Hawkman has always been one of the cooler superheroes in the DC Universe, but could it have even been possible for him to get any better? With the New 52 costume redesign, it definitely is possible. Many people aren’t too big of a fan of the New 52 reboot, but I am. I love it, and Hawkman is no exception. Join me as we take a look at Mattel’s DC Comics Unlimited New 52 Hawkman Figure in a full-blown review. Maybe I can convince you to dig the New 52 reboot too.
Packaging
The packaging that Hawkman comes in is a pretty nice blister card package. The front of the package features the DC Comics Unlimited logo centered at the top with Hawkman’s name along the bottom. The figure is shown off nicely in the window along with all of his accessories. One thing I really like is the artwork of the character going down the right side.
On the back of the card there is the exact same artwork that was on the front, just a little bit bigger. There is also a bio for the character if you don’t know that much about Hawkman. Under the picture are a list of stats, proving just how awesome the New 52 Hawkman figure is. Along the bottom right there are a couple of images of other figures in the wave (The Flash and Superman).
Overall I really love the packaging. I love the bring colors and the artwork featuring the character.
Sculpt
Hawkman has a variety of old and new parts on him, but the best parts are definitely the new ones. He reuses the shoulders, torso, pelvis, biceps, hips, thighs, and wings and everything else is new.
His arms feature some very realistic features like veins and muscles that you don’t usually get on many action figures. His hands are all wrapped up in all new hand/forearm wraps with some very nice detail as well. His right hand is sculpted open to hold onto the spiked axe accessory while his left hand is sculpted as a fist. You can attach his other claw like shield accessory to his wrist on his left hand, allowing for some very cool poses. Both of the accessories are made of a very soft and bendable plastic.
Even though his wings are reused from past Hawkman figures, they are well reused. These wings are some of the best wings that I have ever seen on an action figure. There is just so much detail in the sculpt from the way the feathers are separated to the small threads of the feathers.
His head sculpt is one of the big highlights of the New 52 redesign. He has a very angry expression on his face, but it’s very fitting to his look. There is some good detail in the helmet with the feathers on the wings and the talons on the top of his head. Also, fitting with his helmet design is the pauldron on his left shoulder.
Paint
The paint on this figure for this most part is well done. The gold armor really stands out with the metallic coloring. The paint on his wings really brings out the sculpt. They are coated in brown with a lighter brown dry brush.
The teeth look a little bit awkward, but that may just be my personal preference. They just look like he has a mouth full of white blocks. I think that Mattel could have done something differently to make this look a little bit better. Maybe they did this on purpose to add to his angry look though.
My figures gold paint on his legs is a little bit spotty/flaky. I’m sure it is just a random QC issue and isn’t going to be a problem for many people.
Articulation
The New 52 Hawkman Figure has some pretty good articulation. He has:
- Ball joint neck
- Ball joint shoulders
- Bicep swivel
- Single joint elbows
- Wrist swivels
- Ab crunch
- Waist swivel
- T-hinge hips
- Thigh swivel
- Single joint knees
- Hinged ankles
- Hinge at the base of the wings
- Swivel in the middle of the wings
Just about every joint can move as you would expect it to move. His head can even move up and down. His head doesn’t look up as far as I would have liked it to, but it still looks up a little bit.
The chest straps and the shoulder pauldron don’t really restrict his movement at all because of the fact that they are made of a rubbery material. The chest straps were even made with enough slack in them to allow for the ab joint and swivel waist to function correctly.
The wing joints are very tight and allow for you to get some really nice poses out of them. If you decide to have them open or closed, they look great.
It would have been nice to have pivot ankles on this figure, but they really aren’t really essential.
Overall
The New 52 Hawkman has one of my favorite costume designs since the New 52 reboot. This figure has an absolutely amazing sculpt that is also coupled with some pretty great articulation. If you are a DC fan at all this figure is going to be hard to pass up on. One of the great things about this figure is the fact that he comes with 2 accessories. Most figures now a days don’t even get 1 accessory.
Mattel finally did a figure right and now they gave me hope for other 6″ DC figures.
Ordering Options
UPDATE: If you are interested in purchasing this figure, Big Bad Toy Store still has some in stock, or you can click this link to search eBay for a sweet deal on the DC Comics New 52 Hawkman action figure.
The hands & forearms aren’t new. They look to be re-used from the Wildcat figure that also had the taped hands (boxer’s tape) . this figure is AWESOME though! GREAT pics
This figure looks great! But I wouldn’t give the paint such a high score.
The armour and wings are in 2 different shades of dull yellowish colours, instead of what I assumed to be gold as the character’s original colour.
The paint jobs by most major toy makers, especially Hasbro, are such a disappointment.
I’ll give an example. You remember how the dull plastic grey on Hasbro’s Megatron looked like?
And that’s the leader class version too, the expensive version.
Compare with this Voyager cheaper version, but repainted.
And that’s how important a paint job is. Just like how a shade lighter would result in Ironman with pink panties.
The coveted toys from the toy fairs in SE Asia aren’t those “exclusives” like those from SDCC for example, but repaints and real gorgeous ones too.
Forgive me for ranting. I’m upset that such a nice figure didn’t deserve a nice paint job.