DCUC Wave 10 Joker: Terror of Photography!

We all know the Joker as this hyper-active, over-imaginative, laughing maniac who has penchant for being criminally cruel.

Well, he's no different in his plastic form, the rascal.

But the Joker's definitely got to to be the pic of DCUC Wave 10 and perhaps even the last 3 waves before that.  Why?  Because he fulfills everything an action figure should have: he's got an excellent sculpt, a great paint job, and he's got accessories in spades. Heh.

Although Wave 10 may be a Walmart Exclusive, it's readily available here in Singapore all the way in Southeast Asia.  The only thing is that you'd have to pay a premium for these 7 figures, anywhere from between S$290-S$500 (US$207-USS357).  That works out to be between US$30-US$51 per figure.  Considering DCUC retails for US$18 per fig, that's a huge, and I mean huge markup. So what do I do in my desperation to own the Joker, Powergirl, and Man-Bat?  Rely on the old faithful internet, of course!

I was only interested in getting these three characters from the wave and I didn't really want the Collect and Connect Imperiex, despite him being a Superman villian.  Ideally I'd want them loose and complete with accessories (Ok, so Powergirl has none but as everyone knows, she's plentiful in other areas. :P)

*See how the Joker can't keep still, even in plastic form.

Lo and behold echobasecollectibles on the evil auction site by the bay, who had all of them going exactly that way.  And by the looks of it not many were interested to pay the S$27 I was willing to part with to get them loose.  So 10 days later I received a nice, well-packed and slim package that fit in my mailbox and there they were: Joker, PG, and Man-Bat, along with the Walmart exclusive 5-pack Two-Face and Catwoman.  All in all it only cost me $100 US including s/h.  For this I have to give a shout out to echobasecollectibles, who was not only honest on the shipping, but even took a hit with the s/h discounts he offered. Kudos, man. :)

So here's how the Joker turned out in review:

Like: The paint job on him is really sharp, especially on his face. Just look at that crazy smile!  They did an excellent job on his pinstripes on his pants, his snazzy shoes, as well as his flower on his coat.

Special mention has to go to Joker's teeth: they're just the right shade of crazy off-white with a nice yellow/brown wash.  The paint on his hair, lips and eyes, too are bright and brilliant.  And the paint job extends to his accessories too.  His set of card and the fish are pretty small, yet they've not neglected to paint a joker on one and the lips and eyes on the other.

Like: The sculpt, which is a brand new one.  From the coat, to the tie to the flower, and to his head--as far as I know they didn't re-use any of the old DCSH figure parts.  I love sleeves of his coat because of the subtle creases and folds.  I especially like the head because it captures crazy, disturbed, and sinister all at one go.  Gotta love the hair sculpt too--it's classic Joker!

Like: Joker's leg/hip articulation is one of the most flexible I've seen despite the apparent rigid look of his pants.  And that's where the pleasant surprise lies--in his ability to do the splits despite looking very much like he only has swivels instead of H-joints.

 Like: The accessories!  He's probably got more than any other DCUC figure.  And none of them are plain, either.  The mallet is actually a giant 'head' with a long nose handle, the walking stick is topped by a gold joker head, the cards are nicely detailed despite their tiny size, and the laughing fish, well, just made me laugh.

Dislike: That his stripes are only on pants.  Only an insane person would mix solids with stripes.  Oh wait, duh. ;P  But it would've been nice to have the Joker either all in solids or all in stripes.

Dislike: That his joints are tad loose.  It could just be that this particular Joker had looser joints than others.  But one thing was true throughout the shoot--The Joker couldn't keep still!  Look at the mischievous bastard, obviously trying to pull a fast one on a card trick (Or maybe it's the effect of some of his notorious laughing gas...)

Ratings

Aesthetics: 9.7/10 – Loses points for missing pin-stripes, otherwise he's close to perfect.

Poseability: 9.7/10 – Ball head fails to be a ball head and can only swivel.  His leg joints are loose but he can achieve pretty much any pose you can want a Joker figure to achieve.

Fun: 10/10 – With the accessories and the poseabilty and that face, he puts the fun in crime-time fun for everyone! (kids, crime doesn't pay.  And is only fun for the criminally insane. Really.  No, really.)  I can't wait till I get him in an action figure comic with Batman.  Watch this space!  Heheh. ;)

Value: 8/10 – At retail he'd be a 9.  At scalper prices he'd be a 5. At the price I paid, he's there or thereabouts, and I'm happy with the deal I got fer ol' Chuckles. There's no way I'm paying the S$65 (US$46.40) they ask for him here. Hah.

Overall: 9.35/10 – He's a real hoot if you can find him, and a holler if you paid a reasonable price.  If not he's probably gonna be the only DCUC figure Mattel will ever release for Joker!  Dear Lord, no!  But then again they did re-release Two-Face and Catwoman.  We just had to wait a few years.  For a 5-pack with yet another Superman and Batman.  That turned out to be a Walmart Exclusive.

Well, I guess the Joke's on us!!! :D