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<\/a>It seems Apache Chief Week was just too ginormous to fit into a standard workweek! We\u2019ve got one figure left before we get to the big man himself, a late addition to the Hanna-Barbera Super Friends cartoon and one DC character that I was sure wouldn’t get a figure, El Dorado. <\/p>\nI\u2019m not really sure what\u2019s up with El Dorado. Samurai, Apache Chief, & Black Vulcan were created for the show (And Rima adapted for the show) in 1977 around the same time that more characters (Green Lantern, the Hawks, etc.) were brought in from the DCU to fill out the roster. And for the most part, the show roster stayed the same until Firestorm and Cyborg were added in the mid-80s. But in the middle, there exists this one character that debuts and sticks around for a handful of episodes: El Dorado. <\/p>\n
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<\/center><\/p>\nWe never find out much from El Dorado during his appearances on the show. We know that he\u2019s Mexican, likely a descendant of the Aztecs. Like Black Vulcan, the cardback biography had to make a bit up:<\/p>\n
Dressed in a costume that evokes the Aztec kings of long ago, El Dorado uses his mystical powers to aid the Super friends in their worldwide quest for justice. Some speculate he is the descendant of Aztec sorcerers, empowered by their ancient magic and his people\u2019s warrior-spirit. El Dorado has never revealed the source of his power, but his knowledge of ancient ruins in Mexico suggests a connection to the Aztec civilization. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n
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It\u2019s still not much to go on, which is really a shame. I hate to see these characters get such a bad reputation as being \u201cdiversity characters\u201d or that they\u2019re taking up the space of proper DC characters because I think the truth is just that they\u2019re largely unexplored. We don\u2019t know if they\u2019re cool. I mean, if you take a person that doesn\u2019t know anything about the DCU and show them a Super Friends<\/em> episode \u2013 they\u2019re not going to know who\u2019s \u201creal\u201d or \u201cnot real\u201d. The portrayals of our favorite DC heroes are just as ambiguous, sometimes ill-defined, and they don\u2019t really do a whole lot in the show \u2013 but we know them. I often wonder if characters like El Dorado or Black Vulcan would be more widely received if we just knew more about them. <\/p>\n
El Dorado may suffer even more because he doesn\u2019t have defined powers like the other show-created characters. Apache Chief gets big, Black Vulcan throws lightning, etc.. El Dorado can kinda do\u2026 whatever he needs to do. He was strong enough to fight Kalibak, he could cast illusions (that were sometimes tangible), levitate (fly?), possessed some form of telepathy, and he could teleport himself and others. <\/p>\n
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Teleporting is my favorite power because he wasn\u2019t very good at it. If he and Superman left the Hall of Justice together, El Dorado would arrive in Metropolis at the same time as a flying Superman. If he and Batman left the Hall of Justice together, then El Dorado would arrive in Gotham at the same time as a driving Batman. It just didn’t make a lot of sense to me as a kid. I used to joke (as I did above) that his power was to teleport in the same it normally takes to get somewhere. When I got older, and less trusting, I determined that he likely just went home. If he knew how long it took Wonder Women to get to Metropolis, then he could go home, have a beer, catch his favorites shows on his DVR, and then still beat Wonder Woman there. That’s what I really learned to appreciate El Dorado. That’s my kinda super power. Continue to Page 2…<\/a><\/p>\n
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Oops… did I end up on page two before even talking about the figure? *Ahem*<\/p>\n
Despite my enjoying the character and appreciating the “WTF” status of his inclusion, I have mixed feelings about the figure. Like others in the wave, it\u2019s not inaccurate, but it\u2019s also trying to get by on as few pieces as possible. The two sculpts for these pieces are fantastic (I love the harness as it goes beyond his simple animated design), but he could\u2019ve used a little more love (i.e. budget). It’s particularly obvious for the gloves because the color of the gold paint and the plastic of arms is sometimes hard to distinguish, his hands are yellow, his arms bare and they just blend together somewhere in the middle. I know a different paint color would also solve that problem, but a sculpted line would have gone a long way right there. And since I’m already whining about sculpted details, it\u2019s a damn shame that Mattel got through twenty waves without a proper bare chest piece for the normal buck. <\/p>\n
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The paint work itself is sharp on El Dorado, but some of the choices still keep the figure from being great in this category. He’s showing a lot of skin and the different grades of plastic don’t quite match. And I already mentioned how the gold and skin tone blend together on the forearms, but there\u2019s also that the harness is molded red and painted gold. I don’t mind that it’s one-piece with the cape, but the red shows through on a lot of the figures I’ve seen. And the use of the gold paint here also makes me ask \u2013 why don\u2019t the gold on the gloves and harness match? Add in the glossy face paint and you end up with a few aggravations on an otherwise fun figure. <\/p>\n
As an aside, I’ve seen some comments this week about the height of this wave. I didn’t think they were bigger, but the ‘usual suspects’ lineup pic reveals they do appear to be a smidge taller. <\/p>\n
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Articulation is what we\u2019ve come to expect: good range on the ball-joint at the neck, ball shoulders, swivels at the bicep, wrist, waist, & thighs, hinges at the elbows, knees, & ankles, the ab crunch, and the 4H hips. Ah, but then there’s that QC spotlight on his shoulder. It may look okay in the picture, but that is one stuck joint. It can swing it and out, but there\u2019s little no front and back movement. I’ve had some stuck joints before, but this one is different. It has a little bit of give – and not because the plastic is twisting – it does turn, but just barely. It’s almost as if something internally is blocking the shoulder. It’s very odd and I don’t much feel like cracking him open to find out, I may just swap him out when I find a second one at retail.<\/p>\n
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Overall\u2026 great scott, there\u2019s an El Dorado figure. There\u2019s really not words how to describe how crazy (or how horrible, if you absolutely must prefer) that Mattel included him. I know I might’ve nitpicked him to death here, but I can overlook the lack of sculpted details and some of the paint choices and enjoy the figure. I mean, if you’re a fan of the Super Friends<\/em> or just El Dorado, you’ll probably be pleased with the figure. The primary issue for me (and probably why this review tended to be so nitpicky) is the blocked shoulder joint. And while I can definitely say El Dorado needed a little more attention from Mattel before he was sent out, I’ll be a lot happier when I snag one with a working shoulder. Then I’ll just need to make a cool pad for him to hang out in while he’s waiting for the other superheroes to get where they’re going… <\/p>\n
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