On Improving DCD Figures

Since I started working on this blog, I have done nothing but Marvel figures. The reason for this is the wealth of high-quality Marvel figures available. Marvel Legends has put out 17 waves, along with Classics series, box sets, dual packs, etc… I’ve identified something like 120 characters done, to say nothing of the duplicates of popular characters like Spider-Man. There’s a vast defined universe, and customs made from these parts naturally fit into it.

But I read DC and Marvel. Hel, 52 has me on an all-time high. I think the era of the Marvel Zombie is over, that readers follow creator excellence more than characters. So I have been thinking about DC customs recently. It’s actually easier to select a Marvel custom to do than a DC custom, because I’m not a perfectionist, a DoubleDealer, par example, so I like to at least start with DC Direct parts if I can. And DC Direct has a much better chance of scooping a customizer than Marvel does.

When Marvel Legends releases a figure, it is perfect. Well, perfect enough. But the sculpts are good, the articulation is always great… 9 times out of 10, it goes right on the shelf. The only custom I’ve ever done of a figure released by Toy Biz has been Cyclops in the Jim Lee uniform.

When DC Direct releases a figure, the articulation will be sub-par. They just aren’t interested in performing up to the standards of Marvel Legends. So when a Marvel figure comes out, I’m going to be happy with it, but when a DC figure comes out, I always want to improve it. But the perfect base for such an operation is almost always the DC figure, which means that DC Direct can announce some figure and ruin my plans. For instance, I have a Cammy that I was turning into a Donna Troy about eight months ago, when they announced Infinity Crisis Wave 2, featuring Donna Troy. And then Toy Biz released Wasp and Spider-Woman, better bases for the operation by far. But the point is that DC Direct releases some 20 waves of superhero figures a year! Styles differ, and half of those are Superman or Batman, but still! You can rule out as certain that Marvel Legends will never do a Thunderbolt character. But a character of equivalent obscurity, say, the female Dr. Light, could very well be put into plastic by DC Direct!

All this is a prelude to announcing plans to start adding posability to DC Direct figures to make a team that better fit with Marvel Legends. Actually, not Marvel Legends… I want to simplify things by working up to Mattel’s DCD Superheroes line.

The DCSH line features, from the top:

• a ball-jointed head
• ball shoulders,
• single-joint elbows,
• a hinge waist crunch,
• a waist swivel
• double-hinge or ball hips,
• swivel wrists
• a mid-thigh swivel
• single knees, and
• hinge and side-by-side ankles.

Generally, DC Direct figures have:
• ball-jointed or swivel necks, about 50/50
• ball shoulders,
• single joint elbows
• no waist swivel, which is the biggest rip-off since Webster,
• swivel wrists, about 50/50
• hinge t-hips
• knees, and
• sometimes ankles.

So, the conversion needs to graft on hips, a waist, leg swivels, and arm swivels. Everything else is academic. But that waist and hips will go a long way to making the figure acceptable.

I’ve decided to start with the modern Justice Society of America, partly because I like the book. Liked the book, really; it peaked around JSA 50 when Dr. Fate was fighting Mordru and Eclipso, then got boring (Gentleman Ghost is crap), then got violent and dark. But I can't help but be charmed by the Legion stuff. Also the DC Direct JSA wave of a few months ago demanded to be improved upon. So I’ll take these:


and turn them posable. I’m hoping the process minimizes paint, as it certainly maximizes construction. Having an accurate base figure can save a lot of time, taking out the need to spend hours duplicating the little idiosynchratic costume details. Instead I’ll just yank them off the original figure.