Review – DC Universe Infinite Heroes “Crisis” Manhunter Robot

“The Manhunters were the first attempt of the Guardians of the Universe to create an interstellar police force that would combat evil all over the cosmos. Their name and much of their code of behavior was modeled by the Guardians of the Universe on the Manhunters of Ma’aleca’andra (Mars). For thousands of years, they served the Guardians well. However, the Manhunters became obsessed with the act of ‘hunting’ criminals. Their code, “No man escapes the Manhunters” (corrupted from the original), became more important to them than seeing justice done.”
— from Wikipedia

After the brutal review of Bizarro that I posted a few weeks ago — and Bizarro definitely deserved the negative comments — I thought it would be a good idea to follow with a positive review of one of Mattel’s 3.75″ DC Universe action figures.

My first encounter with the Manhunters was in John Ostrander’s excellent Manhunter series from the late eighties. (Read about the Mark Shaw Manhunter at Wikipedia.) Over the course of the comic I learned more about the Manhunter Robots, and their history, and in the end decided that they made a pretty cool villain. After all, a race of androids created to protect the universe — who then turned against their programming — can never fail. Evil robots are fun.

The Manhunter Robot Action Figure

The Manhunter Robot has fairly typical articulation; not as nice as a G.I. Joe figure but enough so that you’ve got some poseability options when setting him up (unlike the previously mentioned Bizarro, the Manhunter Robot does have knee and elbow joints, which helps a lot). In terms of poseability, he’s perfectly acceptable for a 3.75-inch action figure.

Likewise, the sculpting and paint — while not mind-blowing or awesome — are also acceptable and, in fact, the sculpting of the face is a little better than many 3.75-inch figures (I think that this is primarily because the figure is a robot so some plastic-like, machined look is more attractive than it would be on a human character).

As a work of art, or a sculpture, the Manhunter Robot is certainly a substandard piece. As a toy, though, the Manhunter Robot is part of a relatively new series that — I’m sure many would agree — rivals the classic Kenner Super Powers line . . . maybe even more than the more widely acclaimed DC Universe Classics series does. Because as nice as the DC Universe Classics series is — and I agree completely that the series is wonderful — the smaller scale and lower price point of the Infinite Heroes line makes it a lot easier for collectors to get in to. You can fit a whole lot more Infinite Heroes toys into your life than you can DC Universe Classics figures (about twice as many, in fact).

Closing Thoughts

After a bad experience with Bizarro, I was quite happy with the Manhunter Robot (and have since picking him up I’ve bought a few other figures in the series). As I already said, he’s not the greatest piece of art that I own but he is a good toy. He’s solid, looks pretty good, and makes a great villain for your display case or your next battle. The Manhunter Robot may be obscure, but I think that an evil robot will always be loved, no matter how obscure he happens to be.

For more photos and thoughts on the DC Universe Infinite Heroes line, check out this review at Superhero Times and this page at Wikipedia.

Even though he loved comics for many years, Philip Reed actually doesn’t read many new comics these days. Like music, Philip finds a lot of the newer comics to be less fun than the comics of his youth. Yes, Philip is officially old.