{"id":17021,"date":"2012-02-19T16:07:45","date_gmt":"2012-02-19T22:07:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=17021"},"modified":"2012-02-19T16:21:07","modified_gmt":"2012-02-19T22:21:07","slug":"dc-classics-com-stripe-week-sandman-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=17021","title":{"rendered":"DC Classics.Com S.T.R.I.P.E. Week
Golden Age Sandman Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>While I enjoyed DCUC18, I\u2019m still of the mindset that DCUC19, with its JSA theme, was a bastion of greatness in an otherwise dull year for DC Classics. Sandwiched between a wave of Geoff Johns\u2019 Rainbow Deputies and Brightest Day figures, the classic characters featured here were a 2011 bright spot.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve actually had this wave in hand for months, but have been unwilling or unable to get S.T.R.I.P.E. Week on the schedule. There\u2019s been a lot of other stuff to review, but truthfully \u2013 once S.T.R.I.P.E. Week is done, that means I\u2019ve gotta do a Nekron Week and that’s kinda depressing. If you’ve been reading IAT long, you know I’m a huge DC fan (the Phantom of the Fair makes an appearance in this review for cryin’ out loud) and you can imagine that I don’t run the DCClassics.Com<\/a> checklist out of mere passive interest in the line. <\/p>\n

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And yet, last year was really a hard year to get excited about the line. I enjoyed the Bane Wave, but had some QC issues. The Rainbow Deputies and the Super Friends were cool figures, but were a bit much when released en masse. This wave made it feel like things were looking up, but then came the dullest wave yet with Wave 20. Truth be told, I haven’t even shipped the Nekron Wave out of my BTTS Pile of Loot yet (and I paid for that wave on Christmas Day). I’ve just been kinda blah on the line, the theme waves, the over-reliance on Geoff Johns work, and the lack of “flavor” previous years had. Toy Fair, Rocket Red aside, has kinda righted the ship. 2012 is actually looking up, so it’s a good time to get back on the horse and review some DC Classics. <\/p>\n

So, yay, S.T.R.I.P.E. Week is finally here! As usual, I\u2019m going to kick off with my favorite figure from the wave. Enter the Sandman. <\/p>\n

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You may not know it, but comic characters don\u2019t get much cooler than the Sandman. Whether you want to talk about him in terms of fictional history or publication history, this is a not-superhero character that was introduced when superheroes were becoming all the rage. Though it wasn\u2019t invented yet, spandex was in and the pulp heroes, the mysterymen, were a dying breed. 1939 saw the introduction of characters like Batman, Blue Beetle, & Captain Marvel. That\u2019s when Wesley Dodds dons his iconic gas mask, throws on a cape for good measure, and sets out to take down criminals with his trusty gas gun. Now, I love the Shadow, Crimson Avenger, and characters of that sort, but Sandman wasn’t just a loner, he ended up being incorporated into the Justice Society and his mysteryman feel always made him a standout character to me. <\/p>\n

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Think about the classic image of the original eight members of the JSA: a speedster, a guy with a magic ring, a guy in a bird-suit, a ghost, a mystic, a guy on drugs, a little dude in a wrestling suit, and then Sandman in his business attire. Admittedly, Sandman would get his spandex makeover (and a sidekick to boot) just a few years after joining up, but this figure is from when Sandman was wonderfully out of place. He dressed snazzy, he had futuristic gear, his girlfriend accompanied him (and the writers actually treated her like a character instead of a plot device), and, funnily enough, he got shot\/hurt all the time, but soldiered on. <\/p>\n

Sandman wasn\u2019t used a lot in the post-JSA years (in fact, there\u2019s more than a few other Sandmen at DC), but his badassery did earn him a slightly out-of-continuity Vertigo series (how many JSAers can claim that?) and he lived pretty far in modern times. His death was on his own terms, opting to kill himself to take a secret to his grave rather than letting the secret of Dr. Fate’s return fall into the hands of evil. I love almost all of the JSA characters, but Sandman will always be my favorite. I had hoped to find them for this review, but he’s one of a handful of DC characters I’ve customized in various scales over the years. I even had to give a speech about “making something” in college and did “How to make a Sandman Custom”. Yes, folks, I’m that lame. <\/p>\n

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The reason I was able to make that custom years ago was because it wasn’t too difficult with suit bodies and capes readily available. Mattel was in a similar situation when it came to their Sandman, needing only to develop a new head and a new suit jacket. The body is donated entirely from the Question, right down to the gloves and shoes, while the cape is borrowed from Hourman. <\/p>\n

The two new pieces are sufficient to get the job done. The new coat is mostly par for the course, something Mattel re-use on future mysterymen (Crimson Avenger…)<\/em> though it does have a nifty little loop to stow Wesley’s Gas gun. The key to getting Sandman right is in the gas mask and the 4H knocked it out of the park. The piece could be a little bigger (Wes has to have a tiny head in there – which would explain why he buys tiny hats), but the 4H did a great job of catching that the blue areas are a little recessed and making sure the figure doesn’t look like he has a bucket over his head like the DC Direct figure did some years ago. Continue to Page 2…<\/a><\/p>\n

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Articulation is standard for the line since the suit buck carries the same complement as the basic buck. That said the suit body does have some limits. The hinge ankles can’t move backward, the ab crunch is in there, but is virtually unusable, and the head has no up or down movement. The rest of the articulation keeps the figure posable though – ball shoulders, swivels at the biceps, wrists, waist, and thighs, hinges in the elbows and knees, and the 4H hips. I do wish the head had a little more movement, but I’ve been able to get the figure into most of the poses I want. I think the suit look helps here because he doesn’t look like he’s a guy that should be contorting that much. <\/p>\n

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The paint on my figure was solid with one exception. Most of the pieces are molded in the appropriate color with just little details like the tie decoration and the shoelaces needing paint. Almost all the paint apps are on the gas mask and the plan for this piece was really nice. A flat yellow for the base of the molded-blue mask and then a metallic yellow for the component pieces like the filter and goggles. Unfortunately, the left side of the face is a little sloppy. It’s not so bad, but when the right side is near perfect, it draws the eye. <\/p>\n

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Finally, Sandman includes his classic accessory, the “Gas Gun”. Though it appears to have been made in China, Dodds invented the gun as a non-lethal weapon prior to his first appearance. Depending on the gas cartridges used the gun can either put criminals to sleep, lower their aggressiveness, or can even be used as a truth serum. The design the 4H used for this sculpt is a later design – maybe the version given to him by the Crimson Avenger, but I’m not sure. Either way this design has been more or less retconned back to the beginnings of Sandman. I’m not sure when it first appeared, but I tend to associate it more with Sandman Mystery Theatre<\/em> (the aforementioned Vertigo book) than the classic character, but I do like this design and I’m happy the 4H went with it. <\/p>\n

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Overall, the Sandman is a long anticipated addition to my shelves. Yeah, he’s a crucial component to any JSA shelf, but I wanted him for him as well. There’s a lot of reuse here, but this is one of those times where it works perfectly. I do wish the neck articulation was better and the head slightly bigger, but my desire for a Sandman figure is abated. <\/p>\n

If there\u2019s any commentary here, it\u2019s that the DCUC line needs to get a little more Golden. The retail line has gone iffy for the foreseeable future, so we’ll have to look to the Club Infinite Earth subscription, but that might be a good place for it. Jay Garrick will round out the founding members (though like Alan, Jay’s older and won\u2019t quite fit in with this crew), but the line needs to expand its GA focus outside of just the JSA. I didn’t realize until I was taking pictures for DCUC19 that there’s still no proper GA villains, and few characters beyond the scope of JSA Membership. The Crimson Avenger, the Freedom Fighters, the Seven Soldiers. There’s a lot of low tooling to be had there. Don’t get me wrong I need<\/em> my Zauriel, Aztek, and other characters I’ve come to love as an adult, but a proper All-Star Squadron would look really damn cool. <\/p>\n

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For more DC reviews, check out our
\n DC Universe Classics Collector’s Guide<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/center><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While I enjoyed DCUC18, I\u2019m still of the mindset that DCUC19, with its JSA theme, was a bastion of greatness in an otherwise dull year for DC Classics. Sandwiched between a wave of Geoff Johns\u2019 Rainbow Deputies and Brightest Day figures, the classic characters featured here were a 2011 bright spot.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_options":[]},"categories":[6,34,10],"tags":[15,665,1049,259,20,957,1389],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pObc6-4qx","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":17072,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=17072","url_meta":{"origin":17021,"position":0},"title":"DC Classics.Com S.T.R.I.P.E. Week Golden Age Atom Review","date":"February 22, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"S.T.R.I.P.E. Week has me taking another trip down memory lane today with a look at the Golden Age Atom! He\u2019s not my favorite Justice Society of America member, but as a JSA Fan that\u2019s been waiting forever for a good Al Pratt figure, I\u2019m happy to report this one doesn\u2019t\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "DCClassics.Com"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":17034,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=17034","url_meta":{"origin":17021,"position":1},"title":"DC Classics.Com S.T.R.I.P.E. WeekStargirl Review","date":"February 20, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"S.T.R.I.P.E. Week rolls on, but today I\u2019m jumping ahead, oh\u2026 a few decades to a young member of the modern JSA. One of the things I enjoyed most about the late 90s DC offerings was the return of the Justice Society of America and its newest member Courtney Whitmore, a.k.a.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "DCClassics.Com"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":17114,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=17114","url_meta":{"origin":17021,"position":2},"title":"DC Classics.Com S.T.R.I.P.E. Week S.T.R.I.P.E. Review","date":"February 24, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"As everyone (hopefully) expected, we\u2019re wrapping up our S.T.R.I.P.E. Week with a look at the big guy. STRIPE & \u2018comic accuracy\u2019 don\u2019t belong anywhere near each other in a sentence, but Mattel and the Four Horsemen pulled off a feat, a fantastically inaccurate figure that\u2019s fantastic at the same time.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "DCClassics.Com"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":17102,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=17102","url_meta":{"origin":17021,"position":3},"title":"DC Classics.com S.T.R.I.P.E. Week Kobra (Lord Naga) Review","date":"February 23, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"I get the last couple normal figure reviews before S.T.R.I.P.E., so I thought I\u2019d kick off today with a look at one of the more interesting villains from the old DC Universe.\u00a0 It may say Lord Naga on his box, but he\u2019s better known as Kobra. I wanted to talk\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "DCClassics.Com"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.itsalltrue.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/kobr6.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":17160,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=17160","url_meta":{"origin":17021,"position":4},"title":"DC Classics.com S.T.R.I.P.E. Week Hawkman Review","date":"February 24, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"S.T.R.I.P.E. Week is nearing its conclusion with my review of the last regular figure in the JSA themed wave, the Golden Age version of Hawkman.\u00a0 We\u2019ve been waiting a long time for this particular figure, and he actually turned out pretty well for what's mostly redeco. Carter Hall was an\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "DCClassics.Com"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.itsalltrue.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/hawk6.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":12239,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=12239","url_meta":{"origin":17021,"position":5},"title":"DCClassics.Com Review: Green Lantern Stel (C&C)","date":"April 8, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Armless Stel Week is reaching its shattering conclusion with... well, a review of Armless Stel! He's an interesting figure because he's a mix of greatness and annoyance. I suppose that's true for most of the line, but with Stel it's a little more annoying knowing that they made him wrong\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "DCClassics.Com"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17021"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17021"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17021\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17033,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17021\/revisions\/17033"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17021"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17021"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17021"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}