Man, Mattel really makes it hard to be a Mattel defender.
I like a lot of what they try to do, but between concept and execution, something just goes missing. Do they need to hire an engineer? Or fire the one they have and hire a good one? I’m really hoping that everything I’m hearing about wave 6 being the start of a new beginning is true.First, a bit of good news: although I have yet to see any of the Walmarts I frequent in Dallas carry DCUC, I did finally see an empty peg space today with tags for DCUC and DCIH! And there were A LOT of empty pegs in the toy section, leading me to believe that the new reset is right around the corner.
The bad news, though, is that even after searching abunch of Walmarts while on vacation in San Antonio and finding the four sets for me and other AFI guys, I still was a loser at DCUC Roulette. It doesn’t matter how nice these look in the package: when I opened them Black Lightning’s arm fell off (I didn’t even touch his arm, either!) and Amazo’s elbow peg wasn’t pushed through his arm, leaving it hanging at the elbow. And of course Metallo is fantastic…as long as you don’t move his legs. All the joints were fine, but the hip pegs won’t stay in the torso, much like the problems with Metamorpho back in wave 1.
Speaking of Amazo, he appears to be the smallest one in the assortment! I say appears as he uses the same body as Atom, I think. But visually he does look like the shortest one. I just can’t understand how 5 assortments in to this line, and there isn’t a single basic beffy body to use for these larger characters. This was the same short sighted thinking that led to Superman, Atom Smasher, Amazo etc. being tiny in JLU, but you’d think by now Mattel would have been past that particular learning curve and thought toward the future right off the bat. Ah well. At least I found a set, which is better than most collectors.
I don’t pay really close attention since I don’t collect DCUC but has Mattel even addressed this quality control issue. How incredibly disappointing to finally nab HTF figures only to have them break upon opening. And its not like its an isolated case.
Thanks for the blog and the pics.
I won’t be able to find them anyways so it won’t be a problem
If only there’d been more time/money for this wave, it would’ve been great to see Amazo use the Etrigan body as a starting point…
DC Roulette…that’s a good title for the game we play. I’m not sure if I’m happy or sad that my two nearest Walmarts never carried series 5.
I’m leaning toward happy…
I guess after continuing to read all these horror stories I guess its time for me to go to vegas
All of Wave 1, All of Wave 3, Riddler Artemis, Both Batman Beyonds, Harley, Black Manta, Ares, Wonder Woman. Havent had a problem with any of my figures at all– but it just goes to show, the more POAs the more liable to break… Too much articulation nowadays, takes away from the sculpt and the durability– not a worthwhile exchange if I say so.
I just now decided to get into this line a little bit and I’m VERY nervous about tracking down some figures I missed in store because I don’t want to get something online and have it break upon opening.
I’ve had the same hip joint issues with all of the C-n-Cs so far…Grodd and Grundy are both very static when my boys and I play with them, because the slightest movement, and the legs pop right off. I liked the characters from this wave much more than I thought I would…I feel your pain with Black Lightning. I know that’s going to happen to me any day now. And I hate that feeling.
Well I only collect a few figures from this line (Titans)but that lack of a big body is frustrating. Look on the bight side…if BL’s power fails…he’s got an extra weapon
I’m glad I grabbed up the figures in this wave when I did… they were gone in a flash and never restocked!
*sigh* Still looking for these …
I still haven’t found this wave yet so QC’s not an issue with me
I was able to find the entire wave (actually my wife found them and I got them for Christmas) however, my Black Lightning was in a completely sealed package and is missing the Metallo leg. And his left arm is all twisted, not in the same pose like I’ve seen other MOC Black Lightnings on eBay.
But yeah, I agree, I just don’t understand what they’re doing over there at Mattel. whether it’s figures breaking or a blue faced Harley Quinn or horrible paint jobs (this goes for JLU and Infinite Heroes as well) or they’re just impossible to find. They obviously have good ideas that people will get behind, and still do get behind even with the horrible quality, just imagine how many more people would be behind them if their toys were flawless and everyone who wanted them could actually find them. Of course this would probably mean they’d cost double what they do now, or more.
In the UK we’re a little behind you guy’s in the US in the DCUC stakes as Wave four has only just hit the pegs.
I picked up what I could – still waiting for Batman Beyond, Wonder woman and Captain Atom to hit these shores.
The only problem I had was with Ares Knees, they are super rubbery!!! I thought this issue was only on later ToyBiz ML’s not Mattel.
I’ve never had a issue with any of the earlier waves and was shocked that standards seem to be slipping.
Defective product and yet people are still willing to roll the dice and buy these figures at a premium. $200 for the entire set right now at various online scalping shops. Ridiculous! I even find myself tempted to pick them up, not to open but for the MOC aspect. Get them AFA graded (that’ll cost a fortune just having do that job) and then possibly see the price skyrocket. You have a mini-downpayment on a home right there barring any pieces fall of while still sealed in the package!