Today’s review is the DC Collectibles DC Universe Animated Movies: Son of Batman: Robin Action Figure. I was so excited to get this figure. This is exactly the look of Robin I love. Everything about the look of this figure is just perfect. There may be other issues out there, but this thing is perfect looking. This figure is based on the DC Universe Original Animated Movie by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment and they got it spot on.
Robin is pretty limited in his articulation. As you can see below, there’s very little number of actual joints on this figure. It does cause a lot of issues. Let’s take a look.
Total POA’s = 13
Arms – There are 4 joints per arm.
Shoulders: Ball Joint as well as a Pin/Hinge Joint which is hindered considerably due to the cape that, though it is softer, is still quite tightly molded over the shoulder. You can move his arm forward considerably more than outward.
Elbow: Pin/Hinge joint as well as a Peg Joint just above the hinge joint. You’ll get just shy of a 90 degree bend in the elbow. Without the bicep joint the peg joint does function well.
Wrist: There is NO wrist joint, and this figure really needs one.
Legs – There are 2 joints in each leg/hip/ankle area.
Hips: T-Jointed Ball Joint provides a small amount of forward and even less backward kick motion. This is very disappointing.
Knees: Single Pin/Hinge joint provides a good enough amount of bend. There is about a 90 degree bend in the knee.
Ankles: There is NO ankle joint and this is desperately needed on this figure.
Body – There are NO joints in the body/torso area. This is needed pretty badly.
Head: A single Ball Joint which is only good for side-to-side motion. There is no up or down and nearly no tilt.
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Mold – ★★★★☆
I often talk about sculpt that causes issues with articulation which I hate. There are some issues with the sculpt of this figure and articulation. The sculpt of the head causes articulation to be quite bad. There is an issue with the shape of the feet that make the figure which is already hard to stand, nearly impossible to stand and pose in any other way than standing straight up. These are some pretty major issues with the sculpt choices of this figure, but the overall pleasing look and feel of the figure drastically out weighs those flaws in my opinion. This is a different style of figure. It’s made to look like a cartoon character, which I feel they really got it spot on. Just look at the two images below. The one on the left is from the movie and on the right is the toy.
At about 5 inches tall, this is a very small 1:12 scale figure, but Damian Wayne is a just a boy, so he’s supposed to be small. As I noted above, the positives are so many that they vastly make the negatives unimportant. Some of my favorite aspects of the sculpt of this figure are the amazing cape, which is soft enough to allow the shoulders to move a little, but has plenty of detail in the black and yellow, it’s just great. I love the head sculpt, even though it causes issues. It looks spot on to the movie look, so I’ll take that over articulation.
The only real gripe I have is the hands are sculpted in such a way it’s a little hard to get Robin to hold his sword. Obviously, you can see I was able to, so again, no big deal.
Paint – ★★★★★
I couldn’t have asked for a better paint job. They wanted to match what was in the movie and it’s clear they nailed it. I had to judge this paint job a little differently than I normally do. Normally I look for a nice amount of shadowing and detail. I usually want a more natural, realistic look (from a superhero action figure, I know, it’s a weird expectation). With this figure, wanted it to look like a cartoon and it really does. The paint they did do was perfectly applied. The lines are straight and clean. The colors are a good match to the show. Everything was just very well done. I have zero complains of the paint app on this figure.
Accessories – ★★★★★
Robin comes with a sword that he uses in the movie. Here again, they did a great job with this accessory. Sure, he could have come with an alternate head as well, or something else, but I don’t feel he needs it. The sword was key and we got it, even better, the sword was well molded and painted. There’s a really nice paint app on this sword. I can even use it with my DC Collectibles Deathstroke since I broke his sword. That’s how nice this sword is. It will work as a cartoon sword or a more detailed sword.
Packaging –★★★☆☆
Robin comes in a blister package that looks really nice, but of course, it’s gotta be torn open to get to the figure. It’s a really sleek design if you’re keeping your figs in package, but for those of us who wanna open it up, be careful, or you’ll tear it to pieces and the images will be ruined.
Overall Rating – ★★★★☆
The overall average ratings of this figure comes out at a 3.6. I love this figure so much, that means we get to roundup to a 4 of 5 star overall rating. If you love Batman and Robin and especially if you love the Son of Batman movie, this figure is a must. I’m not so sure I need the other figures in the line as I still think this cartoon version of Robin can pair reasonably well with regular figures, it’s up to you whether you need the others. This figure, however is a no brainer. You need to get him, and you should be able to pick him up pretty cheap.
Do you have any of these figures? If so, do you have a review to share? Please share in the comments or link to your review.
Today’s review is the DC Collectibles Arkham Origins Series I Batman. I was really excited when I saw this figure come up on sale on Amazon a little while ago. The Batman I had in the 6 inch scale just didn’t impress me articulation wise, or look wise either. I needed this figure to make up for that. Luckily, it meets my expectations.
Figures in the Series
Batman
The Joker
Black Mask
Bane
Figure Details
Character: Batman
Manufacturer: DC Collectibles
Series: Arkham Origins Series I
Dimensions: 7“
Recommended: Ages 4+
MSRP: $24.95 Paid: $13.95
Part Number/SKU: 761941314082
Articulation – ★★★★☆
I’m not going to rave about the articulation. It’s not stellar, but it’s not bad. It’s middle of the road. I wanted to give it 3 stars, but it’s considerably better than my other Batman figure, that I needed to give it that consideration. It’s also a DC figure, which typically has been a disappointment in the articulation realm, and this figure doesn’t disappoint. Let’s take a look.
Total POA’s = 29
Arms – There are 6 joints per arm.
Shoulders: Ball Joint as well as a Pin/Hinge Joint which provides a good amount of motion up. He’ll get his arms about the height of his shoulders. The joint itself along with the sculpt of the shoulder prohibits more motion. The cape does not hinder the motion at all. He can swivel his arms above his shoulders, so that is good.
Elbow: Single Pin/Hinge joint as well as a Peg Joint at the base of the top of the elbow. I would have preferred a bicep joint and two Pin/Hinge Joints in the elbow, but we can’t always get everything we want. The peg joint is a little weird, but functional. The single joint in the elbow provides just less than 90 degrees of bend. I wish there were more here.
Wrist: Peg Joint as well as a Pin/Hinge joint. Both operate very well though the forearm armor does prevent the wrist from moving somewhat out/up, but he’s not going to be doing that since he’s just got fists.
Legs – There are 6 joints in each leg/hip/ankle area.
Hips: T-Jointed Ball Joint provides ok forward kick motion and quite good backwards motion. Outward splits is decent, though the further out you go, the bigger the gap you see in the crotch. It’s not horrible, but it’s certainly not the ideal look.
Knees: Peg Joint at the top of the knee which replaces a thigh joint. It works, but I’d prefer the thigh joint. Double Pin/Hinge joints in the knees allows pretty much a full bend of the knee. This is a much needed feature and keeps this figure up in the rating.
Ankles: Each ankle has 3 joints. Pin/Hinge Joints that allow for excellent backward motion and decent forward motion. A Ping/Hinge provides some additional motion that would otherwise not be possible, though this joint is a little loose and a little redundant as there is also an ankle rocker.
Body – There are 2 joints in the body area.
Torso: Pin/Hinge joint which is currently frozen in place on my figure. I haven’t had a chance to get some heat on it to see if I can loosen it. If it does work and provides even a single click for an ab crunch this will be so much better than most any DC Collectibles figure I’ve gotten thus far.
Waist: Peg Joint provides standard waist swivel which is very well hidden and very useful on the figure.
Head: A single Ball Joint that provides a good amount of side-to-side motion and good tilt. The figure has a hard time moving his head up more than a smidgen, though he can look down a little.
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Mold – ★★★★★
I really, really like the sculpt of this figure. They did a wonderful job with the sculpt. Let’s start off with my favorite part which is the cape. There’s not a lot that’s all that special about the cape, but I really like the soft rubbery plastic they used. More so, I really like the way they attached it to the figure. There’s a minimal amount of the cape actually attached to the figure, which allows the shoulders to move freely underneath.
The rest of the figure is sculpted with so much nice detail, I’m not entirely sure where to start. There’s really cool looking details in the armor seams on the legs, and the chest armor really fits well. There are nooks and crannies all over with additional details. I could sit and stare at this thing for hours (well, probably not, but it’d be great if I could).
There are two things that are a little off. Depending on the angle you look at Batman’s head, it may appear a bit small compared to the rest of the body. The body is quite bulky, especially in the thighs and the shoulders. The head is probably the right proportion, but it can seem a bit small.
I’m not the biggest fan of the boots. They are detailed really well, but they look a bit like the old moon boots we used to wear back in the late 80’s and early 90’s. Perhaps it’s just his feet seem a bit small. That’s likely what I’m seeing.
Paint – ★★★★★
There isn’t a lot of paint variation on this figure, but what paint is there, is really well done. It looks really good. The grey does have a little different tone at different angles, that may be the light, but I think it’s the actual paint app doing it. They painted most of the seams I noted in the armor of the figure which really makes the figure stand out.
I’ve notice that my figure has some odd white dust like stuff, almost like rust in some of the joints. I’m not sure if that’s due to the paint rubbing or what, but it actually adds an interesting element to the look.
There is one major issue with the paint app that I know a lot of people do not like. The face paint is painted to resemble facial hair stubble, but it looks a little more like he got chocolate or something else smeared all over his face. From a small distance nobody will notice, but when you’re looking at it closely, your’e gonna think the same thing I am. What’s Batman been getting into? Ha ha.
Even with the weird paint app on the face, I still love the paint app on this figure and am not willing to remove any stars.
Accessories – ★★☆☆☆
This Batman figure comes with no accessories. Had I paid full price for the figure I might have given him zero stars, but in this instance, I don’t have super high expectations. A batarang would have been nice, except having only fists that would have been problematic. In that instance, I wish we had gotten an extra set of hands.
Packaging –★★★☆☆
I can’t stand blister packaging, which is what this figure comes in. That said, it does look nice. It’s a unique design and visually the images are very nice. Beyond that, however, I just cannot get over the fact that I have to destroy the packaging just to get to my toy.
Overall Rating – ★★★★☆
This figure barely eked out a 4 star rating. The lack of accessories and the questionable packaging put the figure at a disadvantage. In the end, the packaging shouldn’t be a huge contributor to the overall rating, but alas, all my reviews include packaging. Anyway, I highly recommend this figure. There are a million Batman figures out there, and this one is certainly one you should get if you’re a fan of the more modern look.
Do you have any of these figures? If so, do you have a review to share? Please share in the comments or link to your review.
Today’s review is the DC Collectibles Greg Capullo Thrasher Suit Batman figure. I’ve wanted this figure for quite some time, but it was always too expensive for me, but alas, it has been going down in price on Amazon for a while and I snatched him up for a pretty reasonable price.
This is a large figure at 9″. Large figures often wind up with poor articulation, simply because of the sheer mass of the figure. DC Collectibles really did a superb job making a large figure with really good articulation.
Total POA’s = 60
Wait! What? 60 Points of Articulation? That’s a typo right? No… no it is not. We’ll get into the details below, but I want to focus your attention on the hands of this figure. Every finger is individually articulated with individual knuckle joints. This alone made this one of the most unique action figures I’ve got in my collection. Let’s take a closer look.
Arms – There are 21 joints per arm.
Shoulders: Ball Joint as well as a Pin/Hinge Joint which has really good range of motion for being a big bulky robot suit figure. You can easily pose the arms nearly straight out, then by swiveling you can get the arms up above the shoulders which is great.
Bicep: Peg Joint just above the elbow provides a good range of motion.
Elbow: Single Pin/Hinge joint in the elbow gives you just shy of a 90 degree bend. This is a sufficient amount of bend for me. Sure, it’d be great to see a little more for some of the poses you might like to do, but overall, I think for a battle suit, this is a reasonable amount of flexibility.
Wrist: Peg Joint as well as a Pin/Hinge joint. The sculpt work of the armor on the top of the forearm and hand does hinder the wrist motion both twist and curl, but in the end, it’s not super noticeable and I really like the armor pieces on his arms.
Hand: The hands, as noted above are articulated with 15 Pin/Hinge joints throughout the fingers. Each finger has a total of 3 joints allowing you to pose the hands in nearly any hand configuration you’d like. The best part is the joints are nice and tight so the figure will hold the poses you put the hands in. He can even hold accessories with his hands, should you be able to find any that might fit the scale of this figure. I’m thinking a giant battle axe would be cool.
Legs – There are 8 joints in each leg/hip/ankle area.
Hips: Y-Jointed Ball Joint as well as a Pin/Hinge Joint. Normally Y-Jointed hips can be a bit difficult to pose, but the sculptors did a good job with this joint. There’s a good amount of outward motion as well as forward. Backward motion is pretty limited to nearly nothing, but overall I like these joints.
Thigh: Peg Joint that is well hidden just above the knee joints. This is one of the more useful joints due to the Y-Jointed hips. If this joint wasn’t there, the hip joints would be useless. Good job guys.
Knees: Double Pin/Hinge joints in the knees, though here is a point in which less is more. Only one of the joints (the top joint) will actually be useful. This joint provides nearly 90 degrees of bend. You can activate the bottom knee joint, but only if you turn the shin joint into an uncomfortable position which would not be anatomically correct. Overall, however, this is still a good joint, even if you cannot use both.
Shin: Peg Joint similar to the thigh joint. This joint is another good point of articulation, though is somewhat redundant except in some minor instances.
Ankles: Each ankle has 2 joints. A Peg Joint allows for a small amount of swivel in the ankle and what appears to be a Ball Joint that provides the backward and forward action. Both motions are somewhat hindered due to the sculpt of the ankle as is the rocker capability. With the articulation hindrance it does provide some issues, but I don’t feel it hinders it enough to drop a star. You still have a lot of flexibility with the other leg joints to more than compensate this shortcoming.
Body – There is one joint in the body area. This is a what seems to be a Double Ball Joint in the torso. This is by far, the best torso joint I’ve seen that isn’t simply a hinge joint. The ab crunch is amazing as is the side to side crunch. The only drawback is the backward motion, but since this figure isn’t going to be in any flying poses most likely, that motion isn’t missed much.
Head: A Double Ball Joint in the neck is actually quite versatile. You can get Bruce’s head to tilt and turn and nod down quite well. The only motion he can’t do is look up, but he’s one of the tallest figures anyway, so who’s he going to look at? Yeah, Superman as he’s flying above him, ok, it would be nice to have that capability.
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Mold – ★★★★★
There is detail galore on this figure. The sculptors (Jay Kushwara and Jonathan Matthews) did an amazing job on this figure. There’s very little I can say that isn’t just a glowing review of the work they did on this figure. Yes, there are a couple points in which the sculpt gets in the way of articulation which is a big pet peeve of mine, but the issues are very minor with this figure.
To be honest, however, I should mention two things I find a bit displeasing. First, the helmet that comes with the figure. It is very nicely sculpted, but it simply attaches by pressing it on and hoping it will hold its position with a pressure lip at the back of the neck. This is fine, except it doesn’t stay on very well while you pose the figure and you can’t really turn the mask without seeing the opening of the neck area. That’s not a huge issue, but no actual articulation and a poor way of attaching the helmet is a little disappointing since they put so much thought into the overall figure.
The second issue, is more of a reality issue. If Bruce Wayne is supposed to fit into this armored suit, it really shouldn’t be the equivalent of 9 feet tall. In reality, there’s no good place for his legs to match up with the suits leg joints. At least not with the positioning of his head. In the end, I would have preferred they put his head in the chest area with a fully articulated mask in the head location. Maybe a plate in the chest that can open, or don’t even give us the head. If you don’t care about proper anatomy, or can simply look past this, it’s an awesome figure, I happen to be able to look past this, but I find it funny.
I want to touch on the new Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice movie that’ll be released in 2016 to see how this figure compares to the movie version. We’ve seen some sneak peaks of the Thrasher Suit in the movie trailers and I wanted to do a quick likeness comparison between this figure, the original comic version, and the upcoming movie.
The figure fits the original comic creation much closer than the new Thrasher suit in the upcoming movie. It’s obvious the designers had to address the human anatomy issue found in the toy and original artwork. The movie seems to have dialed the scale of the suit down to about a 7′ suit. They also opened the mast to look a little more like the traditional bat cowl we’re used to seeing. I’m sure that’s so we can still get a glimpse of Ben Affleck in there. Changing the eyes gives it a less sinister look than the original, it humanizes the suit a bit compared to the comic version. Perhaps that was the intent, but I would have liked to see a red eye visor over the blue eye version in the movie. In the end, this design change of the helmet opens Batman up to a vulnerability that the original suit did not have.
Moving to the emblem, we aren’t really able to see the bat emblem on the movie version, but we have to assume that will be different as we’ve already seen the movie emblem and that follows the Dark Knight version a little closer than the version on the toy and comic. I’m not a big fan of the new movie emblem, but I’m also not a huge fan of the one on the toy either.
It’s not really fair, but I figured we should talk about the Bruce Wayne likeness to the movie and comic. Comparing to the comic version of Bruce Wayne, the figure is quite close in resemblance. Perhaps the toy is a little too clean cut, but overall, the sculpt and paint are pretty close to the comic. It’s not fair, but comparing to Ben Affleck, the toy and movie are no comparison. I could see someone casting a Ben Affleck head and replacing the existing one with it, which would be pretty cool.
The toy and comic version of the Thrasher Suit really looks like a full on robot, not a suit. The movie version seems to resemble a suit that someone could actually wear, so for reality points, I’d have to give it up to the movie design. For an all out amazing and dominating presence, the comic version is still so much better. Villains will certainly think twice should they come upon the comic version of the Thrasher suit. The movie version looks a little less impressive overall.
Overall, I think the movie version takes plenty from the original and translates it into a realistic suit that I could see Bruce Wayne actually designing and wearing, though still keeping with the comic version enough to keep most people happy. I’m guessing the purists will have the biggest problem with the helmet change.
I foresee DC Collectibles coming out with a movie version of the Thrasher Suit around the time of the movie. I may be wrong, but why not cash in on the merchandising? If they do, please articulate the fingers like the comic version is. I really like that feature a lot.
Here’s a quick look at one of the trailers out that shows the new Thrasher suit in action.
Paint – ★★★★☆
I’ve been going on and on about how great this figure it. Yes, it’s a great figure, and paint is no exception, though I’m not going to say it’s perfect. The majority of the figure is grey, as expected, and they did a really good job of paint application here. The detail work is superb, though some of the larger flat surfaces seem to lack a bit of the gritty look. It almost seems too smooth on the chest whereas the arms and legs have a little nicer detail look with the lighter greys found throughout. It’s not a huge issue, though I felt it was enough to drop one star. Another issue I’m finding as I play with this figure is the paint in the joints, namely the hip joints is starting to flake off. Luckily, the plastic underneath seems to be black so you’re not going to notice it too much, but that little pile of paint on your table or pants is a little annoying.
I’m on the fence with the utility belt. It doesn’t match the comic belt, which I don’t expect toys to always match everything, but the yellow is, I don’t know, just not super awesome. There’s a bit of a brownish color which I’m assuming is meant to look dirty, but if that’s the case, why is only his belt dirty? The suit has battle damage, but not dirt and grime. I’m knit picking here I know, I’m just not feeling the belt paint as much. I like it, just not as much as I should for some reason.
The face, namely the skin tone they used is very plastic like. It almost looks like the skin color of a Ken doll. They did a great job on the sculpt of the face and they applied the paint really well, it’s very clean, but the tone of the color is a bit off. I like, however, that they made Bruce’s face look a little tired around the eyes. I’ve seen some other reviews that didn’t like that look, but I think it gives him a sinister, yet worn look that I would expect if you’re stuck in a battle suit like this for any amount of time.
In the end, they did a great job on the paint app of this figure, even with the couple weak areas I’m point out. I’m guessing most people can overlook the minor issues I brought up and others will say I’m stupid for even bringing them up. To each his/her own.
Accessories – ★★★★☆
For the size of the figure, I don’t always expect any accessories, so it’s nice to have two different ways of displaying my figure. With, or without the helmet. I’m not sure how I’ll display mine just yet. Overall, the helmet just looks great. It fits the look of the figure well, but has it’s limitations. Keeping the thing on and turning it are the two big issues with this thing, but both can be addressed with a little care. The actual sculpt and paint app on this were done really well. The red visor paint is a really nice metallic red that has a bit of a sparkle to it which is really cool.
Packaging –★★★★★
I really like the DC Collectibles packaging. The artwork on the packaging is very eye catching and the wrap around plastic window in front allows those who keep their figures in the package a great display box so you don’t have to open it if you don’t want to. I open all my figures, though I do keep the packaging for some reason. I just love the artwork and this package, though very simple, does have some nice images. You also get a good glimpse at the other three figures in the line, which I really need to get. Since the Thrasher Suit Batman is considerably bigger, the packaging had to be bigger as well. The best part about this packaging is it is still square for the most part, so you can store it and stack them much easier than the blister packaging we see from a lot of manufacturers. I really hate blister packaging. Well done DC Collectibles.
Overall Rating – ★★★★★
Overall, the DC Collectibles Thrasher Suit Batman figure gets a 5 out of 5 stars from me. This is a definite must have for anybody who collects action figures. Even if you’re not a huge Batman fan, just having a figure with fully articulated fingers is amazing, especially at this price point. Yes, there are a couple weak points on the figure, but all the positives easily outweigh the couple weak points. This figure has been out there for a while now so you’ll likely have a hard time picking it up at your local retailer so jump on Ebay or Amazon and get him now.
Do you have any of these figures? If so, do you have a review to share? Please share in the comments or link to your review.
It’s Tuesday Toy Review again and this week I’m reviewing the DC Collectibles Batman: Arkham City Series 3 Clown Thug with Knife. This figure is based on the popular Arkham City video game. I’m not a gamer and thus, have never played the game, but all the same, I love the figures that have been coming as a result of the game.
I’ll be honest, I would never have bought this figure, except it was so incredibly cheap on Amazon. I’m happy I did buy it.
The articulation on this figure is quite bad. Some of it has to be attributed to the mold of the figure, but in the end, they could have chosen either different joint types, different locations for the joints, or simply added more joints.
Total POA’s = 16
Arms – There are 4 joints per arm.
Shoulders: Ball Joint as well as a Pin/Hinge Joint that allows an okay amount of motion, but due to the sculpt of the shoulders, the arms don’t move in what I’d consider a natural way.
Elbow: Pin/Hinge joint allows for about a 90 degree bend.
Forearm: Peg Joint allows for 360 degree twist of the arm just below the elbow. I would have preferred to have a wrist joint instead of this. The forearm joints on my figure are a little loose. Not loose enough that they won’t stay in place, but I anticipate they will get that way someday.
Legs – There are 3 joints in each leg/hip/ankle area. This is the most disappointing as there really needed to be more joints in the legs. Namely a knee joint would have been nice.
Hips: This is the standard DC Collectibles T jointed Peg joint. There’s decent forward motion, but almost no backward.
Thigh: Peg Cut Joint in the thigh is pretty much there to take the place of a knee joint. This joint is pretty important to the posability of the figure, but just really disappointing. Mine are a little loose too, which on a joint that is the critical joint in getting your figure to stand, that’s not good.
Knees: There are NO knee joints. SERIOUSLY?
Ankles: This isn’t actually an ankle joint as it’s at the top of the boot but it is a Peg Joint. Here again, this joint is ok, but would have been better served as a Pin/Hinge joint in the ankle and an ankle rocker.
Body: There is a Peg Joint in the waist that allows for a full 360 degree twist.
Head: Ball Joint in the neck that allows for a decent amount of side-to-side action. Not much forward and back, but enough. This is also a bit of a loose joint.
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Mold – ★★★★☆
They did a really nice job on the sculpt of this figure. Yes, there are issues, and the issues definitely cause issues with the articulation of the figure, but if this were a statue, this would be a really nice looking figure. There’s a lot of really nice detail on this figure. My favorite is the texture and detail they added to his pants. There was a lot of care put into sculpting this figure, which is a little surprising considering this is simply a Clown Thug figure. I really like it though, which is why I bought him. From the pictures he looked really nice and for $10, you can’t go wrong.
I also really love his boots. The detail of the boots is phenomenal. They even did some sculpt of the sole of the boot as well. Not the whole sole, but enough that when you look at the boots from above, it appears they molded the entire thing.
The biggest issue with the figure is his bowed legs. With no knee articulation the legs look weird. He looks a bit like he’s been riding a wide horse for a really, really long time.
Paint –★★★★☆
Just like the mold, the paint is really quite good. There’s a good balance of washes and some dry brushing that really makes this guy pop. Again, the paint detail on his pants and boots is amazing.
Even his upper body is really well done, though a little more brushing to make his arms look a little dirtier would have helped. I especially love the Arkham Asylum logo on his tank top. And the red circle on it is a nice touch.
In the end, however, the best part has to be the “crazy” face paint the did.
Accessories – ★★★★☆
The Series 3 Clown Thug comes with a single giant knife. This thing is really cool, and the best part is it actually fits in his hands really nicely. It’s a bit on the large side, but considering he’s a bit of a crazy clown dude, one should think he’s going to choose a crazy big weapon to go with it. The paint is pretty simple with a silver blade and what seems to be a bit of a light dry brush of some black to dirty it up. The hilt is also a very simple black, but I really like it just the same. The sculpt of this knife is really cool. They even got the edge quite sharp (it’s not going to cut you though).
The paint is wearing off a bit so be careful as you use it.
Packaging – ★★★☆☆
I’m not a fan of the blister packaging that this figure comes in, but it’s the same design as the other figures in the series. My biggest issue with the packaging is that when you open it, you pretty much have to destroy the package to get in. If you’re not going to open yours then it’s pretty nice as the blister portion is shaped like Batman’s cowl.
Overall Rating – ★★★★☆
I really like this figure. He looks like he’s a really high quality figure. Posing is a bit difficult, but otherwise not such a big deal. I hesitate to give him 4 stars, but I don’t think the issues really warrant the loss of 2 full stars. He’s not a must have, but if you’re looking for a good goon figure for your Batman collection, this isn’t a bad option if you can get him around $10.
Do you have any of these figures? If so, do you have a review to share? Please share in the comments or link to your review.
It’s Tuesday Toy Review again and this week I’m reviewing the DC Collectibles Arrow series Deathstroke. This figure is based on Deathstroke from the CW series Arrow. I was so excited to see this figure being released. There were a couple Deathstroke figures I was looking at getting, but when I saw this one, I knew I had to get it. Originally it was set to release on Amazon around May 20th, so I’m not sure how it managed to come so much earlier.
Deathstroke has some really great articulation features. The highlight of the figure are the double knee joints that allow him to literally touch his butt with his heels. The only difficulty you’ll find with this figure is what pose to choose.
Total POA’s = 24
Arms – There are 5 joints per arm.
Shoulders: Ball Joint as well as a Peg Joint that allows for limited outward motion. The Ball Joint also is a little limiting, though the rest of the arm joints make this limitation not as critical.
Elbow: Pin/Hinge joint allows for a fair amount of bend in the elbow. There is also a Peg joint just above the elbow which allows the forearm to twist pretty much 360 degrees.
Wrist: Peg Joint allows for 360 degree twist of the hand as well as a Pin/Hinge joint that allows the fists to curl in and out.
Legs – There are 5 joints in each leg/hip/ankle area.
Hips: Ball Joint which has a somewhat unique mold cutout that allows for a wide range of motion in the hips. Even with the somewhat abrupt cut of the hip and inner crotch area, this joint is very smooth and you barely notice the unnatural mold.
Knees: Double Pin/Hinge joints in the knees allows Deathsroke to literally bend his legs back so far his heels can touch his butt. This is the first figure I’ve acquired that has that amount of flexibility in his knees.
Ankles: Each ankle has 2 joints. Pin/Hinge Joints that allow for a wide range of forward/backward rotation of the ankle. There is also a Ball Joint that allows for a good amount of angle of the foot to ensure a flat foot is on the ground.
Body: Ball Joint in the torso allows for full rotation of the upper body as well as some ab crunch capability.
Head: Ball Joint in the neck. Of all the joints, this joint is the most limiting. It feels there is something catching and keeping Slades head from being able to turn from side to side. It may be such that I can simply force his head to move and whatever is in there will give, but I don’t want to wind up breaking the figure so I may not pursue it.
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Mold – ★★★★★
This figure is awesome! When I reviewed the Marvel Select Cable figure I thought that was my favorite figure. Deathstroke has become my new favorite figure. The detail is absolutely amazing. Add to it, the different materials used to give texture to Slade is amazing. Even the weight of this figure just feels like it’s made of high quality materials.
In terms of the likeness to the TV series Deathstroke, they got it spot on. Take a look at a comparison. To me, they look so similar. The biggest difference is the action figure is considerably skinnier. In terms of the mold, this figure is nearly perfect. Even his hands are formed tight enough that his accessories are held in a relatively natural look.
Paint – ★★★★★
Just like the mold, the folks who created this action figure got the paint pretty much perfect. I especially love the blue which has a shinny metallic look that really makes this figure look great on my shelf.
Accessories – ★★★★★
Deathstroke comes with 4 weapon accessories noted below. I really like these accessories and even more so, the sheathes and scabbard that they are carried in by Deathstroke. The softened rubber fits these accessories so well, it’s easy to forget this is just a $22 toy.
Katana Sword – Scabbard on back
Long Knive – Sheath Left Calf
Short Dagger – Sheath Lower Back
Pistol – Holster Right Hip
I can’t stress enough, just how awesome these accessories are. They fit perfectly in Slade’s hands and they look natural in his hands too.
Packaging – ★★★★☆
The packaging that Deathstroke comes in is very well done. It’s not a blister packaging which is a huge plus right away. A simple white box with very high quality images of the 4 figures in the set on the back. On the one side is a close up image of Deathstroke’s face. A very nice preview window so you can see the entire figure should you choose to display your figure in the box. How could you not open this up though just to feel the quality of the figure.
Overall Rating – ★★★★★
Buy this figure! It is such a great quality figure. There was very little I could complain about with this figure. I think this figure has received the most 5 stars from each category than any of my other reviews. This figure will stand up to a kids active play or will hold it’s own next to any of your other action figures you may have on your shelf, and yes, I even mean the more expensive ones.
Do you have any of these figures? If so, do you have a review to share? Please share in the comments or link to your review.
It’s Toy Review Tuesday again and this week I’m reviewing my all time favorite super hero, Batman. I really feel like I can relate to Batman and Bruce Wayne, because I too… wait, no… I have nothing in common with either of them. But anyway, something has drawn me so much to Batman, so when I had the opportunity to pick up this figure with the Arkham Asylum pack, I had to jump on it.
This Batman figure is a little disappointing articulation wise. Of the 4 figures in this set, Batman has the least points of articulation (POA’s). Thus answers the question of why did I give Batman just 2 stars. Let’s take a look at what he does have.
Total POA’s = 13
Arms – There are 3 POA’s on Batman’s arms, though I they don’t really give him that many reasonable poses due to his cape limiting his shoulder articulation. I really wish he had wrist joints. That would really have made this figures arms good.
Shoulders: Ball Joint with very limited rotation back and forth. NOTE: My Batman figure is unable to move his left arm back and forth entirely. It must have been a manufacturing defect on this figure hopefully. His shoulders to raise out which is helpful.
Elbows: Pin/Hinge joints allow for about 75 degrees of motion. There is no joint grooving here though so the motion is smooth, but I would anticipate this joint would start getting loose if there is a lot of use.
Forearm: Peg Joint allows for 360 degree twist of the forearm. This is a helpful POA on this figure.
Legs – There are 3 joints in each leg/hip area. It would have been nice to have had an ankle joint, though with the boots, I can see why they didn’t do so, just like on the Harley Quinn figure.
Hips: Ball Joint with very limited motion. It’s a standard T-Crotch joint which limits the hip movement to forward and backward movement.
Knees: Pin/Hinge Joints with about 90 degree bend ability. This joint has the grooves his elbows are sorely lacking.
Lower Leg: Peg Joints that allow for a full 360 rotation of the lower leg (boot).
Body: There are no torso joints which he is sorely missing
Head: Ball Joint allows for full 360 degree motion though the tilt capability on Batman is very limited.
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Mold – ★★★☆☆
The mold of this Batman figure seems a bit, unimpressive. In the end, what more can you do with Batman? The detail is fine, but not as amazing as I was expecting it to be compared to the other figures in the set. My guess is much of this figure is likely recycled from other versions of Batman or even other figures. What I do like, though, is his cape. This is really cool. It’s a softer plastic which gives it some flexibility. The biggest issue with it, though, is that it makes Batman very difficult to pose as the cape is so heavy that he tends to want to fall backwards. Luckily, the cape is rigid enough that you can use the cape itself to hold him up. Batman’s head is quite good. I liked the sculpt of his head and the cowl especially. I prefer the cowl to have somewhat longer ears. I don’t like the really long of some other versions of Batman, but I also don’t like the shorter either. His cowl was actually a big reason I wanted to get this set in the first place. The mold of his face is quite menacing which is great.
Overall, I gave Batman 3 stars because, though he’s not bad, he’s not that exciting. There isn’t the detail throughout like the other figures.
Paint – ★★★☆☆
The paint is decent on Batman. With the lack of details in the mold of the figure, the paint suffers. Because there are very few wrinkles or grooves of any sort, I’m sure it’d be tough to be inspired to paint something amazing on this figure. don’t get me wrong, I like the color scheme. My favorite Batman color scheme is the all black suit, but the next is the grey and black suit which is this figure. The most detail on this figure is on Batman’s utility belt. The gold works well, though the details they put in with hints of silver for the clips gives the appearance of worn paint instead of the added detail I’m sure they were looking for.
The biggest positive on this figure is the paint on Batman’s face. His jaw looks very natural with the skin tone as well as the slight pink lips. The best is his eyes though. We actually get a real eye look, not just the white. This really gives Batman a fierce look.
Accessories – ★★★★☆
Batman comes with two accessories. The most of all the figures in the set. I love the batarang. This is pretty cool. It’s all black and has a joint so it can be folded which is awesome. Getting it to stay in his hand is a bit of a trick, but that’s a mold issue, not an issue with the accessory itself.
He also comes with what appears to be a grappling hook gun. This is a cool looking gun though I have yet to be able to get Batman to be able to hold it. Again, this is a problem with the mold of his hands, not the gun itself.
Packaging – ★★★★☆
The packaging that this set comes in is a rectangular box with a plastic window in the front which allows you to see all 4 characters. I prefer this packaging style over the blister/bubble packaging as you can easily stack other boxes on top should you decide not to open your figures. It also protects the figures better in my opinion. As far as the look, the design is nice enough. It’s something I wouldn’t have a problem with displaying, though I wanted my figures out of the box so I could hold them.
Overall Rating – ★★★☆☆
Overall, I gave Batman 3 of 5 stars. I wanted to rate him higher, but I just couldn’t since his partners from the set got 4 stars and they were so much better in the Articulation, Mold, and Paint departments. I love Batman, and I love this Batman figure. I just cannot claim it to be better than an average figure. If you’re a Batman fan buying this set is a great idea.
Do you have any of these figures? If so, do you have a review to share? Please share in the comments or link to your review.
Scarecrow has some very big limitations with his articulation as a result of his hunched over posture. This wouldn’t be an issue, except for the fact that hunching over forces his face to be looking down. There’s almost no way to stand him upright so you can see his face. This is the primary reason for the 3 star rating.
Total POA’s = 16
Arms – There are 4 joints in each arm similar to the Harley Quinn figure.
Shoulders: Ball Joint with full 360 rotation as well as the ability to raise and lower the arm outward. The mold of the shoulder in addition to what I like to call a mock turtlneck he’s wearing hides a lot of the joint.
Upper Arm: Pin Joint allows for full 360 degree turn of the arm which is great for getting just the right position on Scarecrows arms.
Elbows: Pin/Hinge joints allow for about 100 degrees of rotation, with grooves that allow for the joint to stick in place
Wrists: Peg Joint allows for 360 degree twist of the hand
Legs – There are 3 joints in each leg/hip area.
Hips: Ball Joint with very limited motion. It’s a standard T-Crotch joint which limits the hip movement to forward and backward movement. The mold of the buttocks limits Scarecrows ability further from moving his legs backwards, but in the end, it wouldn’t look natural to move his legs that far back anyway.
Thigh: Peg Joints with only about 30-40 degrees of rotation. It’s possible they could rotate more, but the joint felt as though it would break if I tried too hard so I’m leaving it at that.
Ankle: This isn’t so much an ankle as it is midway between the knee and ankle. A Peg joint that allows for full 360 motion. This is the most important joint on this figure as it is critical to being able to find a position that allows Scarecrow to stand on his own.
Body: Peg Joint that allows for full 360 rotation of the torso. The positive of this joint is that you can actually position Scarecrow in several ways with his torso rotated and you can still get him to stand on his own.
Head: Peg Joint allows for full 360 degree motion. Of all Scarecrows joints, the neck/head joint is the most versatile. He has a lot of tilt ability which allows for a lot of positioning which is great.
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Mold – ★★★★☆
There are some real positives and some big negatives to the mold of this Scarecrow figure. The detail on this figure is awesome. From the stitches on his clothes to the freakishly awesome details of his face, this figure screams detail.
This figure also screams inconvenient. Since they made Scarecrow hunched over, it makes it very difficult to get him to stand on his own, at first, that is. I actually like the hunch he has as it makes him look more sinister. The problem is the fact that you cannot see his face when you just look straight at him. He’s always looking down, which wouldn’t be a big deal, except his face is one of the coolest features of the figure.
Paint – ★★★★☆
Paint on the Scarecrow is definitely one of the highlights of this figure. Though limited in palette, the details incorporated into this figure are awesome. Starting with the flesh, which appears dirty and worn, which makes the figure look almost real.
His clothes have a great texture to them from the mold that the paint really accentuates perfectly. His face, though, is where you’re getting your moneys worth. The detail work of the mold was an excellent canvas for the paint to truly make this figure a scary looking dude.
Accessories – ★★★★☆
Scarecrow comes with a single leather bag/pouch. Now, don’t get me wrong, this sounds totally lame, but this bag looks awesome. The mold and paint work are superb.
Technically not an accessory as it’s molded onto the figure, on his right hand is a weapon that appears to be syringes on each finger. Quite the glove. I’m just hoping he doesn’t accidentally scratch his face. Anyway, this is a pretty cool weapon, though it may have been slightly better if it were of a harder plastic rather than the softer.
Packaging – ★★★★☆
The packaging that this set comes in is a rectangular box with a plastic window in the front which allows you to see all 4 characters. I prefer this packaging style over the blister/bubble packaging as you can easily stack other boxes on top should you decide not to open your figures. It also protects the figures better in my opinion. As far as the look, the design is nice enough. It’s something I wouldn’t have a problem with displaying, though I wanted my figures out of the box so I could hold them.
Overall Rating – ★★★★☆
Overall, I gave the Scarecrow 4 of 5 stars. Though he’s really lacking in the articulation side of things, his mold, paint, and accessories really make up for it. I can get over the fact that I cannot see his face straight on because my figures are on a shelf above me at work, thus, I look up and I see his face and I shutter, because I’m so terrified (not really, I’m a tough SOB, I would never be scared of a little action figure).
Scarecrow probably isn’t the reason someone should buy this set, but it was a big reason I bought it. I don’t care the much for the character as there are certainly better villains out there, but the quality of this figure is good enough that even if he’s not your preferred character, it’s still worth the money.
It’s Toy Review Tuesday again and this week I’m reviewing my favorite female comic book character, Harley Quinn. She’s one of the newer villains in the DC Universe and one of the strangest, which is a big part of why I love her so much. I bought Harley as a part of a 4 piece set by DC Collectibles. I’ve already reviewed The Joker. Stay tuned for Scarecrow and Batman in the next few weeks.
Articulation wise, Harley has a decent amount of poses she can do, though she does have some limitations that make posing a little difficult at times. Had they either changed the head joint or added another leg joint, I would have given Harley at least 4 stars. Unfortunately, she has to be relegated to just 3 stars.
Arms – There are 4 joints in each arm which is insane for just a 6″ figure.
Shoulders: Ball Joint with full 360 rotation as well as the ability to raise and lower the arm outward. The mold of her shoulder works great as there is little to no view of the often unseemly joint that many figures have.
Upper Arm: Pin Joint allows for full 360 degree turn of the arm which increases Harley’s poses she can do with her gun which is awesome.
Elbows: Pin/Hinge joints allow for about 90 degrees of rotation, with grooves that allow for the joint to stick in place
Wrists: Peg Joint allows for 360 degree twist of the hand
Legs – There are 2 joints in each leg/hip area. It would have been nice to have had an ankle joint, though with her boots, I can see why they didn’t do so.
Hips: Ball Joint with very limited motion. It’s a standard T-Crotch joint which limits the hip movement to forward and backward movement. Very little if any outward motion at all.
Knees: Pin/Hinge Joints with about 80 degree bend ability. Again with grooves allowing the joints to stick in place.
Body: There are no torso joints
Head: Peg Joint allows for full 360 degree motion. It would have been so much better had she had a ball joint to allow for a little more motion in her head.
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Mold – ★★★★☆
Harley’s mold is very nice. She’s got lots of details. Some of the most notable are the stolen warden name tag, as well as the actual fabric fishnets she’s wearing. Her boots are wonderfully molded, though I’ve noticed her left leg is slightly longer than her left, which forces Harley to only be posed in positions that put her left foot forward. This isn’t a horrible thing, but just know, you’re going to need to bring that foot forward to keep her standing on her own.
My favorite part about Harley is her pigtails. The detail of her hair is amazing. In terms of action figures, her hair is nearly real looking. I really love this figure and they managed to mold her in not too risque a manner that I can feel relatively comfortable having Harley Quinn on my shelf at work.
One cool, yet odd part about the mold of Harley Quinn is her skirt. It’s a mini mini skirt that is of a soft plastic/rubber. It’s a great feature, though it’s not really connected to her which would lead one to believe it’s to allow for hip movement. Unfortunately as we found, there is no hip joint. It’s still a cool feature, but just a bit odd in my book.
A final positive note for Harley is her trigger finger on her right hand. They molded that hand perfectly to hold her gun with her finger actually fitting in the trigger guard so she can look like she’s actually able to squeeze a round off. Those details are hard to come by with some figures.
Paint – ★★★★☆
I think the paint on this Harley Quinn was really done well. There’s not a lot of shading done here, but in this instance, I think it works without a whole lot. There isn’t a lot of texturing done with the paint, though where they do it, it really works. The little bit of blush on her cheeks does an amazing job at highlighting this figure.
The blood spattering on the skirt is a great detail as is the gold links on her corset. I love the paint on this figure.
Accessories – ★★★☆☆
Harley comes with a single accessory, a handgun of some sort. I would have preferred her signature hammer/mallet, but the packaging was clear that she came with a gun so I cannot complain. I preferred the mold of this Harley Quinn over the ones that came with the mallet so I’m happy with it.
Packaging – ★★★★☆
The packaging that this set comes in is a rectangular box with a plastic window in the front which allows you to see all 4 characters. I prefer this packaging style over the blister/bubble packaging as you can easily stack other boxes on top should you decide not to open your figures. It also protects the figures better in my opinion. As far as the look, the design is nice enough. It’s something I wouldn’t have a problem with displaying, though I wanted my figures out of the box so I could hold them.
Overall Rating – ★★★★☆
Overall, I gave Harley Quinn 4 of 5 stars. She really hits every category with a solid showing, even with some weaknesses, I still feel this figure is a must buy if you like the Harley Quinn comic book figure.
It’s Toy Review Tuesday and this week I’m reviewing one of my absolute favorite villains of all time. The Joker has been my favorite villain since I was a kid. My parents did not like the Batman movies or comics and that’s probably a huge part of why I do. It intrigued me that they would be so dead set against it. It’s probably a big part of why I tend toward the darker side of so many things.
As much as I love this Joker figure, the articulation is a little lacking. With that said, it doesn’t affect his ability to be posed in several different ways, it simply makes him seem a little stiff.
Arms – There are 3 joints in each arm.
Shoulders: Ball Joint with full 360 rotation as well as the ability to raise and lower the arm outward
Elbows: Pin/Hinge joints allow for about 90 degrees of rotation, with grooves that allow for the joint to stick in place
Wrists: Peg Joint allows for 360 degree twist of the hand
Legs – There are 2 joints in each leg/hip area
Hips: Ball Joint with very limited motion. It’s a standard T-Crotch joint which limits the hip movement to forward and backward movement. Very little if any outward motion at all.
Knees: Pin/Hinge Joints with about 60 degree bend ability. Again with grooves allowing the joints to stick in place
Ankles: Peg Joint, but this joint is practically useless due to the mold of the pants. The pants limit the range of motion to a minuscule amount.
Body: There are no torso joints
Head: Ball Joint allows for full 360 degree motion as well as some limited angle motion.
Mold – ★★★★★
The mold of The Joker figure is excellent. The small details is where this figure really excels. From the slight ripple in the upper leg area to the wrinkles in his face. The mold perfectly reflects my expectation of a Joker figure. I don’t play the Arkham video games so I cannot say how closely this figure represents The Joker from the game, but as far as just the look goes, this is top notch. I especially love the soft plastic jacket tail and the little wallet chain is a great detail.
Paint – ★★★★★
As with the excellent detail in the Mold, the paint is just as great. My favorite is the head and more specifically, the Jokers face. The amount of detail is perfect. The colors chosen reflect my vision of the perfect Joker. This Joker is one of the reasons I bought the set in the end.
Accessories – ★☆☆☆☆
There are no accessories that came with this figure
Packaging – ★★★★☆
The packaging that this set comes in is a rectangular box with a plastic window in the front which allows you to see all 4 characters. I prefer this packaging style over the blister/bubble packaging as you can easily stack other boxes on top should you decide not to open your figures. It also protects the figures better in my opinion. As far as the look, the design is nice enough. It’s something I wouldn’t have a problem with displaying, though I wanted my figures out of the box so I could hold them.
Overall Rating – ★★★★☆
Overall, I gave The Joker figure 4 of 5 stars. The articulation is really the only downside to this figure as well as no accessories. It’d be nice to have a gun or something for him to hold. Other than that, the mold and paint are so well done that I still had to give this figure an above average rating. Stay tuned as I review the remaining 3 figures in the set.
TechChucker's Brain Blast 