![](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/itsalltrue.net\/reviews\/dcimages\/2010\/plas00.jpg?w=640\")
<\/a> If asked to name my favorite DC Heroes, Plastic Man makes the cut. He’s been a favorite of mine since I was a wee tot, largely because of his cartoon & Super Powers, but I appreciate the comic character too. I couldn’t wait to see him as a DCUC and I’m ecstatic that he’s finally here. <\/P><\/p>\nThe first time I remember seeing Plastic Man was in a guest spot in a particularly awful episode of Super Friends<\/em>. Some numb nuts professor had automated the world successfully until a cartoon mouse crawled in his computer and, presumably lots of people died. Plastic Man showed up for 30 seconds, mangled his arm through the computer components and removed the cartoon mouse which Wendy surely kept as a pet for years. I almost hate admitting it, but that sequence is imprinted on my brain and it got me hooked on Plastic Man. Plas would go on to get his own cartoon as well as a Super Powers figure. The figure is what really brings it home for me as I would\u2019ve had to see all the cartoons in reruns. I\u2019ve had the figure for nearly twenty-five years and it’s still one of my favorite toys.<\/p>\n When I got older and started digging into comics, I didn’t find Plastic Man at first.<\/p>\n He was an older character, created in 1941 by Jack Cole for Quality Comics. Formerly a petty criminal, Eel O’Brian had been shot \u201con the job\u201d, doused with a strange acid, and abandoned by his cohorts. After being nursed back to health in an oddly-placed monastery, Eel – now with the power to stretch and mold his body into any shape – left his criminal past behind and became the hero Plastic Man.<\/p>\n Like many of the heroes of the 40s and 50s, Plastic Man found his way into DC’s hands and he appeared here and there over the next few decades – with some particularly difficult bits of continuity to reconcile among multiple Earths and multiple versions. It\u2019s not pretty. Post-Crisis, things were cleaned up a bit, but Plas didn\u2019t see heavy use until Grant Morrison added him to the JLA in the late 90s. The character has enjoyed a small renaissance ever since – including his own Eisner Award winning series and numerous guest appearances.<\/p>\n Normally, I don’t bother with packaging in these reviews – I throw it away. Er, recycle it. Yeah. Anyway, I can’t do that this time. I love Plastic Man and his packaging speaks to me because it is Plastic Man! For $20, this figure came boxed with the current DC card art printed on both sides (with PM crashing the party). The real gem is on the inside. Plastic Man comes in a standard package, but all the art is faithful to if he were being the package himself. This includes some chip art hair that covers the top of the package and removable “goggles”. That\u2019s a keeper. I’ll cover the figure pieces in a minute, but the set also included a small D.E.O. case file (someone at DC actually remembers the D.E.O.?). The file contains some images and biographical info on Plastic Man (which replaces the normal bio that would be on a traditional card back). Personally, I’d like to have been getting these the entire time. This figure is $5 more than a standard release and while it has a ton more accessories, I think it\u2019s the packaging that really helps take the edge off.<\/p>\n Plastic Man appears to be a 100% new sculpt. He’s a tall, lean figure – perfect for Sinestro (with a new torso, of course) and other figures that should be tall without the bulk of the PE buck. While I like the buck system – I appreciate the uniformity it gives the line – I’m not always happy with how Mattel administrates it. The Public Enemies buck, perfect for characters of 6′ 6″-6′ 9″ hasn’t been used once in the main line (Blue Devil & Martian Manhunter could have benefitted from it). With more than a few characters using bucks that didn\u2019t quite fit, I’m overjoyed that one of my favorite characters got this treatment. He wouldn’t look right with one of the other bucks, but he looks great this way.<\/p>\n In addition to the reusable pieces, Plastic Man has a unique torso with lacing, his trademark belt, and his head. These raised details knock the figure out of the park – there’s literally nothing missing on him and his head sculpt perfectly captures his character from the comics as well as the Super Powers figure. I couldn’t have asked for a better sculpt on Plas.<\/p>\n The only paint issue I have on mine is the shade of red and that\u2019s not that big an issue in the scheme of things. As you can see in the selection of PM figures above, he’s the odd one out based on costume color. I thought this would bother me, but it really hasn’t. He may look dark in that comparison shot, but on my desk, standing next to Blue Devil, Drift, some Glyos, & Prince Adam (my desk is an odd place) he looks just fine. Other than that, I had no paint issues on Plastic Man. Most of the pieces are molded in the appropriate colors and the lines on his chest and belt are all well done.<\/p>\n On the standard figure, all the articulation we’ve come to expect is present, right down to the lack of range on the neck. I have one complaint on this figure and this is it. He has a unique neck joint because of the removable head and that joint doesn\u2019t allow for up and down movement. The peg itself has some, but the long neck traps it and blocks the range. <\/p>\n Plastic Man’s true value is in his accessories. His ability to change his shape made him an ideal candidate for an SDCC exclusive. Plas came packaged with six attachments. The first one you notice is the alternate spring lower torso. It attaches at the waist (above the belt) and is a real metal spring coated in plastic. As such, it has no poseability, but it looks great on him and its fun to play with. Continue to More Accessories, the Suitcase, and Starro Spores…<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Next up are the two stretchy arms. These are nice, but they\u2019re my least favorite. I don’t mind their monotone red color (paint would flake, glued on hands would stretch the arms, etc) and, like the spring, they offer some play value, but they don\u2019t offer any pose value and that\u2019s why they\u2019re my least favorite. If you\u2019re not playing with him they just hang there and they\u2019ll sag over time. After you stretch them a time or two, you get the gist and put them back in the box. They\u2019re fun, but I would’ve preferred some bendy arms instead. Also of note, when swapping out the arms, you have to press a button on Plas’ back (or the handle on the briefcase). This is great because it eliminates the scare of interchangeable parts. I still worry about the wrists, but the arms can be switched out smoothly by pressing the button and removing them without worry.<\/p>\n The flyswatter and paddle ball hands can be placed on either wrist by removing the fists and popping them in. As I said, I’m a little worried about the wrist pegs because they seem a tad fragile, but I haven’t had any problems yet. Both alternate hands feature Plas’ belt shape sculpted into them and both look sharp. Truthfully, I probably won’t use either of these that often, but they’re perfect accessories for the figure.<\/p>\n Finally, Plastic Man also includes a bendable neck extension. This piece will probably get the most use on my shelves. It replicates the action feature of the Super Powers figure as well as making up for the lack of articulation the head has while on the neck. Like the arms, I’m a bit concerned with the shelf life – it’s a soft bendy plastic piece attached to a hard plastic connector – so I’m being careful with it when I remove it. I should also note that without this neck piece, the head doesn’t fit on the SDCC exclusive suitcase.<\/p>\n If you purchased Plastic Man at the convention (or got yours from someone who did) you also received an alternate “body” for Plastic Man in the form of a suitcase. The suitcase has attachments for the arms and head\/neck which means that all the extra pieces (except the spring legs) can be used again here. For an extra bonus, the suitcase opened to reveal three little cardboard pieces that had a DC 75th logo on the back and the covers of the first appearances of Superman, Batman, & Wonder Woman on the front. Those aren\u2019t really necessary, but the suitcase is cool. I may not snap the head and arms on it all the time, but it’ll be carried by another DCUC figure that was fortunate enough to get an open hand somewhere prominent on my shelves.<\/p>\n Okay, these little guys technically have nothing to do with Plastic Man, but we’re not quite sure where else to put ’em. Even though I’m a huge Plas fan, Vault is an even bigger Starro fan. That said, he’s not sure about picking up the DCIH Starro (it’s a bit too liberal in regards to the comic design), but he had to have the DCUC-sized face huggers and he lent them to me for this paragraph. They are pretty cool, though they’d be better with the classic bulls eye design instead of the eyeball. I’ve seen these guys clipped on the faces of a lot of different sized figures – they’re pretty versatile while still being fairly rigid. I want a set of these for myself, but I just couldn’t bring myself to buy the DCIH Starro by proxy nor can I justify their current cost on eBay. Ideally, this sculpt would be great for my preferred green version of Starro and I hold out hope that these might be repainted in those colors. <\/p>\n Overall, I’m just gonna say it: Plastic Man is awesome. That may not be the most eloquent summation in the history of IAT, but it’s the truth. I’m going to overlook the neck articulation because I love the rest of the figure so much. He has a great sculpt and sharp paint. He’s got accessories that will look great on the shelf, he’s got accessories that will be fun to play with, and some that qualify under both those categories. Better still – and this is important in the history of Plastic Man figures – he can just be a regular, standard figure too. A lot of times companies think a Plas figure has to be all stretched out or doing something crazy, but here Mattel gave us both crazy accessories and a basic figure. I appreciate that. In addition, the suitcase is a perfect attendee only accessory – it’s something that a hardcore PM fan would love to have, but something the more casual fan might not find that important.<\/p>\n <\/center><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" If asked to name my favorite DC Heroes, Plastic Man is on the list. He’s a been favorite of mine since I was a wee tot, largely because of his cartoon & Super Powers, but I appreciate the comic character too. I couldn’t wait to see him as a DCUC and I’m ecstatic that he’s finally here. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":8366,"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":[178,630,2566],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.itsalltrue.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/plasTN.jpg?fit=50%2C50&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pObc6-2aN","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4848,"url":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=4848","url_meta":{"origin":8357,"position":0},"title":"Attack of the Show – Mattel SDCC Exclusives, Part I","date":"April 13, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Attack of the Show's Blair Butler visited Mattel to find out what they have in store for Comic-Con 2010 and it's a doozy. Part I of that exclusive is available now... Game Trailers - E3 2010 - AOTS Exclusive Here's some screen caps: Good to see a Proton Pack on\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":8357,"position":1},"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? 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Power\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "DCClassics.Com"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2557,"url":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=2557","url_meta":{"origin":8357,"position":3},"title":"Ask Matty November 16th Edition","date":"November 16, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Ask Matty November 16th, 2010 1. SilntAngl asks: In a recent article on our site, we talked about the different bucks that could be used for the Legion. A lot of our readers were in favor of seeing the Legion done using the Sinestro buck and not the younger buck\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ask Matty"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":31322,"url":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=31322","url_meta":{"origin":8357,"position":4},"title":"SDCC Armchair Coverage: DC Collectibles Animates My Childhood","date":"July 10, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"","rel":"","context":"In "DCClassics.Com"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2387,"url":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=2387","url_meta":{"origin":8357,"position":5},"title":"Ask Matty November 2nd Edition","date":"November 2, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Ask Matty November 2nd, 2010 1. SilntAngl asks: We've got the bottom half of Brimstone sitting in our house. I've looked online and haven't seen any advance reviews or packaged pics of Black Lightning and Major Force from the Public Enemies wave. Are these near to coming out, or will\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ask Matty"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8357"}],"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=8357"}],"version-history":[{"count":28,"href":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8357\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8505,"href":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8357\/revisions\/8505"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8366"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8357"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8357"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8357"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.itsalltrue.net\/reviews\/dcimages\/2010\/plas01.jpg?w=640\")
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<\/center><\/p>\nFor more DC Classics reviews, check out our DC Classics Collector’s Guide<\/a>.<\/h4>\n<\/p>\n