Funko’s newly released DC Primal Age line continues with the latest offerings of a new wave of figures including Krypto, Superman, Bizarro, Flash, Lex Luthor and Black Manta. These figures are inspired by the 1980’s design and resemble the vintage Masters of the Universe line with a similar style to the figures, beasts and the Batcave playset, and have a bulkier sculpt in order to fit into the hands of adults as opposed to the 1980’s sculpts with thinner sculpts that fit into kids hands. These figures are part of Funko’s Savage World collection, such as their Mortal Kombat, Horror icons, ThunderCats, Conan and similar lines.
Thank you to Funko for providing their DC Primal Age Krypto, Superman, Bizarro, Flash, Lex Luthor and Black Manta Figures for review.
Availability: March 2019
The DC Primal Age is backed on blister cards, and Krypto is packaged in a window box, with artwork that looks like what was shown in the 100-page comic available now at Target Stores, that is located in the action figure aisle right by these DC Primal Age figures by Funko. The artwork is stunning and has that retro throwback to the 1980’s, and for our younger audience that were not present during that time, this type of artwork and figure sculpt was common back then before the 1990’s introduced more articulation, different types of figure sculpts and a bit more detail in the artwork. In the 1980’s however, toylines such as Masters of the Universe had a very distinct style, as well as the artwork that is very similar to what you see on the packaging.
Each of the 5″ basic figures feature 5 points of articulation and are sculpted in their iconic outfits and costumes that fans are familiar with. The figures are based on how they look in the comic, and are given bright colors that also gives them an animated look. Interestingly enough, DC Comics and Warner Brothers were planning a DC Primal Age line similar to this in 1983, and a toy line had been planned with prototypes made, as well as a comic book and animated series that was all cancelled for unknown reasons. Skip ahead a few decades and fans can enjoy two of the three planned projects that had been scraped until now. The first wave was originally an Amazon exclusive that ended up with broken hip joints as the factory that made these figures didn’t do something right, and the corrected hips were introduced when these were available at Target Stores as it states in this article. This new wave has the correct hip joints and are available at select online retailers as stated below, and for the first-time these are not a store exclusive as previous figures had been.
Superman is painted and sculpted in his blue, red and gold outfit, and the left hand has been replaced by a mace that cannot be removed. His shirt and pants are painted in a light blue, with the trunks, boots, and soft plastic cape is painted in red with the logo on the back of the cape that is painted in gold. Across his chest is a harness with a metallic gold strap, and a Superman logo that is red and gold, and he is also given a metallic gold mace, gold belt and gold bracelets on his wrists. His head sculpt looks great and resembles the comic quite nicely. Included with Superman is a shield painted in gold that can clip onto his wrist.
Bizarro is painted and sculpted in his iconic outfit, which is dark blue, purple, silver and darker metallic gold than Superman’s. The shirt and pants are dark blue, while the trunks boots and plastic cape are purple with the reversed Superman logo on the back painted in gold. The figure style here is also reversed from Superman, including the mace now being on the right hand,. the logo on his chest and the logo on his shield. This is of course the way that it should look. The mace, logo on his chest and shield are painted in metallic silver, and the strap, belt and bracelets on his wrists are a dark gold. The head sculpt looks amazingly detailed with the light grey skin, red eyes, black hair and that grin that makes him look angry.
Lex Luthor is painted and sculpted in his Krypitonite armor suit, with green and light purple deco. The shirt and pants are green, while the armor is purple with the shoulder pads and lower portion of the belt hanging down in front are made of soft plastic. The armor also has piece of kryptonite in his chest, which as you know is poison to Superman, as well as the left hand that is a mace, which is made of translucent green plastic. The shirts below the belt are a darker purple, which is styled similar to how they look in the Masters of the Universe line, and the belt includes a gold belt buckle. HIs head sculpt is nicely done with the bald head, and large black eye brows. Lex Luther is the only figure in his wave without an accessory.
The Flash is painted and sculpted in his classic red outfit. This covers his chest and pants, along with a brown shorts and belt, with a Flash logo on his belt buckle painted in gold, brown straps around his legs, brown boots a brown harness around his chest with a gold and white Flash logo, red bracelets on his wrists, and lightning style at the center of them that are painted in a metallic gold. His arms are left sleeveless, and there is some stitching detail on the shirt and back of the mask. The head sculpt is nicely done and has a red mask painted on, with a gold crown with lightning bolts on the sides all painted in metallic gold. Included with Flash is a sword with the blade shaped like a lightning bolt, as well as the lower part of the handle having a lightning bolt logo.
Black Manta is painted and sculpt mostly in a black outfit, with a grey dome helmet with gold detail around it and red eyes in the front, and red circular patterns on top surround by gold deco. The metallic gold deco is shown along with the detailed bolts mostly on the head and upper chest, and on the tanks on his back. The tanks are connected to his back and cannot be removed, and tubing connects the front of the chest, goes around the sides and connects the tubes. There are also gold plastic bracelets with finns on his arms that cannot be removed. Included with Black Pasta are two swords, with the blades sculpted like gills.
Krypto is the beast sized figure offered in this wave and Superman can be placed on top of him similar to how Batman and The Joker can ride their pets. Krypto is non-articulated, and is a repaint from Batman’s Ace the Bat Hound, and is given a new collar around his neck painted in gold, and a Superman cape on his back with a gold Superman logo on the top of it. Krypto is given red eyes, a snarling mouth sculpt with teeth showing, and black claws on his feet. The sculpt is nicely done and the fur is sculpted as part of the design, which looks great up close.
The beasts in this line-up include Krypto, Ace the Bat Hound, and The Joker Beast. While Krypto and Ace are wolves, the Joker Beast is a giant lizard, and each figure can be placed on top of the saddle. The legs however need to be spread apart and the figures need to be pressed down to fit. As Krypto doesn’t have a saddle, it may be more difficult to get Superman to stay on properly.
Overall, the DC Primal Age figures by Funko are excellent and each one includes great attention to detail and an even better figure sculpt. This line pays a great homage to the gold age of toys, which as you know we’re referring to the 1980’s. Each of the figures have big and bulky sculpts that fits in nicely with your adult hand. The deco on these are amazing, especially the level of detail given to each of the figures here. If you’re a DC fan, make sure to pick yourself up this entire collection, especially if you’re a fan of Masters of the Universe and enjoy this retro style.
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