Review of the SDCC 2013 Exclusive DC Signature Collection New 52 Shazam!

 

Character Bio:

Magically transported from a subway car to the mystical Rock of Eternity, troubled foster kid Billy Batson met an immortal wizard, who granted him magical powers and responsibilities. By uttering the  word "Shazam!," Billy is magically transformed from a boy into the adult hero Shazam!, the World's Mightiest Mortal. With the power of living lightning, the strength of a demigod, as well as superhuman speed and flight, Shazam! is the only thing standing between our world and the mystical threats out to destroy it.
Scale: 6", Price: Ranges from $20.00-$79.00 online


Sculpt and Paint:

Shazam here is a brand new figure from DC Signature Collection and is mostly kitbash. His head, lower legs, lower arms, belt, upper torso, and cape are all new, while the rest is a standard DCUC Figure buck. The new parts are sculpted incredibly well and perfectly capture the New 52 Shazam design, one of my favorite designs for him. Now one thing I found weird is that, like the other New 52 figures to come from Mattel, he has panel lines in his suit, but unlike them, they aren't sculpted on, they're painted on....weird choice from Mattel...especially for a convention exclusive figure. Take a look:

 

Paint wise, he is okay. Again, for a Convention Exclusive, you would think they'd pull out all the stops, and yes the sculpt is great, but it won't matter without equally great paint. He does have that for the most part, but when I first got him there were so many paint chips on his face, so I had to repaint it. That sucked, but I do still love the figure overall.

Articulation and Accessories:
Let's just get this right out of the way. Accessories: Bupkis.(Unless you count the hood, which I don't as it is part of the costume.)Ugh. I mean, for a convention exclusive, could we not have gotten something?? Hell the lightning accessories on his wrists, I pulled from one of my Superman Blue figures. I would have given him a flight stand with a button, and when you press it, it glows neon blue and the sound "SHAZAM!!" followed by lightning would play. That would have been sick! But...didn't happen.
Articulation wise Shazam is your standard DCUC. Ball-jointed head (limited to a swivel here), swivel-hinge shoulders, swivel biceps, hinge elbows, swivel wrists, ab-crunch, swivel waist (limited due to belt), H-joint hips, swivel thighs, hinge knees that barely move 90 degrees, and hinge ankles. Not bad, but again, for a convention..freaking...exclusive, you'd think there would be something to add to the EXCLUSIVITY VALUE.......


 

OVERALL:
So, this figure had me torn, I have to give two separate scores, because he is damn pricey online.
I wouldn't spend over $35 on him unless you are a die hard Shazam! fan.
As an Exclusive: 7 Out of 10
As a figure without the insane price point: 8 Out of 10

I do like him a lot and am glad to have him in my collection, but the fact that I had to partially repaint the head keeps me from giving him a 10

 

Today, aside from comics I picked up a new DC Collectibles figure (I know, I said I tend to stray from them but the articulation on this guy is unbelievable. It is the Batman Arkham Origins Batman figure. Now I will be doing a review soon but I will just say for now, if you had any reservations about getting this figure. Forget them. Go. Now. Run. Fly. Walk. Get this figure, he is without a doubt the best Batman figure I have ever owned. Hell when I got him back home even Joker was dying to break him out of the packaging!