I've got a question for you, who's blue, doesn't have a face, and isn't my favorite action figure of the year? That's right, the answer is Mattel's DC Universe Classics Wave 11 The Question! Keep reading for one of my most negative DC Universe Classics reviews in a very long time.
Name: The Question
Line: DC Universe Classics, Wave 11, Figure 5
Manufacturer: Mattel
Released: Fall 2009
Price: Retail: $14.00-$16.00, Online: $15.00-$22.00
Scale: 6.00 in. (Figure is 6.50 in. tall)
Accessories: None
Collect & Connect Piece: Kilowog's left leg
Sponsor Listings: Ka-Razy Kings of Toys-$20.99, Mike's Comics N' Stuff-$16.99
There's one giant flaw in the Question's sculpt design, and I have to address it first, because it throws off the look of the whole figure to me. The angle of his suit coat (the darker blue one underneath the overcoat) is ridiculously off. If you follow the line of the "V" at his chest, you'll see that if it were to continue underneath the overcoat, it would end up much too far out on his shoulder, totally unlike a real suit coat. The angles should be much more vertical, resulting in a tighter "V", and looking so much more natural. Since this piece is actually a separate one glued to the inside of his overcoat, it could be improved by moving it a little higher on his torso, resulting in much more reasonable angles. But in turn, that would result in the bottom of the suit coat barely hitting his belt, which would look silly too. The only solution would be an entirely new piece, so they just missed their chance on this one. Once you get past that (if you can), the only other thing that's terribly bothersome are the wide shoulders on his overcoat that extend just a hair too far, not quite lining up with the top of his arms. Other than those, everything else about his costume looks accurate, stylish, and proportionate.
I haven't taken the time to look at the pieces of which the Question is composed to see where the tooling has been implemented in other figures (whether in this line or others), but I can tell you that there are a number of new pieces, including his overcoat, suit front, tie, and torso, alongside his brand new head. All the details evoke a realistic cloth feel thanks to the wrinkles and folds which flow smoothly, indluding the awesome tie which is separate from the torso and can be pulled out from under his suit coat and moved around a little. With some patience, hot water, and cool water, you could probably even shape the tie into dynamic poses of its own (I haven't tried). The overcoat has visible stitching sculpte in, hanging straps in the back, realistic wrinkles, buttons, and convincingly taut/loose sections. Altogether the costume comes together nicely, despite it being pretty generic, real-life clothing.
His "face" is perfect for the character, with only very subtle hints of facial features coming through his mask, primarily sunken areas at the eyes, and raised areas for his nose and lips. The hat fits nicely onto his head (it's technically a separate piece, but glued on firmly), has a smooth and round brim, and plenty of details. It doesn't come off too high or too low on the forehead like a lot of figure's hats, which is an important detail. I also like the way his head is nested into the tall collar of his coat, as it's a nice presentation, really focusing in on his lack of a face, the character's key visual catch.
Sculpt Score: 7 / 10
The Question takes real world colors and brightens them up a bit with his rich blue overcoat and bold yellow shirt. These colors are rather reminiscent of Justice League Unlimited's character model, while remaining far from too cartoonish, a perfect mix for this line. The blues are similar in tone, but distinct enough shades that he looks engaging without being too busy. There are actually very few paint applications to be seen, as almost the entire figure is just the color of the plastic in which he's cast. Aside from some small black buttons here and there, his face features the only other finer paint applications. And even then, without eyes or a mouth, it's a really simple paint job that was pretty much impossible to mess up. It does look perfect, it's just not that much of an accomplishment. On the other hand, the subtle wash on his overcoat is a bit more difficult, and adds a gritty effect to his overall appearance. The shoes are shiny while the gloves are matte, two important design decisions that look good, and all the colors are consistent across plastics, another strong sign of attention to detail. He has a few small random marks that don't belong, like a speck of green (where did that come from?) on his hand and a brown speck on his face. Those aren't major issues, but do distract a little. All things considered, this is definitely a well painted figure, it's just not astounding in any way.
Paint Score: 8 / 10
The Question features the normal DC Universe Classics articulation (detailed above), it's just that a lot of the points are limited to less than their ideal range. For instance, his leg articulation is stuck within the tails of his overcoat, meaning he definitely can't do the splits or really even kick his leg out forward very far. You can get him into some moderately deep stances, but he's certainly no gymnast. His neck is reduced to the line's now-standard swivel joint, even though the technical elements of a ball joint reside inside. His ankles don't move much, and his hinged torso is practically useless as well. That's a lot of limited joints to contend with, but thankfully those that are free to bend and spin as they please are mostly problem free. His right biceps swivel is much too loose for my liking, resulting in a very visible gap and the fear that the peg inside may snap at any time. Every other joint is fully functional and plenty tight. It's not a particularly ugly articulation model, despite how poorly clothing costumes like this generally look when broken up into separate pieces, thanks to the fact that his overcoat covers most of the leg joints, while the suit-coat hides the hips and ab crunch. The arm joints are fully visible, but they don't look terrible either, so I can't complain about the visuals much at all. Then again, I'd trade the visuals for a few more helpful joints.
Articulation Score: 6 / 10
The Question is an interesting character to a lot of DC Comics fans out there, because he's the street-level detective with a pound of mystery. And as fun as that is to read in comics, it just doesn't translate that well into this toy, who doesn't even include a fist to knock out bad guys. For a figure with two open hands, you would expect some sort of accessory, but there aren't any to be found, leaving all the fun to the figure itself without a great articulation model. You can pose the question in a few life-like ways, but you won't be spending hours at the shelf trying to find the perfect stance, because he just can't be posed in that many exciting ways. I'd love if his hand could reach up to the brim of his hat, but even that's not quite possible. He can hail a cab, he's just unable to touch his fedora or pull back his coat. Sounds fun doesn't it? The packaging is more or less the same we've seen since Wave 1, and has some nifty images and interesting biography information to entertain for a little while, but it's not much. Even though nothing is broken, the design decisions on his suit coat do frustrate me a little, which steals away from fun too. As much as I love the Question and want to thoroughly enjoy this figure, I have to be honest, and he's just a generic looking businessman without a face; fun for a comic book character, yes, fun for a toy, not really.
Fun Score: 5 / 10
I've been talking about it for quite some time, and the DC Universe Classics price hike has finally landed. The Question cost me about $15.00 or so (prices will definitely vary depending on which online store/retailer you purchase from, but expect about $2 more per figure at least). That's really just too much for a skinny, average height figure like the Question, who doesn't feature 100% unique tooling or a single accessory. The only DCUC figures that are going to feel reasonable at this price point are those that go all out with extras, of which, The Question is definitely not one. Quality control isn't an issue, although some of the previously mentioned design issues do lessen how attached I am to this fellow. For some positives: the plastic isn't weak, joints are mostly strong (I mentioned the weak biceps swivel before), and the packaging is nice too. And on the other hand, there are hardly any paint applications to raise costs or my perception of them. The only saving grace for this fellow is the inclusion of the Kilowog Collect & Connect piece, which is like adding in a part of an extra free figure, and even a pretty big-name one too. Without that, a lot of people would have passed on the The Question without so much as a glance, but I suspect with it, it might be just enough to convince a certain percentage of potential buyers. It hurts me to score him so poorly, but he's really not worth the money when you can find better figures out there for the same price or less.
Value Score: 5 / 10
7 / 10 - Design issues hurt an otherwise attractive and detailed sculpt.
8 / 10 - The colors work, even if they are rather simple and occasionally marred by sloppy specks.
6 / 10 - He has lots of joints, but using most of them is difficult.
5 / 10 - Without accessories or diverse articulation, there isn't much to do with him.
5 / 10 - He costs too much for a small figure with an uninspired design and a lack of accessories.
64 / 100 - This is an Okay Toy
I wanted to enjoy The Question as much as anyone else, but it's not as easy as you might think. Given the increased price, lack of useable articulation, and total disregard for accessories, this is a hard figure to appreciate. It's a great character and looks the part most of the time, but I'd say this one is reserved for completists, Kilowog lovers, or enormous Question fans.
-The Articulated One
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