Review: DC Universe Classics Trigon (Now with 40% less Trigon)
Trigon, of course, is Raven's father, and he might actually compete for the title of "Worst Father in the DC Universe." Well... maybe not. Truth be told, there's a lot of competition, even just among Teen Titans villains. But, at the very least, he's up there. Maybe that's why Mattel decided he deserved to be immortalized in plastic as the Collect & Connect figure for wave 13 of the DC Universe Classics line.
To complete Trigon, you'd have to buy six figures from the line. I bought four.
You see, I haven't been able to justify dropping another thirty to forty bucks for his arms, especially since I'm not particularly impressed with the figures those come packaged with.
On the other hand, I had a pair of Imperiex's arms just sitting around from wave ten. Hmmm.....
Obviously, since I've only got 60% of Trigon here, the review's going to be a little... different. And I certainly don't intend this to be a statement on the figure as it's intended to be constructed. I do, however, think it reveals some interesting aspects of the Collect & Connect concept.
Accordingly, I'm going to reviewing this more like a building set than an action figure. Keep in mind, the score will be only a partial reflection of the sculpting and design work that went into this.
To complete Trigon, you'd have to buy six figures from the line. I bought four.
You see, I haven't been able to justify dropping another thirty to forty bucks for his arms, especially since I'm not particularly impressed with the figures those come packaged with.
On the other hand, I had a pair of Imperiex's arms just sitting around from wave ten. Hmmm.....
Obviously, since I've only got 60% of Trigon here, the review's going to be a little... different. And I certainly don't intend this to be a statement on the figure as it's intended to be constructed. I do, however, think it reveals some interesting aspects of the Collect & Connect concept.
Accordingly, I'm going to reviewing this more like a building set than an action figure. Keep in mind, the score will be only a partial reflection of the sculpting and design work that went into this.
Appearance and Construction: er... 7, I guess.
I really like what I have of Trigon. The head is awesome, and I think the cloth cape was a great call. The red plastic on his body could use some paint for shading (same goes for the white on his legs).
It's interesting to me that the paint work on Imperiex's arms is much better. Also, thanks to the red, the arms blend in much better than I expected them to - at a glance, you can imagine someone thinking they were supposed to look like that.
I'll cover this next part in more depth below, but I'll start here. I'm subtracting a point for the rubber band holding his arms on. I know it seems unfair, as the rubber band wouldn't be necessary if I hadn't skipped the rest of the line, but the situation is a little more complicated. The rubber band shouldn't be necessary, at all. The only reason I need it is because Mattel made the pieces incompatible: the pegs on Imperiex's arms are smaller than the holes inside of Trigon's shoulders. And the only reason I can imagine for doing this is to prevent people from doing what I've done here.
Okay. I get it. Mattel wants me to buy the entire line, and Trigon is the cheese at the center of the maze. That's logical, and it's their prerogative. But I've been scoring Mattel's figures higher because of these pieces from the beginning, and part of my rationale for doing so was the assumption that, even if someone didn't want the figure itself, the pieces still had custom potential.
Frankly, I'm a little disappointed to discover that Mattel took steps to reduce that potential.
It's interesting to me that the paint work on Imperiex's arms is much better. Also, thanks to the red, the arms blend in much better than I expected them to - at a glance, you can imagine someone thinking they were supposed to look like that.
I'll cover this next part in more depth below, but I'll start here. I'm subtracting a point for the rubber band holding his arms on. I know it seems unfair, as the rubber band wouldn't be necessary if I hadn't skipped the rest of the line, but the situation is a little more complicated. The rubber band shouldn't be necessary, at all. The only reason I need it is because Mattel made the pieces incompatible: the pegs on Imperiex's arms are smaller than the holes inside of Trigon's shoulders. And the only reason I can imagine for doing this is to prevent people from doing what I've done here.
Okay. I get it. Mattel wants me to buy the entire line, and Trigon is the cheese at the center of the maze. That's logical, and it's their prerogative. But I've been scoring Mattel's figures higher because of these pieces from the beginning, and part of my rationale for doing so was the assumption that, even if someone didn't want the figure itself, the pieces still had custom potential.
Frankly, I'm a little disappointed to discover that Mattel took steps to reduce that potential.
Packaging and Extras: ----
The pieces come packaged with other figures. Trigon is supposed to come with a scepter, but that's included with one of the figures I didn't pick up. Pity: it looks pretty cool in the pictures.
Play and Display: ----
The articulation is identical to the line it comes from: ball-jointed shoulders and head, pins on the elbows, knees, and ankles, cuts on the wrists, biceps, upper legs, and waist, a hinge in the abs, and finally hinge/swivel hips (or whatever you want to call them).
Also, his cape has wire running down the edge, allowing you to set up some really cool poses. This is actually what saves the pieces from a penalty.
And that penalty comes from the same issue that necessitated the aforementioned rubber band: the joints are engineered not to work across different lines. Like I said, this has no bearing on the quality of completed Collect & Connect figures, but it reduces the value of the individual pieces.
I was lucky, though, because the openings were too big rather than too small. By wrapping a rubber band around an arm, passing it through the hollow body, then doing the same on the other end, the arms hold each other on. Moreover, I've still retained a good amount of articulation (more than I expected, in fact).
Also, his cape has wire running down the edge, allowing you to set up some really cool poses. This is actually what saves the pieces from a penalty.
And that penalty comes from the same issue that necessitated the aforementioned rubber band: the joints are engineered not to work across different lines. Like I said, this has no bearing on the quality of completed Collect & Connect figures, but it reduces the value of the individual pieces.
I was lucky, though, because the openings were too big rather than too small. By wrapping a rubber band around an arm, passing it through the hollow body, then doing the same on the other end, the arms hold each other on. Moreover, I've still retained a good amount of articulation (more than I expected, in fact).
Price Tag and Final Analysis: 7/10
There's no question that if I were reviewing the entire Trigon I'd have given him an eight or a nine. But, like I said before, this isn't just a review of the figure: it's also of the application of the Collect & Connect concept, as well as the custom potential. Granted, if I had the inclination, I'm sure I could whip up a better solution than a rubber band. But I'd sooner just buy the other figures, and I don't really want to do that either.
To complete Trigon, you'd need six figures, some of which aren't that good (including Cheetah and Donna Troy, two figures I did pick up). Given the current price tag - fifteen each - that comes to ninety bucks, which is a lot, given how mediocre some of this line was.
In my situation, I really only bought one figure I wasn't going to otherwise - Blue Devil - and he wasn't too bad, anyway.
If they keep up the Collect & Connect concept, I do hope Mattel rethinks their decision to have the pieces be incompatible between waves. I know I'll be rethinking decisions like the one that caused me to buy Blue Devil for Trigon's torso (though, in this case, it worked out pretty well, I have to say).
To complete Trigon, you'd need six figures, some of which aren't that good (including Cheetah and Donna Troy, two figures I did pick up). Given the current price tag - fifteen each - that comes to ninety bucks, which is a lot, given how mediocre some of this line was.
In my situation, I really only bought one figure I wasn't going to otherwise - Blue Devil - and he wasn't too bad, anyway.
If they keep up the Collect & Connect concept, I do hope Mattel rethinks their decision to have the pieces be incompatible between waves. I know I'll be rethinking decisions like the one that caused me to buy Blue Devil for Trigon's torso (though, in this case, it worked out pretty well, I have to say).
Anyway, you know I'm here to plug something: let's just get it over with. So then: bla bla bla blog bla bla movie reviews bla bla short stories bla bla bla bla thing you can buy.
