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Figure Review: Batman, DC SuperHeroes Wave 3 |
FlaBat
Posts: 1526
Location: Miami
Joined: 24.06.05
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| Posted on 29-10-2006 20:49 |
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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.
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RE: Figure Review: Batman, DC SuperHeroes Wave 3 |
spencer1984
Posts: 1271
Location: Upstate NY
Joined: 30.06.05
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| Posted on 30-10-2006 11:25 |
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Excellent review as always, thanks!
I know I'm in the minority here, but I just don't care for this figure. To me, the face looks almost gaunt while the thorax looks overblown (especially the lats). I also don't care for the extra articulation...there are very few figures where articulation doesn't hurt the sculpt, and this isn't one of them. Add in that my personal preferences are also working against this figure (I prefer longer ears, black & gray color scheme, and no "dirt" washes), and it didn't have a chance of unseating Zipline bats as my favorite.
I like that Mattel is trying for more playability, and their distribution has gotten a lot better. The batarangs in this figure are a great touch, too. |
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RE: Figure Review: Batman, DC SuperHeroes Wave 3 |
kpangilinan
Posts: 547
Joined: 24.09.06
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| Posted on 30-10-2006 15:22 |
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I bought this figure a while ago and when I first saw it, I thought it was ugly. But of course I had to get it because its Batman. The belt bothered me because of the bat emblem in the front. I preferred the previous version's belt.
Zipline Batman is still my favorite of all time but after reading the review and saying it looks like the Hush Batman, I'm starting to like this one a lot. And the weapons are really cool. |
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RE: Figure Review: Batman, DC SuperHeroes Wave 3 |
Caleson
Posts: 1631
Location: Rockville, IA
Joined: 24.06.05
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| Posted on 30-10-2006 16:51 |
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Nice review. I notice you're not cropping the photos. Still gives a good representation as-is.
I still don't have this figure (waiting to see if my Target gets the Batman/Batgirl 2-pack), but I'll definitely pick him up. There are aspects I'm not too crazy about. His facial expression and short ears aren't entirely my preference, and I think the articulation may be hindering the overall look. Pound-for-pound, he seems like one of not the best Batman figures to date, but I still can't help but feel he's lacking or irregular in some aspect. Maybe I'm losing my perspective with all these classic styled figure variations coming out.
spencer1984 wrote:
To me, the face looks almost gaunt while the thorax looks overblown (especially the lats). Was this figure designed by Dr. Seuss or something? :|
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RE: Figure Review: Batman, DC SuperHeroes Wave 3 |
FlaBat
Posts: 1526
Location: Miami
Joined: 24.06.05
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| Posted on 30-10-2006 20:02 |
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Caleson wrote:
Nice review. I notice you're not cropping the photos. Still gives a good representation as-is.
Good eyes. I?m trying something different. It had been awhile since I did a Review and the old white Poster Boards were missing. So I got new ones that are foam backed and have a nice gray speckle to them.
My problem was it took a long time to ?draw? around the figures and drop the background to a neutral white, so I?m trying a new look that is faster to produce with less editing. The gray speckles I thought might be better than splotches of white that an all white background produces with the lights on it, but it looks like it messes with the camera settings making things just a bit darker.
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RE: Figure Review: Batman, DC SuperHeroes Wave 3 |
spencer1984
Posts: 1271
Location: Upstate NY
Joined: 30.06.05
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| Posted on 31-10-2006 10:10 |
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Caleson wrote:
Was this figure designed by Dr. Seuss or something? :|
Eh? |
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RE: Figure Review: Batman, DC SuperHeroes Wave 3 |
real-dark-knight
Posts: 726
Location: The Shadow Of St Albans Abbey
Joined: 28.07.06
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| Posted on 31-10-2006 13:27 |
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Is Dr Seuss another of the 101 most influential people who never actually lived?
They're great photos! If you've not actually seen the figures up close and personal, you really get a good idea of exactly what they're like.
I don't actually collect figures, but that's enough to make you want to start.............
Edited by real-dark-knight on 31-10-2006 13:28 |
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RE: Figure Review: Batman, DC SuperHeroes Wave 3 |
Razhwurz
Posts: 1672
Joined: 02.08.06
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| Posted on 31-10-2006 17:40 |
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Actually, the head looks like it takes a lot of insperation from Jim Lee's Batman. And it's a bumber that the hands are closed, why would someone want to make a Batman figure that can't hold gadgets?
Never start with the head; the victim gets all fuzzy!
R.I.P. Heath |
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RE: Figure Review: Batman, DC SuperHeroes Wave 3 |
Caleson
Posts: 1631
Location: Rockville, IA
Joined: 24.06.05
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| Posted on 31-10-2006 18:20 |
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spencer1984 wrote:
Caleson wrote:
Was this figure designed by Dr. Seuss or something? :|
Eh?
You were using words like "thorax." I can't quite remember what that is and it sounds like a Dr. Seuss character (remember the Lorax?). Badly attempted joke on my part. 
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RE: Figure Review: Batman, DC SuperHeroes Wave 3 |
FlaBat
Posts: 1526
Location: Miami
Joined: 24.06.05
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| Posted on 31-10-2006 19:26 |
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Razhwurz wrote:
Actually, the head looks like it takes a lot of insperation from Jim Lee's Batman. And it's a bumber that the hands are closed, why would someone want to make a Batman figure that can't hold gadgets?
There is a very small slot in the left fist. I think they meant to have it be able to hold something, but it did not turn out that way. Although I did get one of the Batarangs to just fit.
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RE: Figure Review: Batman, DC SuperHeroes Wave 3 |
batboy99
Posts: 1550
Location: Toronto,Ontario Canada
Joined: 20.10.05
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| Posted on 31-10-2006 21:28 |
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urgh i hate that head sculpt!he looks like a baboon!
Batman YTB is the best site on the net!
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RE: Figure Review: Batman, DC SuperHeroes Wave 3 |
spencer1984
Posts: 1271
Location: Upstate NY
Joined: 30.06.05
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| Posted on 31-10-2006 22:30 |
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Caleson wrote:
You were using words like "thorax." I can't quite remember what that is and it sounds like a Dr. Seuss character (remember the Lorax?). Badly attempted joke on my part.
It worked out fine, I thought that might be a "Lorax" joke (one of my favorite Seuss tales), but then I wasn't sure if you were referring to the good doctor's...um..."unique" take on anatomy. Either one seems appropriate here, so I just wanted to know which one I was laughing at
Thorax is the bit between our neck and diaphragm. His abdomen and lower back seem OK, and I would have said "chest" but the pecs are the least of his problems through that area. |
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RE: Figure Review: Batman, DC SuperHeroes Wave 3 |
A_Spidey_Fan
Posts: 151
Joined: 16.05.06
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| Posted on 01-11-2006 01:09 |
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While Zipline is still my personal favourite, this 1 is still a very cool Batman figure. Defently the best Batman in the "Blue and grey suit with short Bat ears, pouch style utility belt, and black bat symbol" catagory(With Batman, artists usually have a certian style with the character, ranging form the size of the ears, pouch or capsule style utility belt, black bat symbol or the yellow oval symbol, and either in black/grey, blue/grey, black/blue, dark blue/light blue, or all black costume). All in all, good review.
It's cool that he comes with all those Batarangs, but not cool that he can't really hold them. However, I seem to recall seeing a picture on a different message board(Don't remember which 1) that there appears to be a running change on this DC Superheroes Wave 3 Batman figure, for they've now added in holes into both of his fists so that he can now hold the Batarangs properly and in both hands. Of course, this could of just been a modification that some did as well, but you never know, and there could be some truth to this.
As for the cardboard background, well, if they had gotten rid of the yellow explosion, it would of probably look better. Or at the very least, have different backgrounds for each character in Wave 3(For example, Batman and Robin could come with a different Batcave background, Freeze could of come with a area that is Freezed over like it's his hideout or part of Gotham freezed over, and Azaral could of come with the city background). That said, glad to see that in Wave 4, they got rid of them and brought back the comic books. It should be noted that the DCSH Wave 3 Mr. Freeze has been reported to have some additional articulation besides a different deco. DCSH Wave 3 Robin however doesn't have any additonal articulaton, and most should probably wait for when Mattel will release a new Robin figure with more articulation, unless you're desperate for a Robin figure and you're not so worried about articulation. |
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RE: Figure Review: Batman, DC SuperHeroes Wave 3 |
Catfan
Posts: 262
Location: Upstate New York
Joined: 23.07.06
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| Posted on 01-11-2006 05:26 |
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I don't seem to pay attention to little details, in part because my eyesight is not the best. But I rather like this one, because it has a certain "Thrillkiller" look to it, and because I like the autumn colours very much! Where is this being sold? I was just wondering.
Located at http://www.catwomanfan.com
The 1965 FBI Tribute site
MySpace: Batman 1969 |
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RE: Figure Review: Batman, DC SuperHeroes Wave 3 |
FlaBat
Posts: 1526
Location: Miami
Joined: 24.06.05
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| Posted on 01-11-2006 19:50 |
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Catfan wrote:
I don't seem to pay attention to little details, in part because my eyesight is not the best. But I rather like this one, because it has a certain "Thrillkiller" look to it, and because I like the autumn colours very much! Where is this being sold? I was just wondering.
Batman by himself is in most stores, Wal-Mart and Target got them first, but others should follow soon. Batman with Batgirl is a Target only set.
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RE: Figure Review: Batman, DC SuperHeroes Wave 3 |
batboy99
Posts: 1550
Location: Toronto,Ontario Canada
Joined: 20.10.05
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| Posted on 01-11-2006 20:22 |
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what???no im never gonna get batgirl now!
Batman YTB is the best site on the net!
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RE: Figure Review: Batman, DC SuperHeroes Wave 3 |
FlaBat
Posts: 1526
Location: Miami
Joined: 24.06.05
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| Posted on 01-11-2006 22:14 |
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batboy99 wrote:
what???no im never gonna get batgirl now!
There?s always eBay.
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RE: Figure Review: Batman, DC SuperHeroes Wave 3 |
Razhwurz
Posts: 1672
Joined: 02.08.06
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| Posted on 04-11-2006 14:25 |
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I just went out and bought me this fig, all in all it's pretty good.
The problem with the Batarangs is that they're made of a flexible material, so while most of them do fit in the slot, they're to flexible to be placed firmly in.
And somthing odd is the the belt inhibit's Bat's ability to raise his legs.
Never start with the head; the victim gets all fuzzy!
R.I.P. Heath |
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RE: Figure Review: Batman, DC SuperHeroes Wave 3 |
batmaster
Posts: 49
Location: utrecht, netherlands
Joined: 01.11.06
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| Posted on 05-11-2006 05:34 |
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They are awnsom!
Bring On The Batman. |
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RE: Figure Review: Batman, DC SuperHeroes Wave 3 |
BornAgainBatman
Posts: 715
Location: NYC
Joined: 29.12.06
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| Posted on 15-01-2007 22:03 |
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i like this fig but i still like s1 batman better than s3 batman since i find myself playing more with s1 batman.
both do have their ups and downs.
i hope to see bat singnal batman and/or atack armor batman in s6 or s7. |
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