Marvel has always seemed to dominate the 3.75 inch action figure category. Along with the popular Marvel Universe toy line, about every Marvel Cinematic Universe film has had it's own 3.75 inch toy line.
Unfortunately, DC hasn't had the best fortune when it comes to good toy lines in this scale. There have been numerous lines, some better than others, but none too great.
DC Universe Infinite Heroes
DC Infinite Heroes is a smaller version of the DC Universe line. The toy line has one-hundred some figures and is very diverse in the DC universe. I wouldn't consider myself a die-hard DC fan, but there were still very few figures I wanted from this line. Even if there were figures I wanted, I always had an extremely hard time finding any figures that I even recognized.
The figures themselves are fairly detailed, but lack articulation and accessories. The line definitely got better as it progressed, as most do, but even then it wasn't spectacular. I had planned on tracking down some figures I wanted from eBay, but after my first few I decided it simply wasn't worth it.
Green Lantern
To coincide with the film, there was a 3.75 inch toy line for Green Lantern released. This seemed like a no-brainer, as there are tons of these Green Lantern characters, so the possibilities are endless even without considering villains! Unfortunately, these figures are simply awful. The articulation includes their arms at the shoulder, their legs at the waist, and a little waist swivel. They are equivalent to Power of the Force 2 figures from the 1990s. This becomes a trend for DC figures unfortunately. I saw these figures clogging shelves at my local stores for years.
The Dark Knight Rises
This set of DC figures is based the film of the same name. I thought the Green Lantern figures were bad, but this was shocking. Their first mistake was the articulation. This time around, we lost the waist articulation. It's just sad, they aren't even trying. Their second mistake was the variety of figures. There is Bane and Batman, then a bunch of repaints of Batman. I guess if it is making them money, I get it from their stand-point, but I wish they would have tried, even a little.
Man of Steel
With Man of Steel, they fixed one major mistake. These figures have a little more articulation than the previous movie toy lines. They have shoulder joints! This line mainly consists of Zod and a punch of Superman variations, but they do include some kind of cool accessories. I really had to convince myself not to buy a few of these. I wanted them, but I knew they would only lead to disappointment.
DC Injustice: Gods Among Us
Now finally a line worth collecting! With the release of the fighting game of the same name, these action figures began being released in two packs. They are extremely articulate and very detailed. I would say they are almost on par with Marvel Universe figures. Unfortunately, they are kind of brittle. While not a huge problem, they are also wearing their Injustice costumes, which seem kind of strange, but it's still the best version of most of these figures in this scale.
DC Multiverse Figures
DC recently announced a new line of "multiverse" figures. It apparently will consist of DC characters from TV, movies, comics, and video games. It's extremely exciting to see a decent Batman! These figures should be out soon. The first wave consists of straight Batman figures, but apparently each wave will be different. Sounds perfect to me. Here are some details on the first wave:
