In light of the enormous success of the Aquaman movie, today I am spotlighting two of the latest releases in the DC Essentials line from DC Collecibles: Aquaman and Black Manta. 

     Their rivalry has played out across the seven seas for ages, and now it was again comes home to your shelves. These two seen inch figures are part of the DC Essentials line from DC Collectibles. The line is described as follows: DC Essentials is a line of 7″ action figures based on DC characters with universal appeal, accessible to both longtime collectors and those just starting out, which deliver authentic detail from a company with two decades’ experience creating high-quality action figures.” basically, allof that means that these are beautifully sculpted figures of the most recognizable DC Comics characters.

     These two figures come from Series 2, which has 4 figures in total. the other two figures are Superman and Brainiac. Let’s examine these two figures a little closer.

     The King of the Seas, Aquaman, is also a charter member of the Justice League. When he’s not helping the League or dealing with an oceanic crisis, he can be found in Atlantis with his Queen, Mera.

     This figure is based on his current comic look, and he is depicted, as such, in the familiar orange “scale” tunic and green tights, boots and gloves. His face is clean shaven, with short blond hair and piercing blue eyes. In a nice touch, the backs of his gloves and boots have “fins.” He comes with his royal trident, which is gold in color and ornately sculpted. It futs in his hand very nicely and securely.

     Aquaman’s nemesis, Black Manta, is a mercenary who blames Aquaman for an incicent involving his father and seeks constant revenge. He is also a current member of Lex Luthor’s Legion of Doom.

     He is a fearsome figure, in an all black suit with his imposing silver helmet with blood red eyes. he wears a silver backpack that feature the air hoses he uses to breathe underwater. He comes with two silver swords and his classic handheld “bladed” weapon. In a nice feature, all three weapons fit into the backpack.

     NOTE: A couple of notes about this figure. Out of the package, the hands are VERY TIGHT, and this makes it a bit of a chore to make Black Manta hold his blade weapon. Also, for some reason, the tips of all of these weapons are VERY SHARP! So, be careful when handling them.

     Both of these figures have the same articulation, and there is a ton of it. Each figure has a ball-jointed head, shoulder articulation, forearm and elbow articulation, wrist articulation, waist, hip, thigh, knee, calf and ankle articulation. This allows for a massive amount of poses, but you need to watch it, because the ankle joints have to be adjusted sometimes before the figures will stand. Also, Black Manta’s large helmet makes him slightly top heavier than normal, so take that into account when you are posing him.

     All in all, these are two great figures and you should waste no time in adding them to your collection. They are available for $25 – $30 each from most specialty toy retailers.

Thanks to Sara Ruiz at DC Collectibles for her assistance with this article