Tag Archives: DC

#0668: Batgirl

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

BATGIRL

BATMAN’66 (MATTEL)

Batgirl66a

I’m sure that a fair portion of my readership has heard about the passing of Yvonne Craig on Wednesday.  For those unaware, she was the actress who played Barbra Gordon/Batgirl on the live action Batman show from the 60s, along with plenty of other roles.  In honor of her, I’ll be taking a look at the Batgirl figure from Mattel’s Batman ’66 line, who was just recently released, almost two years after the rest of the line, due to rights issues.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Batgirl66bBatgirl was released two ways, both through Toys R Us.  She was released solo as a SDCC 2015 exclusive and more widely as part of a three pack with Batman and Robin from the 60s show.  This particular version is the one from the three pack, though the differences in the actual figure are negligible.  The figure is just shy of 6 inches tall and has 23 points of articulation.  The articulation on this figure feels a little outmoded and rudimentary, but, in Mattel’s defense, it keeps her stylistically the same as the rest of the Batman ’66 line.  Take of that what you will.  The Batman ’66 line was mostly without re-use for sculpts, but it’s a Mattel line, so some was bound to show up eventually.  Batgirl uses the upper arms and upper legs of the line’s take on Catwoman. They’re basic enough that it’s not immediately evident that they’re re-used, so that’s good.  The rest of the sculpt is new to this figure.  It’s decent, if not jaw dropping.  The head’s the best piece for sure.  It’s a pretty great likeness of Yvonne Craig, and it fits in really nicely with the other sculpts in the line.  The body sculpt is a little lower quality than the head.  It’s not bad, and there are some really great bits of texture on the gloves and the body suit stitching.  However, the proportions are a little bit off; the arms and legs are really long and lanky and the torso seems oddly long.  Also, the articulation isn’t really worked in very well, so it stands out pretty badly in certain areas.  On the plus side, it seems that Mattel has stepped up to the plate on paintwork in the lull between figures.  Batgirl’s paint is a fair bit nicer than what we saw on the first round of ’66 figures, and it avoids the gloppy-ness that plagued a lot of them.  Batgirl’s accessories are a display stand with “Sock!” written on it and a card with a pretty cool Batgirl illustration.  Depending on how you look at it, one could also count Batman and Robin as “accessories” as well, since it’s unlikely that anyone was buying this set purely for them.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Confession time: this isn’t my figure.  It’s actually my Dad’s.  You know, I’ve reviewed four Batman ’66 figures on this site and three of them have been owned by other people.  I swear I have my own Batman ’66 collection!  In fact, that’s actually why I don’t have this figure.  Since I’ve already got the Batman and Robin included in this set, they add no value for me, and $55 is a bit steep for a single figure.  If I’m honest, Batgirl’s probably the best figure to come out of this line.  Sadly, she’s still a Mattel figure, which means there’s some definite room for improvement.

Batgirl66c

#0663: Power Swing Superman

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

POWER SWING SUPERMAN

SUPERMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES

PowerSwingSM1

When you are creating an entire line of action figures based on a property with one defined look for your main character, the only way to keep the main character at the forefront, logically, is to release a bunch of variants of that character. Sometimes, they’ll be authentic designs from the source material (such as many of Hasbro’s recent ML Spider-Men) or a practical extension of their basic look (like Iron Man). Other times, they’ll just be completely made up. Enter Power Swing Superman.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

PowerSwingSM2Power Swing Superman was part of the fourth series of Kenner’s Superman: The Animated Series line. This series is significant because it wasn’t carried by conventional US retailers. Instead, it hit in Europe first. The series didn’t make it to the States until it was offered by Diamond Distributers a few months later. So, there’s that story. The figure stands 5 inches in height and has 6 points of articulation (though his waist swivel is limited by the action feature). Now, where, you might ask, did this figure’s costume originate? Some one episode look, or perhaps an obscure Elseworlds story? Nope, it came straight from the minds of the toy designers. Yes, this costume is totally made up for the figure, though it is notable that this figure removed the signature red shorts over a decade before the New 52 redesign made it canon. The line never really stuck to the show’s style when it came to sculpts, but this figure actually takes it even further, with more defined musculature and an exaggerated pose that wouldn’t look out of place on the dance floor of a disco. While many of the wacky Supermen were sculpted in his traditional garb and painted funky after the fact, this figure’s sculpt actually has details that correspond specifically to this design, which is kinda neat. The best part of the figure is easily the head sculpt, which actually manages to be the most show-accurate sculpt the line ever produced. It’s spot on! The paintwork on the figure is alright, but not great. It sticks to his traditional colors, though placed a bit differently. The colors are nice and vibrant, but the application is spotty. The costume has a lot of bleed over, and the red areas in particular feel like they could use another coat of paint. The head manages to be the best piece once again, avoiding the bleed over and actually doing a very nice job on the eyes. The figure included a large piece of pipe for him to hold, as well as a miniaturized version of Luthor’s exo-suit from the pilot episode. Also, his waist is spring-loaded, allowing him to “swing” the pipe at the exo-suit and “demolish” it. It’s not high-end or anything, but it’s amusing.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Power Swing Superman was one of my many purchases from Yesterday’s Fun whilst on vacation this year. I had actually always been intrigued by this guy, but I’d never seen him in person. So, when I came across him, I snatched him up quickly. He’s definitely goofy, but I really enjoy him.

PowerSwingSM3

#0649: Ninja Talon

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

NINJA TALON

BATMAN VS. ROBIN (DCC)

Talon1

When DC Comics did their New 52 changeover in the comics, they also decided to do a similar restructuring with their line of animated movies. I’ve seen several of the new continuity movies, and, while I like them more than the comics they’re based on, they still leave me cold. Their most recent animated Batman film was Batman vs. Robin, which was (loosely) based on the New 52 storyline The Court of Owls. It’s hardly my favorite animated Batman movie, but it was at the very least an improvement on its predecessor Son of Batman, so that’s good. DC Collectibles is still handling the toys for these movies, and they released one of the film’s faceless baddies, Ninja Talon.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Talon2Ninja Talon was released as part of DC Collectibles’ Batman vs. Robin line. Actually, he’s the entirety of the line. Seriously, he’s the only figure they released from the movie. He doesn’t even get his own packaging! The back of the card is just the Justice League: Throne of Atlantis backing! He’s not even pictured! Poor guy’s so lonely. So, it’s worth noting that there are a few Talons in the movie. There’s a main guy named Talon and then an army of voiceless, personality void Talons. This is one of the latter. The figure stands roughly 6 ½ inches tall and has 15 points of articulation. The figure is built on the basic smaller animated male body, like we saw on Green Lantern, along with a new head and forearms, and add-ons for the belt/knives. The basic body does a pretty decent job of translating the animated style into three dimensions, and it helps to keep all of the figures consistent. The head and hands are very nicely sculpted parts. They fit seamlessly onto the rest of the body and do a great job of replicating the design from the movie. Ninja Talon’s paintwork isn’t perfect, but it’s pretty good. The switches between gold and grey are somewhat prone to bleed over, but nothing too terrible. I really like the shade of gold used, and the two-toned grey looks very sharp. The figure’s paint looks much better as a whole than Green Lantern and Wonder Woman. It’s nice to see DCC improving on that front. Ninja Talon includes no accessories.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

So, I wasn’t really sure I was going to get this figure. The movie was just alright and I don’t exactly have a lot of attachment to Talon as a character. But, then I saw at a comic store in Bethany Beach and he actually looked pretty cool. I had just bought a bunch of stuff earlier that day, so I figured I’d hold off, and I put him back on the rack. And then he was placed back in my hand. So, I put him back again. And he was placed in my hand again. Seems Super Awesome Girlfriend didn’t want me to put him back, nor did Tim and Jill. So, now I have him. Truth be told, I’m glad they didn’t let me put him back. He’s a pretty fun figure.

#0619: Superman – Red

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

SUPERMAN – RED

JLA: CLASSIFIED

SupermanRed1

Hey, do you remember back about two weeks, when I took a look at Superman Blue? That weird changeup to Superman to help keep him “hip?” Yeah, well, umm, long story short, he got split into two separate beings, and the second one was today’s focus, Superman Red. See, cuz it’s clever, cuz Superman is usually just one guy, who wears red AND blue, but now he’s two guys who each only wear one color. Isn’t that smart? But, of course, they also had slightly different personalities. Can you guess what was Superman Red’s defining trait? If you guessed the incredibly obvious answer of hot-headedness, you win a special no-prize! Good for you! Now, onto the figure!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

SupermanRed2Superman Red was released in the third series of DC Direct’s JLA: Classified line. He directly followed Blue in Series 2. While 2 had a more defined “looks of the 90s” theme to it, Series 3 was a little bit more free-form. The figure is about 6 ½ inches tall and has 13 points of articulation. Like just about every other McGuinness-styled figure, the articulation is mostly pointless, and he’s really only good for a basic standing pose. Superman Red is, completely unsurprisingly, a head to toe repaint of Series 2’s Superman Blue. Seeing as they’re essentially just palate swaps of each other in the comics, you can’t exactly blame DC Direct for just using the same mold. I guess they could have given this one a more emotive face (like Mattel did when they released these two) but it’s hardly a requirement. The head still feels too big for the body, and the arms are still too stubby, but it’s not a terrible sculpt. The paint is the real difference here, though even then it’s pretty much the same, but with red swapped in for blue. The paint does feel a little sharper this time around, and the white details are more properly aligned. Like his blue counterpart, Superman Red’s single accessory is a black display stand with the JLA: Classified logo in blue. Would have been cool to get it in red, just for the heck of it, but I guess they wanted it to be the same as the rest of the line.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Like Superman Blue, Superman Red was from the assortment of figures I picked up during an action figure sale at Cosmic Comix. He was $3. That was most of my reasoning for getting him. Well, that and I was getting Superman Blue. Having both seemed like a good idea. I think Blue is my favorite of the pair, but I like both, and I certainly don’t regret buying them.

SupermanRed3

#0607: Superman – Blue

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

SUPERMAN – BLUE

JLA: CLASSIFIED

SupermanBlue1

The 90s were weird. Like, for everyone. Marvel had their whole shoulder pads and pouches thing going on, which is one of those things we’d all like to forget now. DC was getting in on the weirdness too, and few characters got hit as much as Superman. First he died and got replaced with four “x-treme” takes on the mythos. Then he came back, but he was different and he had a mullet. Then he lost the mullet, but the sun also got blotted out, preventing him access to his solar-based powers. The only logical solution was to convert his powers to electricity. That’s just obvious. Anyway, the result was Superman Blue, a radical departure from the Superman we all knew and loved. He didn’t really stick around for long, but he had a rather distinctive design, which did build up a rather decent fan following, resulting in a few action figures over the years. Let’s take a look at the most recent version!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

SupermanBlue2Superman Blue was released as part of the second series of DC Direct’s JLA: Classified line. All of the figures in the series were based on looks from the 90s, so Superman fit in pretty well. The figure stands roughly 6 ½ inches tall and features 13 points of articulation. Due to the nature of the sculpt and how the articulation was implemented, most of the articulation is ultimately pointless, and the figure’s only real pose is a basic standing one. The JLA: Classified line worked as a companion line to the four assortments of Ed McGuinness-styled Superman/Batman figures produced not long before. So, Superman Blue is presented here in Ed McGuinness’s style, though I’m not sure that McGuinness ever actually drew Superman Blue. Admittedly, it’s a style that works pretty well for the design, so I can’t really complain. Most of the McG-styled figures made use of a lot of the same pieces, and Superman Blue is no exception. He gets a brand new head, but from the neck down he’s a straight re-use of the basic McG body first used for Captain Atom. It’s not a terrible body, but it’s not without its flaws either. It’s definitely well-defined, and in keeping with a lot of McG’s illustrations, but the arms are definitely way too stubby. The head is a pretty decent sculpt; it matches up pretty well with the regular McG Superman, but it’s got a slightly more smug expression, which at the very least adds some variety. The character’s spiky electric hair is quite nicely conveyed, and the head-band-thingy is appropriately sharp and clean. The only real issue is that the head is just a tad too big for the body. The paintwork is alright; the blue and white are appropriately bold, and the figure definitely stands out. However, the application of the white areas is a little uneven, and the elements on the arms and legs which should mirror each other end up not doing so. The figure’s one accessory is a small black display stand with the JLA: Classified logo printed in blue.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Superman Blue was another piece of the large selection of figures I bought on sale from my local comicbook store. He’s not my favorite design of all time, but at $3, I figured he was worth it. The figure is overall pretty decent, and while it’s not perfect, it does add a certain degree of “pop” to the shelf.

#0603: Lex Luthor

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

LEX LUTHOR

SUPERMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES (KENNER)

LuthorSTAS1

Batman: The Animated Series is pretty much universally viewed as one of the best interpretations of Batman and his supporting cast ever. It was revolutionary at the time it was released, and, thanks to top notch writing, animating, and acting, it still holds up pretty great after over 20 years. For me, though, the best entry in the DC Animated Universe is the series that followed B:TAS, Superman: The Animated Series. While B:TAS got a pretty decent run of figures at the time of its release, S:TAS wasn’t quite so fortunate. Kenner produced a line of toys to tie-in, but the character selection was somewhat limited, and many of the characters were rather off-model. One of the characters hit the hardest by off-model-ness was Big Blue’s arch enemy Lex Luthor, who is the focus of today’s entry.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

LuthorSTAS2Lex Luthor was released as part of the first series of Kenner’s Superman: The Animated Series tie-in line. He was one of the two non-Superman characters in this particular series. The figure is a little over 5 inches tall and has 6 points of articulation. Dig that waist articulation guys! It’s more than most DC figures had at this point! Now, this figure is sort of based on Luthor’s animated appearance, but, as I noted in the intro, the figure is more than a little bit off-model. To Kenner’s credit, they managed to produce a near-perfect rendition of the animated Luthor’s noggin. It’s really a very good piece. The trouble lies with literally every other piece of the figure. Rather than release him in his signature suit, Luthor is depicted here in a Kryptonite armor suit, which is completely made up for this figure. The “Kryptonite” parts are all snap-on armor pieces, which can be removed to reveal….some sort of exoskeleton thing. It’s a perfectly fine sculpt on a purely technical level, but it looks pretty wonky and the body doesn’t even have proper Bruce Timm-style proportions. I get that a guy in a suit doesn’t make for the most exciting figure. That said, if they were going to do the clip on armor thing, why not put a more conventional suit under the armor? Just seems like a weird choice. Also, the figure seems to have borrowed Total Justice’s guide to posing; his arms and legs are all bent and turned. It’s most annoying on the legs because it makes getting him to stand next to impossible. As far as paint goes, Luthor is pretty reasonably handled. Nothing super thrilling, but everything is applied pretty cleanly. It’s a nice touch that he veers away from the primary colors, helping set him apart from Superman. In addition to the clip on armor, Luthor includes a big freaking missile launcher thing. Hasbro would be so proud.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I never had this figure growing up. I saw him many times over the years, but I just never got one. It’s most certainly due to the weird design of the figure. Why now? Simple, my comicbook store had a table of action figures for $2.99. If you bought five, they were only $2 apiece. So, I bought ten. Luthor was one of them. This actually isn’t a bad figure, just kind of weird.LuthorSTAS3

#0594: The Creeper

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

THE CREEPER

BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES (DCC)

CreeperTNBA1

DC Collectibles seems to finally be getting into the swing of things with their much anticipated Batman: The Animates Series line of figures. They started off a little bit rocky with a fair share of quality control issues on the first series, causing them to delay production on all upcoming series for a few months. One thing they still seem to be working on getting down, however, is a firm definition of just what figures are in a series. When the QC issues from Series 1 arose, DCC quickly pushed back the release of Series 2 in order to fix some of the problems. They foresaw the potential for more prevalent problems in the planned Poison Ivy figure, so she was removed from Series 2 entirely, and slotted for a later release. It seemed like this just meant Series 2 would be one figure smaller, and I even indicated this in my review of the three remaining Series 2 figures. It would seem I was wrong…sort of. Not long after the rest of Series 2 made their way to shelves, one more figure showed up.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

CreeperTNBA2The Creeper is figure 11 in DC Collectibles’ Batman: The Animated Series/The New Batman Adventures line. For those of you keeping score at home, he’s actually only the eighth figure to be released in the line, but DCC spent all that money designing packaging and printing out those checklists included with every figure, so they certainly weren’t going change things up for pure logic’s sake! Creeper was released sort-of-kind-of as part of the second series of figures in the line. The other three all shipped together, but this guy was late to the party. That said, Series 3 still seems a ways off, so that would put this guy with Series 2. The first series didn’t all ship together either, so I guess that’s just how this line’s gonna work. The figure stands just over 6 ½ inches tall and features 26 points of articulation. My Creeper figure only had 24 of those points right out of the box, as his right shoulder was completely frozen in place. It loosened up after about 20 minutes or so of me prying at it, but wow was it a pain. The Creeper is based on his appearance in the penultimate episode of The New Batman Adventures, “Beware the Creeper.” Seeing as CreeperTNBA4it’s the only time he appeared on the show, I suppose that’s fair. The figure sports a sculpt that is unique to him. It’s a pretty great translation of the show design, which is nice to see. Like with any animation-based figure, there are certain viewing angles that don’t look quite right, but the figure manages to avoid them as best he can. The face seems a tad bit long and the jaw is a little too square, but the overall appearance isn’t bad. They’ve opted to have the boa be a sculpted piece. That’s probably the best possible choice, but it does mean he’s rather top heavy and some of his articulation is a little restricted. Still, it’s well-sculpted, and it makes for an accurate representation of the design without looking too silly, so points for that. Creeper exhibits what is probably the best paintwork I’ve seen yet from this line. It’s still not perfect (especially on the shorts), but things are mostly CreeperTNBA3clean, without too many scuffs or scratches. The head is the best part, with some phenomenal line work on the eyes, eyebrows, and mouth. Creeper is packed with a pretty great selection of accessories. He starts off with three different pairs of hands. He’s got a standard set of fists, gripping hands, and open gesture hands. There’s also the standard display stand, which features his design sheet control art printed on the base. Lastly, he’s got a Batman party mask and a pool cue, which are both really cool episode specific pieces. (EDIT: He also has a rat.  I don’t remember quite what he did with the rat in the show, but I assume it was in the episode.)

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Creeper really snuck up on me. I had heard through various sources that he had been released, but I hadn’t really looked into it. I figured I’d eventually get around to ordering him from Amazon, like I did with the last three. This past week, I was picking up my comics from my local store, Cosmic Comix, and just happened to spot this guy hanging on the rack behind Batman and Two-Face (who I really should get one of these days). Usually the store places new figures up near the front with the new comics, so I almost missed him. This guy is just super covert. I’m glad I didn’t miss him, though, because he may well be my favorite figure in the line so far. He’s still got a few issues here and there, but I really feel like DCC is starting to get the hang of things!

CreeperTNBA5

#0583: Nightwing

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

NIGHTWING

DC COMICS DESIGNER SERIES (DC COLLECTIBLES)

NightwingCapullo1

Ah, yes the New 52. I didn’t really care for it. But, that’s okay, because it’s gone now! And it’s been replaced by something….more or less identical. Well, fair enough. One of the things that will not be carrying forward into the Non-52, however, is Nightwing. Of course, that’s actually not changing any of the continuity, since Dick Grayson ditched the identity following his unmasking in Forever Evil. So, the figure I’m reviewing today is essentially irrelevant. Oh well. Hardly the first time I’ve looked at such a figure here!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

NightwingCapullo2Nightwing was released as part of the first series of the DC Comics Designer Series. Like Tuesday’s Zero Year Batman, this figure is based on the work of Greg Capullo, who has been the primary artist on the main Batman series since the New 52 began. The figure is roughly 6 ½ inches tall and has 31 points of articulation. The figure features an all-new sculpt, though, as far as the body construction goes, he’s rather similar to Batman. The musculature is similar, as is the overall articulation scheme (Nightwing does manage to get some additional movement in the wrist area). The detailing on the body is simpler than Batman, which is befitting of Nightwing. Also, his uniform features more folds and wrinkles, effectively conveying that it is a spandex leotard, and not a carefully tailored suit of body armor. The head sculpt is a little on the mixed side. From some angles, it looks great. From others, not so much. The technical details of the piece are all very nice. He’s got some great texture work on his hair, and his facial features are cleanly defined. But, he’s also got these huge ears, which can look rather out of place, and they aren’t helped by the fact that the hair slopes inward as it goes down, emphasizing the issue. Nightwing’s paintwork is quite well-handled. The colors are nice and bold and everything is where it should be. I’m not the biggest fan of the red, but it’s true to the design, so I can’t really fault the figure there. The black of the body and of the armored parts are broken up through use of matte and glossy finishes, which look really great. Nightwing is not amazingly accessorized, but he does include his signature escrima sticks, which fit nicely in his hands.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Nightwing was the other half of the Amazon purchase that got me Zero Year Batman. I saw this figure several times in a few different stores and passed on him every time. So, what changed? Two things: I had a gift card and the figure got marked down about $10. That was enough for me to finally get the figure. Is he the greatest version of the character ever? That’s hard to say. It really depends on what you think of the New 52 Nightwing costume. Like I said in the paint section, I don’t care for the red accents and would much prefer blue. Still, even with that I do think the figure is a pretty decent take on the character.

#0581: Batman – Zero Year

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

BATMAN – ZERO YEAR

DC COMICS DESIGNER SERIES (DC COLLECTIBLES)

BatmanZero1

When DC’s The New 52 began, I gave it a try. I picked up quite a few titles in that first month. I stuck with a very small handful of them, but after a few cancellations and creative team changes, I quickly found myself reading absolutely no DC Comics for quite a stretch of time. Whenever a discussion of the New 52’s quality begins, people will inevitably bring up the fact that the Batman titles have stayed pretty good. I gotta be honest, I like Batman, but I’ve never been a faithful reader of the comics. That being said, I love me some cool toys, and Batman sure does have a knack of having some wonderful toys. So, let’s look at this Batman figure, shall we?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

BatmanZero2Batman is from the 3rd Series of the DC Comics Designer Series, which is the second series of the line to be based on the work of DC artist Greg Capullo. The figure is based on Batman’s design from Zero Year, which was the New 52 retelling of Batman’s early career. This a more modernized take on Batman’s first appearance costume from the original Detective Comics #27. It’s close to the original design, but the original’s black shorts have been ditched (cuz DC thinks they’re lame), and some textured bits of black padding have been added to the arms and legs. The figure stands roughly 6 ½ inches tall and has 29 points of articulation. The figure has what appears to be a completely unique sculpt. With a Batman variant, you sort of assume that some parts might be re-used, but he doesn’t look to have any pieces in common with the regular Capullo Batman. It’s a pretty strong sculpt. The proportions are all pretty great, the articulation is worked in pretty smoothly, and the details are all well-defined. The head is a little flat when viewed from the side, but nothing too bad, and it looks pretty fantastic head-on or in three-quarter view. The only real issues seem to be mostly related to the “add-on” parts. The belt seems like it’s meant to be fragmented, as permanent part of the costume, but it stands out from the figure. When double-checking whether it was supposed to look like that, I discovered that the shape of it is actually quite off. The two yellow pouches should be closer to the center and the buckle should be bigger. It seems odd that these were changed, but they were. The holster could also stand to be a little closer to the body, though that’s minor, and the cape, well, I’m not sure about the cape. It’s not terrible, but it flares out in weird ways, and it’s split in the middle for some reason I’m not sure of. Batman’s paintwork is pretty decent all-around. It’s nothing super exciting or anything, but the colors are all good and there isn’t any bleed over or slop to speak of. The figure includes a gun (I’m gonna assume it’s a grappling gun of some sort), an alternate hand for said gun, and two teeny, tiny, little batarangs, which look kind of silly in his hands.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I avoided DCC at first after they did their whole re-branding thing, mostly due to the fact that I’d moved away from DCD not long before that, and the New 52 designs certainly weren’t going to draw me back in. When this figure was solicited, I thought he looked kind of cool, but I ultimately didn’t pick him up. Then, I broke into DCC’s New 52 stuff with Orion, who I quite liked. That made me take another look at some of the other DCC stuff.  I had an Amazon Gift Card from my parents, so I decided to use it on this guy and the Capullo Nightwing. While I certainly don’t see this being my default Batman, it’s a really fun version of the character, and it’s probably one of the best that DCD/DCC has produced!

BatmanZero3

#0575: Man-Bat

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

MAN-BAT

BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES (DC COLLECTIBLES)

ManBat1

While I love pretty much every episode of Batman: The Animated Series, there are two episodes I love above all the others.  The first is “Heart of Ice,” the episode that re-invented the character of Mr. Freeze and made him into one of Batman’s most memorable Rogues.  The other is “On Leather Wings,” which is the very first episode of the series, and is responsible for kicking things off with a serious bang.  The episode steered away from the more established Bat-Rogues in order to focus on the lesser-known Man-Bat.  Man-Bat serves as the logical counterpoint to Batman, and allows for a unique way of introducing the audience to the main character.  The episode perfectly established the tone for the rest of the series, and has some of the best writing and animation of the entire show.  It was an important moment for the series, and Man-Bat is a key part of it, so it’s no surprise that Man-Bat showed up in the latest round of BTAS figures from DC Collectibles.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

ManBat2Man-Bat is figure 07 in the Batman: The Animated Series/The New Batman Adventures line from DC Collectibles.  He is the third and final figure in Series 2 (Poison Ivy was supposed to be the fourth, but she got pushed back due to production issues).  The figure is just shy of 7 ½ inches tall, has a wing span of 15 inches, and has 15 points of articulation.  The design of the character means that he’s a little less articulated than some of the others in this series.  That said, he’s actually the first figure in the line to get any torso articulation, and most of the articulation has a pretty great range of movement.  The only point that’s really limited is his head, which really would benefit from the ability to look upward.  As with the Kenner figure, this version of Man-Bat is based on the Kirk Langstrom Man-Bat from “On Leather Wings” as opposed to the Francine Langstrom (wo)Man-Bat from “Terror in the Sky.”  The figure’s sculpt is, generally, a pretty great translation of the show’s design for the character.  The only real mis-step, as far as I can tell, is the figure’s head.  It’s not terribly far off from the show design, but it seems like it’s a little flatter, depth-wise, than it should be.  In particular, the jaw line seems too shallow.  That being said, it’s closer than Kenner’s attempt, and the differences can be chalked up to the show design not translating quite as well to three dimensions.  Man-Bat is a much larger figure than the others in the line, but that doesn’t mean he gets left out of the accessories game.  The most ManBat3important extra pieces are definitely the extra arms, which are sculpted in a more relaxed position. The default arms are sculpted in an outstretched fashion, which can take up a lot of shelf space and limits the possible poses, so it’s good to have the extra pieces.  Now, it’s too bad that DCC couldn’t find a way to work in elbow and wrist movement, but I can certainly appreciate their desire to not hinder the quality of the sculpt.  These make for a decent enough compromise.  In addition to the arms, the figure includes three medicine bottles, a tape recorder, and a display stand.  The bottles and the recorder are episode specific, and pretty nifty to have, even if Man-Bat can’t really use them.  The stand is pretty much an essential piece of the figure, however, due to his inability to stand very well on his own.  But, at least it’s there, right?

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

If you’ve read the last two days’ reviews, it should be no surprise that I got Man-Bat from Amazon.  It doesn’t make for a terribly exciting story, but it’s relatively stress-free on my end.  Man-Bat was a figure I was really looking forward to, mostly due to how much I love the character’s first appearance on the show.  It’s too bad that DCC couldn’t come up with a way to articulate the arms, but the swappable parts do make up for it a bit, resulting in a pretty fun figure, and probably one of the best Man-Bat figures to date.

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