{"id":23282,"date":"2013-04-26T00:38:24","date_gmt":"2013-04-26T05:38:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=23282"},"modified":"2013-04-28T02:26:05","modified_gmt":"2013-04-28T07:26:05","slug":"dcclassics-com-superboy-prime-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=23282","title":{"rendered":"DCClassics.Com
Superboy Prime Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a> I had six-hour meeting three hours from home today, so this will be brief. When I got home and scanned the unreviewed toy shelf, I wanted to find something I could sum up quickly \u2013 probably something I didn\u2019t care too much about, something that had easily gone unreviewed. Oh look, Superboy Prime.<\/p>\n

Superboy Prime came out in mid-2012 as part of the \u201clast wave\u201d of DC Classics, but the whole thing was a mess. The C&C line was torpedoed, a new All-Stars line was supposed to launch, the subscription started \u2013 and 6\u201d DC Collecting pretty much just came to a screeching, sudden halt. The subscription limped its way into 2012, but the new All-Stars retail line never happened. Instead, this four-figure wave sort of dribbled out containing Nu52 versions of Superman & Batman, Red Robin, & Superboy Prime. <\/p>\n

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I never saw these at retail. I\u2019m sure plenty of folks did, but no stores here carried the wave and Mattel had handled the DC property so horridly by that point that I wasn\u2019t really inclined to really look for the two I wanted: Prime & Red Robin. I eventually snagged Prime cheap through BBTS (but I still haven\u2019t picked up Red Robin, I need to just eBay it and get it over with). <\/p>\n

To be honest, I\u2019m not sure if my lukewarm response to Prime was do the figure, Mattel, or how Geoff Johns altered the character. I\u2019m not a fan of any of it. Superboy Prime started earnestly enough in the 80s as a Clark Kent living in the real world (here, with you & me) that ended up with super powers and chose to emulate Superman from the comics he read. He helped out in Crisis on Infinite Earths before ultimately departing for a paradise dimension with the Golden Age Superman & Lois and an Earth-3 version of Lex Luthor. That was all well & good and I honestly think it would\u2019ve been perfectly fine to never mention him again. That was sort of the point of the ending. <\/p>\n

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But comic books can never leave well enough alone. Johns brought Prime back, drove him crazy, and turned him into a homicidal hot mess with the convenient ability to retcon out anything anyone didn\u2019t like. I give Johns some credit for crafting such a petulant, whiny character that you hated every scene he was in, but he never made the jump to being a character you love to hate. I could never get him off the page soon enough \u2013 but he wouldn\u2019t go away. After he went nuts and killed a bunch of people, he was imprisoned by the Flashes. Then, in the same story, he goes nutzer dons Anti-Monitor armor and kills a bunch more people before being stopped again and imprisoned by the Guardians. <\/p>\n

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When he escapes from the Guardians, he again dons his Anit-Monitor armor, but to amp things up, he joins the Sinestro Corps. He\u2019s killed and\/or imprisoned a few more times, but ultimately ends up back in his home universe (ours) and it turns out they all read the same crappy comics we did and they hate him too. Damn. <\/p>\n

Sorry, I wasted three paragraphs on that diatribe, but once I get started on comics\u2026 well, y\u2019know. There\u2019s a reason I have a toy site & not a comic site. Continue to Page 2…<\/a><\/p>\n

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Anyway, so even though I\u2019m not the biggest Prime fan, I want the figure, its part of the collection after all, a figure from the old universe that I so lovingly miss. And the thing is, I would love the figure just fine, despite the turn of events in the comics, if it were a better figure. <\/p>\n

On its whole, there are some things to like. The Anti-Monitor armor is a cool idea and it\u2019s translated into 3D well. The torn cape is cool. The new head sculpt is particularly well done. I kinda wanna headswap it with the smiling head from the Legion 3pk. It\u2019s got a lot going for it, but two things keep it from being great. <\/p>\n

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The first is that all those cool new parts were put on a regular buck. Not a teen buck. Now I\u2019m not sure \u2013 maybe that was the right call. Prime got a lot older way too quickly as he absorbed various powers and such, so maybe the buffer adult body is the way to go \u2013 but it just doesn\u2019t work with the head. Something is off one way or the other. <\/p>\n

The other issue is height. I\u2019m not sure if it\u2019s the new lower legs, the belt, how high the head sits on the neck, some combination or simply all three, but Prime isn\u2019t just the size of a grown-up Superman, he\u2019s bigger than Superman. Now I know that\u2019s not right and it really does take away from the good work done elsewhere on the figure. <\/p>\n

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Articulation is standard for the line, but the neck movement is better than average. The cape & armor don\u2019t block any joints particularly and that helps keep Prime a fun toy, but I\u2019m not sure what to do with him. The paint work was mostly okay for this figure. I did have a big chip on the neck and some scratches on the left eyebrow, but nothing major. Prime included no accessories or C&C pieces. <\/p>\n

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Overall, I want to say this figure isn\u2019t a success, but that might be bias talking. I do know he\u2019s too tall and I do think he should\u2019ve used the teenage buck, but there are pros like the great new head sculpt and other new pieces. And I do love his colors \u2013 I still want a basic, regular, run of the mill, everday true blue Superman figure and not the really dark blue ones we\u2019ve gotten multiple times over. The head sculpt and colors could almost buy me off, but I’m just havign too much trouble overlooking the drawbacks. Hopefully, Red Robin will be better if I ever pick him up. <\/p>\n

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

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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":"

I had six-hour meeting three hours from home today, so this will be brief. When I got home and scanned the unreviewed toy shelf, I wanted to find something I could sum up quickly \u2013 probably something I didn\u2019t care too much about, something that had easily gone unreviewed. Oh look, Superboy Prime.<\/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":[1851,665,2557,21,20,1914,50,1915],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pObc6-63w","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":15233,"url":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=15233","url_meta":{"origin":23282,"position":0},"title":"Mattel Announces their 2012 DC Line: “All-Stars”","date":"November 7, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Reminding us that the \u201crebranding\u201d of the DC Universe Classics line is coming all too soon, Mattel has announced the names and shown the first images of initial wave of the new line. I\u2019m not trying to be negative, but I\u2019m not that impressed, by the name or the character\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "DCClassics.Com"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":17559,"url":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=17559","url_meta":{"origin":23282,"position":1},"title":"Ask Mattel March 15th + Link Roundup","date":"March 16, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Ask Matty - March 15th Edition DCClassics.Com Asks: When are the newest DCUC 2pks (Yellow Hal & Blue Kyle, Red Azrael & Battle Damage Batman) expected to hit TRU shelves? They have already shipped so it is up to Toy R Us at this point! DCClassics.Com Asks: The 6\" Young\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ask Matty"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2825,"url":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=2825","url_meta":{"origin":23282,"position":2},"title":"DC Classics Wave 13 – Retailer Images","date":"December 15, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"BBTS has placed Wave 13 sets and singles up for pre-order as well as providing images of the figures. I've grouped the images together below and resized them evenly, but scale may not be accurately represented. I have one nitpick that I have to point out. For Superboy, I hope\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "DCClassics.Com"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":20973,"url":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=20973","url_meta":{"origin":23282,"position":3},"title":"Ask Mattel September “15th” & Link Round-Up","date":"September 19, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Ask Matty - September \"15th\" Edition DCClassics.Com Asks: On the Mattycollector forums, Matty Justice League said that Dark Knight Rises product will continue into 2013. Does that continuance currently include more Movie Masters? The Dark Knight Rises line will continue as primarily a kid line at Toys R Us, but\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ask Matty"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":16554,"url":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=16554","url_meta":{"origin":23282,"position":4},"title":"DC Classics.Com Young Justice Superboy Review","date":"February 1, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Young Justice. We meet again. This is one of those reviews were I passed on the figure initially, but repeated trips to the store and a lack of resolution about collecting the line ultimately led to picking up the figure. Not my favorite, but not bad, here\u2019s six-inch Solar Suit\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "DCClassics.Com"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":22575,"url":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=22575","url_meta":{"origin":23282,"position":5},"title":"Vault Review: DC Unlimited New 52 Superman","date":"February 5, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"It seems like it\u2019s been forever since I\u2019ve bought a DC figure at retail. After Classics was canceled, I pretty much just glaze over that aisle on my way to the Marvel section.\u00a0 So I was a bit shocked to see a new Superman staring back at me during my\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "DCClassics.Com"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.itsalltrue.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/nsup1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23282"}],"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=23282"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23282\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23297,"href":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23282\/revisions\/23297"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=23282"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=23282"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=23282"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}