Since I'd found the perfect Superman sculpt in DCSH Variant Black 'S' Supes, I was sorta on the lookout for the original, yellow 'S' fig which was hard to find for 2 reasons: the DCSH line ended some time ago (like 5 years give or take) and because it seemed like Mattel sent more villains here to Singapore than Supermen. Hence a reasonably priced original Superman was tough to come by.By lo and behold my patience was rewarded after 6 months when Mark decided to sell off his Superman collection on Ebay Singapore. I managed to benefit form this by bagging MISB DCSH Steel variant and Cyborg Superman on top of original Supes for a really, really good price. He's still got a whole bunch of DC Direct Supermen on sale so go to his seller's page to get 'em fast!
I was thrilled to have finally added the original Supes to my collection, and so I up and happily started shooting photos of him.But alas, as he was winding up for a mighty blow on Kalibak there, I over-wound his arm and his shoulder got scratched/cut by the harder plastic of his arm-hole (right about at the chest).
My heart sunk and I thought, that never happens with my Variant Black 'S' Supes, so I went and tried winding up his arm as well--and almost did as much damage to him.The moral of the story? After you play with a whole bunch of 3.75" figures like GI Joes and Marvel Universe figs, please be gentle with your larger scale ones. The little fellas are WAY more flexible than 6" DCSH/DCUC figs. Yep.
The good thing that came out of this is that I now also know that DCUC figures are made of better quality plastic than DCSH. Why? Because my DCUC Green Lantern also had some scuffs from a fair amount of posing, but it took some looking before I noticed the slight amount of wear in the same area of his shoulder as Supes.
The other good thing is that I now have a better feel of how new toys are not necessarily improvements of old ones. For example, the new DCUC black suit Supes may have the same shoulders as any of the DCSH Supermen, but they have a smaller, narrower chest.Aesthetically, DCSH Supes still beats DCUC (from hair, to face, to jaw-line, to eyes, to expression). The skin tone is also more natural and pleasing to the eye.
Black 'S' Supes/ Yellow S Supes/ Black Suit Supes
I also noticed that between black variant and yellow 'S' Supes there are also subtle differences. The eyes, for one, are red on black 'S' but ice blue on yellow 'S'. And though Supes has baby blues, somehow the red eyes seem to fit better on a figure, they're somehow more piercing, viewed from near or far. His skin tone is also slightly more tan on black 'S', giving him more of a summer tan look. The biggest difference though, is the lighter, more comic book accurate blue of yellow 'S'. So while yellow 'S' is more of a classic look, black 'S' is a grim, darker variation.
But both are equally awesome, whether beating up on Kalibak...
Or fighting off Brainiac.
So here's how I rate DCSH Original Yellow 'S' Superman.
Aesthetics: 10/10 - hands down the best Superman 6" scale action figure out there. He even has sculpted lines for his underwear. The DCUC versions don't. What can I say? Underpants beats no underpants when flying outdoors. ;)
Poseability: 9/10 - Still good, but defnitely not on the level of 3.75" Joes or Marvel Universe Heroes. Gotta be careful not to over-extend him again. :(
Fun: 9.5/10 - Lots to be had here still, especially with his cape which is long enough for him to do some off-balance poses, such as landing or taking off.
Value: 9/10 - Get him if you can find him for S$20 of below. If MISB, he'll come with a diorama stand made of some thick folded cardboard which'll make him look like he busted outta some chains.
Overall: 9.4/10 - Hey, it's Supes! I just can't wait till they come up with a DCUC Martian Manhunter and my Magnificent Seven Lineup will be complete. Ok so I need Aquaman too. But who doesn't? :P
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