{"id":13806,"date":"2011-08-01T01:01:14","date_gmt":"2011-08-01T06:01:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=13806"},"modified":"2011-08-02T01:33:59","modified_gmt":"2011-08-02T06:33:59","slug":"dcclassics-com-review-swamp-thing-sdcc-2011","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=13806","title":{"rendered":"DCClassics.Com Review:
Swamp Thing (SDCC 2011)"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>With Swamp Thing being available on Mattycollector later today, I figured I\u2019d rush his review to the front of the line. I didn\u2019t want to write a negative review about Swamp Thing, and I didn\u2019t, but this article isn\u2019t exactly glowing. Still, here it is, with the positives and the negatives. <\/p>\n

Swamp Thing is one of the great DC Characters and like most of ’em, he can’t ever seem to carry a title anymore. He’s the 1971 creation of Len Wein & Bernie Wrightson, but most fans are more familiar with his 80s revival by Alan Moore. Both begin as Alec Holland, a scientist killed for his work, only to be revived by the swamp. Wein’s version was more of a horror creature – a man fused with the swamp – while Moore reimagined him as the swamp come to life, a planet elemental with only the memories of Alec Holland. Either way, they both went on to star in DC Comics, but the most interesting thing about this character might just be his notoriety outside of the comics. Think about your favorite DC characters (not Superman or Batman, but the other lesser knowns that you love) – do they have two movies? A television show? An animated series? A video game? His own self-titled toy line? Swamp Thing has all of those, though you’d never know it if you were watching the DC solicits over the last decade. The good thing is that he’s back in the DCU and a new series will be coming out of the Relaunch, written by Scott Snyder. It’s a good time to be a Swamp Thing fan for the first time in years. There’s even this new figure…<\/p>\n

<\/center><\/p>\n

I’m just going to come right out and say what I’m thinking about this figure, the decision to make Swamp Thing this large (which at least partially is about accommodating his rubber skin) was a bad decision. I\u2019ve talked about getting Swamp Thing into this line for two years. He was the runner-up in our 2009 Most Requested Figure<\/a> contest (beaten narrowly by Mera). So many collectors have been waiting for the perfect Swamp Thing figure, a beautifully sculpted, seven inches or so tall, figure with great articulation – that’s all we wanted. But somewhere along Mattel’s development line, the decision to go above and beyond – to make him larger, to add this new rubbery skin – came forward and Mattel essentially over-complicated something that should have been very simple. I want to like this Swamp Thing, but the negatives just outweigh the positives for me. <\/p>\n

<\/center><\/p>\n

We’ve seen some great scale shots online, but somehow I still wasn’t prepared for how big this guy was going to be. If you have any doubts about the figure’s size, they\u2019ll evaporate once you see the box. It\u2019s huge! I mean, I knew he was going to be big, but I was still taken aback by the packaging. <\/p>\n

Like most SDCC items, this figure is encased in some cool trash. In hand, Swamp Thing is glaring at you from some die cut scratches in the outer box. Inside is an insert that’s a little replica of Alec Holland’s journal and an egg-carton-like inner tray that doubles as a Swamp Thing mask (did anyone see anyone wearing those at SDCC?)<\/em>. Pop that sucker open, and you’re finally to your Swamp Thing figure (and his base). <\/p>\n

<\/center><\/p>\n

After you marvel at how big he is (it’s impressive when you’re not thinking about scale) and pull the figure out of the tray, you might notice that the rubber skin feels a little\u2026 tacky. I don’t know if that’s quite the right word. He’s not sticky or oily, he’s just the tiniest bit clingy. It has been well over a hundred degrees here nearly every day and he’s been less so the longer he’s been in the air conditioning, so it may just be the weather. Really, I’m not too concerned about how long the material will last, but I do worry about dust. My house produces tons of it and I’m worried that Swamp Thing here may be more of a magnet than normal (Enterprise figures and the Headless Horsemen’s horse didn’t fare well). I may have to keep him in his packaging if the skin turns out to like holding on to it. If anything can temper your excitement, it’s having to put a toy back in its box. <\/p>\n

<\/center><\/p>\n

After you\u2019re done being surprised at his size, and possibly washed your hands, you can start to appreciate the best thing about this figure: his sculpt. This is exactly the sculpt I\u2019ve been dreaming of since the notion of a DCUC Swamp Thing first crept into my head. It’s gorgeous – the Four Horsemen stepped up to the plate and delivered a great figure. The detailing is fantastic right down to the flowers, fungus, and vines. It\u2019s safe to say this figure is a little work of art, more in the vein of Fantastic Exclusive or their previous McFarlane work than the wonderful & accurate, but less detailed, sculpts featured in the DCUC & MOTUC lines. <\/p>\n

<\/center><\/p>\n

Visually, the rubber skin looks great too. I don’t usually have a problem with articulation lines. I’m not a fan of Hasbro ball hips or some of the more complicated Toy Biz shoulders, but most cut lines don’t bother me. That said, Swamp Thing looks cool for not having them. Nearly every joint that Swamp Thing has is obscured by the material. The hips are the only joint immediately visible and, ironically, they seem to stand out more when they’re the only ones. <\/p>\n

The only problem with the skin and articulation is that a lot of the articulation is gone because the skin wouldn’t have survived using it. When you realize that, you begin to ask yourself if this gimmick is worth the reduced articulation. This is going to vary from individual to individual, I\u2019ve seen folks feeling both ways on the various forums. For me, it\u2019s not<\/em>. <\/p>\n

<\/center><\/p>\n

Swamp Thing is still far from a statue. He has most of the basics. The neck is a ball-joint with good side-to-side and some nice tilt, but he can\u2019t look up (which, I suppose the third tallest DCUC has little reason to do<\/A>).<\/em> There\u2019s also ball shoulders, an ab-crunch, the Mattel hips, and hinges at the elbows, wrists, knees, and ankles. This articulation can accomplish some basic poses, but there are issues. The rubber skin brings with it a complete lack of swivel joints which is bad enough, but the rubber skin also really takes away from the knee articulation. <\/p>\n

The easiest way to explain might be to use the ratcheting. The four internal limb hinge joints (elbows, wrists, knees, and ankles) are all ratcheted. The wrists have six positions, the elbows and ankles have five each, but the knees only have three. In other words, they hardly bend at all. <\/p>\n

<\/center><\/p>\n

And then there’s the possibility of damage to the skin. So far, I haven’t had any issues other than a little white crease on his left elbow, similar to this picture on the Critical Mess<\/a> forums.<\/p>\n

There are some areas (I’ve found three on the front and one on the back) where I thought I might have caused tears, but they’re really the plastic figure underneath poking up to keep the skin in place. The skin will look like it’s separating around those, but it goes back to looking relatively seamless once he’s back to his normal position. I think the ratchet joints will protect his skin from tearing for the most part, but he still feels like a “be careful” figure. Continue to Page 2…<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The paint, like the sculpt, is spectacular. Mattel always seem to make sure the QC on the SDCC exclusives is exemplary and Swamp Thing is no exception. I love the different shades of green and the little vine and fungus details are all painted just right. I really love his eyes. They’re painted well and give him a great stare. I hate to spend so much time on the parts I don’t like and spend so little on what I do – but dislike sometimes takes more explanation than liking something it seems.<\/p>\n

<\/center><\/p>\n

Whether you bought your Swamp Thing at SDCC or today on Mattycollector, it will include a small insert that acts as Alec Holland\u2019s personal journal. It\u2019s a nice little piece with a handful of nice little tidbits for long time Swamp Thing fans that indicate it was damaged in the fire that took Alec Holland\u2019s life and later found by Matt Cable, who\u2019s on the search for Swamp Thing. And, combined with the \u201csort of bio\u201d on the back of the box, it might help you along if you don\u2019t already know the character. <\/p>\n

<\/center><\/p>\n

Also included is a base. It has some nice detailing on it and it blends with Swamp Thing pretty well. It does features some human bones\u2026 are we to assume those are the remains of the dear, departed Alec Holland? Swamp Thing plugs into the base via his right foot only. It’s a nice piece, but my Swamp Thing has stayed upright just fine without it, so it\u2019ll probably end up in the spare parts box despite being a cool little add-in (space is at a premium). <\/p>\n

<\/center><\/p>\n

If you purchase an SDCC version of Swamp Thing, you\u2019ll also get two Un-Men Cranius & Ophidian (no relation to the Orange Lantern entity)<\/em>. They come in the box, with no notification on the outside, so that might prove tricky on eBay once the Mattycollector ones start arriving. Anyway, I had to have these little guys, so the SDCC version was a must for me. The two Un-Men are more suitably scaled for the rest of the figures and are both fun pieces to add in to the display (though Ophidian is missing about six legs)<\/em>. They make me long for an Arcane, but those chances already seemed pretty slim before this subscription\/rebranding fiasco. <\/p>\n

<\/center><\/p>\n

Overall, this is a beautiful figure. It\u2019s well-sculpted and, honestly, it\u2019s even well-executed. Mattel wanted to go this route with the rubbery skin and they did a good job with it. The problem is that it made the figure too big (even for my rather lenient scale tolerance)<\/em> and it severely limited the figure\u2019s articulation. In the end, I think it defeated the purpose \u2013 the rubbery skin was no doubt done to make this figure a little more fun and exciting, but when you\u2019re worrying about damaging the skin, unable to get many good poses, and don\u2019t really want to display him with your other figures \u2013 he ends up not being very much fun at all. <\/p>\n

<\/center><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

For more DC reviews, check out our
\n DC Universe Classics Collector’s Guide<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/center><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With Swamp Thing being available on Mattycollector later today, I figured I\u2019d rush his review to the front of the line. I didn\u2019t want to write a negative review about Swamp Thing, and I didn\u2019t, but this article isn\u2019t exactly glowing. Still, here it is, with the positives and the negatives.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":13807,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_options":[]},"categories":[6,34,10],"tags":[665,2557,20,2566,143],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.itsalltrue.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/swpTN.jpg?fit=50%2C50&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pObc6-3AG","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":12559,"url":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=12559","url_meta":{"origin":13806,"position":0},"title":"Matty on Facebook: Swamp Thing’s Closeup","date":"May 10, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm a little late on this news, but Mattel uploaded a half dozen pics of Swamp Thing on their Facebook page earlier today. Look, I never want to be the guy that decries things that are new or different upfront. And I'm willing to give this Swampy a try, but\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "DCClassics.Com"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":12434,"url":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=12434","url_meta":{"origin":13806,"position":1},"title":"Attack of the Show Mattel SDCC 2011 Exclusives","date":"April 28, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Attack of the Show's met up with Mattel's very own Scott Neitlich to find out what they have in store for San Diego Comic-Con 2011 and it's a doozy. The exclusive video is availabe after the jump","rel":"","context":"In "Ask Matty"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":12450,"url":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=12450","url_meta":{"origin":13806,"position":2},"title":"SDCC 2011 Exclusives: Official Images from Mattel","date":"April 29, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Since Attack of the Show's strangly decided not to focus on the He-Man items last night, it fell back to Mattel to give us our first good look at the 2011 exclusives. They've come to our aid early this morning with images and information on the upcoming San Diego Exclusives\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ask Matty"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1839,"url":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=1839","url_meta":{"origin":13806,"position":3},"title":"Most Requested Figures: DCUC Swamp Thing","date":"October 9, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"","rel":"","context":"In "DCClassics.Com"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3089,"url":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=3089","url_meta":{"origin":13806,"position":4},"title":"Most Requested Year-End Poll: The Finals","date":"December 23, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Last week, we featured our eighteen Most Requested articles and let you decide which three would be featured in this final round for the IAT Most Requested Figure of 2009. Before we get to the finalists, we want to thank the hundreds of people that voted in our poll. It\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "DCClassics.Com"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":758,"url":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=758","url_meta":{"origin":13806,"position":5},"title":"Matty on Facebook: A Few Random Updates","date":"August 1, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"","rel":"","context":"In "Matty on Facebook"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13806"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13806"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13806\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13831,"href":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13806\/revisions\/13831"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13807"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13806"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13806"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13806"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}