{"id":2571,"date":"2009-11-17T08:31:25","date_gmt":"2009-11-17T14:31:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=2571"},"modified":"2010-06-26T20:44:40","modified_gmt":"2010-06-27T01:44:40","slug":"mr-rants-wants-his-dc-classics-to-look-up-and-down","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=2571","title":{"rendered":"Mr. Rant wants his DC Classics to look up and down…"},"content":{"rendered":"

Well, another \u201cAsk Matty\u201d has come and gone and an important issue to fans has gone unanswered again. The last few waves of DC Universe Classics have had a glaring and consistent problem: they can only look from side-to-side. Though all the parts are there for a working ball-joint, nearly every figure from waves eight through ten have lost the ability to look up or down. Earlier figures in the same toyline had a great range motion with this same joint. They weren’t relegated to left and right. They had full up-and-down motion, some figures could even tilt their head sideways for some truly great poses. When asked if the ball joint was left out by design or by accident of quality control, Mattel\u2019s response was this: \u201cIt\u2019s handled on a figure by figure basis\u201d.<\/p>\n

Well, that’s unacceptable. Why are these figures relegated to what is effectively a simple swivel joint when nearly every other action figure line on the market has joined the world of the future and given their figures ball-jointed heads? I think that’s what is particularly frustrating. All the parts are there for these heads to work like the fans want them to and they just don’t. When we turn to the company producing them, our questions are either misunderstood or dismissed. The ball-jointed heads aren’t working – to fans, it’s clearly a quality control issue. To Mattel, this simple standard point of articulation is being treated like something they only give when a figure is deemed to “need it”. Even if we jump into that limited viewpoint and accept that the ball-joint isn’t standard in our super-articulated era, it still falls apart. Black Adam is a flying character that won’t be able to look where he’s going. Robotman has a 50ft tall teammate that he won’t be able to look in the face. The excuses are as limited as the ball-jointed head.<\/p>\n

In the age of multi-articulated figures, a ball jointed head shouldn\u2019t be an option, it\u2019s a necessity. In extreme poses, it’s the joint that puts on the finishing touch. It conveys the illusion of personality better than any other joint. It\u2019s amazing how the slight cock of a head can portray a quizzical expression. A downward cast head gives the impression of sadness or anger. An upturned head can show a figure looking hopefully into the future or ready to lift off and fly.<\/p>\n

But Mattel isn’t hearing us. So, fellow collectors, we need to do and a better job at letting Mattel know how we feel. If fans don\u2019t take a stand and make sure they’re heard, then we will be forever relegated to a shelf of DC heroes, all staring forward. We asked and they answered, but now it’s time to insist.<\/p>\n

How do you feel about this issue? Let us know in the comments section below.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Well, another \u201cAsk Matty\u201d has come and gone and an important issue to fans has gone unanswered again. The last few waves of DC Universe Classics have had a glaring and consistent problem: they can only look from side-to-side. Though all the parts are there for a working ball-joint, nearly every figure from waves eight […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"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":[31,10],"tags":[2557,30,2560],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pObc6-Ft","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3133,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=3133","url_meta":{"origin":2571,"position":0},"title":"Mr. Rant likes his women to have articulation","date":"December 29, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Originally, my plan had been to take off until next week, but I've been drawn back early by the news from Mattel yesterday. For those who are unaware, many collectors have been having problems with their Goddess figures. I have. In fact, all the ones that came to IAT last\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Mister Rant"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2597,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=2597","url_meta":{"origin":2571,"position":1},"title":"Most Requested: DC Classics Ball-Jointed Necks – UPDATED 11\/22","date":"November 20, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Click here to jump directly to the update with images of the interior of the figures I didn't want to write this article. To turn the Most Requested feature into yet another referendum on the DC Classics neck articulation seemed like overkill. On Monday, we had plenty of comments about\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "DCClassics.Com"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3598,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=3598","url_meta":{"origin":2571,"position":2},"title":"Mr. Rant likes his Green Lantern figures big.","date":"January 26, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Toy Guru recently announced his promotion to brand manager of the action figure line based on the upcoming Green Lantern movie. First, congratulations. Second, there\u2019s an issue I wanted to address before it\u2019s too late. Mattel, Toy Guru, I want you to stop doing 5 inch Movie Masters. Now, before\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "DCClassics.Com"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3354,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=3354","url_meta":{"origin":2571,"position":3},"title":"Mr. Rant asks “Are DCUC Fans Second-Class Collectors?”","date":"January 12, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"\u201cWhy are Moss Man\u2019s ears fuzzy,\u201d was the cry of many a teary-eyed MOTU Fan on the .Org and at the Facebook page last week. Me? I don\u2019t really care either way. I know how the industry works in regards to prototypes and my subscription was submitted months ago. Some\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "DCClassics.Com"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":348,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=348","url_meta":{"origin":2571,"position":4},"title":"Mr. Rant asks Where are my DC Minimates???","date":"July 21, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"","rel":"","context":"In "Mister Rant"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":686,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=686","url_meta":{"origin":2571,"position":5},"title":"Mr. Rant says, “Stop showing unproduced figures!”","date":"July 28, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"img align=left src=\"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/resources\/images\/really.png\" hspace=4>Last weekend\u2019s Comic-Con gave us a ton of interesting news and great pictures of the upcoming toys this year. But there was one thing that stood out to me like a glaring imperfection, and it was something Mattel doesn\u2019t plan on bringing to the fans. After all\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\/2571"}],"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\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2571"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2571\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6942,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2571\/revisions\/6942"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2571"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2571"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2571"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}