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Got the newest set last night. Mostly good, but some of the usual problems that I think we can all assume by now will never be fixed:
J'Onn J'Onzz, Manhunter from Mars:good job on the costume, and nice to have him in the proper green (green skinned heroes and baddies have a tendency to be emerald green in so many cases as action figures). The cape collar is a bit wonky, but no more so than it likely would have been in the Mego days. The head sculpt looks great, as usual, but it is huge, and it looks even worse given the bare chest, If anything, it should have been slightly undersized to look right. It's obvious that figures from FTC will be a crap shoot as to whether or not the head is bulbous, and it's basically gotten to the point where it's a proven fact that FTC doesn't care or have any intention of addressing the problem in any way. I got multiples of Green Lantern because he was actually done correctly, and would have done the same for J'Onn without hesitation. The sculpt is a great, classic interpretation of the character from the Bronze Age, if only it wasn't scaled for a Big Jim figure. Mr. J'Onzz is one of my all time favorite characters, and this came so close to being a great version of him; it's really aggravating that a company with access to modern molding technology somehow can;t do something Mego did with few exceptions decades ago. It's inexcusable.
Plastic Man: Plas' head is a bit big, but not as bad or quite as noticeable as J'Onn's, mainly because it tapers as it heads for the chin. Again, the sculpt is near perfect, capturing the whimsical nature of the character. The costume has a couple problems, namely keeping it from slipping off his shoulders. It's partly due to the design, which is accurate to the comics, but a simple piece of clear, soft plastic, something I've seen used on other figures with clothes-staying-put issues, would have kept everything in place. Truthfully, a simple dab from a glue stick would have done it, as well, but would have meant removing the suit even once would bring back the problem. This really was one time when giving the figure tights would have worked better for the character, so I'm actually using the lower part of a Tarzan bodysuit under his costume. Once the proper adjustments are made, though, he looks pretty darn good.
The Flash: Again, big head problem, but not too bad. Again, annoying, as the head is otherwise another near perfect representation of the hero. THey are nailing the likenesses almost every time, but the scale is all over the place. The costume is well done, thee lightning bolts nice and clean and clear, but the one thing that bothers me is the way the suit is put together. Flash doesn't have trunks, and yet he does here. I understand they couldn't put him together the same as Captain Marvel because of the lightning belt, but a single piece bodysuit with arms attached as they are here would have. It would have meant seams down the sides of the suit, bulking it a little, but with the slightly big head, that might not have been a bad thing. The only other thing I might have liked was for him to have red hands under the gloves, for those who might want a more classic Mego look.
Green Lantern: Hal looks great. His head is almost perfect in sculpt and scale; the back of his head might have benefited from a little more head (back to front, it's a little thin), but that's an extremely minor quibble. It doesn't fit into the body quite right, though, and the neck seems at an odd angle almost making him look down, but I'll take that over cerebral swelling any time. The costume is well put together, though I wish the turtle neck part was a little tighter. The '66 style gloves work well here, though they are a bit at odds with the classic Mego style boots. My main thought here is that sleeve cuffs and white hands would have fit in better with Green Arrow, but it still looks good. He's my favorite of the bunch because, well, he's Hal, but also because he's what I'd hoped all the figures would be: proportional.
It's a good set overall, but the continuing head issues are really dimming my enthusiasm for FTC's offerings. There are other minor issues, but nothing that turns me off like the huge noggins, because NOTHING cam fix them aside from a new head...
J'Onn J'Onzz, Manhunter from Mars:good job on the costume, and nice to have him in the proper green (green skinned heroes and baddies have a tendency to be emerald green in so many cases as action figures). The cape collar is a bit wonky, but no more so than it likely would have been in the Mego days. The head sculpt looks great, as usual, but it is huge, and it looks even worse given the bare chest, If anything, it should have been slightly undersized to look right. It's obvious that figures from FTC will be a crap shoot as to whether or not the head is bulbous, and it's basically gotten to the point where it's a proven fact that FTC doesn't care or have any intention of addressing the problem in any way. I got multiples of Green Lantern because he was actually done correctly, and would have done the same for J'Onn without hesitation. The sculpt is a great, classic interpretation of the character from the Bronze Age, if only it wasn't scaled for a Big Jim figure. Mr. J'Onzz is one of my all time favorite characters, and this came so close to being a great version of him; it's really aggravating that a company with access to modern molding technology somehow can;t do something Mego did with few exceptions decades ago. It's inexcusable.
Plastic Man: Plas' head is a bit big, but not as bad or quite as noticeable as J'Onn's, mainly because it tapers as it heads for the chin. Again, the sculpt is near perfect, capturing the whimsical nature of the character. The costume has a couple problems, namely keeping it from slipping off his shoulders. It's partly due to the design, which is accurate to the comics, but a simple piece of clear, soft plastic, something I've seen used on other figures with clothes-staying-put issues, would have kept everything in place. Truthfully, a simple dab from a glue stick would have done it, as well, but would have meant removing the suit even once would bring back the problem. This really was one time when giving the figure tights would have worked better for the character, so I'm actually using the lower part of a Tarzan bodysuit under his costume. Once the proper adjustments are made, though, he looks pretty darn good.
The Flash: Again, big head problem, but not too bad. Again, annoying, as the head is otherwise another near perfect representation of the hero. THey are nailing the likenesses almost every time, but the scale is all over the place. The costume is well done, thee lightning bolts nice and clean and clear, but the one thing that bothers me is the way the suit is put together. Flash doesn't have trunks, and yet he does here. I understand they couldn't put him together the same as Captain Marvel because of the lightning belt, but a single piece bodysuit with arms attached as they are here would have. It would have meant seams down the sides of the suit, bulking it a little, but with the slightly big head, that might not have been a bad thing. The only other thing I might have liked was for him to have red hands under the gloves, for those who might want a more classic Mego look.
Green Lantern: Hal looks great. His head is almost perfect in sculpt and scale; the back of his head might have benefited from a little more head (back to front, it's a little thin), but that's an extremely minor quibble. It doesn't fit into the body quite right, though, and the neck seems at an odd angle almost making him look down, but I'll take that over cerebral swelling any time. The costume is well put together, though I wish the turtle neck part was a little tighter. The '66 style gloves work well here, though they are a bit at odds with the classic Mego style boots. My main thought here is that sleeve cuffs and white hands would have fit in better with Green Arrow, but it still looks good. He's my favorite of the bunch because, well, he's Hal, but also because he's what I'd hoped all the figures would be: proportional.
It's a good set overall, but the continuing head issues are really dimming my enthusiasm for FTC's offerings. There are other minor issues, but nothing that turns me off like the huge noggins, because NOTHING cam fix them aside from a new head...
). I think the fist fighter body does make the shoulder slipping on the Plas costume worse, so I may switch him out when I get more spare bodies (just ordered a few extras from CTVT). Still debating on how to approach a more Mego version of GL; figure either white Mr. Fantastic gloves or seeing if I can find a white material similar enough to Green Arrow's green glove tops to go with some white hands. One of my extra Hal's needs to go with the classic Mego DC repros, but the new gloves would definitely stick out there.
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