I am a big fan of Mattel’s Movie
Masters line.
Yes, I know I sold all of my Green
Lantern Movie Masters on eBay. But that movie absolutely sucked balls
and the toys just sort of sat there on the shelf reminding me of that
fact. They were perfectly good, they just represented suckage. Also,
it would have taken way too much effort on my part to complete the
line and I couldn’t just have an unfinished set. And, if I
had finished the set I would have had to build that utterly retarded
Parallax build-a-figure and I didn’t want that piece of shit
anywhere near my nice toy collection.
I’ve got a decent collection of the
Batman Movie Masters – Batman, Gordon, Bruce Wayne in the Stealth
Suit (or whatever), Joker, Scarecrow, and the Batpod (I still think
that’s a stupid name). I was pretty excited to be adding the new
figures, not to mention what is probably the coolest build-a-thing
that Mattel has produced – a functioning Bat Signal.
Once again Mattel is releasing these
things in waves that will make some of the figures very difficult if
not impossible to find. This is because Mattel are stupid dicks.
Seriously – I can’t think of a better answer. The first case
assortment is:
Batman x 3
Bane x 2
Alfred x 1
Meaning you had better happen to hit a
store the second they open the case or the only thing you are ever
going to see is a shelf with eighteen Batman figures on it. The
really awesome part is the way the Bat Signal pieces are packed.
There is a base, a support, the signal itself, and apparently three
other pieces. You could get by with just the first three. But Alfred
comes with the actual signal, meaning the most important part comes
with the figure you are never going to see at retail. So far I’ve
found three different stores with these figures in stock and I’ve
seen two Banes (one of which I bought), zero Alfreds, and nine
Batmans (one of which I bought).
First Glance: This figure
looks shinier and more detailed than the one from The Dark Knight.
It’s a nice-looking figure – very accurate to the movies. I’m
interested to see the differences in the Batsuit.
Sculpt: There are no
differences in the Batsuit. This is the exact same figure that was
released in The Dark Knight Movie Masters line, just with a
slightly different paint deco. I’m not proclaiming this to be a bad
thing. If he’s wearing the same suit in The Dark Knight Rises
this is perfectly legit.
(The one on the right is the new one. I know he looks taller but I cannot find a single different part. It's weird, like an Escher piece.)
Batman sports basically the same
articulation as any DCUC figure. He has ball joints at the neck and
shoulders. There are swivels at the biceps, wrists, waist, and
thighs. The elbows, abdomen, knees, and ankles pivot. The hips are
that odd ball joint analog that Mattel and Character Options both
use. The joints on my figure are mostly tight except for the
forward/backward motion on the hips. Those are pretty loose.
The actual sculpt of the figure is
fantastic. The cowl looks great, and despite the coverage of the face
and the scale, what is exposed looks like Christian Bale. The Batsuit
is massively detailed and looks pretty much exactly like what you see
in the movies. The lines and armor are slick and accurate and the
points of articulation are worked into the design. There are so many
different textures in this figure it’s pretty amazing. From the
hard sectional armor to the mesh underneath – it’s all there. I
spent several minutes just examining the gauntlets and all the detail
on the hands, forearms, and fins.
The utility belt is a separate piece of
softer rubber that is permanently attached to the waist. It has all
of the little storage pieces sculpted in and the buckle even has
lines to denote the clasp. I like very much that the belt is
separate. It gives the figure just a little bit more depth and a
sense of realism.
I hate the cape. I understand Mattel’s
avoidance of soft goods. I’m not even really a fan of soft goods at
this or smaller scales. But I have seen fabrics done right at the
six-inch scale and I think this figure would have benefitted greatly
from a cape that didn’t look like a piece of black Hot Wheels
track. It doesn’t look horrible, but it just doesn’t do anything
and it prevents the figure from looking good doing anything other
than just standing there. The cape doesn’t interfere with
articulation a whole lot, but it isn’t at all flexible. So nothing
the figure does other than stand looks acceptable. Even when you lay
Batman down on the Batpod it looks stupid.
Design: The sculpt on
this figure may be exactly the same as the previous version, but the
paint is a bit different and much better for it.
The head is the same. The cowl is flat
black and the face paint stays within its borders. The eyes are white
with pupils, though my pupils are a bit off. Nothing too terrible.
The Batsuit and belt are where the
changes come in. The suit now has a few different glosses of black
paint and it makes a pretty big difference. The plating is a high
gloss black, the mesh is flat, and the boots are sort of in-between.
It looks very good and makes this figure superior to the older one.
The belt is also slightly different. It
is more of a bronze color and the silver highlights are brighter and
more defined.
The paint on mine is tight and
accurate, though honestly there wasn’t a lot of opportunity for
flaws.
I hate the number stamped on the back of Batman's calf, but I love all of the detail surrounding it.
Accessories: Batman comes
with the main base of the Bat Signal. It looks fine and actually has
a bit of deco on it.
I’m not gonna lie, though. I think it
sucks donkeys that this guy doesn’t come with a Batarang or grapple
gun or anything. I don’t think it would be out of line to expect an
alternate Christian Bale head.
Packaging: The packaging
is very nice. The blister is in the shape of Batman’s forearm and
is eye-catching and cool. The art looks good and is more mature than
the other Batman product out there. This package would almost be too
subdued if it weren’t for the shape of the blister. The back
features the other figures from the first wave as well as a picture
of the fully assembled Bat Signal.
There is also a sticker on the blister
with a code to get Movie Cash for your ticket to see The Dark
Knight Rises. I thought this was pretty awesome, so I pulled out
the laptop and logged onto the site as soon as I could. Unfortunately
the promotion doesn’t go into effect until 7/1/2012, so I’ve got
to hang onto these stupid blisters until then. I know what you’re
thinking – why don’t I just write the codes down? Because I’d
lose them. I know I would. I guess I could make a note in my phone’s
calendar, but that seems like so much work.
Overall: Aside from the
cape this really is a fantastic figure and a pretty decent
improvement over the The Dark Knight version. Granted, I
wouldn’t have bought it if I had known it was the same sculpt and
hadn’t wanted the Bat Signal, but it really is a great figure. If
you collect Batmans you should certainly own one.
4
out of 5
No, really. I like it that much. But
don’t buy one now. I have no doubt you’ll be able to find them on
clearance by the dozens at Christmas.
P.S. - You might have noticed the different backgrounds in the pictures. It's because Lil' Troublemaker really wanted me to go ahead and open them but I just didn't feel like going downstairs to the "photo studio". So I made one up.
-Phantom
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