While this Star Sapphire came out with little to no slop, it wasn’t easy finding her. The first one I passed on was particularly sloppy on the edges of her suit. This one is a little rough on her left side, but it’s not so bad that it kept me from buying the figure. Unfortunately, all of the Sapphires ended up with their eyes crossed and looking up. It makes the figure look off, and almost fools you into thinking something is wrong with the sculpt itself. I thought about photoshopping the eyes into the proper place for comparison, but I ran out of time.
The figure almost features standard articulation. The head, arms, and legs are all handled like a classic DC figure, but there’s been a drastic change for the ab crunch and swivel waist. I was hoping that they’d been combined, but the figure ended up just loosing its ab crunch. The new joint does swivel, though it isn’t flat. I keep worrying that I’m going to scrape something off when I turn it. There’s no back-to-front movement at all. While this does help the figure aesthetically (the ab crunch made the women seem that much more malnourished) I would rather have the movement in this particular case. Carol is a flying character, but the figure can’t be posed in a good flying pose since she can’t look forward. Hasbro uses this type of joint with varying success, so hopefully Mattel can sort out the right way to do it, or go back to the old way.
Overall, I was pretty happy with the Star Sapphire figure. I’d like her better with correctly painted eyes and the ab crunch (though those two drawbacks do combine since she’s at looking up), but I’m happy to get this figure. I’ve wanted the seven “patriarchs” of the respective Lantern Corps and had been mostly relying on DC Direct to get them. I didn’t want either of the DC Direct versions of Carol because neither was a particularly good looking figure. Carol being human also doesn’t help. The DCD aliens can blend in, but a DCD Carol would be huge compared to a DC Classics Hal. Using the DCUC Hal & Carol, I can finally put all the ringslingers together.
Combined with finally completing Stel, this was a rather happy purchase. And, oh look, BBTS just got me in DCUC17… Yippee…
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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.