It’s been a little over two months since “Armless Stel” Week concluded here at IAT. I had the rare opportunity to pick up the wave at retail before it was available online and I jumped at it, but the lone Star Sapphire I found was particularly subpar. Little did I know that it would be weeks before I saw a second one.
While I’m happy enough with the Star Sapphire figure, I was honestly more excited at the prospect of finally completing Stel. I’ve already reviewed him without an arm, but I wanted to make sure and get a completed picture of the big guy in here. I wanted to do a group shot, but as Stel notes…
Star Sapphire has an interesting history at DC Comics. She debuts alongside Hal Jordan in his very first appearance (1959) as his love interest, Carol Ferris. Their relationship was always complicated, she was the boss’ daughter and later the boss herself, but things became even more complicated three years into the book when she’s turned into the villain Star Sapphire by a Zamaronian gem. Unlike other superhero wives & girlfriends who occasionally flirt with having super powers, Carol more or less remained a part-time villain into the modern. With Geoff Johns realigning the Star Sapphires into one of his Rainbow Corps, Carol is now a ring-wielding heroic Star.
The costume on this figure is based on the modern version and, when you take her history into account, it’s a little awkward. She’s a former pilot and airline executive, see? Yet, when she dons the ring, she wears a somewhat slutty costume and has a body that rivals Wonder Woman or Starfire. Sure, she watches what she eats and hits up the gym, but it’s still a little odd no matter what excuse you come up with. As the Star Sapphire ranks expanded and some of them featured more “conservative” costumes, it just further alters what opinion you might hold of the once buttoned-down Carol Ferris…
While I still wish the DCUC females were overall a little bigger and dare I say – bulkier, Carol ended up with a nice sculpt. The costume details are all captured in the sculpt instead of relying on paint. Perhaps the best example is the top of the boots. Normally, you’d see those painted on, but they’re new thigh pieces here. The ring detail is a little hard to make out on this figure, but I imagine the 2up has the Star Sapphire symbol on it. The figure also features a new torso piece with a new articulation, I’m not at all fond of the joint, but it does improve the aesthetic of the figure. A new collar and an all-new head round out Carol’s look. Continue to Page 2…
Why Young Lanterns in Love isn’t getting a new #1, I’ll never know.
I grabbed the first Carol I saw, and she’s ok, not great. Still, the kind-of bored/neutral expression sells for me that she isn’t super into being Star Sapphire; I think she got roped into the whole thing.
Poor girl looks like she has a sucking chest wound. Everyone told her not to try to play limbo with Atrocitus.
As bad as the chest articulation is, I just can’t believe that how bad all the boobs are in DCUC. They’re always just half-circles stapled on like an afterthought, no clear understanding of how they should connect or how they should hang. It’s not that they are a particularly important part of the figure, but when the follow the instruction of the comic books and give them water balloons, it really hurts the look of the figure when they’re so poorly done. It’s not a lack of skill on the part of the Four Horsemen, as Adora is fifty times more realistic wearing four times as much clothing, so it must be either a mandate by Mattel (as no female MOTUC has been released to retail shelves that I know of) or a misguided attempt at lessening detail for the general stylized effect that DCUC goes for. However, it doesn’t match up with any point of comic book art beyond the early 90’s, as breasts have always been lovingly detailed (as they’ve been drawn by men, who generally love them.) and more detailed that DCUC manages.
I realize that was a long sentence about action figure boobs, but I am tired of Raven getting stopped as she leaves the shop and accused of stealing gatorades.
well said bray, there are indeed a cascade of piss poor tits in action figures. i think IAT should do an expose… we’ll call it “A Lack of Silicone in the PVC World.”
and we needed more pics of the completed stel…
The first SS Carol I got from BBTS set wasn’t bad. I ordered two more from EE later, and one looked stoned, the other looked as if she had been hit upside her head with a 2×4, her eyes were so bad. Are the factory workers just lazy? Are they distracted by B00BIES!!!? Are the blind, themselves?
oh yeah, I’ve seen a handful of SS in StL County as well as along I-70 this past wkd when I went up to KC. I even scored another Sodam Yat! The only one of this wave I haven’t seen too much of is the 3pk of “mini” Lanterns.
That comic cover is priceless.
Best review I’ve seen in a while! The graphic for the cover is fantastic. Reminds me of old Metamorpho covers.
I see Batman Legacy has come in, but for $60 ($50 plus shipping) for Batman, Joker, and Mr. Freeze, I’m not sure it is worth it.
I’m going along with Bray there, them things just ain’t right.
I know it’s likely not the case but so help me the breasts on these figs look like afterthoughts, just a pair of grapefruit clayed onto the buck.
I know it’s a problem, they need a design that’s generic enough to look like they’re held in place by the costume and not nudie nudie boobies, and ‘natural’ just doesn’t work in the set ‘comic book’, but still.
I’m kinda thinking that the buck system just doesn’t work for female figures and maybe they should be unique sculpts, but given Mattel, THAT sure isn’t going to happen.
Love that comic cover btw, funny as hades. Great review.