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Batman Shadowtek
Killer Moth

If I were to list the top ten things I find scary, I can guarantee without any shadow of any doubt whatsoever, that a moth wouldn't be on there.  He wouldn't make it in the top 100.  He wouldn't make it on the list no matter how long it was.  Unless a thousand of them tried to fly up your nostrils, in a closet, and Jason was standing behind them with a machete.

But if same said moth grew, oh, say 6 feet tall, that would probably be a very different story.  Or at least that's what you'd think, but not what really happened on The Batman.

Killer Moth has been a Batman villain in one form or another for over 50 years.  He is most closely identified with Batgirl, sort of as the Joker is to Batman himself.  But on The Batman television show, a pansy henchman of the Penguin ends up transformed into this massive moth - and is just as big of a wimp as when he was a pansy henchman.

While not the meanest or toughest on the show, he's at least a very visually interesting character, so it's nice to see Mattel producing a figure based on him.  I found mine at Target, but I've seen them at Toys R Us and Meijers as well.  Expect to pay around $7.




Packaging - ***
Killer Moth has been released as part of the new ShadowTek assortment, and has a new style cardback.  Shaped more like an inverted V, the cardbacks are attractive and small.  There's very little wasted space or material, which is always good in these environment conscious times.

Sculpting - ***
The sculpt follows the look of the show - straight, sharp lines, and only the essential details required.  The upper body is made from a soft rubber - it works with the 'action feature' - while the arms, legs and head are made from harder, solid plastic.

He's sculpted in a slightly crouched stance, and the only articulation is in his shoulders, so the stance you see is the stance you get.  It's reasonable, if not the most dynamic.

The face is very insect-like, although there's very little detail here. The 'feathering' on the gray neck area is well done though, and even with a pretty neutral bug expression, he seems quite malevolent.  The hole in his mouth for the 'action feature' is a bit distracting, and I could have done completely without that.

The wings in back are also hard plastic, glued in place.  I have some slopped glue on the torso, and the wings aren't lined up the best, but it's about average work for a mass market toy.

Paint - **1/2
As I mentioned above, the torso is rubber, a very different material than the rest of the big guy. They color matched the limbs and torso pretty well, although the rubber looks a little more purple to me.

There's a little color here with the red eyes, and brightly colored wings, but the majority of the moth is black.  They've used both matte and semi-gloss finishes though, to differentiate areas like the 'hands' or feet from the rest of the body.

The work is very typical in quality, with some weak cuts between the colors on the wings, and many of the parts molded in their actual color.

Articulation - *1/2
Because of the action feature, there's almost no articulation.  There are cut joints on each shoulder, allowing the arms to move forward and back, but that's it.  Nope, there's no waist joint.  Nope, there's no cut neck.  Nope, those aren't joints at the bottom of the 'pants'.  Even if they were, the feet are a solid molded piece, so moving the legs would be pretty much impossible.

Accessories - *
Mr. Moth comes with a small display base for his feet.  You don't absolutely have to have it, since he can stand on his own as long as the arms are not too far forward. But using the stand means you have more latitude in posing the arms.

Action Feature - **
The action feature works reasonable well, but hurts the figure in so many other ways.

It's simple enough.  Stick his head underwater, squeeze his torso to fill it up, and then squeeze it again to squirt the water out.  Voila.  Instant bath toy.

And as action features go, it works pretty well. The position of his head and mouth does mean that the water tends to squirt Batman in the kneecaps, but kids aren't going to be too concerned.

The action feature hurts the articulation and sculpt though, with the cheaper rubber interfering with the look.  This is another figure that was hurt more than helped by this little bonus.

Fun Factor - ***
That doesn't mean he's a bust for fun though.  Kids will be less concerned with articulation than I am, and are more likely to enjoy the water feature, at least until they get something soaking wet and Mom has kittens over it.

Value - **1/2
Seven bucks is about an average price for this guy.  You're getting a better value out of the Marvel toys these days, which run the same price and yet give you so much more flexibility in the play patterns.

Things to Watch Out For - 
Not a thing.

Overall - **
I do like the look of this figure on the shelf, and I'm quite glad I picked it up.  I think Batman collectors who are fans of the show should grab one, simply because there are so few unique villains out there to round out the display.  But for him to score where he could have - an easy *** stars - he needed better articulation and accessories, and the action feature needs to be canned.

Score Recap:
Packaging - ***
Sculpt - ***
Paint - **1/2
Articulation - *1/2
Accessories - *
Fun Factor - ***
Value -  **1/2
Overall - **

Where to Buy -
I picked mine up at a Target, but they are hitting Meijers and Toys R Us as well.

Related Links:
I've reviewed quite a few of The Batman figures so far:

- the most recent was the Arkham Asylum pack from Toys R Us.

= There's also Temblor, Killer Croc, Clayface, the Riddler, Firefly, the Penguin, Bane and Man-bat, the regular Batman, Bruce Wayne, and Joker, and the 10" rotocast version of Bats.


Figure from the collection of Michael Crawford.

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