Two Face, Zero Weapons, Gotham City 5-Pack

I guess that's the only problem with DC Universe Gotham City 5-pack Two Face--he needs accessories.  And it doesn't even have to be his trademark tommy gun.  Give him a coin, give him a knife, give him a cigar, give him anything, and give us a break, Mattel!  Something's wrong when the set comes with five figures and only one has an accessory (Catwoman and her whip).

Seriously, for the S$140-150 we're being asked to fork over (works out to about S$30/US$21.40) a fig), is it too much to ask that the figures that need accessories get them?  Batman needs a batarang, Luthor needs some kryptonite or ray gun, Catwoman has her whip, and Two Face should get his tommy gun like in the DCSH release from 2007 (of which he's a repaint of).  Superman doesn't need anything and I'm sure if they didn't give him an accessory it wouldn't be a big deal.  But say Supes came with a Phantom Zone Projector or even one of Mattel's new-fangled flight stands, I'm sure lots more people would grab this 5-pack, myself included.

Well as it happened, I instead chose to try and get the 2 figures I wanted (Catwoman's the other) from the pack, hopefully loose, and be done with this set.  The best part is that no one wants ol' Harvey, really, so I only had to pay S$12 (US$8.59, shipping included) for him.  So even if he doesn't have a gun/coin/whateva, he's still a steal.

So how does stand on his own, especially when compared to the previous DCSH version (which I don't have)?

First off I'd like to say that this is an odd figure.  When I first saw this version of him it was an automatic "The DCSH version has a better colour scheme, so I'd rather hunt for that one".  Well, I still think the 2007 version does have better colours, but mainly because DCSH Harv is quite classic: two colour scheme except for the scarring, with the black and white representing the two halves of Harvey's split personality.

But the more I look and the 5-pack Two Face, the more I find little things that grow on me.  There are still things that I prefer on old Harv, but hey, he retails for $US75 on Amazon and no one's really gonna pay that much for a single carded figure (I hope).

So here's what I Like:  His evil half has a groovy colour scheme.  What goes best with his green skin?  His purple suit, of course.  Just ask the Hulk. :)  If you were to imagine evil half Two Face as a complete figure, he'd look pretty awesome.  But then you wouldn't be able to convinve anyone that he's Harvey Dent and you'd have to settle for saying he's the Toxic Crusader's granddad.  (Heh, at least that dude comes with a mop and a bunch of other accessories)  He may even be mistaken as Evil Mutated Doc Brown from the Future.

Like: The lines on his jacket are clear and unbroken, but they ain't on his pants.  It the same deal for DCSH Two Face and DCUC Wave 9 Joker.  But what lines they've done, they've done well.

Like: The detail of his scarred face and his hand.  It really looks like he's been boiled/scarred/mutated.  A really top class job done by the Four Horseman.  I also really like that they painted his eye-ehites and well as giving him regular gums and white teeth.  Just look at what his DCSH form had!  Yup, magenta eyes, gums and teeth!

Dislike: The suit colour of his human half.  Why orange?  That ceratinly doesn't complement the purple of his suit.  And which half-decent lawyer would wear an orange suit?  I guess you could explain this away as Two Face being more than a little spotty after his accident and multiple run-ins with Batman, but even then, one half of him will always be the old District Attorney Harvey Dent and the other one of Bats' greatest nemeses.  So I don't buy the orange.  I guess it sorta goes with his green mottled skin, but just barely.

Dislike: No accessories is a pain.  Even a stand would have been good.  Really.

Dislike: The paint on his human half of his face is sloppy.  A mispainted eyebrow, sideburns spilling into his ears.  And it also looks like they got lazy with the shirt and tie.  The DCSH version had a black and white halved tie, while his collar and shirt were also opposing colours.  What do we get for the 5-pack version?

Just a white shirt and black tie.  It's not a huge thing, and I'm nitpicking surely, but if you're gonna repaint a figure, wouldn't you at least make sure it matched up to or exceeded its predecessor?  The shirt/tie combo simply isn't eye-catching.  If Mattel had doen a purle/orange reverse, or even simply a black white reverse like the older figure, it would impriove the figure drastically.  Ah, well.  Maybe Two Face will becaome my first attempt at repainting an action figure. ;)

RATINGS

Aesthetics: 8.5/10 - It's a great sculpt, it is. But while I like the purple and green, I just can't get past the orange.  Two Face also loses points for poor paint on his face, which is most distinctive feature.  He is, after all, Two Face!

Poseability: 9/10 - He's not as poseable as your standard DCUC figure because he's missing an ab crunch and a waist swivel.  It also doesn't help that he's got nothing to pose with other than his two gun-holding-shaped hands. 

Fun: 8/10 - Despite his obvious shortcomings, he's still good to have just to round out my Batman Rogues Gallery.  It would be easy to increase his score here--just find him a machine gun he can hold, better yet, a tommy gun.  The other option would be to get him a coin.  I'm sure I'll be able to find something for him down the road so he can finally make his trademark coin-flip decisions.

Value: 9/10 - For the amount I got him, I can't really mark him down in this category.  But as part of a 5-pack where only Lex Luthor has new sculpted parts, he might not be that worth it.  Also, his bieng the only currently available Two-Face makes him a must-have for people who don't have him and want to get him.

Overall: 8.65/10 - 9 is my usual mark of a good toy, so Two Face is average.  Granted, I rearely give a bad rating, but then again I rarely buy stuff I don't want in the first place. :)