DC Multiverse Collect and Connect Lobo figure review

Despite my near universal praise for the DC Rebirth era, there were some books that just didn’t work. Justice League of America was Batman’s latest team spin-off with an eclectic mix of characters including Vixen, Black Canary, The Ray and Lobo.

Mattel was all-in with the Rebirth era designs and made Lobo the Collect and Connect figure for its third wave of DC Multiverse figures. Let’s see if this figure delivers The Main Man treatment.

Packaging:  As with all Collect and Connect figures, there’s no package for Lobo.

Likeness:  I’ve read some complaints online about Lobo, but I’m not seeing much of a problem. He’s wide, has good size compared to other figures and all of the necessary details like the jacket, skull crotch piece and skull shin guards came out nicely.

If anything is a little off, it’s the hair. It’s a little too neat and orderly, which is how JLA artist Ivan Reis drew it so it’s true to the source material.

Lobo did tend to be portrayed more often wearing a shirt during the JLA run, but I think this was a means to have more of a make-good Lobo than perfectly capturing the Rebirth look. That was a good idea.

The crotch piece utilizes a softer plastic overlay and from certain angles it creates a diaper visual.

Scale:  Mattel previously attempted Lobo in its DC Classics line. Scaling was a consistent problem there and Lobo was horrifically out of scale with everyone else despite typically being portrayed the same height as Batman or Guy Gardner.

The Multiverse Lobo easily wins for actually being the proper height.

And as an added bonus, Lobo works just fine with the DC Classics figures as well.

Paint:  Lobo’s skin tone was more chalky grey, but Mattel went a little overboard with the blue airbrushing making him look more like Inside Out’s Sadness than the Baddest Bastich around. That choice aside, the actual paintwork is pretty good. There’s a great wash on the shin guards and all of the smaller details were very well done.

Only problem was some black paint ended up on his face and seems like it’s going to be tricky to remove. I’m not a fan of paint gaffs on a figure’s face especially when they’re part of a Build a Figure program.

Articulation:  Lobo desperately needed double joint elbows and knees.  He does have ankle movement, which helps for some more dynamic poses, but his center of balance gets a little shaky. I think my figure’s torso joint is stuck (hopefully) and needs a hot water bath to loosen up.  With a little patience you can find some nice poses for him.

Lobo has:

• neck
• ball-jointed shoulders
• biceps
• elbow
• wrist
• wrist hinge
• torso
• hip
• thigh
• knee
• ankle

Accessories:  Despite being the CAC, Lobo actually does come with some accessories. The first is his trademark chain. Mattel went with chain links for it so it has that authentic look and I had a lot of fun draping it around him for dramatic effect.

It’s got a small weight on one end and a nicely detailed hook on the other. The hook, handle and weight got a dark wash to further bring out the details.

Lobo also has an alternate head with goggles on his head to reflect more of his Justice League of America look.

Worth it?  I wanted all four figures in the Lobo wave so he definitely was like getting a figure for free.

Rating:  7.5 out of 10

Lobo is a pretty decent bonus figure that would have benefited from double jointed knees and elbows as well as a better skin tone paint job.

Where to get it?  I grabbed the four figures needed to build Lobo from a few places. You can find him within the $60 to $75 range on eBay. For a CAC of a defunct line that’s not a terrible price, but I wouldn’t go much more than that price. You can find a few figures from that wave on Entertainment Earth.