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Thursday, December 13, 2012

Mattel New 52 Aquaman

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Inaugural F.O.A.M.er Chris Franklin sent the Shrine a link to Mattel's New 52 Aquaman action figure, which debuts in early 2013!

After an amazing couple of years, where Aquaman was all over the nation's toy shelves (via the DC Universe, Batman Brave and the Bold, and Action league lines), he's been gone for a while, so it's great that I'll be seeing him in my local Target again.

As someone who doesn't play with my Aquaman toys (at least officially), I'm interested in the thoughts of those who do: do all those articulation points make the figure better or worse? To me, having all those creases and hinges make the figure look a little weird and awkward, but I know that the more articulation you have, the more it's an action figure as opposed to a statue.

Thanks Chris!
 

12 comments:

Unknown said...

It looks plenty weird. As a display piece it's kind of ugly. All the articulations may make it more fun as a child's toy.

Orin's dad said...

I think the articulation in the middle of his chest just looks goofy. Hope that one doesn't wear out quickly, or he'll be all bent over with osteoperosis all the time. lol. Not sure I'm too keen on the face on this one, either, but if the price isn't outrageous it'll probably still end up in my personal shrine. :-)

Joe Huber said...

I'm happy with my DC Direct version since it's more accurate and doesn't have all of the air holes (joints). I have only seen this line online or at my local shop-they are retailing around $18-$24.

Anonymous said...

Not at all happy with Mattel's DC direction right now. It is clunky and disjointed, much like the figures being produced.

Anonymous said...

That's one ugly Aquaman figure. Maybe it's supposed to be a Transformer???

Jorge PR said...

I don't like it at all. The joints in arms and legs I could live with those, but the one in the stomach is unnecessary and the one in the crotch is too big, there's a huge hole between his legs. Also, the body is too 1980's-He-Man action figure, with a big chest and a thin waist. Finally, I don't like the figure's face, looks like Val Kilmer lol. The hair, the belt and the trident are nice though.

Earth 2 Chris said...

Have you guys seen the DCUC figures? This seems to use the same basic body style and articulation. It does look too loose, but it may have been a hasty prototype thrown together for photos. The head is way too small. The previous DCUC Aquaman (classic version) looked similar and came out quite nice.

Now, the other figures solicited with this Aquman, and New 52 Darkseid and a really bad Superman design from an upcoming video game, do NOT look to be holding up to Mattel's high DCUC standards.

Chris

Designer Daddy said...

Yup, that's funky. But maybe that extra stomach joint is so he can do cannonballs when he jumps into the ocean.

Earth 2 Chris said...

It does work for swimming or flying poses. It's commonly referred to as "the ab crunch" and a lot of modern collector figures have it.

Chris

Andy Luckett said...

Not sure about this one. I'm not a fan of all the unnecessary joint space and the head seems a bit too small for the rest of the body. I do like a lot of the details though (trident, belt, gloves).

Jason said...

It looks terrible here, but the DC Universe Classics version had loads of articulation and looked a lot better. And DCUC was the one toy line where I DID actually play with them because there was so much articulation!

Bleak said...

Agree with some of the comments above. That articulation in the torso is just too odd-looking. This is the first time in many years that I've passed on an Aquaman figure.