Last week, we started on our journey through the fourth and final wave of Ultimates! from Super7 based on The Simpsons. It did not start well. Devil Flanders represented a new low point for the line and maybe for Super7 as a whole. I know I certainly do not own a worse Super7 figure than that one. This week, we’re going to rely on a man, a radioactive man, to right the ship.
Radioactive Man is, and stop me if you’ve heard me say this already, a curious choice for a toy line’s fourth wave. He’s recognizable to fans of The Simpsons, but likely not high on anyone’s list of wants that would warrant inclusion at this stage. And it’s even more perplexing because, in the show, there are basically three versions of Radioactive Man. There’s the comic book hero whom we’re lightly introduced to in the show’s second episode. His proper introduction occurs in “Three Men and a Comic Book” which we talked about before since it’s the main inspiration for the Bartman figure from the second wave. Comic book Radioactive Man is a comic book superhero like any other. He’s big and musclebound and wears a cape and cowl. The second Radioactive Man is portrayed on TV by the late actor Dirk Richter. The show, in the world of The Simpsons, is a lot like the 60’s Batman show (even though that existed as well in the show’s canon). It’s campy, and Richter doesn’t exactly feature a body with “heroic” proportions. The final Radioactive Man is played by Springfield regular Rainier Wolfcastle for the Radioactive Man movie which was the subject of one episode. He is basically like the comic book version, but with a different profile.
So which Radioactive Man did Super7 produce? I don’t know. This figure references the comic book hero on the box and the accessories seem to indicate that, but he doesn’t look like the heroic Radioactive Man from the show. He looks more like Richter’s Radioactive Man, at least his body, with a comic book head. I can definitely say this is not the Wolfcastle version, and even though that’s only from one episode, I would argue that version is the most memorable. This Radioactive Man is rather frumpy in appearance. There’s no muscle definition to the sculpt. The arms and legs are sculpted in such a way as to make the costume appear baggy. The hands and feet are fairly large like a hero might possess, but that’s it. It’s cosplay Radioactive Man.
The approach is unfortunate because the figure just looks very bland. It’s mostly yellow and red plastic with just a touch of paint here and there. The paint applications are just okay to mediocre. There’s a little bleeding around the muzzle of my angry portrait while the eyes feature the same on the stern face. The atomic logo on the stern face is also off-center and there are little, red, blemishes on the yellow, plastic, gloves. The red is at least coated with a matte spray and looks pretty good. It’s probably on the yellow as well, but it doesn’t do much to take-away from the cheap look it has. The lower legs are sculpted to appear baggy, which I don’t care for and it makes for a bit of an ugly knee joint. The thing I dislike most though is how they did the cape. It features a big, cavernous, carve-out for the head and that’s because the cape needs to loop over the ball-joint inside. It takes away from the figure’s neck and makes the cape look like it’s just emerging from inside the chest? I wish they had done it the same way they did Duffman’s cape, which is how the licensing art on the box does it as well, because this just doesn’t look good.
The look of the figure may be a bit more on the subjective end, but the quality is definitely more objective. Like Flanders, this is a figure that doesn’t have a premium look or feel to it despite the $55 asking price. The shoulders are really tight and the red paint on them chips and flakes off with relative ease. I have a large, yellow, blemish, behind the right shoulder on mine. I’m afraid to move him much as a result because I don’t want any more paint to chip-away. The head appears to be misshapen when it comes to the socket. It’s extremely wide at the base, and then deeper in the head where the ball should snap-in which is quite narrow. The end result is that the stern head just barely pops on while the angry one fits a little better. It takes minimal effort to knock it off and will likely drive anyone nuts who is trying to pose this thing. The hips, like Flanders, are also unnaturally loose. They’re not as bad as Devil Flanders as they will mostly stay where you position them, but while moving and posing the figure expect them to fall off unintentionally. In particular, the right leg on mine is prone to coming off.
I suppose the head and hips are less of an issue with a figure that you either won’t want to pose or really just can’t pose well. Like many figures in this line, Radioactive Man does not prioritize articulation. He’s just going to stand on your shelf, desk, whatever in a pretty neutral pose. His head doesn’t look up well enough for a head-on flying pose as seen on the cover of Radioactive Man #1, and the range of the arms and such aren’t going to lend to anything dynamic. The shoulders are super tight and can’t reach a horizontal position anyway and elbows and knees won’t reach 90 degrees. The hip range is quite good at least while the waist twist is surprisingly limited. The cape is wired and I will say that while I may have not always liked the soft goods in this line, at least the capes have always been wired which is a good thing.
If you’re hoping for the accessories to help sell this one, well, you may be let down. This is a very light release as we get just the two portraits and a small assortment of hands: fists, a single gripping right hand, a pointing left hand, a relaxed right hand, and a thumb’s up left. It’s weird to have only one gripping hand. It’s also weird we get the one relaxed hand as two of them would make for okay flying hands, but since he can’t look forward anyway I suppose it’s not necessary. For his gripping hand, he has an American flag. It looks pretty good, it’s not accurate to an actual flag, but I’m guessing that’s on purpose. For the relaxed hand, he has a comic book that can slot between the thumb and index finger. It’s Radioactive Man introducing Neutrino. Not a particularly memorable sight gag from the show. It’s also very flimsy and warped out of the box, but the printing is nice and sharp.
That is all though. It seems like a very uninspired set of accessories. Maybe they wanted to do a gag smoking head and hands accessory, but after the Krusty issue it had to be cut? If this is indeed Dirk Richter, why not include some punching effects to really drive that home? The flag is about as sterile as it gets. I get it that Radioactive Man is sort of like the show’s Superman in imagery, but it doesn’t really make for a fun, or funny, release. This is a comedy series, after all, but I’m left wondering where’s the comedy? If they had gone with Wolfcastle, we could have had a goggles portrait which is really the character’s most iconic moment from the show. And if it had been a more comic look for the body, a Wolfcastle alternate head would have worked just fine. Anything referencing the show within a show could have been funny, but instead I’ve got this frumpy looking Radioactive Man in a Hacksaw Jim Duggan pose. Neat?
When it comes to Radioactive Man I just don’t see what reason Super7 is putting forth for Simpsons fans to buy this. It really is a figure for the completists or for that one hardcore Radioactive Man fan out there, but then again, the odd approach might annoy that person more than me. I don’t know who this figure is for and I don’t see anything here that is making a strong argument for your money. What is becoming an all too common refrain with this line is the recommendation to not buy it, but wait it out. It’s unlikely to sell out and will probably be heavily discounted as soon as this summer. Perhaps next week we’ll look at a figure that can turn things around for Simpsons Wave Four, otherwise this line is going to go out with a whimper.
Here’s a look at more stuff from Super7’s take on the World of Springfield:
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Last week, we talked about two out of left field choices by Super7 for its line of action figures based on The Simpsons. This week, we’re discussing a fan favorite character that belongs and his inclusion is only perplexing given that there is no member of the Simpson family in the wave. Ralph Wiggum was…
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The Nostalgia Spot 
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