Tag Archives: Batman: The Animated Series

#0985: Mr. Freeze

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , ,

MR. FREEZE

BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES (KENNER)

FreezeBTAS1

There’s no denying that Batman: The Animated Series is probably the greatest comic book adaptation in the history of comic book adaptations, and it’s also one of the greatest things to come out of the ‘90s. While the show as a whole was always very high quality, there are definitely some episodes that stand out above the rest. My two favorite episodes of the show’s run are “On Leather Wings” and “Heart of Ice” (which, no small coincidence, were both animated by Spectrum Animation, a sadly short-lived studio that produced some of the best animation ever seen on Saturday morning TV). “On Leather Wings” was the debut episode, which perfectly set the tone of the show. “Heart of Ice” comes later in the first season, but is just as defining an episode, taking a second-string Batman villain and turning him into one of the mythos’ greatest characters. I speak, of course, of Mr. Freeze, who is the subject of today’s review.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

FreezeBTAS2Mr. Freeze was released in Series 3 of Kenner’s Batman: The Animated Series line, based on his appearance in the above noted episode, “Heart of Ice.” Despite that being the story that elevated Mr. Freeze to the public eye, this is actually the third Mr. Freeze figure to be released, following the Super Powers and DC Super Heroes versions (though, if you want to get technical, those two are almost the same figure). The figure stands 5 inches tall and he has 4 points of articulation (it’s possible there’s an articulated neck, but since the dome isn’t removable, it’s not ever moving). He’s based on Freeze’s initial animated appearance, which, in my opinion, is the superior of the two. Kenner was known for tending to approximate the animated looks, without getting them dead-on. Freeze actually fairs quite a bit better than most of the figures Kenner put out. The head’s a little on the large side, but it’s a pretty much perfect recreation otherwise. Likewise, the body is overall quite solid, with the only real downside being the very skinny arms featured. That being said, they don’t look terrible, and the figure as a whole recreates the look very nicely. Freeze’s paint is pretty straight forward, but that’s to be expected with the animated designs. The colors are a very good match for the show, and the application is generally pretty clean. Freeze was packed with his freeze gun, which was connected to an over-sized version of his cold-tank.  The tank could be filled with water, and when squeezed, the water would shoot out of the freeze gun. Not a perfect effect, but not bad.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Okay, I don’t know for sure, but I’m fairly certain that this Mr. Freeze was the first Batman rogue I ever owned. My dad got him for me not long after I saw “Heart of Ice” for the first time. This figure went a lot of places with me, including a trip to Gettysburg with my dad and Mr. Freeze himself, Michael Ansara. He also got stuck on the roof of my house once, through no fault of my own.  This is probably one of my favorite figures I own, mostly for sentimental value.

#0955: Bane

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , ,

BANE

BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES (KENNER)

BaneBTAS1

One of Batman: The Animated Series’ greatest successes was condensing Batman’s rich, 50-year history into one easy to follow, cohesive show. This involved taking characters from all eras of Batman’s history and making them all fit with the show’s art deco style. For the most part, they managed this task pretty well. However, there were a few that slipped through the cracks. At the time of the series’ debut, Bane was a very new addition to the comics, but he was a fairly popular one, so he made his way into the show. Unfortunately, the producers had a bit of trouble working Bane into the show’s style, resulting in a rather goofy interpretation of the character, true to neither the original character nor the show itself. Nevertheless, that version of Bane got a toy in Kenner’s tie-in line, resulting in Bane’s very first action figure, which I’ll be looking at today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

BaneBTAS2Bane was released in Series 5 of Kenner’s Batman: The Animated Series line. He was one of two new villains in the line, alongside Killer Croc, which is actually kind of appropriate, seeing as Croc featured prominently in Bane’s first appearance. The figure is 5 ½ inches tall and has 5 points of articulation. Due to his swinging action feature, the shoulders move as one, however, with careful posing, they can be moved independently from each other. This figure is based on Bane’s single B:TAS appearance, in the episode “Bane.” It’s similar to his original comics appearance, but the luchador themes have been played waaaaay up, which severely reduces his intimidation factor. The sculpt does, at the very least, do a nice job of translating the show design into three dimensions. In fact, it’s probably one of the most faithful sculpts that Kenner ever produced. His arms are a bit pre-posed in order to facilitate his throwing feature, so they’re slightly out of whack when he isn’t holding anything. That being said, it’s not awful looking. He just looks a bit like he’s sorry for interrupting somebody’s conversation. His legs also seem a bit on the short side, especially when compared to the arms. However, this was somewhat common for the line, so Bane doesn’t really look super out of place. Bane’s paint is actually pretty solid. The colors are pretty bold, so he really pops, and the application is pretty solid. Bane originally included a bent section of girder, which he could “throw,” but mine doesn’t have his.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Bane is a recent addition to my collection. At Balticon last weekend, one of the dealers had a large box full of loose figures. I believe they had purchased someone’s collection. Anyway, they were $2 each, so I ended up fishing out 15 of them to purchase. Bane was the only DC figure in the lot. Since I never got one back in the ‘90s, I was actually pretty happy to find him. Yeah, it’s a goofy design, and yeah, it’s a rather goofy figure. But I still really like this guy. He’s really not bad.

#0942: Batman

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , ,

BATMAN

BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES (McDONALD’S)

BatmanMcD1

I’ve looked a number of different types of action figures over the course of my over-900 reviews for this site, but the one type of figure I haven’t looked at so far is the “Happy Meal” figure. More often than not (and increasingly in recent years), toys included with happy meals and the like are kind of lame and in no way compare to anything you might actually buy in a store. However, every so often, there’s one or two of these guys that doesn’t totally suck. Today, I’ll be looking one of the ones that doesn’t suck: Batman!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

BatmanMcD2Batman was part of a set of 1993 McDonald’s Happy Meal toys, which were used as a promotion for Batman: The Animated Series. There were 8 toys offered; half were proper figures and half were weird car things. The figure is roughly 3 inches tall and he has 4 points of articulation. He had a unique sculpt, technically based on the appearance of Batman in the initial seasons of Batman: The Animated Series, though a few liberties have been taken. Mostly, it’s proportional stuff. For instance, his arms are about the same length as his legs, which is, you know, a bit off. His head is also a bit on the large side, and rather oddly shaped. Honestly, he looks more like a weirdly shaped child in a Batman costume than he does the actual Batman. He’s definitely sporting a slightly off build. As far as details go, Batman’s fairly simple, but that’s not far off from the show design, so that’s good, I guess. Also, the cape is a separate piece, and it’s worth noting that it doesn’t have the usual scallops. His paintwork is actually not bad, especially given the source of the figure. The colors are a decent enough match to the show, and all of the appropriate details are there (which is better than can be said of some much more expensive figures). Batman had no accessories, but that’s not hugely surprising, given the figure himself is more or less an accessory for fast food.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I actually didn’t get this guy from a Happy Meal (well, not one of my own, anyway). My dad brought this guy home with him one day. Presumably, he got one during lunch that day. Anyway, I know he got him for me and I’ve held onto him for all this time. He’s not a super great figure, but he’s also not bad, especially given his origins.

#0863: Batman & Phantasm

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , ,

BATMAN & PHANTASM

BATMAN: ANIMATED (DCC)

Batman&Phantasm1

Batman definitely holds the record for number of theatrical films based on a single superhero. It’s not a huge surprise, given the character’s mass appeal. There have been a whole lot of tries at doing the character justice on the big screen, and exactly which one is the “best” is very much up for debate. I must admit, I cheat a bit when asked what my favorite theatrical Batman movie is, my answer is always Batman: Mask of the Phantasm. A lot of people forget about this one (due to lots of people writing it off based solely on its animated nature), but for me it’s the best Batman movie by far. Seriously, if you haven’t seen it, you really should. Like right now. Go watch it. No seriously, Imma spoil stuff and I don’t wanna ruin it for you. I’ll wait. Anyway, as an extension of Batman: The Animated Series, the film’s been privy to a few figures here and there, including getting a two-pack courtesy of DC Collectibles’ current line.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Batman and the Phantasm were released as part of the Batman: Animated line in mid-December of last year. Both figures are exclusive to this particular set.

BATMAN

Batman&Phantasm2Faithful readers will no doubt find this figure somewhat familiar. Yep, I’ve taken a look at most of this figure before, back when I looked at the single-packed Batman from Series 4 of the main line. Since Batman’s design from the movie is identical to that of the show, it’s a sensible re-use, though it’s a bit frustrating to people who picked up the earlier figure and still want the Phantasm (like me). From the neck down, this figure is 100% the same as that figure. The proportions are still more or less spot-on, but he’s greatly hindered by the lack of swivel joints at the tops of his boots. The main difference between the two figures is the head. This version is a bit more expressive, with gritted teeth and eyes opened wider. It’s also a much better attempt at the design. The head’s a little wider, the eyes are bigger, and the jaw’s squarer, which all results in a generally better looking end-product. The paint is more or less the same. I did find the general application to be a bit cleaner this time around, but your mileage may vary. Another change between the two figures is the accessory complement. This figure only gets the batarang, a pair of hands for holding the batarang, a pair of fists, and a display stand. The stand is mostly the same as the prior one, but trades the B:TAS logo for a Mask of the Phantasm one.

PHANTASM

Batman&Phantasm3Now we get to the real draw of the set. The Phantasm was actually not a wholly original creation of the film, but was instead a retooled version of the villain Reaper from the “Batman: Year Two” storyline from the comics. The less said about the original story the better. The figure stands just over 6 ½ inches tall and has 23 points of articulation. This marks only the second time the Phantasm has appeared in plastic form. The first time, the figure was given a removable hood and scythe, allowing for (20 YEAR OLD SPOILER!!!!!!) her to double as an Andrea Beaumont figure. Since the two designs in the film are purposefully dissimilar, this meant compromising the appearance of the Phantasm in order to have a decent Andrea. This figure foregoes any sort of Andrea connection, and instead opts to present the Phantasm in as screen accurate a manner as possible. Well, in theory, anyway. The end result is pretty good but a bit shy of perfect. Let’s talk about what works first. The underlying head is great, are both hands/gloves. The body is generally decent. It’s not a perfect match, but Phantasm’s proportions changed a bit in the movie, so it’s forgivable. Even the base of the cape isn’t too bad. What hold’s this figure back is the hood. In the film, it has a very distinct, very sharp look about it. Here, it’s a soft rubber piece, attached to the rest of the cape. It ends up being kind of shapeless and too soft. I think it would have looked much better had it been separate from the cape and attached to the head, ala the smaller scale Kylo Rens that Hasbro’s released. As it stands, this doesn’t look atrocious (especially if viewed from a slight angle) but it could have been a lot better. Also, the quality of the rubber used for the cape/hood is a bit questionable, and it feels like it’s already starting to deteriorate, which isn’t super comforting. The paint on the Phantasm is pretty simple, but not bad. The various details are all pretty clean, and she’s appropriately mono-chromatic, so that’s good. The figure includes two hands, one in a fist and one in an open gesture, as well as a display stand. That seems a little light, and I certainly wouldn’t have minded some sort of piece to show off her ghostly gas cloud thingy.

Batman&Phantasm4

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I picked this set up from my local comic book store, Cosmic Comix, in early January. I had actually seen it at another store in December, but passed on it for a number of reasons. While I don’t feel the set is as strong as it could have been, I’m glad I have it. Batman’s a definite improvement over the single-release, and the Phantasm is a sound addition to the line. Now, how about a follow up set with an unmasked Phantasm and a battle-damaged Joker?

#0816: Batman & Two-Face

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , , ,

BATMAN & TWO-FACE

BATMAN (MATTEL)

BatsTwoFaceMatt1

For day 15 of the Post-Christmas reviews, I’ll be taking a step back to a few years, and actually looking at a Mattel product. Weird, right? In 2002, the DC license moved to Mattel from Hasbro (who had inherited it via their buyout of former holder Kenner), marking the first time in over a decade that the license had formally changed hands. It was something of a quick change, resulting in Hasbro being unable to release some of the product they had designed beforehand. When Mattel took over, they ended up making use of some of these already existing designs (which were all Batman-related), releasing them as a quick, one and done line of two-packs, each containing Batman and a supporting player. That wasn’t enough, apparently, as they also occasionally trotted the figures out for re-release over the years, usually single-packed and with wonky color schemes. Today, I’ll be looking at a pair of figures from one of those re-releases.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Batman and Two-Face were released in 2008, in a line simply branded Batman. I should specify here that they were both single releases, which I’m just reviewing as a pair here for my own convenience. There was also a Joker figure in the set, which I don’t have.

BATMAN

BatsTwoFaceMatt3First up is Batman. Not just any Batman, though! No, this here is a wacky variant Batman! The figure stands just shy of 5 inches tall and has 5 points of articulation. The sculpt is based on the New Batman Adventures version of Batman. It’s not a terrible recreation of the design, but I don’t think it’s quite as good as the prior Kenner version of the design, and it’s definitely not as good as the recent DCC version. However, it’s still a pretty decent sculpt, and it’s clear which version of Batman this is supposed to be. Plus, it’s got a much more natural pose than the Kenner version, which is a nice change. Wait, didn’t I say this was a wacky variant Batman? Why, yes I did! That all comes from the paint. Instead of the traditional grey for the body, he has this odd orange/silver thing. It’s not based on any particular look or anything, just random orange and silver Batman. How ‘bout that? The paint is decently applied, for what it’s worth, so there’s that. Batman included no accessories, just like all of the other Batmen who used this same exact mold.

TWO-FACE

BatsTwoFaceMatt2So, Batman was a wacky variant, but Two-Face is an actual adapted design, right? Not really, no. But that’s okay! Because toys! Like Batman, this figure stands about 5 inches tall and has 5 points of articulation. It’s worth noting that this guy feels like he’s just a bit smaller-scaled than Batman, which is especially notable when you compare head sizes. The sculpt is also based on his New Batman Adventures design, and it’s not quite as strong as Batman’s. It’s not terrible, and the body in particular is a pretty decent Timm-style suit sculpt (which is probably why Mattel ended up using a tweaked version of it several times in their JLU line). The head is pretty off, and it has a really obvious mold line running along the chin, which looks pretty bad. The paintwork is kind of interesting. It’s definitely not show-accurate, but it’s also not quite as out there as Batman, since it isn’t all that far-removed from some of his classic color-schemes from the comics. That actual application is reasonable enough. The colors are pretty vibrant, and most of the paint stays in the lines, which is nice. Two-Face also doesn’t include any accessories, but he does have his coin sculpted in his hand, so at least he isn’t totally lacking.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Batman and Two-Face were given to me for Christmas by my Super Awesome Girlfriend. And where did she find these 8 year old action figures? Some second hand store? Nope, it was CVS of all places. I was genuinely shocked by that. Neither of them are particularly standout figures, but they kind of a nifty throwback to the wacky variants of old, and I was happy to receive them.

#0814: The Riddler

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , ,

THE RIDDLER

BATMAN: ANIMATED (DCC)

RiddlerAn1

Well, we’re steadily making our way through the Post-Christmas gift reviews. Today marks day 13, which means we’re the majority of the way through the stuff I got this year. I’ll be going back the super hero pool again today, with another figure from the current Batman: Animated line by DC Collectibles. Last time, I looked at one of Batman’s allies; this time, I’ll be looking at one of his more recurrent foes, the Riddler!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

RiddlerAn2Riddler is figure #14 in the Batman: Animated line. This places him with the Series 4 figures, though his actual release was during the onslaught of series 3, 4, and 5 figures, so the whole numbering thing is rather arbitrary. Riddler is based on his original series look (a totally sensible choice, given that The Riddler never got more than a cameo appearance in TNA, and the design wasn’t very well received), specifically from the episode “Riddler’s Reform,” which is probably his best appearance in the show. The figure is 6 ½ inches tall and has 20 points of articulation. He’s somewhat similar in construction to Two-Face, though the styling of the suit is obviously a bit different. The sculpt does a pretty reasonable job of translating his design from the show. It’s better from some angles than others, but there are a few things that are just off. The pelvis is a bit too low-set (a recurring problem with these figures), and the neck is just a touch on the long side. Other than that, the figure makes for a pretty great translation from 2D to 3D. The head in particular is a fantastic piece, and I love getting a figure with such a unique expression. Riddler’s paint is nice and clean, probably some of the cleanest the line has exhibited. There’s a little bit of bleed over on the pocket square, but that’s really the only notable issue, which is pretty fantastic for a figure in this day and age. Riddler includes his cane, a Wacko Toys display, three pairs of hands (fists, gripping, and relaxed), and a display stand with his control art. The toy display is the only piece that is really “Riddler’s Reform”-specific, but it also happens to be the coolest extra included (at least by my standards).

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Despite getting most of the other figures in this line, my local comic book store never got Riddler in stock. Fortunately for me, my parents picked him up for me and gave him to me for Christmas, which made me quite happy. Riddler turned out very well, even surprisingly well for this line. He has no glaring issues, and he comes with some pretty awesome extras. I think he’s probably the second best figure I’ve gotten from the line, after the surprisingly impressive Bane.

RiddlerAn3

#0811: Batgirl

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , ,

BATGIRL

BATMAN: ANIMATED (DCC)

BatgirlAn1

For day 10 of my Post-Christmas gift reviews, I’ll be moving away from the mostly sci-fi based reviews of the last nine days and going back to the subset of action figures I am most comfortable with: Superheroes!

Barbra Gordon as Batgirl didn’t appear till the tail end of the original run of Batman: The Animated Series, but all three of the episodes in which she appeared were pretty well-received with both the fan base and the creative team behind the series. When the series came back as The New Batman Adventures, Batgirl was given a much larger role, and in fact appeared in the majority of the show’s episodes. So, it’s not a huge surprise that DC Collectibles’ first figure of the animated incarnation of the character comes from her later appearances.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

BatgirlAn2Batgirl was released as part of DC Collectibles’ Batman: Animated line. She’s figure 18 in the line, which places her in the fifth series of the line. The figure is about 5 ½ inches tall and has 25 points of articulation. As I noted in the intro, she’s based on her New Adventures design, which itself is a pretty straight adaptation of her original comics design. The costume has of course been tailored to fit the more stylized nature if Timm’s New Adventures character designs, which includes streamlining of the belt and boots. It’s definitely a solid piece of design work. Batgirl’s sculpt shares a number of stylistic similarities with Poison Ivy, due to their builds being quite similar in the show, but it doesn’t appear that the two figures share any actual sculpted pieces. The overall quality of the sculpt is quite good, and she definitely looks like her onscreen counterpart. She also doesn’t seem to have the same huge noggin issues that Ivy did, though that may be to do with her not having Ivy’s rather large chunk of hair. The proportions I general are pretty well-balanced, and the joints and such are all worked in rather nicely. Batgirl’s paint is pretty much on par with the paint BatgirlAn4we’ve seen on the rest of the figures. It’s a little rough around the edges of her mask, as well as the change from yellow to blue on the cape, but the overall appearance is pretty solid. Batgirl includes a batarang, 10 extra hands (2 fists, 2 gripping, 2 loose grip, 2 relaxed, and one for holding the batarang), a bat-grapple, a hand holding the grapple, and a display stand. They’re all pretty good, except for one thing: the grapple on the hand with it sculpted in place is completely unpainted. I don’t know if this is contained to just my figure or if it’s a wide spread problem, but it’s quite obvious and rather annoying.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Batgirl was given to me this Christmas by my parents. She was a figure I was quite looking forward to (she and Nightwing were my two favorite characters from New Adventures). Like just about every figure in the Batman: Animated line, she is not without her flaws. However, she’s a pretty well put together figure, and a lot of fun.

BatgirlAn3

#0792: Nightwing

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , ,

NIGHTWING

BATMAN: ANIMATED (DC COLLECTIBLES)

NightwingTNA1

Okay, now I’m remembering why I don’t do long strings of reviews of figures from the same line: I always run out of things to say! It’s made even worse by the fact that I kind of covered the basics of today’s focus character, Nightwing, back when I looked at my very first figure of the character for my two year milestone. So, yeah…

Anyway, when The New Batman Adventures came along, all of the characters got redesigns. I already noted that the show’s Robin was a whole new character. So what happened to the former Robin Dick Grayson? He got to take on his comics identity of Nightwing, which meant he got one of the most drastic redesigns of any of the characters. It happens to be one of my favorites from TNBA, and it just recently got a figure from DC Collectibles’ Batman: Animated line.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

NightwingTNA4Nightwing is number 19 in the Batman: Animated line and he’s part of the line’s fifth series, which he actually shipped alongside. He stands 5 ¾ inches tall and has 24 points of articulation. He is, thankfully, taller than his BTAS counterpart (though not by a whole lot), however, he ends up losing a couple of points of articulation, which have quite an impact on what you can do with the figure, posing-wise. The most glaring omission is that of any sort of lateral movement on the legs, which causes him to be quite pigeon-toed. This is the same issue that plagued the BTAS Batman, and it’s really frustrating to see it show up again. Fortunately, Nightwing’s ankles are pointed a bit more outward, so it’s less glaring of an issue. Nightwing is based on his appearance in the episode “You Scratch My Back,” which is one of Nightwing’s more prominent episodes in the series, so it makes sense. The figure’s sculpt is frustratingly mixed in terms of quality. The head is nothing short of amazing. It’s a pitch-perfect translation of his look from the show, horribly-dated mullet and all. It’s sharp and clean, and all the angles are just right. His body is overall well built, but marred by a couple of glaring issues. First off, there’s the feet; while his feet are certainly small in the show, they weren’t that small. There smaller than Tim Drake’s feet for Pete’s sake! The real standout issue for me, though, is the logo. On the show, it was a totally flat logo, with no NightwingTNA6silhouette , as if it were silk-screened onto his costume.  Here, it’s a separate raised piece, jutting out a good millimeter from the rest of his chest. Not only is this inaccurate to the show, but it looks pretty goofy too, and it detracts from the elegant simplicity of the design. Why they opted to do it that way is beyond me. Nightwing is pretty light on paint, but what’s there (which is pretty much entirely confined to the face) is pretty good. The figure is packed with a pair of binoculars, a “night-a-rang” (just go with it….), four pairs of hands (fists, night-a-rang holding, gripping, and relaxed), and a display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Nightwing is one of my favorite designs from the animated shows, and was one of my favorite characters too, so I was eagerly awaiting his induction into DCC’s current line. When the prototype was shown off, I was less than impressed, but hopeful that he would improve like a lot of the others in the line. When I saw him in person at Cosmic Comix, I liked him enough to pick him up. When I took him out of the box, I was a fair bit let down, especially by the articulation. In fact, I kind of thought this would end up being a rather negative review. Then, I left him on my desk for about a week, and occasionally played with the figure while doing other things, and by the time he came up for review, I’d actually found myself really liking him, a lot more than I initially had. Sure, he’s not the standout figure that Bane is, but he’s also not the disappointment that BTAS Bats was for me.

NightwingTNA7

#0791: Bane

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , ,

BANE

BATMAN: ANIMATED (DC COLLECTIBLES)

BaneTNA1

Bane was a relatively new addition to the Batman rogues gallery at the time of Batman: The Animated Series, but that didn’t prevent him from finding himself a spot on the show, even if he did only have a small handful of appearances. Though the character was always thoroughly intimidating in the comics, that didn’t really translate to his initial appearance on the show, which turned him into little more than a steroid-addicted masked wrestler, who ended up defeated in a rather laughable way. Fortunately, the creators were aware of their missteps, and when the show returned under the New Adventures of Batman monicker, Bane got an all-new, more imposing character design, and a much better debut appearance. So, it’s not much of a shock that DCC opted to go for the second version of the character for his figure in their Batman: Animated line.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

BaneTNA2Bane is part of the fifth series of the Batman: Animated line. He’s number 18 in the line. The figure stands roughly 7 ¼ tall and has 27 points of articulation. Bane’s quite a bit bigger than the other figures in the line, which gives him quite the presence on the shelf. In addition, he has some of the smoothest joint movement I’ve seen from this line, which makes posing the guy a lot of fun. The addition of a mid-torso joint really adds alot to this figure, and I kind of hope DCC uses that style of joint a bit more in the future. As noted in the intro, this figure is based on Bane’s TNBA design, and is specifically drawn from his appearance in “Over the Edge,” which was his primary appearance in the second iteration of the show. Bane’s sculpt does a pretty phenomenal job of translating his design into three dimensions. It’s one of those rare occasions where he looks right from almost every angle, which shows some serious dedication to the figure. The joints are also incredibly well worked into the sculpt, so he looks pretty good from an aesthetic standpoint. Bane’s paintwork is mostly pretty good overall. There’s some slop here and there, but BaneTNA3nothing too bad. The colors are muted, as they were in the original design. The reflections on the mask are handled via simple painted details, which add a nice bit of style to the figure without looking too specific to any one shot of the character. Bane is packed with four pairs of hands (fists, closed gesture, open gesture, and gripping) and a display stand. That’s a little less than some of the other figures, but more than acceptable given the size of the figure.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Bane was another purchase from Cosmic Comix, though I actually got him at full price. I wasn’t sure about whether or not I’d be getting Bane, but I was really impressed by the look of him in person, and even more impressed by just how awesome the figure is out of the box. He’s easily the best figure that DCC has produced in this line, and I really hope that subsequent figures can live up to him.

BaneTNA4

#0790: Penguin

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , ,

PENGUIN

BATMAN: ANIMATED (DCC)

PenguinAnimated1

While the majority of character designs from Batman: The Animated Series stuck pretty close to the classic designs for the characters, there’s no denying that the series in general took some lead from the live action Batman films of the late ‘80s/early ‘90s. While the characterization of the Penguin was definitely his classic stuck-up, high-society, aristocratic personality of his classic comic appearances, his design was a mid-way point between the classic look and the Danny Devito version of the character from Batman Returns.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

PenguinAnimated2Penguin is the 15th figure in DCC’s Batman: Animated line, which technically makes him a part of Series 4 of the line, though the actual layout of releases doesn’t really seem to following any actual order or anything. The figure is a little over 4 inches tall and he has 15 points of articulation. While he’s only got 15 points of articulation, the range of movement on this figure is pretty impressive, given his build. According to the packaging materials, he’s based on the character’s appearance in “The Strange Secret of Bruce Wayne.” That’s kind of an odd choice, seeing as Hugo Strange is that episodes primary antagonist and Penguin’s role is little more than a glorified cameo, but whatever. Penguin’s appearance in The Animated Series is rather fluid; the guy looks fairly different from various angles. That makes rendering him in three dimensions no easy feat. The figure’s sculpt does make an honest attempt at properly translating. The results aren’t half bad, but he still looks a bit odd from certain angles. And the hair is PenguinAnimated4pretty off, which I think is one of the things throwing the whole figure off. Still, the overall result is nice and clean, and sums up the character quite nicely. The figure’s paintwork is probably some of the best I’ve seen from this line, which definitely does a lot for the figure. The monocle being actually see-through is technically not accurate, since it was always opaque on the show, but it looks cool enough that I definitely won’t be complaining. Penguin’s accessory complement is actually pretty awesome. He gets his signature umbrella in both open and closed looks, a teacup, a spoon, three pairs of hands (fists, gripping, and open), and a display stand, which is amusing because he’s too wide at the waist to actually use it.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Like the last two Batman: Animated figures I’ve reviewed, Penguin was purchased from Cosmic Comix during their Biggest Sale of the YearTM. I’m not the biggest fan of the Penguin, so I wasn’t really sure I’d be getting this figure, especially since the prototype shots weren’t the greatest. But, the reduced price, coupled with him looking a fair bit better in person, led me to pick him up. I’m glad I did, because I think he’s one of the nicer figures from the line. Let’s hope more figures in the line end up like him.

PenguinAnimated5