After a long, exhausting, and frustrating week with DCUC I finally got all of wave 5, and with mixed feelings I sit here looking them over.

There is no doubt this is the most hated wave of DCUC to date.  The only reason is the exclusiveness of the wave.  I think the character selection is not bad, but because of Wal-mart this wave suffers.  It has been said since this wave was announced that there would have to be cost cutting because Wal-Mart wanted the cheapest product you could get for the most money. That means no goggles and shades for 2 of the figures, and no variants and the same body for 4 of the 5 main figures.  What is so great about this wave? I think it all comes down to paint.  All the characters have a great look to them and the paint on all the of the figures I have seen is flawless.  There is no doubt that Black Lightning is one who could have gone so wrong, but he did not.  His lines are bold and crisp and with the exception of a broken leg on the first one, he’s perfect.  Lets take a look at each figure.

Amazo-  Amazo was built in a lab and has terrorized the Justice League ever since.  One of the first androids in the DCU, Amazo has been able to stand toe to toe with the big guns of the Justice League.  There have been multiple versions created over the years with different power levels that have plagued the DCU. Amazo has been able to out-fly Superman, out-run the Flash and out-create the Green Lantern. Though the android has been a formidable enemy, he has never fully succeeded in defeating the JLA.  The weakness that Amazo has is that he is an android, after all, and susceptible to things like being shut off, which can be a downer in the middle of a brawl. There have been multiple versions created throughout time. Each type of power is deadly in its own way, though the last one proves to one of the more difficult versions to defeat.  

Amazo goes with a very classic and simple look. While he does sport the green lantern ring, he is missing the lasso from Wonder Woman and some other toys from Batman.  The lines on the figure are smooth and well done, but something seems off with him.  The character is one that is supposed to make Superman fear him, yet the Eradicator seems slightly taller and looks a little wimpy. There is no doubt I love having the character, but he is way too small for who he is.

Riddler- As a young boy, Eddy Nigma was fascinated with puzzles. His passion for puzzles led him to working for a carnival, running a crooked puzzle booth. As he grew, so did his need for more excitement, leading to a life of crime. Taking the name the Riddler, Edward was not able to pull a crime without leaving clues for the GCPD or Batman.

The Riddler is simply the Two-Face/Clark figure repainted with a new head.  While he does come with his signature cane there are problems with the figure.  His right leg is warped and from what I can see so are all the figures, due to the position of the figure in the box. Another issue comes from what he looked like in the prototype vs. how he was actually made.  The figure almost looks like he is wearing a vest instead of a suit because he is missing the question marks on his sleeve.  Is this a huge deal in the grand scheme of the the line?  No. What it does show is that between distribution problems and cost cutting from the monster that is Wal-Mart, we have to deal with sub-par figures.  

Atom (Ray Palmer)- In the DCU science usually leads to either a hero or villain.  In Ray Palmer it led to being a hero.  His studies of Dwarf star led him to the discovery of his own power, the ability to shrink down in size. Ray is a long standing member of the JLA.  Though his most recent appearance has put some doubt in his ability to be a hero, he is a must have for any DC fan.  

The Atom was once figure that was a must-have for any JLA fan, but I have to admit that he is one of the plainest figures we have gotten.  His paint is crisp and clean and there is not paint slop like previous waves. The symbol on his head is centered and complete.  His left leg was stuck, which continues to be a problem, but after a quick dip in hot water he loosened up and was good to go.  The figure I got does have a loose ab joint, but nothing so bad that I would not recommend this figure.

Black Lightning-Jefferson Pierce started out his life in Suicide Slum in Metropolis.  He escaped poverty and become a great athlete, eventually winning a gold medal in the Olympic decathlon. Pierce, as Black Lightning, donned a costume and a belt which would give out an electrical charge to take on the mob in his old neighborhood.  Eventually he was able to stop the mob and help some of his students, but Pierce got some attention in the superhero world and became a founding member of the Outsiders. Currently Black Lightning can be seen as part of the Justice League and as a close, personal ally to Batman on the team.

We come to my favorite figure of the whole group.  The Black Lighting was one I was worried about because they painted his goggles, but I don’t think it hurts this figure at all.  His lines are not as well done as the other figures, but the colors make up for the the small paint details.  There is no doubt that this is a well painted figure and even though it shares the same body as the others, this figure is above the rest because of the details.  However, even with all the great things he has one huge flaw.  After opening the figure and giving him the same bath as the Atom, his leg broke right off at the hip.  Now, because of the hard to find nature of this wave, I was angry.  I was worried about the ability to find a new one and that I would have to figure out how to fix it. After finding these on my first trip out to find them, I had to continue searching for a restock.  Let me tell you that daily trips to a Wal-Mart 40 minutes away every day at 7 am was not fun. There are only 4 Wal-Marts in my state to my knowledge that carry DCUC, and they had empty pegs or they had pegs full of DCUC wave 1.  I did find them after a week, and the second one did not have stuck joints and even had tight joints. The downside of the new figure was the paint was not as clean as the first one.  In my rush I returned the broken one without pics, but this is something that I have to say Mattel has to work on.  The hip joints seem to be the worst of all the figures and this has to be fixed if this line is going to survive.  

Eradicator- Is he superman or is he something else? When Superman died in his battle with Doomsday there were many replacements.  One of those was the Eradicator.  With the help of the fortress robots, it was able to take on a humanoid form and absorb the solar energy from the corpse of Superman and the sun.  It took on the identity of Superman, trying to fill the void he left.  The Eradicator Superman died saving the life of the real Superman.  

The Eradicator Superman is one I think that is only a step above Atom in the “meh” department. The costume is simply blue and black with no real details.  The head sculpt, though, is the highlight of the figure.  This Superman head fits in so well with the style of the DCUC line rather then the DCSH Superman.  The only things that separates him from the other figures in this wave with the same body is his cape and goggles.   While the cape and connecting S symbol are well executed, the goggles sink him.  While I understand the need to cut costs for this wave, this is once place that hurts the figure.  By making them a solid color you lose most of the face and take away from the figure.  The goggles just make him look goofy.  

Metallo-  John Corban was a crook who met his end in a car accident, and was transformed into one of Superman’s most famous enemies.  Though his body was destroyed a scientist decided to use him to test out some robotics.  The scientist transferred Corban’s mind into the body of a robot with a Kryptonite heart.  Using the increased physical power, Corban became one of Superman’s most recognized enemies.  He has taken on all shapes and sizes, from human appearance to using any metal around him to build a body.  

So we get to the big guy of the bunch and, well, he is big.  Metallo towers over many figures in this line.  While the articulation is on par with most of the other DCUC lines, the details make this a figure well worth the hunt. There is no doubt where all the money went with this line.  In order to gain the details on this figure, we lose the see-though goggles on Black Lightening and the Eradicator.  It almost looks like they wanted to add jaw articulation, but decided not to.  The positive part of this figure is the articulation. Metallo is not your normal figure and he needs different articulation.  His shoulders are a flat joint, not a ball joint and only move up and down; but his elbows are what give him the real range of arm motion.  I think my favorite joint on him, though, is the torso joint.  He has complete 360 degree rotation and just is a fun joint to position.   He is a little weak in the knees, but this is due to the weight of his upper body rather than a quality issue.  He also comes with a removable chest plate which, when removed, reveals his Kryptonite heart.   Finally, most of the time the lack of hand articulation on figures don’t bother me, but this one did.  He has a huge open hand and even one hinge on this knuckles would have made this one of the best DCUC BAFs to date.  

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