Here we have Superman in hand, depicted in his classic suit design as one would expect. This figure is Figure 2 in the All-Star subline, and it uses the standard muscular male buck that I feel Mattel was more guilty of reusing than Hasbro was with their Bucky Caps because I have a suspicion that almost everyone here apart from Wonder Woman and maybe Flash and Hawkman reused this. Not much else is done in terms of tooling beyond the trunks and the belt, as the logo is simply a paint app rather than being sculpted lightly. I would have preferred a slight raise in detail for the suit to give it a more layered appearance, but at least the transfer is crisp and aligned properly. The same goes for the logo on the back of the cape.
The head sculpt is of standard Superman affair when it comes to the chiseled physique, from the iconic hair curl to the blue eyes and the heroic look. The eyebrows do rub off over time, annoyingly. His articulation is really basic, even for 2008 standards. With two joints at the neck (a limited ball joint and an equally limited neck hinge), shoulders that move front and back as well as in and out, bicep swivels, single-jointed elbows, wrist swivels, an ab crunch with a waist swivel below it, hips that are on T-joints for front and back movement as well as unsightly in and out movement, swivels above the knee, single-jointed knees, and ankle hinges but no ankle pivots. While he can achieve a pose similar to the Man of Steel marketing, the fact that a 6-inch scale figure lacks the extra joints and range that even Marvel Legends had in the late 2000s back when Hasbro stumbled with the license (in addition to the cost-cutting not present with ToyBiz) is outright embarrassing. Not to mention that this is all you get from this figure, as no alternate hands or head is included (not that you could swap them since these figures aren't meant to have swappable parts). If these figures were made for kids, they wouldn't be too bad compared to the collector-friendly treatment Mattel claimed to add.
Up next, here we have Batman, a Toys R Us exclusive version as part of the 75 Years of Super Power subline. As far as I can tell, he shares the same base buck that we get with Superman, with the cape, belt, and forearms being different. Everything else is the same with Superman, which I believe is standard for either character. This suit design is my favorite comic design, what with its prominence in the 2000s of Batman media such as the Gotham Knights comics (not to be confused with the 2022 game), the Justice League: Heroes game reminiscent of Marvel Ultimate Alliance, and Lego Batman: The Videogame. With the black and gray color scheme and the logo being my favorite design of all time in terms of comic logos that aren't with the yellow oval, this guy at least has the looks nailed decently.
His head sculpt is pretty standard to what Batman generally looks like, from the pointy ears to the white eyes accompanied by the stern mouth. It is basic but gets the job fone. Batman's articulation is the same as Superman's, though my figure is unfortunately missing both a Batarang and a Grapnel Gun due to this being a second-hand purchase. No collector button either.
And our third Trinity member is Wonder Woman. This figure reminds me of when ToyBiz and early Hasbro struggled to nail the physique of comic book women while adding a plethora of articulation. Here, Mattel didn't compromise most of the bucks and curves Wonder Woman has, though the twig arms attached to bulbous shoulders and a longer-than-normal neck results in a mismatch of proportions. In fact, I think the lower body looks natural until we reach the bust of the figure where the arms and head attach. At the very least, this figure is coated in paint for the exposed skin as well as the uniform, with the stars on the bikini bottom being painted properly (though the pattern is more symmetrical on her butt than on the crotch. The T-jointed hips are sculpted so as not to disrupt the shape of the bikini, making for an easier-to-pose shape that doesn't leave her with Y-joint hips that can only swivel. Oh, and if you see that Golden Lasso of Truth on her, it not only doesn't stay on that well but is not meant to be used. It's just for decoration.
Her head sculpt is appropriately feminine, and is done better than a lot of female Marvel Legends made by ToyBiz and early Hasbro, with the former's X-Men Classics Rogue and the latter's smiling She-Hulk having great head sculpts for the time. The star on the tiara does look more like a starfish with how soft it looks, but the blue shading on the hair is appreciative. I also like how the eye makeup, eyebrows, and lips are appropriately feminine but not too heavy. The articulation is the same as the males, but her accessories include an axe themed similarly to her logo a shield with stars, and a vague use of circles or rings that are trying hard to not be similar to Captain America's iconic shield. As part of the 4th wave, this figure would have come with a Collect & Connect piece for Despero, but I do not have it.
And here we have The Flash. His buck is thankfully slightly leaner than either of the World's Finest, with a torso that isn't as wide and leaner thighs. Unique to him, of course, are the boots with lightning bolts similar to his mask ears. The zig-zag detailing of his suit could be as crisp as the logo on the chest.
Do excuse the paint chipping on this guy, because the knows and some of the lightning bolts have the red plastic poking through. It looks bad on the nose since it looks like he got it scrapped nastily. Anyways, the face sculpt is appropriately stern for Barry Allen, who was the more serious of the two main versions of the Flash (Wally West being more comedic). Articulation is the same, but the warped ankle joint makes it hard for him to be stable while he's posed running at times. He either came with or without a piece of Atom Smasher.
And this is John Stewart Green Lantern, who appears to have a mid-tier buck between that shared by Superbat and the one used by The Flash. He wears mostly black and has green on the forearms, upper body of the suit, and boots. It's a standard suit deign associated with him vs the more prominently green suit of Hal Jordan. Not much else to say beyond that, but did those hips still have to keep what appear to be the sculpted lines for the underwear if the suit lacks any?
The face of John Stewart is accurate to the character, and I wouldn't have it any other way in this scale. Anyways, same articulation, but the one accessory he remains with is a machine gun manifested from his ring. He is sadly missing a punch effect, and the same goes for the Kilowag BAF piece.
After covering a human-looking alien, two superheroes wearing masks, an Amazonian, and a Green Lantern who prefers to leave his face exposed, we now have the Martian Manhunter. Certainly, more skin is exposed on this character than with Wonder Woman, especially given the blue of the cape, underwear, and boots combined with the red of the X strap, belt, and the connector piece of the collar contrasting the green skin of his, complete with subtle sculpting for the nipples. This mold appears to be even more muscular than that of Superman and Batman.
His head sculpt appropriately shaped to give him that stern glare with more visible eyebrow sculpting than we see on the average human, almost giving him a Neanderthal look but not via the forehead. His articulation is the same, but not only are the joints far too stiff, but the right hip refuses to move, as the joint can only flex in a way that makes me nervous as hell with tearing it apart. In fact, some of the joints feel a bit gummier than the norm, which is ESPECIALLY unwanted for a bulkier figure like this.
And finally, we have Hawkman, who is not designed to look like a classic design but is instead based on the New 52 relaunch of DC Comics. This was also from when the line was rebranded into DC Comics Unlimited, probably in hopes of competing with the Return of Marvel Legends back in the early 2010s. Hawkman appears to use similar tooling for the exposed upper body, but of course utilizes tooling of his own for the chest armor, pants boots, and wings. The wings are surprisingly detailed organically and I can sort of see a wash being applied somewhat. I should mention that my copy has been modified somewhat with more exposed forearms.
His head sculpt is appropriately god-like, even though the facial expression makes him look like he's taking a dump. His wing articulation includes hinges on the back, and the option to have them spread outwards. He can hold a mace with no problem, which further makes him battle-ready while also showing that he is left-handed.
And that covers the Justice League. Overall, while I got most of these for dirt cheap, I can't help but feel that revisiting the Mattel era of DC toys felt embarrassing. It's already bad enough that the DC Multiverse line from 2016 paled in comparison to what Marvel Legends had, but to see them lack in articulation and display options even in 2008 is even worse. These figures are fine for a piece of history, but I just wish there were better 6-iinch scale DC figures with quality comparable to Hasbro Marvel Legends. I know McFarlane has better articulation and sculptwork, but they would fit better with Marvel Select, a line I feel not everyone buys. Man, even DC doesn't know how to handle its toylines right.
Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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