Packaging - ***
I'm breaking two traditions in this category tonight. First, I
generally complain about the dull and interesting artwork on DC Direct
packaging, and I'm not doing that. Here we actually see some creative
work that's eye catching and makes sense.
Second, I usually prefer boxes or clamshells to cardback/bubble packages,
but I'm not going to complain about that either. I'm willing to live
with this style if the appearance of the package improves.
Sculpting - ***
All five of these figures sport newly sculpted heads, but re-used
bodies. Each of the alternate heads pops on and off pretty easily, but
just about all of them have some slight difference in how they
connect. All but Manhunter are ball jointed, some have the peg
attachment on the head, some on the torso, etc. However, they all pop
on and off pretty easily with little risk of damage.
Bruce Wayne has perhaps my favorite head, although the regular Joker head
is fairly cool as well. The regular Batman head looks decent, but with
that head on this body, you just have the Hush Batman repainted.
Actually, considering the popularity of this paint scheme, that might be
something you want, but I think most folks will be displaying this figure
with the Bruce sculpt. One other change to the body is the symbol,
which had a sculpted outline in the Hush series, but here has a tampo
symbol.
He does appear to have a slight smile, but not so much as to be
silly. His look is also more 'animated' than comic book perhaps, and
really seems to me to be an amalgamation of the two styles.
Batman's hood is sculpted as a separate piece. It is made of soft
rubber, and hangs down over the cape. When you pop the head off, it
can be removed as well. You can actually take it off with the Bruce
version, and have him hold it around one arm, which makes for a neat
display. Had he actually gotten a grasping hand that could hold it, it
would have been perfect, but both hands are sculpted as closed fists.
Batgirl is on the body from the old Silver Age version, and it looks to
me like the regular head sculpt is also from that figure. She's lost
the purse, and has a new paint scheme, but otherwise is the same
figure. Her alternate head also sports the sculpted hood intertwined
with her hair. Unlike Batman, hers is part of the head sculpt and not
removable.
The regular Joker head is a nice sculpt, and for the life of me I don't
remember seeing this exact sculpt before. I'm thinking it's new, but
someone will be sure to correct me. The detail work on the hair and
teeth is very nice, and it's a more 'traditional' look. The Red Hood
version includes the cape as part of the one complete piece, and while it's
a pretty basic design, it looks pretty good. I'll be displaying him
with the Red Hood head on. BTW, that body is from the Hush series 3
Alfred figure, again repainted.
With the 'regular' Martian Manhunter head in place, what you really have
is the equivalent to the Martian Manhunter released by DC year's ago.
Swap to the more alien head, and you get a new look for him. Since I
have the old one around, I'll be displaying him with the slightly more alien
head. Of course, it seems odd that his head is like this, but the body
is not altered. There is one other change though from the original MM
body, as this one has a soft rubber cape. I like that better than the
original.
Finally, there's that young reporter, Clark Kent. The Clark head is
new, but with only one hair style, adding the glasses looks even MORE like
Superman in glasses than usual. DC continues their streak with glasses
for their figures, with another set that's oversized, fragile, and sit funny
on his face. *sigh*
I can't recall any time we've gotten this body from DC Direct before, but
again, I'm sure someone will correct me. The thing that's really
throwing me is the articulation, since I don't remember a suited DC Direct
figure with cut biceps. The body sculpt looks good, and the removable
soft rubber shirt looks good on, and comes off easily. I wish his arms
could actually reach his jacket/shirt, to pose him pulling them open, but
I'll end up going for the next best pose, glasses in hand, but shirt torn
open, transforming into Supes.
The scale on these is really 7". Both Supes and Batman are
just a squidge under 7", and the do fit in very nicely with lines like
the Hush series. That should be no surprise considering that the
Joker's Body and Bats body are from the Hush series. Batgirl is
smaller - the Silver Age figures were closer to a 6" scale.
However, that's not a bad thing, since the female figures in many of these
lines tend to be way too tall. Here, Batgirl fits in fairly well with
the other male figures.
You might notice that this Batman looks a little taller than the Hush
version. That's because this Bruce head sculpt sits higher on the neck
post that then old Hush head sculpt did.
Paint - ***1/2
I suspect some folks won't like all the color schemes, such s the metallic
gold on Batgirl's belt, but in terms of general quality, this set is
extremely good.
That's a good sign too. Remember, it wasn't that long ago that
collectors were up in arms over the shoddy paint jobs. Now this is
three series in a row that I've seen that have shown improved overall
quality and most importantly, consistency.
But as I said, color schemes might be a problem for some. I don't
mind the rather gaudy metallic gold on Batgirl's belt, but the green on MM
is lighter than the original, and lighter than I really would prefer.
You're personal preferences in this area may effect your score more than it
effects someone else's.
Also worth noting is the metallic finish on the interior of both Batgirl
and MM's capes. It is a nice contrast to the flatter exterior side of
the cape.
Articulation - Clark, Bruce, Red Hood ***; Batgirl **1/2; MM **
The level of articulation varies across this line, but since most of the
bodies came from different lines, that isn't much of a surprise.
Clark has a ball jointed neck, connected up under the jaw. It has a
good range of movement, and looks decent as well. He has cut
shoulders, pin elbows and knees, a T crotch, and cut wrists. No waist
of course. I do wish I could pose him tearing off the shirt, but
different shoulders would have been required to do that.
Bruce also has a ball jointed neck, and it's also connected under the
jaw. Again, it has excellent range of movement. He has ball
jointed shoulders with limited movement, pin elbows and knees, cut forearms
at the glove tops, and the DC Direct version of the T crotch. Oddly, I
have more trouble getting this version to stand than the regular Hush
version.
Red Hood/Joker has a ball jointed neck with the Joker head, but not with
the hood of course. He has the T crotch, pin elbows and knees, cut
shoulders and cut wrists as well.
Batgirl has a ball jointed neck with either head, but the movement is
limited by the hair. She has ball jointed shoulders, but again, the movement
is severely limited. She also has pin elbows and knees, a T crotch,
and cut forearms at the gloves.
Martian Manhunter has the least amount of articulation, since his body is
based on the oldest DC Direct figure of the bunch. He has a cut neck,
ball jointed shoulers (with a very limited range of movement), pin elbows
and knees, and a T crotch. You'll notice no cuts at the boots, no cut
wrists, and certainly no waist joint.
Accessories - **
After getting some cool accessories with the Long Halloween set, we go back
to the usual here.
Each figure comes with a display base, emblazoned with the
"unmasked" logo. There are also pegs to attach the feet.
Four of the five figures also comes with two heads. Batgirl has the
masked and unmasked, Batman has the masked and unmasked, Red Hood has the
masked and unmasked, and Martian Manhunter has the ugly and slightly more
ugly.
The problem is that we've already got most of the extra heads. It's
unlikely that the Batman head, Batgirl head, or Joker head are going to get
much use - and if they do, the alternate heads go to waste. There may
be some collectors that really do appreciate the original MM head, since
they may have missed out on this older figure. But the other three
don't add a lot of additional value.
Clark actually has two accessories, his glasses and shirt front.
The shirt front is nice, but the glasses are better off held in his hand,
and not worn on his face.
Batgirl also has one additional accessory, the batarang from the Silver
Age version. It's a reuse though, and one that's not doing a lot for
me. Perhaps it's good that they skipped the purse this time though.
Value - *1/2
If these were new figures at $15, they'd get a **1/2 star score at best
considering the lack of accessories.
However, these aren't new figures, and DC Direct has reused molds to
create these figures. While you might not paying that, since these are
characters you might want to add to the shelf, it's certainly not as good a
value when they cost as much as a newly sculpted character.
Fun Factor - MM, Batman **1/2; Batgirl, Red Hood, Clark **
While these aren't the most articulated figures, they are well made and for
the most part, would hold up to a normal play situation. Kids are
unlikely to be drawn to Red Hood, and even Clark is likely to bore them, but
someone like J'onn J'onnz is sure to catch their eye.
Things to watch out for -
It's always good to watch the paint apps if you can, even with the
improvement in quality. You'll want to take care with Clark's glasses
as well, and Bruce's rubber hood has a fairly thin section that wraps around
the neck, that could tear easily. Other than that, you should be good
to go!
Overall - Bruce, Clark, Red Hood ***; MM, Batgirl **1/2
In general, this set is unlikely to generate too much excitement.
It's a nifty idea, but in reality, only the Clark and Bruce are likely to be
big sellers. With the heavy re-use, figures like J'onn and Barbara
won't stand out too well on the shelf, but the continued improvement in
paint ops is a good sign.
This is one of those series that's not terrible, but not exciting.
Lots of people will want one or two for sure - for example, if you missed
out on the first MM, you may pick him up, or if you're a Bat-fan you'll
probably grab Bruce - but as an overall series, there won't be a lot of
jumping up and down.
SCORE RECAP:
Packaging - ***
Sculpt - ***
Paint - ***1/2
Articulation - Clark, Bruce, Red Hood ***; Batgirl **1/2; MM **
Accessories - **
Fun Factor - MM, Batman **1/2; Batgirl, Red Hood, Clark **
Value - *1/2
Overall - Bruce, Clark, Red Hood ***; MM, Batgirl **1/2
Where to Buy -
You can pick these up at comic shops, or online at:
- Circle Red has the for just $50
for the full set, or $13 - $15 for the individuals.
- Alter Ego Comics has the
full set for just $50 as well.
- YouBuyNow
has a good price on the individual figures at just $12 each.
- Amazing Toyz has the
individuals for $12 - $13 depending on the character, or the set for $55.
- CornerStoreComics has
the set for $55, or the individual figures for $14.
- Yikes Comics has the
individuals for $15 each, including Batgirl, or the set for $60.
Related Links:
DC Direct has had quite a few Batman related figures and lines in recent
months:
- most recently, they released the first series of Elseworlds
figures, and the Long Halloween set.
- The Public Enemies
line included Batman of course.
- The Alex Ross
version of Batman was definitely a collector favorite.
- Last summer we got the Rogue's
Gallery series.
- and of course my favorites, the series
1 (where the Batman body comes from), series
2 and series 3
(where the Alfred body came from ) Hush figures.
- if you are wondering about Batgirl, here's the review of the SA
version where her body originated.
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