good stuff Noisy. When I unboxed mine it was all the way sticky and slimy, and I did just put it away and washed my hands. I haven’t picked it back up yet.

    This line cracked me up: “Like most SDCC items, this figure is encased in some cool trash.” So true. I’d take a lower cost with plain packaging every time.

  7. I wonder if they already planned to scrap the line when they started designing this toy… I was so excited about getting a DCUC ST, but when the reviews started coming in, his size alone put me off. He’s basically a Swamp Thing doll!

    I collect action figures, not dolls. Damn you, Matty!

  8. Great review, Noisy! I bought him today and I’m thinking I might toss him in the fridge for a bit to harden him up before I open him! LOL

  9. I just couldn’t buy this guy. He’s too big and too different looking to me.

    I’d totally forgotten that Sasquatch and Man-Thing had both used the rubber skin over the buck years ago so clever use of them in your pics even though you didn’t mention it. That would’ve probably been better – the rubber over the head and torso with regular arms and legs. Would’ve gotten me to buy it.

  10. Too big, and the rubber skin scares me. Fantastic review, Noisy; and you have confirmed all of my fears about this guy. I almost flipped out with excitement when I saw a DCUC Swamp Thing was coming out. Then I heard about the rubber skin and thought “not my favorite choice, but I can live with it, but the first review that showed me the scale killed my anticipation for him completely.

  11. One thing that is really amazing about these pictures is that it reminds me just how far ahead Toy Biz really was with the Legends line. That Man Thing is, IMO, a better looking figure then Swamp Thing, and it came out like six or seven years ago.

    My biggest problem with this Swamp Thing is not that he’s so tall, but that he’s not big enough. Yeah, Swampy can change his size, but this figure has the proportions of a normal man. If you were to see a 10 foot tall swamp monster, you would expect it to be bigger all around to support itself. If you could shrink him 20%, I think he would have been significantly better looking.

    1. i’ve said it before, and i’ll say it again, DCU will never be marvel legends. that line has really set the industry back about 15 years. not knnocking dcu fans, i understand it’s best lien they’ve been given, and they’re taking what they can get… but they deserve better. the dcu line has, to date, produced VERY few figs that properly iconic to the designated character, and none that have pushed the industry forward like legends did time and again.

      which is why, when TB had legends, i didn’t hesitate to plunk down my hard earned for any character i even marginally wanted… while today, i passed on one of my most wanted DC characters because they cast doubt in their construction methods. unlike some folks, i liked him towering (and really, he’s not THAT big… i had legends BAFs and compared to some of them, swampie is downright puny) but it’s their QC that kept me from getting on board.

  12. good review, I’m definately curious to get this fiugre in hand and check it out…but its all true isnt it?
    The size is OBNOXIOUS, like WHY?!?! why?!?! why?!?! Mattel KNEW damn well we were all taken by surprise by Lobo’s ridiculous height, so who the hell thought it would be a good idea to take another stab into the fanboy communities expectations??

    I always expected the Swamp Thing figure to be like Metamorpho witha ton of swampy attatchments….just knowing the ab crunch articulation isnt there breaks my heart too…I was really hoping to create some dramatic Swamp Thing scenes that would have involved the figures ability to hunch over, slouch on a tree stump, sit on the ground and look up at a tree……..

    this figure looks like its froma completley different and seperate toyline all together…..its kinda disheartening, but to be optimistic, it’s nice to have a Swamp Thing figure to keep me company while I finish Volume #6 of Alan Moores life changing Swamp Thing run…….

    …sooo glad they included the turnips on his back too!!!!

  13. I need to track down a Man-Thing figure, one of the few Legends I never got for one reason or another.

  14. No sale, and hat’s all I have to say on the matter, except to thank Noisy for confirming my opinon on this Statue and saving me a bundle.

    One day……sigh…….

  15. Those who knows Swamp Thing’s touch, shall know fear!

    Y’know, because he’s going to melt and turn to a fine white powder in a few years.

  16. Great review,

    Easy to gage how fans feel about rubber skin and out of scale designs, Swamp thing is and SDCC Exclusive, and he’s not even “almost gone” on Matty let alone sold out.

  17. I’m surprised how all these negative reactions were all what I found attractive about this figure. The recent comics shows Swampthing to be much bigger than previous. I guess that’s why the figure is big.
    The rubber skin is new and fresh to be used in a smaller 1:12 scale. That for one is worth collecting.

    I really like this figure. I have him displayed individually because as one of my new favorites he’s displayed on my desk and not the normal figures shelf.

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