A lot superheroes derive their names from some sort of animal (i.e., Batman and Spider-Man), but few are as associated with their furry friends like the subjects of this review. For those of you who though this line wouldn't dive into the wild kingdom of obscure characters, I bring you Animal Man & B'wana Beast, an appropriate pair that might just belong on your shelf (or in your backyard).

Name: Animal Man & B'Wana Beast
Line: DC Universe Classics Two Packs, Justice in the Jungle
Manufacturer: Mattel
Released: December 2009
Price: Online: $25.00+
Scale: 6.00 in.
Accessories: None
Sponsor Listings: Amazon-$39.99

     Despite being so heavily influenced by animals, both of these figures are just your average looking humanoid DCUC figures. This means there is a lot of part re-use, a good thing in that it adds consistency to displays, but a bad one in that everyone looks the same if there isn't enough new tooling to each new figure. Thankfully both of these fellows do exhibit a few new pieces we've never seen, a loincloth and textured furry boots for B'Wana Beast, and some jacket elements for Animal Man. Their heads are new too of course. Animal Man's jacket is actually a mix of new stuff and some leftover pieces from Mr. Terrific before him. The sleeves are the same at the biceps, but different at the forearms and shoulders, while the torso of the jacket appears to be the same basic sculpt with some modifications and no hole in the back. For Animal Man, this works just fine, because he looks exactly like the most classic version of the character. For B'Wana Beast, there are just two things missing: nipples. Mattel should have used Hawkman's buck torso here to ensure that the bare-chested B'Wana Beast ended up with nipples, because he looks kind of silly without them. I would have sacrificed the messier plug in the back for a pair on the front.
     Both the new pieces and old are well executed, featuring loads of small details like subtle cloth wrinkles and visible muscle tone. The texture on B'Wana Beast's furry boots is very convincing and the edges along the bottom are rough and fuzzy, matching the mask on his face. Animal man's jacket fits and bunches naturally, the collar is popped realistically, and even the zipper details are small enough to look right. The heads are equally intricate, particularly Animal Man's. His hair is fully of waves and thin cuts to make it look layered and flowing, his goggles are effectively placed on, and even his partial mask is raised from the skin just a little, all amazing work. The one problem is that he just looks too old for me, full of facial wrinkles and texture (brought on by the paint as well). Instead of the spry 35 years old I imagine the character at, this sculpt brings him closer to 45 or 50 to me. I do love that Animal Man has some emotion on his face, a sly smile that works splendidly for him. B'Wana Beast is much more generic but still appropriate for the character. His head is mostly a big round helmet, a fur mask over the front, and just a little bit of chin sticking out the bottom. And much like Hawkman before him, although it looks fine at first glance, when you start to think about where the costume's eye holes are in relationship to where the person's real eyes underneath should be, you'll see they're nowhere close to lining up. His eyes might barely make it to the bottom of the black eye holes, limiting his visibility substantially. It's a minor infringement that isn't so obvious as to steal my attention all the time.

Animal Man Sculpt Score: 8 / 10

B'Wana Beast Sculpt Score: 8 / 10

 

     These characters are oddly similar when it comes to coloring. Animal Man is wearing an orange suit underneath his jacket, and B'Wana beast is almost totally nude, but they're almost exactly the same color. I thought this might mean B'Wana Beast was too tanned, but after some careful consideration I think the tone of the color is just different enough that both look natural, whether together or apart. B'Wana Beast's skin is airbrushed really nicely to give it some varying shades and make him look naturally sunned. Animal Man has a similar effect on the orange parts of his costume, and it works equally well. The fury patterns on B'Wana Beast are also a mix of yellow and orange that turned out well.
     Details applications are almost perfect across the board for B'Wana Beast, straight lines and crisp color cuts all around. The thin stripes on his boots are spaced consistently, never too thick, and only one is ever broken. Similarly, intricate stripes on his loin cloth turned out amazing and the leopard spots are nicely varied but each and every one still seems reasonable. His black eyes are cleanly separated, his chin is slop free and matches the color of his body too. If not for some overspray around the bottom of his boots and crooked edges on his leopard underwear, this would be a wonderful paint job that actually earned a perfect score. 
     Animal Man is unfortunately not so strong in the application department. To start, his clear goggles are really sloppy, sticky with glue or some other residue that makes them hard to appreciate aside from the already wonky effect created by the plastic itself. Almost all the paint on his face is a little sloppy, and his skin is too thick and goopy, adding to that perception of age even more. It's not much better on his body, where the blue stripe along his chest is fuzzy along the bottom edge and crisp but jagged on the top edge. The swirly pattern on his boots is even blurrier and terribly asymmetrical from one leg to the other. There are much deeper and smoothly rounded cuts into the black on his right leg than on the left, making it pretty clear these were painted by two different people at two different times. A more consistent approach would have improved the visuals a lot.
     One extremely oddly problem is that each figure features a small white spot of paint in the exact same spot on their left foot. I'm trying to figure out what could have caused this, since nt a lot of white is present, especially near the foot of each figure, and it appears to have been applied after the painting process (it's over BB's stripes). Something in the assembly line that moved or held feet must have had paint mysteriously applied on its contact point for each of the figures to have that same white speck. Does anyone out there have a better explanation?

Animal Man Paint Score: 6 / 10

B'Wana Beast Paint Score: 9 / 10

 

 

    If you have ever purchased a DCUC figure before, you know what to expect here (and if you haven't the image above details all the points of articulation for you). Both Animal Man and B'Wana Beast are as standard as they come and neither presents any surprises due to sculpt or production limitations. B'Wana Beast's loincloth is flexible enough to stay out of the way, and Animal Man's jacket doesn't cause any problems either. All the joints are fully functioning, none too loose or too tight on either figure, that is except for the necks, which are still the limited ball that doesn't allow for much up and down movement. I will admit that B'Wana Beast's joints are rather out in the open given his bare-body look, but at least his ugly flat crotch is covered. Animal Man's joints are tucked away into the jacket wrinkles and black paint nicely, preserving his appearance a little more. These are both good articulation sets overall, and just a few more points here and there would be enough to reach the top.

Animal Man Articulation Score: 9 / 10

B'Wana Beast Articulation Score: 9 / 10

     So B'Wana Beast is probably the strangest character to be released in this line yet, and virtually no one knows who he is. If not for his brief appearance on Justice League Unlimited, the number of invididuals recognizing him would be even smaller. Given the total lack of popularity, he's actually kind of exciting and enjoyable just because of the novelty of it all. I can imagine entertaining guests who ask about the crazy naked toy on your shelf, and the ensuing explanation might actually be fun. And then again, there's not a lot about his design or backstory to make him all that enjoyable for play, resigning him to a collector figure first and not one for kids. The articulation just isn't enough to make an accessory-less naked man who makes animals out of other animals (that's his power, seriously) that much fun on the floor.
     Animal Man is a little more recognizable, but still a rather obscure character himself. Nothing about the leather jacket and spandex combination makes this design inherently fun either, and while his powers are pretty nifty and could be a blast, it's going to take imagination to accomplish them, because not a single accessory or action feature is present here. He's definitely designed for collectors with a mind for display and not for kids. Of course, you could spend hours pretending like he's aware of your presence (see comic) like his 4th wall breaking adventures of comics' past. There are no Collect & Connect pieces to extend enjoyment, and the packaging is just standard stuff that doesn't hold your attention for long, meaning it's down to the articulation and character design to entertain here, neither of which is enough to make these toys a blast. 

Animal Man Fun Score: 6 / 10

B'Wana Beast Fun Score: 6 / 10

 

     I'm a little stunned that Mattel hasn't raised the price on these MattyCollector.com exclusive two-packs, as they've now actually become cheaper per figure than the price at retail (if you don't count shipping). For once something on MattyCollector.com isn't outrageously more expensive than its retail counterpart! Despite that, these toys still aren't a good deal. DCUC singles are up to $15 now at retail, but they often provide you with multiple accessories, and Collect & Connect piece (or a stand), and you're only forced to buy one at a time (in case you only want one figure). These toys don't come with any extras, and even if you only wanted one, you had to buy both. The inclusion of some stands would have at least helped a little, and there's no reason every figure doesn't include a stand anyway. Sure the figures themselves are well made and don't feel as if they'll fall apart anytime soon, but for $25 plus at least $8 shipping, that's more than $16 apiece for average sized 6 inch figures without any extras. Too much? I sure think so.

Animal Man Value Score: 5 / 10

B'Wana Beast Value Score: 5 / 10

Animal man
8 / 10 - Captures the character with a few problems areas.  

6 / 10 - Sloppy spots, goopy face, asymmetrical costume elements, and blurry lines hurt otherwise good colors and effects.

9 / 10 - The same old model that's poseable and enjoyable. 

6 / 10 - Without any accessories of fantastic design elements, he's not too entertaining.

5 / 10 - This is just way too costly for what you receive.

B'Wana Beast
8 / 10 - It looks like B'Wana Beast, without the nipples. 

9 / 10 - He's great in both the airbrushing and detail application departments. 

9 / 10 - A good standard model for the scale that looks good and remains functional. 

6 / 10 - Who is this again, and why doesn't he include any extras? A merged animal would have been so much fun!  

5 / 10 - I'm paying $16 for a basic toy without accessories? 

 

Animal Man: 70 / 100 - This is a Good Toy

Despite all of Animal Man's problems, there's something charming about the character that brings him just enough bonus points to make him a good figure that fans should seek out. For casual DCUC collectors or DC Comics fans, I'd say you can live without him.

B'Wana Beast: 76 / 100 - This is a Good Toy

B'Wana Beast is a more consistently strong figure, and if you crave obscurity like me, then you should enjoy this one. That is if you can swallow the price for a simple 6 inch figure without any extras.  

Justice in the Jungle: 72 / 100 - This is a Good Toy

These two toys are sold together, and since they're so compatible from a story and background standpoint, they make for a fine pair. There are certainly some problems, but nothing so major that big-time fans should pass up this set. For those of you who aren't so excited by the characters, the toys themselves may not be amazing enough to overcome the price, which is a real shame, because they're otherwise intriguing releases that could bring people to the line and open up the world of DC Comics even further for some.

-The Articulated One 

This could be the figure given away in this month's Review Commentator Contest. Join the discussion by leaving a comment on this review for a chance to win!

_________