The back features a larger version of the same painting on the front, and tells us about the other figures available in this assortment. We also get a bio for New 52 Hawkman, as well as a list of stats for the character at the bottom.

Something else about this package that’s interesting (that I unfortunately didn’t get photos of) is how much it advertises Mattycollector.com On the inside of the flaps for the DC Comics Unlimited Logo, as well as on the backside of the cardboard insert of the painting are two very distinct Mattycollector advertisements. It’s interesting, because fans have been saying for a while now how Matty needs to advertise more, to raise awareness of the site and all the figures on there, so it’s cool that they managed to find a way without distracting from the overall packaging.

SCULPT – Hawkman is a very clever mix of old and new parts. The torso, shoulders, biceps, pelvis, hips, upper legs, and wings are all reused. There’s some good, realistic detail on his arms and torso, with veins popping out of the arms, and some nice muscle definition on his chest and abs. And just like the old DCUC Hawkman figure, yes there are in fact sculpted nipples on his chest. I’ve always thought that the DCUC Hawkman figure had the best wings I’ve ever seen on a figure, and they’re reused perfectly here. There’s so much detail in the sculpt from the way the feathers are separated, to the actual striations in the feathers, that these wings are just as impressive now as they were when they were first used.

All the other pieces on this figure are new, so let’s talk about them. At first I wasn’t sure if his wrapped hands were new or reused from Wildcat, but they are indeed new. There’s some good detail in the wrappings that continues onto the forearms, making those brand new pieces as well. His right hand is sculpted open to hold his accessory, and the other hand is in a closed fist which should be cool for some fight poses. His boots look awesome and very warrior-like, with lots of cool looking spiky sections and panels that make the boots go all the way up to his thighs.

His chest straps are actually one whole piece with his belt, and the shoulder pauldron is connected as well. The straps are plain, but the pauldron has an interesting design to it. Spikes seem to be a running theme for Thanagarians, and his shoulder pauldron has lots of raised, spiky sections to it, as well as actual spikes sticking out from it.

His head sculpt looks really great. He’s got this definite angry look to his expression, but it’s not overdone by any means. He’s ready for battle at a moment’s notice. There’s some pretty good depth in the sculpt that really separates the face from the helmet. The helmet itself has a very cool design, that harkens back to the original Hawkman’s helmet, yet looks and feels modern and new. There’s lots of good detail on it, from the feathers on the wings, to the talons sculpted into the top, and I even like the chin strap. It all does a great job of making this look more like a proper battle helm.

PAINT – There’s some really good paint applications for the most part on New 52 Hawkman. His flesh seems to be cast in the appropriate colors, with a hint of air brushing to help bring out the sculpt. All of his armor is painted in this cool looking gold color, that helps it stand out. His wings look amazing, as they’re base coated in brown with a lighter brown dry brushing all over the surface. Mattel always knows how to do these wings right, and using a dry brush on them is exactly how you bring out that beautiful sculpt.

The head has some pretty good paint as well. The helmet is painted the same nice gold as the rest of his armor, while his face is, of course, painted in a flesh tone. The skin color is a good match to the rest of his skin, and his eye tampos look fantastic as they’re clean and centered perfectly.

His teeth could have been done better, as there’s only white paint on the surface of each tooth, and in between each tooth is the same flesh tone of his face. It looks weird. They should have used black, gray, or even some kind of pink color in between the teeth. There’s also a bit of the gold from the helmet bleeding onto the skin of the face, such as around the chin strap and around the eye holes of the helmet.

ARTICULATION – Hawkman has a ball jointed neck, ball jointed shoulders, bicep swivels, single elbows, wrist cuts, ab crunch, waist swivel, t-hinge hips, thigh rotators, single knees, ankle hinges, a hinge at the base of his wings, and swivel joints in the middle of his wings.

Almost all of the articulation on Hawkman is solid. The head has a great range of motion, even able to look up and down some, and the arms are able to move well, with the shoulder pauldron being rubbery enough that it doesn’t hinder movement much. I love the way they broke up Hawkman’s boot, so there’s still the knee joint that blends in nicely with the sculpt of the boots.

The ab crunch works great, and isn’t hindered by the chest straps. The chest straps do hinder his waist swivel some, though. Because the straps and belt are one piece, it limits how far left and right the waist can turn. Unfortunately, the belt doesn’t turn with the torso, so this seems to be unavoidable without damaging or modifying the figure.

Thankfully though, Mattel had designed the straps in such a way that on the back of them, there’s actually some slack that leaves you a good range of motion to turn the waist. You don’t be able to turn it all the way around, but there’s still enough range to get some great poses out of him.

His wings have some great posability, with a single hinge on his back that connects both wings, that’s nice and tight and holds a pose. The swivel joints in the middle of his wings allow them to be spread apart so you can get the full, impressive wingspan out of him, and it really adds to the number of display options for the figure. These really are the best wings I’ve ever seen on an action figure.

ACCESSORIES – Hawkman comes with two accessories: an axe, and a small shield, both of which are painted the same gold color as his armor.

The axe looks very cool, and almost organic looking from the looks of the handle. It’s got an area perfect for Hawkman to grip, with a guard covering his knuckles. The blade of the axe looks as you would expect, with some nicks and cuts in it to show it’s worn. And on the backside of the axe are some giant spikes, because why not, right? It makes sense. Hawkman might end up getting bored with chopping his enemies up, and then what’s he supposed to do? Stop fighting? Nope, just turn that sucker around and start beating them with giant spikes instead.

His shield clips onto his wrist, and has an intersting design. It’s small and circular, with three giant talons sticking out of the end, because again why not? Leave it to a Thanagarian to turn a shield into an offensive weapon, right? Well both accessories look awesome and like they jumped straight out of the comics. It’s just good to know that Thanagarian weapons designers have the same creativity as a grade schooler.

FUN – Hawkman is so much fun! He’s a great testament to how even though it’s a basic action figure aimed at collectors, it can still be a lot of genuine fun. His design, articulation, and accessories all blend together nicely to make a very fun toy to play with, and to look at.

QUALITY CONTROL/THINGS TO WATCH OUT FOR – The wings on mine were reversed. It seems that when assembling the figure, the parts of his wings that sit on the swivel joints got reversed. Look at the picture to the right, and you can see. It took me a second to realize it was messed up. Thankfully, they pop off the joint nice and cleanly, and you can right them yourself. However, it’s still annoying and should be addressed. I don’t know if mine was a fluke, or if it’s widespread, so just lookout for that.

OVERALL – Hawkman is a great figure. His sculpt is fantastic, his paint job for the most part is great, he’s got good articulation, and awesome, character appropriate accessories. In a time when most 6″ action figures come with no accessories, it’s impressive that he got two.

The paint errors on his face, and the QC issue with his wings is very unfortunate, but luckily the wings can be easily fixed and the small errors on the face aren’t very noticeable unless you look up close. I know that ideally you shouldn’t have to fix problems with a figure, but really it’s insanely easy to switch the wings back the way they go.

He’s a very faithful rendition of his comic book counter part, and fits in nicely with the other New 52 figures that Mattel has made. If you’re a fan of the New 52, and especially of Mattel’s figures, then this figure is a must have. The great part about him is that even if you hate the New 52, this Hawkman could still be used as a generic Thanagarian warrior you can pose as backup to the DCUC Hawkman figure.

I think that any DC fan would like this figure, as it’s got a very awesome design, and is a great example of Mattel doing a figure right. It gives me hope for the future of the 6″ DC figures.

FINAL SCORE: 4 / 5

Where to buy:

• BigBadToyStore has this figure in stock.
• Amazon has it in stock as well.