Scarecroodle

What kind of a super genius runs around in tights and leaves clues so he may be found? This one, apparently.

Released in wave 16 (aka the Bane wave), this isn't the Riddler's first outing in the DC Universe Classics series. A full ten waves ago (or two years in human time) we received the suit & derby-hatted Riddler in the Wal-Mart exclusive Metallo wave (which, until a MattyCollector reissue, was the inspiration for unobtainium in the Avatar movies). And while that figure was cool (and if you were down for paying around $60 for a figure that originally retailed for $11 or $12), something was missing....



Namely the Riddler's iconic jumpsuit, which is possibly more popular given that variations on this classic outfit were worn by Frank Gorshwin in the 1960s Batman series (ironically he originated the business suit look as well; the more you know!), Jim Carrey in Batman Forever, during the old Superfriends cartoons, and even the Batman/Scooby Doo cross-overs.

Perhaps most notably, this was the look used for Toybiz's 1989 DC Superheroes line:



Riddler, who never received a figure in Kenner's DC Super Powers line (although he did get one in the Super Amigos line!), had to wait until Toybiz got a hold of the DC license and put out their Superheroes line.

Unfortunately, that figure kinda sucked. Supposedly all they did was take the Flash's body and slap on a new lackluster head. If you notice, the head color on that doesn't even match the chest skin-color. Amusingly enough, however, it DOES have a sculpted beltbuckle while the DCUC Riddler has his painted on. Yeah, progress...



My figure still has some of the molding around the neckline which, while shoddy QA, is probably the only quality issue for this particular figure and is a fairly light problem when compared to all of the errors seen on the Robins.

Like many other DCUC figures, Riddler's head doesn't have a full upward range of motion. This means his head might occasionally look like he's nodding off depending on how far you have his ab crunch.

As for the face, I'm fairly sure it was the same mold used for the previous release. Note that the profile has a very strong resemblance to "tricky" Dick, our president who saw fit to tell us that he was not a crook yet didn't also rule out supervillain.



(the chin looks terrible at this angle, yikes!)

Like all DCUCs, he's highly posable despite lacking the double-joints seen with some recent figures (BL Abin Sur from the GLC line even featured ball-and-socket wrists!). Given that he's not as buff as other characters, you have a certain degree of added mobility with his arms although the lack of double-jointed elbows will impede some thinking gestures.

All in all, the DCUC16 Riddler is a great addition to your collection of Batman rogues. Although the character is a little buff by Riddler standards, that's just kind of in the style of the older DC lines (like Super Powers and Superhoes) to which Mattel has paid homage. Riddler may be a little hard to find on the shelf but the line is available at most major retailers for around $15 (unless you're lucky enough to have a nearby K-Mart, which I don't, where they still charge like $13).