DCClassics.Com: Wave 4
(Despero) Retro Review

Ares

Ares, quite simply, is the Greek god who has been used as a primary antagonist most of Wonder Woman’s run. This figure is a sleeper hit in the DC Classics line. Not only is he spot on to his classic comics look, but he’s also a bigger, bulkier figure with a ton of unique detail.


The figure stands about a half-inch taller (more if you count the helmet’s crest) than the standard buck and features intricate detail on nearly every piece including threaded braids on his gauntlets, nicks and slashes in the hammered metal armor, and skulls aplenty. Other than his red eyes, his face is featureless under the helmet. He’s fully articulated, though the shoulder armor and skirt restrict the ball shoulders, waist, and hips to varying degrees.

The mix of metallic blues, flat blues, and black help finish the figure off. He also included a sword and an axe that can be stored on one of the two hooks on his belt. Overall, he’s not one of my favorite characters, but he’s one of the best figures in the line. The right knee on mine is a bit warped, I’ve never gotten around to righting it.

Batman Beyond & Unmasked Terry McGinnis


Batman Beyond was a pleasant surprise for me when I heard he was included. I’m an “all inclusive” guy when it comes to the line – I don’t care if the characters come from cartoons, movies, or the original books.* I really enjoy the idea of Bruce aging out of Batman and needing a new recruit. I thought the show was a standout in the Timmverse and I hope that a few of the villains do find their way into DC Classics sooner or later. I still want Red Bee and Neon the Unknown too, so I’m bound for disappointment no matter what.

* – Bring on Conjura!

Batman Beyond features the standard buck with a unique head sculpt, new forearms, and a new belt. I kinda of wish that a smaller buck and non angry head had been used for Terry, because the angry, full-size buck seems more like the adult version from JLU and not his carefree younger self, but the figure still looks great on the shelf – particularly in the shiny black paint scheme. He includes a batarang accessory, but is missing his trademark “wings”. Those don’t usually translate well on action figures, but I’m curious to see how the 4H might have incorporated them.

Batman Beyond was also available as a KB, then online, then Wal-Mart exclusive that featured a Terry McGinnis head and a bunched up mask accessory.

Cyborg & his Sonic Arm Attachment


My first exposure to Cyborg is his teaming up with Firestorm in Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians. Cyborg is Vic Stone, a guy with horrible parents. They experimented on him throughout his childhood and when he was horribly wounded (and his mother killed) by a creature one of their experiments let loose, his Dad jumped in and replaced all the damaged parts with cybernetic implants. Vic took it about as well anyone would and had a chip on his shoulder for a long time, only getting over his condition because of his affiliation with the Titans.

Cyborg features an original buck with a ton of detail and features the standard articulation. The paint work, largely silver, is simple and elegant and makes the figure standout on the shelf. The regular release Cyborg included two attachments that could replace his right hand. One is an updated version of an attachment that came with the Super Powers figure. The second, and I’m not sure, reminds me of something from the Galactic Guardians. Finally, Cyborg had a third attachment, a sonic disruptor (pictured to the right) that was only available with the KB/online/Wal-Mart exclusive version. The figure was otherwise identical, but packaged only with the sonic attachment and not even a regular hand. Continue to Page 3…

28 thoughts on “DCClassics.Com: Wave 4
(Despero) Retro Review

  1. It was a good wave, but you never see it rank that high on many favorite wave lists. There’s no one really flashy in the wave.

  2. Ares is one of the better overall figures, but I still cut open the slats in his skirt to free up the hip movement. That made him even better.

    1. Nice review, btw. They’re not as funny, but I really like the new picture format.

  3. I actually had fairly bad QC with this Wave.

    Ares’ arm broke off at the bicep, and WW and Terry had frozen hips.

    I still kinda want that KC Atom, never did track him down . . .

  4. Are you ever going to go back and add DCSH to your checklists? Will they get retro reviews too?

  5. I never thought about gluing the armor down on Despero. I might have to try that.

    1. I haven’t tried it yet. The plan is to heat up the armor too so that it will contour to the body easier. I’ll post it on the forum if it works.

  6. Why no short bio on Wonder Woman? LOL

    As a big Batman Beyond fan, I can’t say enough that we need villains like Blight and Inque in the line. Some of TG’s comments about including animated characters has been driving me nuts. Yes, some fans want those! Justice Lords would be excellent repaints! Batman Beyond has some great designs that I’d love to see the 4H tackle.

    1. We do NOT need more toon crap in this line. We don’t have Martian Manhunter. We have one Flash rogue. Mattel doesn’t need to be wasting slots on characters that haven’t appeared for over a decade.

    2. I’m all for more Batman Beyond in DCUC. Hopefully we’ll get some now that DC has started a non-animated Batman Beyond book. Toy Guru doesn’t have that weak animated excuse to fall back on now.

  7. I still wish Cyborg came with a drill hand. And the variant should have just been the same version gold! I think that was the biggest ripoff in the whole line. Here’s the same figure with the one attachment we split off to make this exclusive and then they took away his normal hand! Idiots.

    1. Me too!! Drill hand was a must. Sad day.

      And a gold version would have made the KB one work. I would’ve wanted a silver sonic attachment to come with the regular figure still, but a gold version at KB would’ve been sweet.

  8. Wonder Woman doesn’t get enough respect in this line. This wave featured three of her characters, but they didn’t revisit her again until wave thirteen! Even then, there are only six WW-related characters in this line. Disgraceful.

  9. Ares and Captain Atom are definite wants for me from this wave and I kinda want a WW to complete the JLA

  10. shouldn’t be too hard to find WW, she’s one of the MANY repacks Mattel keeps throwing at us. For the kids you see. But remember it’s almost fifteen bucks now because it’s a COLLECTOR line.

    ugh.

  11. Paint was very much an issue with my silver Captain Atom. Small flecks of the stuff still occasionally fall out of the joints 🙁

  12. I completed Despero about two months ago after finding Capt. Atom (Gold) sitting on a peg at my local Target. That was very strange as they’ve only had wave 7 figs on the pegs since last summer (and Dr. Impossible). So I grabbed him and bought the missing left leg and arm I needed for Despero off of ebay. He looks really nice on display, however, his joints feel weak.

    I bought “Sonic Arm” Cyborg from an online comic book shop, which had him and several other figures for around $7 each. That was late last year. I was disappointed to learn the sonic arm was his only attachment, while the regular version had the “normal” hand and two other pieces. Drats!

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