Tag Archives: jayna

Super-Articulate: Imaginext DC Super-Heroes Series 6 – The Rest

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It took my sons and I a few weeks, but we’ve finally put together the rest of Imaginext’s DC Super-Heroes blind bag Series 6. This time out, we got all of them at Meijer and Walgreens stores; Walgreen had the most. Every other local outlet that carries them regularly has been a strike-out; some stores still Series 4 out. This is a shame, because this is a good set and it makes me wonder how long Fisher-Price will stay committed to this format if they simply can’t be found in stores.

We’ve covered Catman, Zan, and Signal before; let’s get to the final three.

Jayna: It’s honestly kind of amazing how absolutely few Wonder Twins figures there have been. Introduced all the way back in 1977 in The All-New Super-Friends Hour (and making their comic book debut in that same year’s Super Friends #7), Zan and Jayna are alien siblings with the planet Exxor. When they touch, they can activate their “Wonder Twin Powers!” of transformation. Jayna can take the form of any animal, while Zan can become variants of water. Prior to the Imaginext figures, there have really only been two figure versions of the Wonder Twins. One was an SDCC Exclusive for the DC Universe Classics line that was later available online (however, only the con version came with an additional Gleek). There’s also a Mego-style pack of the Wonder Twins and Gleek from Figures Toy Company. And that’s basically it.

The Imaginext Jayna is well-done, and offers a good complement to Zan. Sadly, there is no Gleek to be had; maybe Fisher-Price will roll one into a later blind bag or set. Jayna comes packed with a bird, as her most frequent transformation selection was becoming an eagle that would carry a bucket full of watery Zan. The feet of the bird aren’t that well done; they’re made to grip onto a characters arm when they really should be shaped to hold the bucket. So, the figure itself is nice, and the bird is okay, but it could have used more work. I added some shots of Jayna with the previously-reviewed Zan for comparison.

Superman Armor Lex Luthor: This one’s fine. I like the facial expression; that’s classic Lex. But unless you’re really into the whole Lex in SuperArmor story from the comics, this one might not do much for you. The sculpt is good and the cape is well-made, but it kind of sticks out against all of the other characters that could have been made to fill this lot.

Dr. Fate: Now this is something. Dr. Fate is easily the best figure in this group of six. The collar on the costume is patterned after the Hector Hall Dr. Fate from the Geoff Johns and company run on JSA. The colors stand out, and the cape looks good. The best feature is that they took the care to properly scupt the mask so it looks like there are spaces for ears like there are in the comics. That’s some crazy attention to detail. The clip-on power accessory looks good in the yellow plastic, but it’s too bad they couldn’t work an ankh in there. Still, great figure, best of the six.

I’ve included some photos of all 6 figures from this series together. Overall, it’s a good little group. Fisher-Price’s Imaginext expression has a good thing going in DC Super-Heroes. Going forward, I’d like to see them casting wider nets for the blind bag figure choices, and seeing what they could do to fill some obvious holes (Alfred, more of the Shazam family, the Atom, etc.).

What do you think, readers?

Super-Articulate: Back to DC

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After a few straight weeks of Marvel Legends, it’s time to pivot back to DC. Mattel’s DC Multiverse distribution has been spotty in my area; you can find the Aquaman movie figures, but good luck with just about anything else right now. However, I did acquire a Vixen.

DC Multiverse Vixen: This is another straight-up solid sculpting job from the folks at Mattel. What I’m most impressed by is the fact that they were able to capture the look of the hairstyle that Vixen wore in Justice League of America (which was a fun book, now dead). I know I wasn’t the only fan of that title, as a number of Multiverse figures were drawn from that particular Rebirth run (Lobo, The Ray, the forthcoming Black Canary, Vixen). As such, Vixen is sporting the costume from that run, as well. It’s just a figure with overall good presentation.

Vixen comes with one accessory; in this case, it’s a translucent purple eagle that’s mean to replicate the visual from the comics when Vixen accesses one of her animal powers. Going with the bird makes sense because it’s a power that she uses often and it’s small enough to be an easy pack-in. I like the look of the accessory, although I would have liked a stand or some kind of attachment with it.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I’m sad to see Multiverse go at the end of this year after it really got on track. It would have been nice to see this group of sculptors get to the JSA and the Legion after the fine work they’ve done on the League, the Titans, and the Batman family. Alas, it wasn’t meant to be.

DC Multiverse Vixen

Imaginext DC Super Heroes Blind Bag Series 6:One DC expression that Mattel gets to keep is the Fisher-Price housed Imaginext line. The current series went with some excellent and crazy choices. There’s Zan and Jayna (the Wonder Twins), Superman-armor Luthor, Dr. Fate, Catman, and The Signal (Duke Thomas). My boys and I have only found two so far, so we’ll go ahead and take a look at Zan and Signal.

The Signal is Duke Thomas, one of the Robins from the We Are Robin series. Duke became more involved in the official Bat Family and received his own individual costume and codename. Signal comes packed with a pair of ninja kama. Imaginext has really upped their sculpting game in the past few years, and the Signal is a good example of that. While the bodies are frequently basic with (admittedly  great) paint jobs, the heads are increasingly unique. This has a good look overall and the vibrant yellow stands out.

Zan and Jayna are no-brainers for a line like this. Zan looks like a decent adaptation of his cartoon self; no real surprises. The best thing is his accessory. As you know, Zan can change into forms of water, and would regularly be carried by his bird-form sister in a bucket. So, of course, Zan comes with . . . the bucket. And the water has his face! Yes, they actually did that. Major kudos, Fisher-Price. Major.

The Imaginext line remains a terrific kids’ focus line, though I know more than a few adult collectors that like to display them as well. While this line-up seems to be a little bit harder to find, these two indicate that their commitment to DC is still in good form.