Tuesday, March 29, 2016

The Watchmen - SILK SPECTRE II!

Watchmen: Club Black Freighter - Silk Spectre II - Mattycollector Exc - Mattel 2013

The 2009 Watchmen film is probably my favorite super hero movie of all time. I first read the books in the 1980s - which I was way too immature for at the time - but I loved it all the same and found myself re-reading it every few years. I would cringe whenever there would be rumors of a film. The story was too complex and dark for the silver screen superhero treatment. But then decades later I found myself in a dark theatre with my jaw on the floor watching a gorgeous title sequence followed by a near perfect (in my humble opinion) adaptation of one of my favorite books. Every time I watch it I'm still blown away and my confusion over the naysayers amps up a few notches. Speaking of naysayers, this movie was very polarizing. I've met way more people who hated it than loved it. Including close friends and siblings who I thought I was on the same wavelength with. It's weird. One universally positive thing we can all agree on though is the awesome (and long-awaited) flood of toys the movie sparked.



We got DC Direct movie figures of both the Watchmen and Minutemen, Statues, Busts, Heroclix figures, and even Kubrick collectibles. It took 4 years, however, for us to finally get some comic-themed figures of the characters. Club Black Freighter was a Mattycollector.com exclusive subscription in 2013 that used the DCUC bucks to finally give us these figures.




The packaging on these figures is kind of intense. 
The main packaging is in the form of a book (above) that comes in a full-color shipper box (below).




And here are a few more shots of the book packaging.










Like I mentioned above, these figures use the old DCUC bucks. When DC Universe Classics first appeared on the market in 2008, the tooling and articulation was above and beyond anything we had seen before. However, the five years since have seen some of the greatest advancements in the action figure market. Suddenly the wonky legs, ramrod-straight posture, and heavily exposed joints leave something to be desired. This female buck style was only used a couple more times after Silk Spectre before it was retired.








Her sheer silky tunic is made of a flexible clear rubber. It's an interesting use of materials, but it looks a little odd and bulky. A sculpted torso would have been more effective. Also, check out how they painted the billowy sleeves to mimic the sheer effect.  I wish the whole outfit was done like that.










Silk Spectre comes with a figure stand and a heavy-weight character card.
















This Black Freighter line wasn't the first time a comic-based Watchmen line was proposed. 
In 2001, DC Direct had a line in the works but it didn't make it past the prototype phase.







She has the typical DCUC articulation. The skirt is flexible enough that the legs aren't hindered much at all.










Time for some Group and Comparison Pics!


Here she is with the 2009 DC Direct movie figure of Silk Spectre (Silk Spectre II's mother).






Cheers!





No comments:

Post a Comment