Continuing our series of Retroviews as we work to complete our DC Classics Review Archive, today we bring you DC Classics Wave 6, the Kalibak Wave.
Wave six first hit retail at the very end of 2008 and became more available over the first few months of 2009. The set reviewed here showed up at a Wal-Mart in early January. That Wal-Mart had never carried DC Classics before and didn’t receive another case until the fall reset. While I was lucky enough to run across my wave six locally, all of the other IAT staffers had to make toy runs to a remote Wal-Mart about 45 minutes north of here throughout the Winter – it was the only one within an hour that maintained pegs for DC Classics. That was indicative of the odd distribution of wave six, at least, at first.
Our Target finally got the wave themselves in the spring and many of those wave six figures are still at our Target right now. Our Wal-Marts, in that aforementioned fall reset, added DCUC pegs to nearly all of the local stores, but quickly filled them up on a hybrid wave 6/KB exclusives case. While the figures languished at Target, they sold through at Wal-Marts (except for the Sonic Arm Cyborg – he’s still anchoring those pegs while Christmas empties the aisles around him).
While I’m sure there are some fans out there who had trouble finding wave six, it still ended up one of the better distributed waves for all of 2009 and leaves Kalibak one of the cheapest C&C’s to obtain on the second hand market. For this retroview, we’ll take a quick look at the individual figures that were part of Wave Six.
Hawkman
Hawkman was surprise for me. He’s one of those characters that I forget I like, but having the figure in my hands really brought back memories of my Super Powers Hawkman. My grandfather once removed his legs and set him up in pinewood derby car. He was later rescued and his legs restored, but he forever had red paint splotches on him. I didn’t mind, it just meant he’d taken a beating when I played with him from then on out. That Super Powers figure is really recaptured here. Part of this is likely because they’re both accurate representations, but it seems like something more than that too. He just looked like the SP one was used as model – and recent developments with the line have convinced me that was the case. I was planning to just pick him up and add him to the ranks, but he quickly became one of my favorite figures.
Hawkman is built with a mostly standard buck, but his torso is unique. It has the straps molded to the back (the front straps are a separate piece), the plug for the larger wing harness, and nipples! I’m glad they’re there – I’m not fond of B’Wana Beast’s Ken Doll chest. He features new, accurate boots, a belt with a sword loop, and a great set of wings. The picture below shows them fully spread so you can get an idea for how big they are compared to the figure. The paintwork on mine was sharp too – vibrant colors with sharp lines.
One more great thing about this figure was his accessories. Unlike the majority of DC Classics who come with one or none, Hawkman came with a Kalibak C&C part and three accessories: his shield, his mace, and a sword. All of the weapons have good paint apps and a ton of molded detail. When you put him with Hawkgirl, you end up with a great medieval arsenal. Continue to Page 2…
I consider that Hawkman to be one of the greatest figures in the line so far while Doctor Impossible is a waste of plastic.
Thankfully, he didn’t include a C&C piece and I’ve left him at the store dozens of times.
I never thought about Impossible not being req’d for Kalibak, but that’s true. I still bought ’em. I still want ’em all.
No mention of Kalibak being so squat? I like his bulk, but he just needs to be bigger so he can brawl with Superman.
I didn’t mind it because I feel he’s in-scale with DCSH Darkseid. But since Darkseid is apparently a behemoth now, Kalibak will look squat if that DS ends up on my shelves.
I hate tall Darkseid. That’s a waste of a c7c.
I don’t hate it, but I agree it’s a waste.
Great review. I’m a bigger fan of the inclusion of Killer Moth than you, though– he’s that nice surprise that you’d didn’t expect, when someone pulls out one more present that wasn’t left under the tree.
My only fault with this entire wave us that Capt. Marvels seems just a tad small– perhaps it’s the head. I feel it should stand out a little more in the crowd.
All great figures for sure, even the wretched Dr. Impossible. Mattel is the opposite of DC Direct who gives us charcters that we want in ways that we don’t want them any more; DCUC on the other hand, gives us characters that we would never think to ask for (Imperiex another recent example) and make them so well that you can’t help but want them…
I do like the figure, he’s just so silly. LOL. I was a big fan of a lot of Neron’s changes to the villains.
Super review! This was the 1st wave I picked up. I really like the figure choices in this assortment. While none of them are mu favorites, they are compelling to me! I really like Kalibak, so for me, they all were a must! Very happy with the distribution of this wave as well! Even though I know nothing about the character, Dr.Impossible was visually appealing to me, so he’s with the rest of my New Gods characters!
I do like the black/purple. That’s about it though.
Great review! This too was the wave that got me started and is still of the best in terms of character selection.
Thanks. I think this wave and w13 have the best lineups.
Okay, not to make myself sound stupid, but I didn’t know that the Motherbox was there until this review. That’s really cool.
A friend told it was there the night I bought him, so I didn’t find it on my own back then either.
MR Miracle is one of the best figures in the whole line. Period.
Definitely.
Great review!
Thanks!
It’s one of my favorite waves too.
Gotta love the modern versions getting some respect!
I loved Dr. Impossible (And the rest of Meltzer’s JLA run)
It’s all good. There are some really awful comics I like too. 😉
Miracle is one of the great figures in the line!
He really is, but I’m partial to all the Super Powers figures.
I can’t wait to see Golden Pharoah by the 4H!
Out of the whole wave Hawkman really surprised me! I’ve never been a fan of him and I usually like his more barbarian look like Ed McGuiness’ design, but when this guy arrived, I was truly impressed. He is easily in the top 5 best figures from this line.
Killer Moth was another fun one. He’s too ridiculous to pass on. My brother was taking a look at my Batman’s Rogues display and when he saw KM, he asked, “who the he’ll is that?!”. He couldn’t understand how that guycould be a “super”-villain. LOL
P.S. My Kailbak has the same hip problem!