{"id":22522,"date":"2013-01-30T00:51:23","date_gmt":"2013-01-30T06:51:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=22522"},"modified":"2013-09-20T13:15:14","modified_gmt":"2013-09-20T18:15:14","slug":"dcclassics-com-club-infinite-earths-lead-platinum-tin-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=22522","title":{"rendered":"DCClassics.Com Club IE
Lead, Platinum, & Tin Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>In my efforts to get caught up on my backlog of reviews, I thought it might be a good idea to throw December\u2019s Club Infinite Earths offerings into one big review. It seemed only naturally since Mattel chose that month to (nearly) complete the Metal Men with Lead, Platinum and sorta-Tin.<\/p>\n

Being a fan of the deeper rosters found in comics, the Metal Men are one of my all-time favorites. When it comes to DC Archives, you won\u2019t find Batman or Superman on my bookshelf, but you\u2019re sure to run across Metal Men or Doom Patrol. I\u2019m not entirely sure why that is \u2013 I do love the big characters too, but I\u2019m drawn to the lesser known guys quite a bit. As you can imagine, that\u2019s left me rather frustrated when it comes to toy collecting. That\u2019s why the arrival of the December Mattycollector box was a pretty glorious day. Overlooking a few concessions which I\u2019ll cover throughout the review, I finally<\/em> have the Metal Men on my toy shelves. It\u2019s not something I can explain to those that wouldn\u2019t understand, but it makes me very happy. I waited a long time for this. <\/p>\n

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

I\u2019ve already talked about the Metal Men\u2019s back story in my Gold<\/a>, Mercury<\/a>, & Iron<\/a> reviews, so I\u2019ll leave you those links if you want to read more about the team and jump right in to December\u2019s figures. I do have to apologize for the lack of Tina pics. I still think reviewing these together was the way to go, but Lead does sorta steal the show. <\/p>\n

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

The first thing any Metal Men fan will tell you about Lead is that he\u2019s way too damn big. In a perfect world, Lead really needed his own wide, squat buck. As such, I\u2019d disappointedly written him off for the subscription. I had no idea how Mattel could finish the Metal Men given the subscriptions limitations and I was pretty sure we wouldn’t be getting him any time soon. So, when they showed him using the C&C Darkseid buck\u2026 I was floored! The use of the Darkseid buck was off, but smart I thought. I wish I had thought of it. <\/p>\n

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

I\u2019m going to tell you right off though that I don\u2019t care one bit about his size. The Metal Men are all shape shifters, so even though there is a clear scale that is clearly being violated here, I can wrap my head around it just fine. What\u2019s more, I think Lead looks great as the big guy on the team. In the comics, Iron was intended to be the big guy, but Lead always pulled his weight and often (literally) shielded the team. This switch in the roles just feels right to me, so I\u2019m fine with it. Besides Iron still looks plenty tough as the team’s muscle.<\/p>\n

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

Next to Darkseid, the two don\u2019t appear to share as much as they do, but all that\u2019s been added is the new head, the tunic (that\u2019s unfortunately backless), new gloves with bolt details, and new legs from the knee down. Thankfully, the 4H retained the craggy look of the reused limbs on the new lower limbs for consistency. 4H\/Mattel also got rid of some the height by shortening the calves which does look a little odd, but the figure hides it well. Altogether, I think it\u2019s a great representation of the Metal Man. <\/p>\n

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

The best part of the whole figure though might just be the head sculpt. He\u2019s happy and it makes me happy to look at him being happy. Facial expressions can be tricky on action figures, but many of the Metal Men were a bit too stoic for my tastes. Lead helps change that up with that big grin. Continue to Page 2…<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Platinum, or Tina if you prefer, is similarly made economically. She\u2019s built with the newer female buck and only needed the new forearms and calves for bolt detail as well as her… uh, breastplate and new head. Tina also features a new skirt piece (& presumably a smaller lower waist piece to accommodate it). In all the mix of old & new pieces combine to make a great looking Platinum. I also appreciate the smooth transition from her torso to the skirt piece; something Mattel has had trouble with in the past. Her head sculpt is also nice. The expression is a little too neutral when she’s haning out with Lead, but I’ll just chalk that up to her not having a Doc Magnus to hang off of. While I had hardly any paint issues on the three figures, Platinum does lose a half a star for her crooked left eye. It\u2019s painted askew from the sculpt. <\/p>\n

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

And then there\u2019s Tin. While I can overlook the scale on Lead and enjoy him, I simply can\u2019t do the same for Tin. As a sculpt, he looks excellent, but he\u2019s just too small. He should be at least an inch or more taller than he is and it\u2019s hard to see him as an equal figure to the others as a result. Maybe I\u2019m just harboring some resentment for pack-in figures (I’m still annoyed that Nog & Alexander never got their due in the old Star Trek Playmates line and that was nearly two decades ago), but I just have a hard time accepting him.<\/p>\n

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

It may be partly because I don\u2019t understand the decision behind it? The sculpt is great. They did add in three articulation points, which I appreciate, but why couldn\u2019t they make him a little bigger? I mean, I can assume there was a Mattel beancounter that carefully calculated how much plastic could go into Tin and that limited him to 3.5\u201d in height. If they\u2019d gone 4.5\u201d, Mattel might\u2019ve gone out of business, right? So I guess I know why they just couldn\u2019t make him bigger, but I don\u2019t much like it. Eh, at least he looks sharp when he\u2019s posed by himself and the awesomeness of team covers for him a little bit. <\/p>\n

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

While Tin is surprisingly clocking in with the three swivel joints (head, shoulders), the the other two figures come as loaded as we\u2019ve come to expect. All the usual stuff is in there, though the sculpts cause some limitations. For Tina the harder skirt pieces restrict most hip movement and the hair crimps the neck joint. The hair, I can understand, that\u2019s pretty normal, but Mattel might\u2019ve gone for a softer plastic on the skirt.<\/p>\n

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

For example, Lead does feature the softer plastic on his tunic and has some great leg movement as a result. As a larger figure, he also retains his rocker ankles. Pretty sweet. The ab crunch and waist have good range despite the tunic and the arms have no impediment. The head has limited up and down movement, so I\u2019d like to see a little more there, but overall I was happy with the articulation… except for one little thing that has me hauling out the Quality Control Spotlight. <\/p>\n

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

On my Lead, the left arm is basically fused. I\u2019m not sure if it\u2019s glue, melted plastic, or what\u2019s going on in there, but it\u2019s essentially one piece for a few centimeters there. I\u2019ve been working it and doing some light cutting, but I haven\u2019t gotten it free yet. I\u2019m not sure what went wrong here to tell Mattel, but it\u2019s sloppy QC all the same. <\/p>\n

Overall, I\u2019ve got some minor quibbles like the fused arm and some major quibbles like Tin not getting any respect (which I guess is his thing after all), but they\u2019re mostly overridden by having the core team together. Yes, Doc Magnus is still high on my list, but getting the elementals is what\u2019s crucially important for a Metal Men display. Mattel has done that \u2013 even going so far as to make sure they got it done in year one of their subscription \u2013 so I applaud them for that. I really didn\u2019t think this day would happen. Heck, I\u2019m just happy some random Mattel executive didn\u2019t freak out and put a stop to it when they heard there was a Lead figure in the works. <\/p>\n

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

<\/p>\n

More DC Universe Classics Reviews:<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/center><\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

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

<\/p>\n

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

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

In my efforts to get caught up on my backlog of reviews, I thought it might be a good idea to throw December\u2019s Club Infinite Earths offerings into one big review. It seemed only naturally since Mattel chose that month to (nearly) complete the Metal Men with Lead, Platinum and sorta-Tin.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"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":[1166,15,2557,21,1844,20,317,1845,1846],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pObc6-5Rg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":18945,"url":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=18945","url_meta":{"origin":22522,"position":0},"title":"Ask Mattel June 1st Link Roundup (Updated)","date":"June 1, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Ask Matty - June 1st Edition DCClassics.Com Asks: The DC Death Staction is listed at 8\" - does that include the base or is that the specific height of the figure? The base makes her even taller. It adds about 2 inches. DCClassics.Com Asks: Will the Club Infinite Earths Platinum\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ask Matty"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":21298,"url":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=21298","url_meta":{"origin":22522,"position":1},"title":"DC Classics.Com: Club Infinite Earths Black Mask Review","date":"October 3, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"DC Comics has got a slew of characters that wear boring ol\u2019 suits. Mattel has a figure subscription specifically targeted at collectors. When Mattel announced Club Infinite Earths, I was excited at the prospect of getting some boring ol\u2019 suit figures. Black Mask wasn\u2019t on the top of my list\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "DCClassics.Com"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":19992,"url":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=19992","url_meta":{"origin":22522,"position":2},"title":"DC Classics.Com Club Infinite Earths Rocket Red Review","date":"August 1, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"I have no idea what to write about Rocket Red. I\u2019ve got twelve pictures to work around and I don\u2019t think anyone\u2019s going to stick through two pages of me bitching and moaning about how this figure annoys me. I like to have fun with toys, but this guy\u2019s a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "DCClassics.Com"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":26618,"url":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=26618","url_meta":{"origin":22522,"position":3},"title":"DCClassics.Com Club Infinite Earths Batzarro Review","date":"January 19, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"","rel":"","context":"In "DCClassics.Com"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":21080,"url":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=21080","url_meta":{"origin":22522,"position":4},"title":"Vault Review: Club Infinite Earths Mirror Master","date":"September 26, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"With DCUC currently MIA and DC Direct focusing on video games and all things Nu, the Club Infinite Earths subscription has been my only link to the comics and characters I love.\u00a0 And now with Rocket Red out of the way, it\u2019s pure character gold for the rest of the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "DCClassics.Com"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.itsalltrue.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/mima1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":21900,"url":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=21900","url_meta":{"origin":22522,"position":5},"title":"DC Classics.Com: Club Infinite Earths Elasti-Girl Review","date":"November 19, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"When Elasti-Girl arrived at the end of the last month, the first thing I said was, \u201cfinally.\u201d If you\u2019d asked me back in 2008 for my \u201cTop Ten Characters that Need to be C&Cs\u201d list, Elasti-Girl would\u2019ve easily been in my top three. Instead, she ended up being what might\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "DCClassics.Com"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22522"}],"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=22522"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22522\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24978,"href":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22522\/revisions\/24978"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22522"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=22522"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=22522"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}