Abnormal's DCAU Superman! (Patreon)

I can’t believe my eyes! Somebody FINALLY made an animated Superman!

Aaaaahhhh!

Wowwowowow!

Be still my beating heart! 🎉

This lil dude is SO good! Like he’s so freakin perfect! End of review! Nothing else to say! I just… what else is there to say?! It’s just simply… Super!

Nah but for real… lets talk about it, because wow!

Right out of the gate, I feel like I might be a little jaded with this review. Supes (and more so this particular version of him) is one of my favorite characters. Hands down. The animated series was some of the absolute best DC has ever put to screen for Mr Smallville, so to marry Bruce Timm’s visual design with custom minifig plastic, this was an instant pickup!

To take a critical look at this fella, I think (realistically) it’s very well designed, but also very stiff. The facial expressions and that cape really bring that point to a head. 

The cape is great, don’t get me wrong! It’s stiff in like an intentional kind of way. Like an action figure on display sort of thing. It’s very symmetrical, but a perfect length!


But for Abnormal to only include just one cape is criminal! At the very least, a second one blowing in the wind would have been nice! But nope… just one 😞

You certainly can swap it for a traditional Lego cape. It looks perfectly fine, but it’s just not quite the same as that “tucked in” open collar thing that this design has going for it…

Same thing could be said about the one facial design (yes you read that correctly, it’s the one and only face we get!)

The brow and the eye shaping? Just superb! But come on! I’m really really REALLY bummed out that we didn’t get more expressions for him! At least give us some gritting teeth or freeze breath, or hell! At the very least an upturned smirk or something! It’s freaking Superman for crying out loud! And it’s THIS version of Superman for the love of Krypton! I mean come on Abnormal! What a missed opportunity 😫

Head swapping just doesn't cut it. At a certain point, too many part-swaps and you start to lose that Bruce Timm flavor…

Maybe Abnormal could make a Clark Kent in the future that could include some extra expressions or something? ...idk I kid can dream, right?

I freaking LOVE this hair though! It’s so perfectly shaped and yet perfectly simple at the same time!

It also fits in visually quite well with other BTAS figs in my collection with custom hair. Most notably BlackStar’s Bruce Wayne

And finally, what feels just extra special, Abnormal included that neat bent steel beam! That’s fun! I’ll certainly get some use out of that with other Superman figs! (although if I’m honest, a second cape instead would have been my preferred “extra accessory”)

Outside of that, this fig technically falls into the #IncompleteLegs Category. But it uh… it actually doesn't look that bad? Mostly because that’s kinda what his trunks do in the show. Reflecting little bits of red over black shaded areas...

Personally, it’s conflicting because I do wish it was solid black and fully printed, but I also enjoy that you get a little more red where it counts. Catch 22 I’m afraid.

Oh! On the topic of Abnormal’s printing approach, it’s notable that all the blue on this fig is printed! Thank goodness that all that color matches at the very least, but it's still odd... I wonder why that is…? 🤔

$90 for him, btw. Feels a little steep in my book.. But I mean we get three custom parts, 360° print (including potentially unnecessary blue ink all over this fella), plus an unnecessarily custom shipping container so… I guess that price makes sense?

Coulda been cheaper, this fig certainly wasn’t a complex design.

By the way, those new shipping “cells” Abnormal are using are pretty interesting. This is the first time I’ve gotten one and I almost want to think I could use them in a build somehow? They’ve got studs and anti-stud connections on either side, but an odd Lego footprint of 5x6.

Oh and they connect to other containers too! 

Did I mention I got a second Superman fig? Because I DID! 😈

Abnormal printed a few alternate versions of the character in secret between the months of the preorder wait time, and boy howdy was this design a good pull!

Like most of us, I had no idea Abnormal printed a Brave New Metropolis Supes until late 2024! A full six months after the original preorder release of Superman! There were some other “color variants” that weren’t any cannon looks that Supe’s had had in the show, but this one! This was a great variant to get!

It’s a really great chaser fig! Down to the fact that Abnormal printed this kind of “slick black” ink for the boots and gloves. It’s really only noticeable in harsh lighting conditions, and it actually took me by surprise when when I first noticed it 👀

It’s very subtle even in person, so you only notice it when the lighting is juuuuuust right

This fig was oddly sold for $100 despite how it actually has less custom plastic than the standard Superman.... Perhaps it was related to the fact it was limited to just 60 units…?

You all know I despise the “limited quantities to drive up prices” crap, but this one wasn’t too absurd of a price difference. But still worth mentioning.

Besides! Brave New Metropolis is a great episode! So how could I not pick this guy up?! Like seriously look how cool he looks! I love that I’m able to have a second hairpiece now too! Makes it easier to swap it around with other DCAU superfigs I’ll inevitably try and figbarf in the future!

Getting the two of these Bruce Timm Superman figs really makes me wish Abnormal will continue this series with a Lex Luthor or Lois lane or Jimmy Olsen or Livewire or Silver Banshee or Volcana and a bunch of others!

Hell, even some more Superman variants would be fun! I want the space suit and the Apokolips Armor and the scuba suit and a Clark Kent and…

Okay you get the idea!

Abnormal! We want more!