An odd pair to be sure, but with theme waves coming I figured I should take advantage of the dissimilar characters offered in DCUC16. I’ve been looking forward to picking up this version of Riddler. I wanted Hex too, but I had fears about how Mattel would handle him. Sadly for Hex, both figures met my expectations.

DC Universe Classics is now up to Wave 16. That’s kinda crazy to think about (even though we’re not halfway through my personal want list). I picked these up online a few weeks back, but Vault found them at our Target today so they’re out there now if you’re looking for them. The wave is notable for being the last eclectic group of figures we get for awhile (as I said, the next few waves are themed) and for being the first under the new paradigm where the waves consist of only six figures – all of which are required to build the collect and connect, in this case, a much needed redo of Bane (a complete list of which figures comes with which piece is available at DCClassics.Com).

I’ll start off with the Riddler. As a major Batman villain, he’s relatively high profile, but I’ll give a short bio for those of you that always seem to enjoy that part. The Riddler is the creation of Bill Finger & Dick Sprang first appearing in 1948’s Detective Comics #140. He doesn’t make a big splash and disappeared after only a handful of appearances. The ’60s Batman show and actor Frank Gorshin would revive the Riddler and basically install him as an integral member of Batman’s Rogues Gallery (along with making him a household name, Gorshin also traded in the Riddler’s spandex for a suit, a change that later made its way into the comics).

The Riddler’s modus operandi is to commit crimes and leave riddles, matching wits with the heroes he’s fighting. It’s not really any more complicated than that. The Riddler has always been a favorite character of mine – one of the few where I truly appreciate his simplicity and dread anyone trying to overcomplicate him (I’m looking at you, Paul Dini).

It probably won’t surprise you to discover that the Riddler is a new head on a standard buck. Since that’s all that was really called for, he’s just about perfect. Just about. He’s got forearms with raised gloves which are nice, but the belt piece has the buckle painted on instead of raised. Normally, I wouldn’t nitpick such a small detail, but since Riddler is a 5pk figure (read: new head only) it might not have killed Mattel to find room in the budget for a new belt piece with a raised buckle. Heck, I’m surprised that the line doesn’t have one of those already. It’d surely come in handy.

Anyway, now that I’ve found something to complain about for complaint’s sake, let me lavish some praise on the head. It’s a great sculpt with no soft features and it even has a slight smirk that’s perfect for the character. Without any reservations, my Wave 5 Riddler is safely boxed up in my extras/no room bin from here on out. I have my Riddler (now where’s that Poison Ivy?)

I had some slight paint issues with Riddler, but that may be because he required so little paint. He’s basically molded in his particular shade of green with paint only needed for his gloves (which have sloppy edges) and his neck/head (which has a sloppy hairline). The question marks are all tampos and save the figure though. They’re all over (not like the dumb jacket on the Wv5 figure) and you’d be hard pressed to find a spot where there should be “one more”.

Articulation is standard for the line. There are no new pieces here, so Riddler is still using the older buck outright. He has the annoying one piece ankles and his head has decent down motion and some tilt. Everything else works like you’re used to (though I supposed we’re used to the heads and ankles by now too). I had no issues with stuck joints on Riddler.

Riddler also included an accessory, a reuse of the cane packaged with his earlier figure. It’s okay. It fits in his hand well and it’s the right height for a figure his size. He comes packaged with it tucked under his arm in the tray, that’s really the only cool thing about it for this second go-round. Continue to Jonah Hex…