FRUSTRATED - Lex Luthor Help

[Mary Canary]

I finally ordered my Legion of Doom Lex Luthor from FTC. Now I have him, but I am very annoyed with the costume construction. The pants and top are separate, and the top doesn't stay neatly tucked in the pants. Plus, these short sleeves are bananas - they dont tuck into the glove hands at all. I was really expecting that the gloves would be sturdier and the sleeves slightly longer so the gloves would hold them in place. Also, one of the crisscross suspender bands is stitched odd and close to separating from the waist.

I COULD:

1 - sew the pants and top together, re-sew the suspender, and pick up a pair of hands and the oven mitten classic mego style gloves to hide the short sleeves.

Or

2 - send him back and ask for a refund or exchange, but I suspect a replacement won't be much better. Not sure if they would refund an open figure. I already have to send back the Apache Chief that came with Lex because he has a busted knee joint and his head is loosey goosey spinning around.

Or

3 - get the EMCE Mattel Lex costume and see if it fits the FTC Lex body, then get green hands for gloves.

Or

4 - get the EMCE Mattel Lex figure and just forget about the FTC version, even though I kinda like the FTC sinister face more than the EMCE one.

It's just super frustrating because I live in Canada. My parents live in the US, so I had these figures sent to them a cpl weeks ago to save on shipping. I'm here visiting, was all excited about the new figures, and I open them and they are messed up. I don't get down here very often. So if I exchange anything, I won't be able to check the replacements out til my next US trip in September. Should I bother exchanging? Should I just send back and see if I can get a refund? Should I try to make the most of Lex but send back Apache Chief? I am not very familiar with the EMCE figures. I only have Cheetah from that line. Is their Lex vastly superior?

Feedback and opinions please.

[PNGwynne]

I prefer the Mattel version overall, but its suit should fit FTC if you want to retain a SF vibe. I like the Mattel head.

That's my advice--FTC's reliance on elastic for detailing and those damned short sleeves is tiresome.

[TrekStar]

I would go with the Mattel version head and clothes, and pick up a mego body purple hands on eBay or grab a FTC body
with purple hands and restring it. The Mattel head with a soften up neck plug fits perfect on the mego body.

[PNGwynne]

I think you mean green hands.

[TrekStar]

I think you mean green hands.

Yes, Green hands., going color blind in my old age, well at least I'm not saying "what hands"....yet.

[Mary Canary]

Well, I semi-solved my Lex problem. I went to the Superman Celebration in Metropolis IL today and happened to come across the Mattel Lex as well as Superman. Picked them both up. I do think I like this Lex's face. I haven't opened the packaging yet, but the costume looks nice and sturdy (Mattel has decades of experience making clothes for Barbie so they must know what they're doing). But wow, do these guys have huge feet/boots or is it just me? And kind of gymnist looking bodies.

I feel like I really want to support FTC and what they are doing. I love the DC characters so much. I even have a list of the ones I want. But is the loosey goosey head common (my FTC Superman and now Apache Chief are like this!)? What about the joints on the male bodies? And I just dont think I can deal with the truncated sleeves. I don't want to buy from them if I'm just going to be disappointed after the fact. What a shame.

[PNGwynne]

Unfortunately there're no pink/magenta hero boots, but you could try purple ones for Luthor. I like the plastic boots better than rubber ones.

I have most of my Mattel heads and suits as semi-customs on vintage or repro Mego bodies--the Mattel body is problematic for me.

[TrekStar]

You could buy white boots and paint them pink/magenta and I also like the plastic boots better then rubber ones, plus they slip on easier too.

[Mary Canary]

Thank you so much for the feedback, guys. I ended up sending the FTC Lex back and asked for a refund. I just thought the Mattel figure looked less hacked together overall. I haven't opened him yet but if the body ends up being too crazy I like the suggestion of swapping out with an old Mego body. We'll see!!

I also sent back Apache Chief and asked to exchange him. Hopefully they send me one that doesnt have a spinny head. Is this a common problem with the FTC male figures? My Superman figure is the same way. Have thought about gluing the head in place because everytime I touch him the head goes wandering around...

[CrimsonGhost]

I sometimes pull a loose head off and wrap some masking tape around the neck plug. It makes the neck fit tighter and you can still turn.

[jayraytee]

I've put the suit and head from mattel retro action on type s bodies with great results. I wouldn't go with any ftc body ever.

[Mary Canary]

So after all that... FTC refunded me for both the Lex and Apache Chief figures, even though I requested an exchange.

I shake my head.

[Gman2135]

I can't really offer an opinion on any of your "repair" options but I would like to say that I'd like a Lex Luthor (in "Prison Grays").

[Mary Canary]

I can't really offer an opinion on any of your "repair" options but I would like to say that I'd like a Lex Luthor (in "Prison Grays").

I'm kinda surprised FTC hasn't milked Luthor the way they have the Batman villains.
There's the white labcoat version in the Superman set, and the distinctively dark "Challenge of the Super Friends" version.
I feel like the prison grays would be an obvious variant, considering the Batman villains also have prison variants.
And maybe a brighter version of the classic purple and green.

Oh, and now that I've opened the Mattel Lex... wow, he sure is wobbly. LOL, I think at this point I'm going to see about swapping the head and costume onto an old Mego body, if I come across one for a cheap price.
Of course, then his hands won't be green...

I'm also thinking I may just make my own custom Apache Chief.
Wonder if the costume is available separately. It seemed nicely made. It's just too bad the figure was busted.
Maybe I can actually make one with rooted hair, ala Thor.

[TRDouble]

You can get the Apache Chief costume for $10, or the costume and body for $13.99 USD (pre-shipped).