Mattel and the Four Horsemen currently have a love affair with DC Comics' New Gods characters and Kalibak is the next progeny of that relationship. He's another great Collect and Connect figure in the DC Universe Classics lineup that can only be assembled by purchasing other key figures in Series 6.
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The first strong point of Kalibak's sculpt is simply the overall shape. He has really short legs, long arms, and is as wide as 2, if not 3 standard figures. That's exactly how Kalibak should be built, so Mattel nailed it. Some people perceive the height similarities between him and Darkseid as a problem, but I don't have a Darkseid figure to compare to. I think a new Darkseid will be released soon anyway, to combat this potential problem. He also has huge muscles and just looks like the hulking menace you would expect. This guy is sculpted with some amazing details from front to back. I can't list all of the great work, but some particular favorites are the numerous wrinkles in his shoes, pants, and left arm, the cracks and bumps on his face, the super crisp belt design, fur work, individual strands of hair, wrinkles inside his closed fist where the cloth is being pulled taut, and the perfect 4th world mace. Okay, so maybe I did list most of them, but they're all such great details. The Four Horsemen don't hold anything back on the sculpts of these Collect and Connect figures and Kalibak is just another reinforcement to that trend. His facial expression is absolutely fantastic with angry squinted eyes, a deeply crumpled nose, and a snarling mouth that pulls back over his sharp teeth. I can't think of a single recommendation for this sculpt; I think they accomplished every aspect just about perfectly.
Sculpt Score: 10 / 10
Kalibak has great paint for a mass market figure, but it's definitely a little rough around the edges. They got the color choices right on. This is a great Kirby color scheme, almost entirely yellow and green with slight red accents. The green is a nice dark forest green that hits the eye so nicely and the yellow pops right out from it to highlight the symbols and decorations of the costume. There is also a more neon green used in a few spots to break up the color patterns and I really like the effect is has. His skin and hair are very grim, dark colors that definitely do a good job of evoking the Apokolips "dreary" vibe. The problem is that Kalibak is indeed literally rough around the edges. Anywhere you see a sharp color shift, like the cuffs of his clothes where the yellow hits the green, or on his chest emblem, even his hairline, all the paint applications are all lazy and sloppy. There's a lot of yellow bleeding into the green, spots where the yellow isn't applied thickly enough and green is showing through pretty strongly, and variations in the yellow where some areas got multiple coats, There are also a lot of very small dings, dents, and scratches in the paint. This is certainly a little bit nit-picky, because a lot of these things aren't going to be obvious without looking closely, and if you don't inspect him you might never know. He's painted better than most any other toy you'll find on a shelf, just a little sloppily in spots. On the other hand, two very strong points are his "fur" and face. They've done a great job at getting the texture in his fur to come out and his face has a "marbled" effect with a darker skin color mixing in. The details in his teeth and eyes are nice too.
Paint Score: 8 / 10
Kalibak technically has the standard DCUC articulation model but many of those points are rather limited in their actual effectiveness. His elbows and knees don't bend very far and his hips aren't too free either. This limited leg movement coupled with the already odd shape makes it hard to find a lot of good positions for his legs, though his upper body is much easier to pose. His head is the most restricted piece as it's hard to get any movement out of it except a little left or right. All of the articulation worked really well and isn't too hard to turn but it's still tight enough to hold positions. I'm afraid his hips are going to loosen up over time, but as of now they're quite alright. I think the articulation looks just fine with the sculpt, there aren't any points that draw away from the appearance, thanks in part to some clever manipulation of the wrinkles on his clothed arm, the belt distracting from his hips, and the non-split kneecaps. I think they did about the best they could with this character in regards to articulation, although seeing just a few more points wouldn't hurt.
Kalibak isn't a character that a lot of people will naturally recognize, but that isn't necessary to know that he's fun. Compared to the rest of the DCUC he's obviously a huge, vastly strong bad guy, and you don't need to know much else to have fun with him in a play session. He's also going to look great on your shelf thanks to his cool (if a little classic and goofy) design, and thanks to his unique size he'll bring some much needed visual diversity. Knowing his backstory and relationship with other more famous characters like Darkseid or Orion will only aid this level of fun. For such a big toy he has a lot of articulation to pose him however you'd like, and for a Collect & Connect figure, it's super cool that he includes an accessory of his own with the giant technological club that clips onto his sash. There's nothing broken or frustrating so he's going to add up to a lot of fun no matter how you look at it. The only "unfun" thing about him might be tracking down all of the figures needed to build him, yet even that seems easier with this 6th wave.
Fun Score: 10 / 10
It's hard to assess the value of a character that doesn't actually have a price. As mentioned before, the only way to get this figure is by buying the right 5 figures in Series 6 of DCUC. They're roughly $12 apiece, and at that price, you get all six figures for roughly $10 each. When you look at it that way this is a fantastic deal. The only thing is that you might have to buy a few toys you're not at all interested in, instantly raising his price. This is easily a $15-20 toy, so I think as long as you do want a couple other figures, he's a fantastic bargain. He's built very well and I don't think you could break him if you tried. Kalibak's also got some great production values with his amazing sculpt and good paint. He even comes with his own accessory. He's going to be fun for a long time, and that's the most important thing in getting your money's worth.
Value Score: 10 / 10
Summary
10 - Perfect size and proportions for the character, so many tight and minute details, design is spot on, face is terrifying and technically sound, weapon looks good.
8 - He has some application faults but I have exaggerated their faultiness, great color choice, good effects on face and in fur.
8 - He has a fair amount of points, some of them are quite limited, everything looks good and works smoothly.
10 - Huge toy, obviously a bad guy that can wreak havoc on your display or carpet, great design and backstory, nothing's broken.
10 - Hard to price him, great size and durability, high production values, nothing is broken, fun to play with for a long while to come.
