The last of the DC Universe Classics Two Packs up for review is the one featuring two New Gods, Orion (with removable helmet) and Lightray. Mattel managed to sneak in another slightly altered rerelease with Orion and a brand new character with Lightray. It seems like this two pack is the one most people are looking for because it does feature a new unique character. The two pack doesn't really disappoint, but it doesn't stun either.

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Sculpt

Lightray's sculpt is based on a basic male buck from the DCUC line with a few things added in including his belt and wristbands. This body looks pretty good and serves the character well but doesn't have a lot of details to highlight the Four Horsemen's sculpting talent. Lightray's facial sculpt really stands out with a fantasitc smirky expression that captures his lightheartedness. His hair is very natual looking (and kind of manages to look like flames for a neat effect) and his helmet thingamajob looks good too. Orion is very similar with the basic body with a belt and wristbands, but he also features sculpted boot tops instead of just painting them in and small details like this are good to have. The real piece of interest with Orion is his new face, and thankfully it works well enough. He's a little less angry than I imagine him and looks kind of young, and I still manage to like it. One thing is that his head is way too narrow looking, presumably so his helmet can fit over it. The helmet looks pretty similar to the original helmet, with slightly shorter "ears", and it's removable. 

Lightray Sculpt Score: 8 / 10 - Pretty basic body sculpt that looks good but doesn't stand out, very few extra touches, great face sculpt for the character.

Orion Sculpt Score: 8 / 10 - Basic body with little flourishes, face sculpt is a little off for the character but looks good, helmet fits nicely and looks good on.

Paint

  Lightray's paint job is hit and miss because of some quality control issues. For the most part his has really tight lines even with the narrow straight lines of his boots and they look great. His face is also done pretty well with nice skin tone variations and clean eyes, although a little skin color got onto a tooth. The colors on him are great with a nice gold rendering. The white is very bright except for his right forearm which for some reason came out very tarnished and yellow looking. I don't know if it's just the plastic or what but it's very noticeable. There are also color match up issues across plastic types like a lot of figures in this line. Orion's paint is pretty well done also, with a little more slop than Lightray. He has sloppy areas at his boot tops, a big streak of red on the back of his trunks, and some glue residue gunk on his shoulder. Orion's face looks particularly well done to me, with different skin tones and tight clean eyes. Orion suffers the same color matching from torso to limbs that Lightray does and it's slightly annoying, especially once you know it's there.

Lightray Paint Score: 7 / 10 - Generally good applications with tight lines and crisp details. Some color fubars on forearm and from torso to limb pull score down.

Hal Jordan Paint Score: 8 / 10 - Good color choices, which don't always match. Some slop that isn't too terrible, but there. Really nicely done paint on face. 

Articulation

Both of these figures feature the standard DCUC articulation model with lots of joints in all the necessary places. They're not at old Marvel Legends style of articulation, but they have plenty of points to get the job done. All of Lightray's articulation is solid and holds him in a number of positions. You can pose this guy any way you want which is a nice surprise with all the loose/frozen joints I've been getting with DCUC lately. The articulation looks good with the sculpt too. Orion's articulation doesn't fare quite as well, but he does retain the full range of movement that Lighray gets. Orion's neck joint is pretty loose and it can be hard to pose his head, while both of his hips suffer the "gummy" syndrome where they just don't want to swivel and I'm scared to move them too much for fear they will slide off. 

Lightray Articulation Score: 9 / 10 - Great look articulation that works perfectly well. Plenty of flexibility and play value. Just a few more joints would earn a 10.

Orion Articulation Score: 8 / 10 - Generally solid articulation that molds well with the sculpt. Lots of points to provide posing/play options but gummy hips scare me. 

Fun

While I love the New Gods characters and everything Kirby did with them (can't wait for Mister Miracle) I don't think the average person knows who Orion or Lightray is, let alone why they belong in a two pack together (see comic for alternative theories). The lack of recognizability in these two figures limits their fun value to a degree, especially since both are just standard looking human guy with kind of silly costumes. Orion is a little more fun because of the bold costume and two accessories included. His helmet can make for some fun posing while his astro harness could be seen by some people as fun. Good articulation always helps characters retain their fun levels with good posing and play ability. Lightray is a little less fun with the weird design and lack of accessories. Collectors will probably enjoy him more because he's simply a new character, but kids may not see much there.

Lightray Fun Score: 6 / 10 - Unknown character, not particularly engaging design, no accessories, articulation is great for play/posing.

Orion Fun Score: 8 / 10 - Accessories make everything more fun, slightly more interesting design, articulation allows interesting scenarios.

Value

This two pack retailed for $22 and should go for the same at every Toys R Us. That means each figure rings in at $11 apiece and each of these characters seems worth just a little less. Orion includes two accessories which boosts any figure's value, but he's just average sized and is really pretty basic. Considering he came out 1 year ago with roughly the same accessories plus a collect and connect piece for $10, this one just seems a little less worth it, especially since this is a rerelease. Lightray is a new character that everyone seems excited about, and I admit he does seem worth it, but when considering he has no accessories, no C&C piece, and occasionally shoddy quality control, $11 seems overpriced here too.

Lightray Value Score: 6 / 10 - Feels durable and sturdy, just a normal sized figure, no accessories or pack ins, some questionable QC, but not terrible.

Orion Value Score:  7 / 10 - Packed with two accessories, is a rerelease with a minor change, no C&C piece. 

Summary

Lightray                   Orion

8                       8

7                       8

9                      8

6                       8

6                         7

Lightray's Overall Score - 72 / 100 - This is a Good Toy

Lightray's an interesting new release with fantastic articulation but turns out a little boring and overpriced.

Orion's Overall Score - 78 / 100 - This is a Good Toy

Orion's a remarkably consistent figure who manages to be right at the edge of great in every category. 

New Gods Figure Pack Overall Score - 75 / 100 - This is a Good Toy

This New Gods two pack contains two solid figures that any New Gods or devout DC Comics fan should enjoy. 

I've also reviewed the following DCUC Two Packs, Abin Sur and Hal Jordan, Azrael and Batgirl, Cyborg Superman and Mongul.

-The Articulated One