Tuesday, June 5, 2012

New 52 Justice League BATMAN - The Action Figure!

Last Wednesday saw me leave the comic book store with MORE than just my favourite comics!  I simply HAD to purchase the historic First Action Figure Ever from DC Comic's New 52!  And of course, they simply HAD to start strong with everyone's favourite clown puncher, the Batman!!

This silly box should be no problem for an master of escape such as the Batman!
So did I instantly devalue this figure by opening him up?  OF COURSE!!  Is he any good? 

I'll tell you, and show you the rest of my (admittedly amateurish) pics of him....after the JUMP!

I'm Batman!
So I'm not really a toy reviewer at ALL, but I have about 8,000,000 of them lying around, so I must have learned SOMETHING, right?  This Batman figure, first of all, is already my favourite (I own 4 at least)!  It's actually the first one that I've been extremely happy with in 3D, at least as far as SCULPT.  It's a great, accurate portrayal of the New 52 redesign of the Bat created by Jim Lee and Geoff Johns, and since that's my current fave Batman look, I can't help but like it.  If you love the new design, you'll love it in plastic, too!

I really like how the cowl design owes more to the 60's Adam West batman than it does to Tim Burton's '89 version.  It's cooler looking that the 60's style, but the design elements are similar...tugs at my nostalgia factor in a way that's so subtle I almost overlooked it.
 
Damn you New 52 Batman!  How could you forsake wearing your Undies on the Outside???
I really like this figure but there are a few things I'm not entirely happy about.  First of all, where are the accessories?? Oh that's right...there are NONE!  Not even a crappy stand.  Boo!  This figure should at LEAST have come with a batarang or a zip-line launcher or something.  I was hoping for an Omega Box, since that would have been a neat Justice League tie-in (Batman's discovery of an Omega Box leads to the creation of the League, in a way).  But no...we don't even get a crappy stand!  Wait, I said that already...

Aquaman and Green Lantern released next?  How long must I wait for the GOOD JLA members???
My other concern is that this Batman, despite having some decent articulation, can only really look good in one or two poses.He's got knees and hips, (cape-restricted) shoulders, elbows and a cut bicep, and most importantly, a ball-jointed neck.  Sadly no cut joints for wrists or ankles...however he can stand there looking up, down, or quizzically diagonal!  Personality goes a long way...

So we meet again, "Long Halloween" Joker...Don't make me wipe that ridiculously oversized grin from your face!
What else do people talk about when they review action figures?  Oh yeah, Paint!  The paint is good, although sparse.  He's got his white eyes, the bottom half of his face, his belt, bat-symbol and I think the boots/gloves are moulded black with grey paint.  The lines are really clean so it's hard for me to tell for sure.  The face got the most work with two-tone skin colour and perfect eyes.  They are tiny but the white didn't bleed AT ALL.  My figure's bat-symbol has a teensie tiny scratch but otherwise the paint is pretty much perfect.

There is a lot of unpainted grey plastic.  Someone more ambitious than I might want to go over this figure with a dry-brush and get all the moulded lines popping, but if you look at the comic book art, they DON'T really pop that much...they're supposed to be subtle and the unpainted plastic matches that...

Is this the Justice League?  I think I'm in the wrong building...
Anyway I guess that's all I have to say about this particular Batman!  Overall he's a great, fairly inexpensive  figure for display purposes.  Not as fun as some I've had but the LOOK is king.  I can't wait to get Aquaman and Green Lantern, apparently released soon.  Someday the entire League can stand atop my comic book box triumphantly, guarding the comics within from those who would probably crease them or get chocolate on them or something.  Hurrah!

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