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<\/a>This review features a false face, a robot face, a bandaged face, a translucent face, & a skull face. Not impressed? What if we told you this review only featured 3 figures? That’s right! This review features the never before seen team-up of Cyclotron & Negative Man! And we’re throwing in NM’s variant for good measure!<\/p>\nLately, I’ve been breaking up the reviews and doing the character separately, first one and then the other. But I’m testing out the previous arrangement and I\u2019m again discussing the different aspects of the figures grouped together, starting with a little bit about each character. If you have an opinion on which breakdown (by figure, or by section) you like better, let me know in the comments section below.<\/p>\n
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<\/center><\/p>\nIn this space, I’ve given you the back stories of some long-lived DC characters or the quick hits of relatively recent ones, but Cyclotron is neither of those things. Cyclotron was added to the DC Comics stable by Kenner in the mid-80s as part of their effort to expand their DC toy line, Super Powers<\/em>. Why they did this instead of making traditional DC characters, I don’t know. Kenner did at least give Cyclotron a back story: he’s a robot encyclopedia built by Superman that contains information on every known hero and villain. He doesn’t really think for himself, but he can spin around and punch stuff should the need arise. It’s not the best origin, but that’s what happens when you let toy companies write character bios. Cyclotron did appear in the accompanying Super Powers comic, but it wasn’t the most enthralling appearance – he seemed to be there for comic relief.<\/p>\n Cyclotron had probably been forgotten by just about everyone but the Super Powers fans since then, but when DC Classics started paying tribute to that line so heavily I secretly hoped Mattel would be able to include Cyclotron & Golden Pharaoh. It seems like just the other day that Mattel confirmed these two could be included and now he’s already in my grubby little hands. I couldn’t be happier. I’m looking forward to Golden Pharaoh in wave 15 and I’m going to hope we see not only Samurai, but Black Lightning and Apache Chief also find their home in DC Classics. I know there are fans that would disagree with that. All I can say, is I hope you get everyone you want too.<\/p>\n If you’re looking for a more traditional DC character, look no further than Negative Man. Negative Man first appeared in My Greatest Adventure #80<\/em> in 1963 as a founding member of the Doom Patrol. Larry Trainor was a test pilot that was inadvertently exposed to a peculiar kind of radiation while working. The radiation gave him the ability to release a shadowy ‘negative self’ from his body for a minute at a time. The accident also left him completely irradiated and required him to wear special bandages to protect others from the radiation he casts off. Like most members of the Doom Patrol, Trainor views himself as a victim and not a legitimate superhero.<\/p>\n The Doom Patrol’s publishing history makes for an odd assortment of back stories for each of its members, perhaps none more so than Negative Man. When the team book was first cancelled, the Doom Patrol was killed in the final issue. Since then, they’ve been killed and resurrected a few times by various writers and their various interpretations which generally ignored previous continuity. The most notable changes have been when the ‘negative self’ left Larry to inhibit Negative Woman and when it returned to Larry and combined him with a young black doctor to make a divine hermaphrodite.*<\/p>\n * – Paging Dr. Morrison. Dr. Morrison to the lab, please.<\/em><\/p>\n Cyclotron utilizes a standard buck, but has plenty of new parts: new feet (w\/ sculpted soles – I love that!), new boots, new belt, new upper and lower torsos, new forearms, a new head, as well as the removable face and chest plates. The Four Horsemen did an excellent job updating this classic figure. They added detail where it needed it while finding simple ways to pay homage to the original sculpt. On the SP figure, do you see the two extensions coming out of the green trapezoid on his stomach? Those same extensions are included as paneling lines on the DCUC. The 4H did change up his internal parts, but I think it’s for the better. Cyclotron looks like you could update with him a CD now and his \u2018a little too happy\u2019 expression has been made more robotic.<\/P><\/p>\n I don’t have the face plate of my original Cyclotron anymore (it was lost in a flood), but the Four Horsemen fixed everything that was wrong with it. It was one piece (the new one is two) and lacked a neck because of it. The face was soft and round, but the 4H have given Cyclotron a more heroic face, possibly basing it on his creator, Superman (who has a penchant for making robots in his own image). In all, even if I wasn’t a fan of the Super Powers figures being in this line, I’d be happy with this figure’s sculpt.<\/p>\n If Cyclotron was mostly about new parts, than Larry here is an example of what can be done with just a few new pieces. Larry uses the standard buck, but has new feet & boots (I think), a new belt, new bandaged hands, a bandaged neck piece, and a new bandaged head. He may not have a ton of new pieces, but he’s comic accurate, so it’s good. There’s not much to say because these pieces are all simply bandaged versions of traditional pieces, but as a testament to the 4H thinking their sculpts through, all of these pieces are slightly larger than normal, giving the impression that they really are bandaged up.<\/p>\n Negative Man’s variant features a new head. I’ve been trying to stop buying all the variants because some of the last few waves haven’t had great variants. I was going to make my stand with this variant of Negative Man, but once I learned what it was, I had to have it. I had originally thought it a simple smoky\/clear, partially bandaged Larry head. But underneath that translucent veneer is Larry Trainor’s skull. It’s not only a well sculpted skull, but as you’ll see on the next page, the features of the skull all sit perfectly inside the face. The veneer is glued in place – I had to pry loose two of the three tabs to be able to take a look at it. Open him up at your own risk. Continue to Paint, Articulation, and the Summation<\/A>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Paint for this wave has been decent throughout and that’s mostly true here. Cyclotron has clean paint lines just about everywhere. The only noticeable area where things are less than perfect is the belt. The green paint simply doesn’t fill up the recessed area. There’s a few other odd issues like the dark tan of the forearm versus the normal hue of the bicep, but most of the work is clean and somehow the arms manage to blend in for me unless I’m looking for the paint difference.<\/p>\n Negative man required very little paint. The white triangle on the chest is sharp on both. The paint on the boots and head are similarly well done on both figures. The only problem area is again the belt, the regular version of Negative Man has some slop around the ‘D’. <\/p>\n Articulation is standard for the line and both figures include the now one-piece ankle\/foot. Cyclotron is a bit of a bobblehead – as are Vault’s & Rant’s, so I assume it might be more widespread than just ours. He has full swivel and a little bit of up and down, but the head tends to revert to center because of the bobble. Negative Man’s head has full swivel and can look down slightly. That’s more than I expected with the addition of the neck piece. <\/p>\n And, lest we forgot, these figures included buttons. Neither of these figures got buttons that feature them. Cyclotron’s is taken from a Super Powers poster by Jos\u00e9 Garc\u00eda-L\u00f3pez while Negative Man’s is a random Batman cover that I’ve been unable to identify (Mattel’s been kicking my butt on that with this wave).<\/p>\n Cyclotron is the stand figure for this wave and doesn’t include a piece of Trigon. But Mattel finally got around to including Super Powers stands with their Super Powers figure. This was first promised for Wave 11, was partially implemented for Wave 12, but is finally in full force here. I’m not a fan of the stands, but they do look 10x cooler with the SP logo on them. Mattel should be offering the SP stand in bundles on their site. <\/p>\n Overall, Cyclotron is going to be a favorite of mine because I can view him as a cool update to a cherished childhood toy, but that may not be true for everyone. Plus, I’m simply excited to have one with his face plate again! The bobblehead is annoying and the paint could be a little better, but the sculpt knocks the figure out of the park and lessens my concern with the other areas. <\/p>\n Negative Man is simply a faithful recreation of the original design and looks great next to Robotman. His variant is a gimmick variant, but it’s still a cool one and has suckered me into an extra figure purchase. I’m excited for finishing the Doom Patrol and am hoping to see Elasti-Girl join the DCUC ranks soon – although part of me wants her at normal size more than as a C&C, but I doubt that\u2019s going to happen. And, of course, after we get Rita, we\u2019re going to need the Chief.\n<\/p>\n![](\"reviews\/dcimages\/2010\/nega2.JPG\")
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