This is the end of an era of 6″ DC figures offered from Mattel, and after 13 years and hundreds of figure offerings, this is the final wave being offered… at least for now. This final wave includes some core characters never before offered in this line and Mattel is finishing this off with some much needed characters and a brand new Killer Croc that has been needed for quite some time. This wave includes Alfred Pennyworth, Batman, Red Hood, Red Robin, KB Beast, Katana and Killer Croc as the Collect & Connect. This is a comic book based wave and in the midst of celebrating Batman’s 80th Anniversary this year, there are some great selections here of Batman characters.
Thank you to Mattel for providing their DC Multiverse Killer Croc Collect and Connect Wave for review.
Availability: August 2019
Each figure is packaged on a blister card with comic and character art on the front, sides and back of the packaging. On the back there is also a bio of the character as well as images of the figures in this wave, along with detailed images of what figure comes with what part of Killer Croc as its arrowed and numbered on the back.
Batman (Dick Grayson) uses the previously seen Batman figure sculpt offered lately and is painted in a light grey and blue outfit, with a blue cowl. The cape is fabric, and he has a black bat logo on his chest and a gold utility belt. The Dick Grayson head sculpt is nicely done with solid paint applications. Included with this release is a cowl that goes around his upper back as shown in the gallery. Over the years, the character has been offered in several outfits such as Nightwing and Robin, but this release makes his debut in the bat suit. Since it’s the final wave of DC Multiverse from Mattel at this time, we have to ask why didn’t a Bruce Wayne figure get a release first before this version of Dick Grayson? A Bruce Wayne figure in an evening attire might be too close to Alfred in this wave, but it would have been a great offering to have.
The cape on Dick Grayson looks too narrow in width for this figure. The fabric may allow him to have more range of motion in the articulation than a plastic cape would have, but we feel that the cape needs to be wider and cover the back of his arms. Aside from that, Batman usually comes with batarangs, but in this particular release they offer the extra head and cowl. Dick Grayson also comes with the left leg for Killer Croc, which is a massive size figure so we can forgive the absence of a few batarangs.
Red Robin (Tim Drake) returns to the DC line by Mattel and is given an updated figure, while looking a bit older than his previous release in DC Universe Classics series 3. This new figure is given his classic red, green and yellow costume that’s updated in this new style of DC figures. The paint applications on this figure are solid and the logo on his chest is nicely sculpted and painted. The black on the suit allows the bright colors to stand out more and balance it out. Red Robin includes swappable hands and his iconic staff weapon, as well as the left arm for Killer Croc.
Red Hood (Jason Todd) is given one of the most stunning sculpts in this line. This version of Red Hood has a much better designed costume than the previous offering (which was released in the DC Infinite Earths Signature Collection as part of the Mattycollector subscription), and is sculpted in a brown jacket, grey suit with a red symbol on his chest, and holsters with sculpted pistols attached to his belt. The masked and unmasked head sculpts look really good for this figure and each has a stunning likeness. Included with Red Hood are three sets of interchangeable hand sculpts, an unmasked head and the right leg for Killer Croc.
Katana makes her debut in this line (without counting the Suicide Squad movie figure) and is one of those characters. Katana is sculpted and painted in her black, red and silver outfit that has some nicely done crisp lines, especially where the silver stripes are over the black and red parts. The right arm has a shoulder pad and a gauntlet to protect her, and the right hand can hold the sword. As far as a costume design, this one is decent, but the character has also been given samurai styled outfits that would have also worked. But since this version is a bit closer to the Suicide Squad design, it makes sense as the general public would remember that version more. Included with Katana is a sword, an extra right hand, and the torso of Killer Croc.
Alfred Pennyworth makes his debut in this line and is a perfect release for the 80th Anniversary of Batman. This offering is a great way to finish the line right now as this character is long overdue for your toy shelf. Alfred is sculpted and painted in a black tuxedo, grey vest, white shirt, black tie, black pants and black shoes. Mattel has given fans a special treat here, with not only a comics version of the character, but to include three additional head sculpts is beyond a special thank you to fans for buying their figures over the years.
In this release, Alfred comes with 1966 Batman Tv Series head sculpt to go along with their ’66 line from years ago, which is taller than those other figures and also a bit out of scale. The other heads are the 1989 Batman Movie, and the two other heads cover so much Alfred that has not been done before. Personally, we are most excited for the classic comic based head over the tv and movie characters as comic-based figures are a personal favorite. But in the case of likenesses these are excellent and totally worth obtaining multiples of this figure just for the heads.
Alfred also comes with a silver platter, a glass, a cowl and the right arm for Killer Croc.
KG Beast is one of those villains that has been normally doesn’t get the attention that he should. The character even made it into Mattel’s Justice League Unlimited line back in the day, but never in their 6″ DC offerings. This would have made a great character to include in their DC Infinite Earths Signature Collection line back in the day, just to fill in some villain ranks and all.
KG Beast is offered in a modern version of the character and is sculpted and painted in his red, black and silver outfit, with a brown belt, and brown holsters on the sides of his boots for his knives. Interestingly enough, this figure uses the Masters of the Universe base body used with He-Man and other figures, including some previously offered DC figures over the years, for this offering and the parts work incredibly well together. His shirt is made of a soft plastic, and the arm gun that is sculpted to his left arm looks amazing. He may have lost some articulation such as the ab crunch that the He-Man line had, but it’s easily overlooked because of the quality is so well done. Included are two small knives that are stored in his holsters, one large knife stored on the arm gun, some kind of projectile that also can be stored in the gun, and the head and pelvis for Killer Croc.
Killer Croc is given an excellent update and a much needed update to this line. The first release was seen back in the beginning of the line during the DC Superheroes line, and only now is given a definitive version of the character. This release showcases a much larger and bulkier version of the character and even uses shared parts with King Shark, including the pelvis and legs (the feet are new), which helps bring the cost down for Mattel so they can afford to give Alfred all of those extra heads, and the sculpted textures and details on Killer Croc’s torso, arms and head. The paint applications on this figure are solid and works well with comic book accuracy, and the head sculpt is amazingly detailed with a hinged jaw and nicely done facial details. The detail on him is impressive and this is the best incarnation of Killer Croc we’ve ever seen, in any figure by any company ever released. Even if you already have the DC SuperHeroes figure, you need this updated Collect & Connect figure for your Batman’s Rogues Gallery collection.
Overall, this DC Multiverse line is an excellent way to end the line, with some solid figure releases and some first-time offerings, this wave pays respect to more than a decade of great DC figures by Mattel. Over the years Mattel has offered some of the best DC figures ever offered, and we’re going to call it (DC Superheroes, DC Universe Classics, DC Infinite Earths Signature Collection, DC Multiverse) the definitive line of all-time.
It’s also a sad time for DC fans as the fate of DC Multiverse moves over to McFarlane Toys in Fall 2020, which this time next year their figures should be shipping to stores (at least that’s what we were told). While the Four Horsemen or the many great talents behind Mattel’s DC figures won’t have anything to do with the new 2020 releases, we’re very curious about what the plan is and what the figures will look like. At New York ToyFair, McFarlane Toys told us that they understand in the value of the Four Horsemen’s designs, and reminded us that the Horsemen started out their, so it seemed that whatever McFarlane Toys has planned for the line, there very well could be some highly detailed DC figures such as these on their way by a completely different team. This is good for people just starting to collect this line as it would give them a chance to obtain some characters that haven’t been offered by Mattel in a long time, possibly some never-before done characters, and maybe even some surprises. The bad news is that because it’s a new team, the style of the figures might not entirely work with what Mattel has been doing over the years, which is just a guess at the moment. Whatever McFarlane Toys does, the line needs to be great from the start and a nice mix of characters needs to be offered to show people what they’re doing.
Purchase:
Megalopolis: City Of Collectibles
- Alfred Pennyworth – $19.99
- Katana – $19.99
- Red Hood – $19.99
- KG Beast – $19.99
- Red Robin – $19.99
- Batman – $19.99
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