Adam Strange and Starfire are the first two DC Universe Classics characters offered via Mattel's online store Matty Collector. Launching the online brand with a great two pack was probably the intent, but sadly this two pack falls well short of greatness. Starfire is just generally disappointing while Strange is a great figure marred by a number of quality control issues. Keep in mind throughout this review that Adam Strange's leg has been superglued at the hip, since it snapped off right out of the package, and Starfire's leg has been realigned. 

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Adam Strange uses a basic male DCUC body to great effect. The muscles are natural while still looking heroic and his proportions are spot on. He just looks stylish from any angle. This is aided by his unique looking chest armor which brings out his futuristic high-tech design because it's so sleek and angular loaded with details like screws and individual plates. His rockets and helmet don't look quite as high-tech, they're almost more 50s era stylings that hearken back to his classic look. His face looks generic although it's actually kind of hard to see because it's cramped into his helmet. Starfire uses the basic female body which isn't quite perfect like the male equivalent. There's something funny about the shape of the hips and lower torso with this body that comes out in Starfire too. Other than that she has some good detail work in her bracelets, neckpiece, and emblem on her stomach. Sadly her boots and chest straps are just painted on when sculpting them in would've looked much nicer. I'm really really impressed with Starfire's head and hair sculpt, it might actually be one of my favorites in the line thus far. Her face is naturally beautiful, looking like the character you're familiar with, and her hair flows out gracefully with gorgeous curls and strands carved right in. Something that wasn't carved right in was Starfire cleavage, and as many have noted from preview shots, she really does have a "uniboob". It would look okay were she wearing a shirt but it looks a little ridiculous on bare skin-maybe it's just some sort of alien physiology Mattel is trying to make us aware of before our new overlords use us to copulate. The only other issue is that she could've been a little taller, because she is a big alien princess often shown taller than the men around her, but this figure is pretty short.      

Adam Strange Sculpt Score: 8 / 10

Starfire Sculpt Score: 6 / 10 

\Adam Strange has a great paint job with a few small problems and one ugly one. His color choice is great, although the yellow is a little light with this modern design of his costume. It's hard to see the lines on his arms and boots where the shift from yellow to white occurs in most lighting, so a bolder yellow would be nice. This costume detailing is painted really well with straight lines across the board; his face is welcome to the same level of quality in application too. The problems start on his chest, where A chunk of paint was clearly chopped off somehow, and someone tried to cover it up with a big wipe of white paint, but now both the original spot and the slightly off-colored white paint are visible. It's even pooled up in one spot. It may not be detectable in the white lighting of these photos but it's pretty obvious in standard house lighting sitting right next to me. He also has some other slop and his face is way too glossy compared to the rest of the figure, he looks like a guy who just ate 4 pounds of bacon: oily. Starfire is molded in this nice burnt orange color. I like this color for her skin, but some people may have hoped for a more vibrant alternative. Her costume is painted right onto her skin in a weird kind of sparkly purple paint. It looks okay, but I think I would've preferred to see a no-sparkle version. Her face and hair are painted equally well as they are sculpted, meaning the details are as clean as can be. The green eyes on this figure are just piercing and I love it.    

Adam Strange Paint Score: 5 / 10 

Starfire Paint Score: 8 / 10

Strange has a standard DC Universe Classics articulation model with full ranges of movement for every joint, even his ab crunch. This is enough articulation for cool posing option but it's not what I would call an awesome model; there are definitely limitations. It also looks great with the sculpt, especially in neutral positions, even more so than normal with this figure because the chestpiece makes his shoulders look more natural and the ab crunch is hidden. Most of the joints worked great and aren't too loose like some of my recent DCUC figures. The big problem here was of course the fused hip which twisted off on the very first turn. It's hard to do much with a one legged toy so the fun you could have with Strange dropped pretty quickly. He's now almost impossible to pose and playing with him would risk breaking the super glue's hold too. Starfire fares a little better with the same amount of articulation that looks good with her sculpt and isn't broken. The hips do look a bit strange, as mentioned earlier, especially with certain hip poses. Although the articulation is there it doesn't all have a lot of movement, again with her hips which can barely move out at all, meaning no splits for Starfire (many fanboys will be disappointed). Amazingly enough her head moves very well despite her huge hair because of some effective sculpting. She's fun to pose and there's enough articulation to make good play possible too.

Adam Strange Articulation Score: 4 / 10 

Starfire Articulation Score: 8 / 10 

Adam Strange would be a super fun toy without his broken leg. He has a great design that brings out a classic science fiction vibe that appeals to a lot of people. He comes with a cool blaster pistol and has a jetpack--all of these things add up to fun when combined with his great articulation model and cool name. The problem is, there's nothing less fun than pulling your figure out of the package to find him broken, and that's exactly what Strange accomplished. He's now frustrating to pose and impossible to safely play with. Starfire doesn't suffer from these quality problems but she's just inherently not as much fun. As a female character that has no obvious superpowers or cool design elements, coupled with the lack of any accessory, there's not a lot of fun here. Of course she has some great exposure from cartoons and a ton of Titans fans on her side, if you're not a part of the population who already loves her, she doesn't have much to offer. She has the necessary articulation to be fun to play with, she's just lacking the story to make her fun. 

Adam Strange Fun Score: 5 / 10

Starfire Fun Score: 6 /10

Adam Strange and Starfire cost $25 on Matty Collector plus around $9 shipping, so you're looking at considerably over $30 to get both of these figures. For over $15 apiece, these aren't a very good deal. Strange is only average sized for a 6" figure but Starfire is actually pretty small and feels flimsy to the touch. I'm not sure she would stand up to play for very long and Adam Strange obviously doesn't since his leg broke off right out of the package. This lack of durability hurts their value as well. Adam Strange does include an accessory although it is quite small but his pair of big quality control issues really make him feel like a total ripoff. Starfire is a relatively well made figure but she's just so small and doesn't include any sort of accessory. They're packaged in a nice box with a great design and some nice biographical information. Most DCUC figures rely on their collect and connect pieces to prove a great value and this two pack doesn't have any sort of build-a-figure option, so it's just hardly worth the expense unless you're a huge fan of the comic "52" or these two particular characters. 

Adam Strange Value Score: 5 / 10 

Starfire Value Score: 5 / 10 

Summary - Adam Strange                    

8 - Simple but effective bodysculpt, great details in chestpiece and rockets, helmet sculpt looksgood but meets with face oddly, just looks stylish.

5 - Yellow is weak, slop on feet andback, huge chunk missing from chest which was fixed and ended up lookingworse, sweaty face, perfect lines in costume.  

4 - A lot of points, most of itworks very well, he's fun to play with and pose, it looks fantasticwith the sculpt, his hip was totally broke so everything mentioned sofar is nullified.

5 - He's broken, that's not fun, good playful articulation, would be posing choices, great design and accessory. 

5 - Terrible quality control,impossible to play with, nice packaging, comes with an accessory,average sized figure, too expensive.

Adam Strange's Overall Score - 54 / 100 - This is a Fair Toy

Adam Strange would be a really nice figure if only Mattel could have avoided some big problems in his construction; the only thing that made it out of the factory safely was his sculpt.

Summary - Starfire                   

6 - Funny body shape appearance, whyare there painted details that should be sculpted, great flowing hair,very pretty face sculpt, height is a little off.

8 - Colors might not be perfect for some, metallic costume is weird, good clean applications, great face work. 

8 - Some spots lookstrange in some poses, she has enough articulation, it all workssmoothly, hips have a small range of movement, neck doesn't. 

6 - She has a good articulation model for posing and play, kind of lame design, no naturally fun elements about her design or character, no accessory, potentially more fun for lonely males. 

Starfire's Overall Score - 66 / 100 - This is an Okay Toy

Starfire is just an okay figure that lacks fun or value despite her solid paint and articulation model.

Space Heroes Two Pack Overall Score - 60 / 100 - This is an Okay Toy

This two pack features a lackluster Starfire and a broken Strange, and although some may be luckier with a well made figure, this two pack is still less than it could have been. 

-The Articulated One