Manhunter - Mobile Edition

DC Comics Toys
Manhunter
By Hervé St.Louis
September 5, 2006 - 09:14

The Manhunters are the former law enforcers of the Guardians of the universe. Replaced by the Green Lanterns’ Corp. when their “No man escapes the Manhunter’s mantra became more important to them than providing justice, the robots fought against the Guardians and the Green Lanterns. Barely surviving, they survived as sects all over the universe, waiting for the right occasion to strike back at the Green Lanterns.

Likeness

The Manhunter’s build is closer to his appearances in the Justice League cartoon series than the comic books. I finally identified the source of the robot face underneath the mask. Robot faces like that were first seen in the Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman television series years ago. There, the robot doppelgangers had similar faces under their masks and played an undercover villain role much like DC Comics’ Manhunters.

Sculpt

The Manhunter’s sculpt is not traditional for DC Direct in that the character does not have a classical Greek body. Other DC Direct have exaggerated muscle mass too, but it is usually characters like Bane or Kilowog. Were it another character, I would have hated the sculpt as the shoulders are too broad and the thighs too thick. But the Manhunter is a robot, so he can have wacky body proportions. Still, he looks menacing.

The Sculptor inserted some translucent “bubbles” on the robot’s calves and forearms. As they are not sculpted in, they stand out and look neat.

Paint

The paint application on this figure is spotless. However, two shades of red were used. For example, the right tight of the figure is brighter than the left. The arms are a different colour from the torso. I wish DC Direct had picked one consistent paint colour and applied as much layers on each part of the figure. The blue areas of his body are covered with a metallic blue finish that stands out. His plate is silver.

The type of paint used for his face will fade if one rubs the figure too often. Be wary of areas like the tip of the nose. Under the translucent bubbles on the Manhunter’s forearms, there is nothing but the uncoloured white plastic. It doesn’t look good. DC Direct should have painted that area black or blue.

Scale

The Manhunter topples most DC Direct action figures. He’s easily seven inches tall. He’s almost taller than Bane and much more taller than the Hal Jordan Green Lantern action figure from 2005. In fact Hal Jordan reaches the Manhunter’s shoulders, at most. Kilowog is a little shorter than the Manhunter. Again, if the Manhunter was not a robot, I wouldn’t have accepted his scale. But villains and robots usually get away with large scales.

Stability

The Manhunter is stable. His feet offer enough support for the top heavy chest. The plastic seems solid enough that it won’t bend in warm weather. Fortunately, the figure comes with a Green Lantern action figure stand that support its weight well.

Articulation

The figure’s articulations are well hidden by the sculpt. The Manhunter also has far more mobility than one thinks. His calves are cut allowing him to point his feet inward or outward. The neck can twist, although it takes a while to move it the first time. The thighs also twist, just over the bands. The shoulders’ articulations allow the figure to fully extend its arms. One thing missing is waist articulation to turn the torso sideways. There are other articulations at the elbows, the wrists, the thighs and the knees.

Plastic

The plastic is hard PVC making the figure heavy. The translucent faceplate, and the bubbles are inserted within the PVC encasing. It seems like DC Direct has gone back to its original manufacturing plant in China which used to make the most resistant figures with the best plastics. As the price didn’t increase, that’s a good decision.

Props

The Manhunter comes with his power staff which fits in the right hand. The Green Lantern action figure stand is the same one used for Green Lantern Corps Series One action figures. It’s translucent with a painted white top revealing the Green Lantern logo.

Packaging

DC Direct did away with the wires that usually hold their figures in place and favoured an encasing that fully holds the figure still. The plastic bubble is backed by a cardboard card with short profiles on each figures in this line.

Cost

If you intend on buying all the figures that come in this wave, purchasing a full inner case is the best decision to save money on these figures. Individually, the figures can cost from $11 to $25 depending on the retailer. Often, online stores have better prices, but one must factor in shipping fees.

Availability

Comic book stores are ordering less DC Direct action figures than in the past because the company releases too much stock at too frequent intervals. Most of the time, stores will only order these figures if they were ordered by collectors and keep duplicate for the store. Specialized stores selling but action figures usually have wider selections. As the Manhunter is not an essential character or even well known in the public, I doubt many of them have been ordered. Still, Green Lantern figures are some of the most popular from DC Direct, but DC Direct is not the only toy manufacturer around. I’d suggest hunting this figure quickly.

Previous Green Lantern related Action Figure reviews:

Parallax
Black Hand
Green Lantern Kyle Rayner
Golden Age Green Lantern
Super Friends' Sinestro
Super Friends' Green Lantern
Green Lantern Guy Gardner