Mattel Eight-Inch Retro-Action Aquaman Figure

Mattel and DC Comics present Arthur Curry -- the King of the Seas. Fighting alongside the rest of the Justice League of America, Aquaman helps to keep the oceans and the earth safe from all evil.

Aquaman was released in the second wave of Retro-Action heroes from Mattel. 

Mattel chose to go with Aquaman's most widely known cleancut look.

He's  wearing an orange & green bodysuit with yellow & black accents -- the same look that was used by Mego forty years earlier.

UNIFORM

The orange top of Aquaman's bodysuit has a traditional neckline instead of the turtleneck that we see on many of the other figures from the Mattel retro-action series. As per the silver-age design of the character that Mattel went with, the traditional neckline was a requirement to achieve that look.

A fish chainmail pattern as is typically seen in Aquaman comic books is printed in black over the orange material.

As with all of the other characters from Mattel in the retro-action series, Aquaman has no removable gloves like were seen on the old Mego figures. Instead, his hands are molded out of green plastic and matching green leather-like cuffs on the forearms.

In most cases for Mattel, these cuffs don't work well. Aquaman is no exception to that rule. The contrast of the form-fitting bodysuit against this stiff material which simply creates a tube around the forearm just doesn't work well. While Mego's oven mitts weren't the best solution either, they did mimic the fin look that we've come to know so well from the silver-age Aquaman comic books.

A nice inclusion with the Retro-Action version of Aquaman is the gold trident that you can place in his hand as he sits on his throne. Mattel generally followed the format of Mego with this Aquaman figure. The fins on the back of Aquaman's calves are done the same way as they had been on the Aquaman Mego. That is, a soft vinyl piece cut into the shape of a fin has been stitched into the seam of the green material near each of the calves.

While the yellow belt with "A" is similar, there is no risk of losing the "A" as you would with the Mego Aquaman. This is because the "A" is actually part of the belt itself and not simply a sticker as Mego had done with their version of Aquaman.

Head Sculpt

The Mattel Aquaman head sculpt could be a little bit more inspired. Overall, it's not bad but his expression seems to be very passive and a little less heroic than expected.

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