We’ve asked Mattel twice, as have other websites, about the missing neck articulation for wave 9 and 10 figures. All of the answers seem to indicate that Mattel thinks this is a special articulation issue. They liken it to the Green Arrow wrists – a case where they went above and beyond (which we appreciate) to make a good figure better. But fans know – fans can universally agree – that the up\/down\/tilt movement on the heads of DC Classics is not an instance of special articulation. First and foremost, though the range varies, nearly every figure from Wave 1 through Wave 8 has proper head articulation. Some figures have better range than others, but it’s there. Second, the figures from waves 9 and 10 are almost all blocked. From Wave 9, only Guardian has good range of movement. From Wave 10, only the repaints don’t suffer from this problem. Something somewhere has gone wrong.<\/P><\/p>\n \nTake a look at these two pictures: Basically, DC Classics figures are now relegated to only having a swivel joint when it comes to their neck articulation. The most frustrating part is that all the parts are there for a working ball-joint. The figures should be fine. Mattel is spending the money on these figures to have ball-joints, but on the end product, something is causing the heads to block the articulation. Some of the more DIY collectors have removed the heads and sanded\/dremeled the inside of the head down and made the articulation work, but I don’t want to do that for every DC figures from now on. I want to know why it’s happening. I want to know if something is happening when the heads are being sculpted. I want to know if something is happening when the heads are being tooled. I want Mattel to know too – so they can fix it for wave 13 and beyond. (Wave 11 is already shaping up to have these same blockages and 12 is probably coming too soon to make changes). <\/P><\/p>\n We’ve asked Mattel about its removal. They said it was special articulation that will be included when it makes sense. We’ve asked Mattel if this articulation was limited as part of an overall theme. They said it wasn’t. We asked Mattel if this was an error. It doesn\u2019t seem to matter how we bring it up, we\u2019re not getting through. <\/P><\/p>\n What else we can say or do? Maybe we can talk money. If removing plastic from the heads will help the articulation, then we should tell Mattel that’s the case. They’re paying for that plastic after all. They’re spending extra money on extra plastic to block the articulation on figures. The same articulation they’re paying extra for the figures to have. If nothing else, that should be motivation enough. If the plastic that has to be dremeled off to make the head’s work was never there in the first place, how much money would Mattel be saving? Sure, it’s a tiny amount of plastic, but spread across hundreds of thousands figures? It will add up. A few years back, Coca-Cola saved millions by shaving five millimeters of aluminum off their cans.<\/P><\/p>\n I don’t know what else we can do to get the point across. We’ve asked the question twice and been rebuffed both times. We can keep posting on Facebook. We can keep submitting questions about the articulation in the Ask Matty editions. We can post about it on the various toy boards. If enough of us are talking about it, let’s hope that someone at Mattel will hear and get the upcoming figures to be as well-articulated as the earlier figures. They need to be.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.itsalltrue.net\/newsimages\/noisyOPED.png?w=640\")
I didn’t want to write this article. To turn the Most Requested feature into yet another referendum on the DC Classics neck articulation seemed like overkill. On Monday, we had plenty of comments about the lack of articulation question in our Ask Matty. On Tuesday, our very own Mr. Rant shared his opinions on the matter. On Wednesday, we poked a little fun at Mattel for removing the articulation. I went to the list of possible Most Requested figures and some caught my attention: a Lou Ferrigno Hulk, a good G1 Arcee, a Thundercats line. There are plenty of things on the Most Requested list, but right now, this week, the neck articulation is being talked about across the internet. If there was ever a time to rally and try to get the point across, it’s this week. So here it is. I don’t think there’s a DC Classics fan out there that would disagree that this is one of the biggest requests we need to ask for right now. Mattel, it’s time to fix the ball-jointed necks.<\/strong><\/P><\/p>\n
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\nFirst, a selection of figures from the first eight waves:
\n![](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.itsalltrue.net\/articulations\/balljointbunch.jpg?w=640\")
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\nAnd now a selection of figures from waves nine and ten:
\n![](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.itsalltrue.net\/articulations\/swivelclub.jpg?w=640\")
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\nFirst, there’s a representative from each of the initial eight waves in the top picture, but most of the figures could have filled in for whichever figure we chose. Second and this is the important part: the figures in the bottom picture cannot replicate the movement of the figures in the top picture. <\/strong> Worse still, take a close look at the alignment of the heads on Joker, Wildcat, and Deadshot. Those heads are all tilted or posed off-center, you say? They’re not. They’re stuck that way. <\/P><\/p>\n
![](\"newsimages\/matty\/xrmc3.jpg\")
<\/center><\/p>\n![](\"newsimages\/matty\/triple4.JPG\")
<\/center><\/p>\n![](\"newsimages\/matty\/triple1.jpg\")
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