Man of Steel: What to Expect From the Toy Line

With just barely over a month to go before Man of Steel hits theaters, the first trickles of the movie’s toy line are beginning to arrive in stores. While Target will not be setting the figure out until their May 26’s Toy Reset, Wal-Mart has already begun to put out the first waves of new figures. But what are the hits of the line… and what are destined to become pegwarmers?BasicsEvery line lives and dies on its basic line. These figures, usually the cheapest (in the case of Man of Steel, coming in at $6.99), represent the best chance companies have at creating a long, thriving series of action figures. One need only look at the strength of Star Wars’ basic line to see just important these little 3 inch tall figures are.The Man of Steel basics are in line, size wise, with the Green Lantern and Dark Knight Rises figures. On one hand, this is great, as it allows kids to create their own little Justice League and use characters from other lines to lengthen play. On the other hand, had Mattel chosen to increase the size to meet with Hasbro’s standard (known as the G.I. Joe standard), it would have made mixing the DC characters with the Marvel characters (as well as Star Wars, G.I. Joe, Lord of the Rings and others) much easier. There is something very off-putting about having Thor tower over Superman. While it is possible, those that care about scale will be disappointed that they cannot properly display Captain America and Superman together.One of the complaints about Hasbro’s recent offerings has been quality control. It is not uncommon to look at a selection of Iron Man 3 figures and find smears and paint splatters on the armor. For now, though, it appears that the Man of Steel line has not suffered from this problem. Each figure looks clean and crisp. Also pleasing is that most of the Man of Steel figures in the basic line feature some sort of joint on the arms, thus preventing them from having ‘club arms’ like the recent Iron Man 3 and Green Lantern figures. Though not at the level of The Avengers line (which retains its status as best for possibility in the 3 inch scale), it is a welcomed upgrade.It is clear that Mattel wished to avoid the issues they had with the Dark Knight Rises line when it came to multiple versions of Superman. While there is the basic Superman, there are also many different armored Supermans with different shades of blue and red (including some that appear to be homages to the infamous Electric Blue and Electric Red Superman suits). This gives parents incentives to purchase multiples of the same character, due to their different body types.The gimmick for the basic line is weapons. Zod comes with twin blades, as does an armored Superman, but for the most part the accessories are different ‘environment’ pieces like car doors, wrecking balls and rip-apart motorcycles. The packaging also boasts that the figures work with the Flight Speeders line, though these toys were not at Wal-Mart yet.Power AttackFans of the Avengers Mighty Battlers line will be quite pleased with the Power Attack line ($12.99). Focusing on larger figures (roughly 7 inches tall), these figures focus on buttons and squeezing legs to create instant ‘attack’ movements. Superman and Zod both hold ‘environment’ weapons which they swing down at their enemy. A good line for younger kids, they offer children a chance to smash their toys together without worrying about losing little accessories. They also appear to be in scale with the Avengers line, allowing for cross-play.