Heeeeeere's Lexie!

I used to hate Lex Luthor so much when I was a kid.  He wouldn't stop bugging the nice Mr. Christopher "Superman" Reeves, whichever Superman movie they showed on TV. He was there in the first one.  He's there when Zod and gang terrorize in the second. Can't remember if he made an appearance in the 3rd with Ricahrd Pryor.  But he was also there again in the 4th hatching his nasty Nuclear Man (whatever) super villain plan.



But 20 odd years on I've grown to realize why Lex is Superman's greatest enemy and will always be: he represents all that is brilliant and flawed in humanity.  He thinks he's the smartest guy around and therefore feels humanity doesn't need the Man of Steel.  So he devotes all his time and energy trying to destroy "The Alien."

But for all his intelligence he fails to see that he's wasting his brilliance trying to get rid Superman, thinking that ending Supes is the best way to serve humankind. Sounds like the Devil to me.

Such a complex character deserves a great toy to go along with it.  And granted, Mattel have come up with a 5-pack Walmart version, which is the Legion of Doom version (with funky collar) from the Superfreinds cartoons.  But this DC Super Heroes power armour incarnation from 3 years back, I feel, is the best version out there.  He's going to be released under DC Universe Classics in a 2-pack with Supergirl next year, I hear. But since I had the luck to chance upon him, I couldn't turn down the oportunity to give my plastic Supes his greatest nemesis.  So how does he measure up to the Last Son of Krypton?  Check it out.



Like: The paint. The Kyptonite power core on his chest, the shiny purple bits on his armour, the shiny green on his 'skirt,' and his head, most of all.  I'm kinda impressed that this figure is from a 3 year-old line that has ended.


His face is especially well painted, with the classic Luthor eyebrows and and overall look of smirky disdain. Stare at him long enough and you expect him to say something derogatory to you in that Clancy Brown voice. Hey! That's my second Highlander inference in as many posts. ;P

Like: The sculpt for this baby is just one of a kind.  No reused or reuseable parts here and that's good for us! At first I thought he had Monguls feet/boots.  But Mongul's are bigger and definitely don't point as much.

And where do I start?  The boots, gloves and armour have metal plates and rivets, along with tubes running along/around/in and out of them.  The skirt is very nicely tooled, and his chest piece is a whole upper torso on its own.  His dark green exo suit below the armour is also given a "banded mail" sort of treatment. Very comic accurate, very Public Enemies accurate.  Anyone whoe' seen the animated movie or read the comics will instantly recognize this figure.

Like: That he's got 25 points of articulation!

Dislike: That he's not very poseable despite all the PoAs.  The armour prevents his arms from going up beyond 90 degrees, while his legs, despite the DC Universe Classics style H-joint, are severely limited by his skirt. It's the same problem that DCSH Darkseid shares. His head can rotate 360 degrees and tilt to the left and right, but he can't look up at all. He can, though, look down a little.

Dislike: That depsite the 360 rotation of the head, he can't really look past the high collar of his armour. :/


Dislike: That his feet are moulded so that he kinda has to have a wide stance, otherwise he'll look like he likes to rock on the side of his foot while standing.  The worst part is that his skirt only allows him to stand so wide.

RATINGS

Aesthetics: 9.5/10 - This guy is indeed very pretty.  The different shades of green and purple, shiny and matt, all catch the eye. No paint spills or slops with a beautiful sculpt.

Poseability: 8/10 - Not good at all.  But then I wasn't expecting it based on other reviews and because of the bulky design of the chest-piece. Even the legs weren't a surprise.  What was, though, was the wide-stanced feet.

Fun: 9/10 - Just finding him was fun.  Now having him nd just looking at him next to Superman on the shelf is fun.  After all, this is the version of Lex that can physically give Supes a run for his money.  And he's just as, if not smarter, too.

Value: 9/10 - At the price I got him, he's good value.  He was 20% off what would be retail here in Singapore.  For a rare figure from a dead line that's a great price, I'd say.  And he also comes with two accessories: a Kryptonite ray gun (I'm assuming it's a K'nite gun--what else would it be? Ha) and a small hunk of Kryptonite.  There's no Collect n Connect pieces from this line, but Lex does come packed with a comic featuring Supergirl(?) fighting Chemo.  "Like what," you say? Well, I'm mystified too.  But coincidentally the Chemo in the comic is the exact same Chemo as the DCUC Wave 9 Chemo. And it's nice to see him in a comic.

Overall: 8.9/10 - His score has mainly been dragged down by poseability.  It's disappointing to have a Lex that can go toe to toe with Superman but doesn't have the flexibility to do it. Still, it's probably better than having a Lex that can pose but can't be in a fist fight with Kal-El.  I'd recommend getting this figure, especially when he's released with blue suit Supergirl in the 2-pack to be released next year. :)

Lex Luthor vs Superman