DC Collectibles Greg
Capullo Talon Review

Out of the box, Talon was not as impressive as I hoped, but he is good figure. As usual for DC Direct, …er Collectibles the sculpt is best part of the figure. He’s a matte black, but every detail is sculpted and contrasts well despite the solid color. He photographs great and the stark contrast with the silver & gold draws the eye. Greg Capullo did a great job on the design (I loved it enough in the comic to want the fig, after all) and DCC translated it very well; right down to the subtlety owl-shaped knee pads.

The paint was minimal but good for the most part, there was a little bit of slop on the gold areas, but I picked him knowing I could fix that without little issue – I’m unlikely to see Talon a ton of times, so I’m more willing to fix deco issues than I would be on mass retail figure. One thing i didn’t like was that there was a lot of white gunk in key areas. I had thought it possible that he was molded white and painted black for a split-second, but this appeared to be dried glue. I gave the figure a good wipe down after opening him, but you can still see it in some of the pictures.

The articulation was what going to be key to my enjoying the figure and, except for a couple things, the articulation was what I wanted. In the central torso, the ab crunch doesn’t have the best range, but it works and there’s a waist swivel for good measure. I do wish the head had still been articulated. They opted to just make the head and torso one-piece, but the figure would be a lot more fun if the whole cowl piece had a little movement separate from the torso. Similarly, a double-hinge elbow would be nice in the arms to grab the swords from his back, but the ball-shoulders & wrists, and the bicep swivels still give plenty of arm range for posing.

The legs though – they’re struck by QC. There’s a lot to like. The hips have decent range, the thigh & calf swivels are great to have (one calf swivel is still stuck, doh), and the double-hinge knees are all fantastic. The ball-ankles are welcome too, but they’re loose. Two other collectors warned me about this and it’s true for mine as well. If you get him into a balanced pose, he’ll hold it, but you’ve got to get it just right or the ankles will give into the lean and *boom* Talon comes crashing down. It’s happened twice while writing this review.

For the $25, Talon does include a few nice accessories. There’s the Court of Owls prop mask from the story. It’s a cool add-in. Also included are two swords and two knives. He holds everything great, but they are brittle. The packaging itself already cracked the two knives near the hilt. It’s funny. He has a sheath for just one, so it feels like they know you’re going to break one and gave you an extra.

The amazing thing though, and I didn’t know this until I was playing around with him, is that the six throwing knives on his bandolier? Removable! That was awesome! I had missed that in any news leading up to the figures release and was pleasantly surprised. It easily bumps the figure up a few notches in the wow factor.

Overall, it’s kinda sad to think about how much I used to love DC Direct, how many figures of theirs I had, and then how few of their recent releases have made it to the site. I could always go back and do some retros, but they never do as well as the current stuff. The good nesws is that things are looking up. Talon feels like he’s somewhere between NECA & Mattel/Hasbro in terms of quality and that honestly means DCD has come a long way from that first Wonder Woman figure. I was never that worried about the articulation or the overall toyness during all my years collecting these, but they should now give anyone that had those reservations pause if they’re all like this. I’m interested in picking up more; I just need the subject matter to come back around to stuff that interests me.

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30 thoughts on “DC Collectibles Greg
Capullo Talon Review

  1. I as in the deep en on day one with DCD, but when they got the B/S licenses back, I started passing on a LOT of offerings. I don’t even remember what the last DC-D/C figure I bought was, but likely the Blackest Night era, where they were white hot at the time of ordering, but cold by the time they hit the shelves a few month later. You couldn’t give them away aside from a few figures, and those were mostly Black Lanterns. To this day, I don’t know why DC and Mattel started copying each other, but it seemed to kill interest in both lines.

    As for Talon, it’s a decent design, but that solid torso to head piece is a major stumbling block for me. It is cool that the bandolier daggers are separate, but the damaged in package blades and shoddy ankle QC is just another reason I don’t have any interest in DCC. It seems to be a 50/50 shot at good QC or consistently bad QC, these days.

    btw, I probably would buy that Riddler, but only f I saw him in person, first.

      1. body looks slightly better than the DCUC version, and heads can be swapped.

  2. The Batman from this series is really good too, he’s replaced DCUC new52 Batman on my shelf!

    1. I glanced at one in the comic store, but the face looked really flat. Like, highly noticeable at first glance flat. Worse than a DCUC girl’s face flat.

  3. I really don’t like artist-specific figures, but this one is obviously a new character so that works out.

    Nice review great pics as always. 🙂

  4. So glad you reviewed this figure, Noisy! I was never that into DC Direct’s offerings (for all the reasons you mentioned), and with a few exceptions I’m not a fan of line-mixing, but with the demise of DCUC and what appears to be a HUGE leap in quality, I’ve been considering dipping my toes into the DC Collectibles pond. And this is the figure I was thinking of starting with. Yeah, it’s new 52, but Batman really wasn’t effected THAT much by the new direction, was he? So to me Talon fits in just fine. The sculpt looks fantastic, the articulation is right in line with what we came to expect from Matty, and the amount of accessories is just amazing (No idea those throwing blades were removable!) Including all the various weapons makes displaying multiples more fun, as well. Smart. The owl-mask was a nice touch, too. That seems like one of those little details ol’ Matty would have chintzed-out on. So, yeah, I think I’ll grab this guy today (and maybe a few more over time) to fight what looks to be a SICK Thrasher-armor Batman.
    Again, thanks for the review, and for continuing to give the people what they want! I’m looking forward to more from this line.

    1. Batman wasn’t, yeah. I would’ve liked more time with Dick & Damian, but he was already back before New 52 anyway. Definitely easier to follow him and the GL books though, to be sure.

      And thanks! I hope you find some nicely painted figs!

      1. Picked up this guy last week, and your review is spot-on. Mine had the “white gunk” as well(I don’t want to know), but it wiped off easily. And the swords and knives do have sort of a “brittle” feel to them. So much so that I’m a little afraid to do the tried-and-true Boiling Water Dip on the knives to try and straighten them out a little. Just not sure how this material will react.
        I also found the scabbards that hold Talon’s swords on his back don’t have a very snug fit. So if you’re goofing around with him at your desk (Or inside your blanket fort. Whichever.) making him do flips and stuff, the swords tend to slide right out. Did you run into this?
        In any case, this is a solid toy, and it looks like i just found my “gateway” figure to the DC Collectibles line.

  5. Hmm. Interesting. I think I may finally buy a DCD figure if they ever get to Super Powers Kalibak (maybe the cartoon version?). Not really interested in mixing lines, but the DCUC SP Kalibak just doesn’t get it done.

    1. I really would’ve liked a new head on that Kalibak. It’s just not snively enough. I’d love to see that figure get a proper update.

  6. I bought Talon and the Riddler(Don’t have the DCUC version) as soon as I heard they were in @ my LCS. Yeah, the lack of articulation in the neck area for Talon sucks, and takes a little bit away from the figure, but still overall, he rocks. Glad he has packed with so many accessories to help make up for that. Also, same Qc problems with his swords too on my end:(

    Overall, I’m liking what I see from these new waves of figures. Glad they’re stepping up on the articulation front since DCUC is RIP.

    1. Overall, the legs and arms give some great range (if the ankles were a little tighter, I’d be so happy though).

      What’d you think of the Riddler? I couldn’t figure out how much articulation he had in the package. I just saw all mutton chops…

      1. I gave it a chance. I read probably half the books the first month. By the second, I was down to probably a quarter. By month six, I was reading less than half a dozen. Now, I’m only reading Batgirl, and that’s mostly because Gail Simone is one of the most consistently awesome writers in comics today. Even that’s bittersweet, because, while Batgirl is a pretty great book on its own merits, Oracle was one of my favorite pre-52 characters, and this book entirely undoes all her accomplishments and character growth.

  7. I hadn’t been aware that the popularity of reviews was even a factor. If it hadn’t been for the various Japanese import figure reviews over the past few years, I never would’ve discovered the S.H. Figuarts, misc_Chogokin, and Figma lines, the Persona video games, or tokusatsu.

    1. It isn’t too much, but I do like to beat last year’s traffic and I’ll look for more popular stuff when I want to beat a strong day. There’s good stuff at every interest level to be sure, though.

  8. When I move one leg at the hip on my Talon figure, the other leg moves with it. Is that normal?

  9. haven’t snagged him up yet, and given the motuc sub renewal hits a few days, i likely won’t get to for a bit… BUT he’s definitely coming home w/ papi. given the jumps forward DCC has taken in recent months, i’m very glad to get some needed dc figs in my collection, and talon, while lacking in history, not only enjoys a bad assed visual design, but also leapt to the fore in one of the best executions of a retcon i can think of.

  10. Loved the Riddler, and picked him up at the same time as Talon. Some people don’t like ’em, but I don’t mind ’em. Give Nigma more personality I think.
    Plus I needed a Riddler in his suit, so…..

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