Action Figures & Dolls - Action Figures - Comic - DC Superheroes (Mattel) - Series 3 - Batman
Batman
DC Superheroes: S3 Select Sculpt: Mattel, 2006. Asst J2003 , SKU# J2008
The DC SuperHeroes series of figures just keeps getting better and better. While some are just reused figures from Mattel’s previous Comic Style Figures, Wave 3 brings us an all new Batman sculpt that borrows ideas from previous figures and presents Batman in a whole new way. The Wave 1 Batman was good, and marked improvement over Mattel’s original Zipline Batman in articulation and presentation. This Wave 3 figure is even better articulated.
While I’ve openly said in other Reviews that other figures were the Best-Batman-Figure-Ever-Before, this one now easily claims that title and would be almost hard to beat. I said almost, there are a couple details that could have been better. I still like a good cloth cape to a rubber one, and why included the most Batarangs any Batman figure has come with if the figure has two closed fists and can’t use them? Still this figure combines some of the best features of Mattel’s previous Batman figures and adds some new features of it’s own.
SPECS:
The figure stands 6 1/2 inches tall (to the ear tips) and has 24 points of articulation (Ball jointed head, shoulders an hips. Cut chest, biceps, gloves, thighs and waist. Pin elbows, knees and ankles). Accessories include Seven different Batarangs and Cardboard Display Stage.
PROS:
It’s the Best Batman Figure Ever, or at least the Best Batman Figure up until now in this scale. The sculpt is a spot on classic comic look and on par with DC Direct’s Hush Batman. The body wash is good, but not excessive, although some figures seem to have darker legs for some reason. The Utility Belt is among the best ever on a Batman figure. The articulation rivals Marvel Legends figures, but it is just enough and does not push so far as to disrupt the overall figure sculpt too much
CONS:
The figure has two closed fists, but comes with a record SEVEN Batarangs that it cannot hold. It should have had at least one open hand to use some of the Batarangs, or even better interchangeable hands. There is a "slot" in the left fist and I did get one of the Batarangs to fit, but just barely. It looks like they meant it to be able to hold the Batarangs, but it is not deep enough.  I can’t imagine why Mattel did not catch that and make some changes, and I doubt Mattel would include two sets of hands like DC Direct does with some figures. I’d rather have a Comic Book or a Marvel Legends style display Base or even better an interconnecting piece of a Playset. The included Cardboard Display is OK, but it's a little cheesy to me. Mattel could have each figure have a different piece of the Batcave or something that would give the collector a reason to collect them all.
OVERALL:
The added articulation, more on this figure than the previous Wave 1 Batman, ups the play value a lot even without open hands. It’s available as a single figure as well as part of the Target Exclusive Batman / Batgirl 2 Pack. This is clearly a figure you will want to have. The 2 Pack does not come with the seven Batarangs, only one for Batgirl, so if you don’t care about them get the 2 Pack and it might save you some money. While it is not a hard figure to find it’s not exactly all over the place either at least not in my figure hunts. I expect these to sell out during the Holiday season rather quickly, so get them before Thanksgiving if you can.
This is definitely a Must Have figure for Batman figure collectors and figure collectors in general. Azrael is a good figure to get as well, as it’s one of the better interpretations of the character. The other two figures in this Wave, Robin and Mr. Freeze are repaints of previous comic style figures that you could pass on even though they both sport better paint jobs and body washes than the originals. PICTURES:
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