I never planned on buying this Batman. I even preordered the Dark Knight Returns Batman well ahead of time, and completely ignored the Planet-X version from the same wave. This was done because I NEVER find good Mattel figures at retail, and I didn’t want to miss out because it’s so rare that I actually want a non-Masters of the Universe toy. But that is the story of Dark Knight Returns Batman the other figure in this wave. How did I end up with Planet-X Batman? Firstly I found him at retail and that is a huge plus, but not enough for an on-the-spot purchase. Second colorful and weird Batman variants are particularly interesting to me, and seeing him in person I had to have him.
The original reason I didn’t care very much about Planet-X Batman was because he looked like a really simple kit-bash. I had thought he was a typical DCUC or DCIE buck, painted different with a new cape, baseball bat, and Batmite. I was very wrong because there is actually a pretty sizable chunk of new tooling on this guy. His upper body, cape, head, and belt are all new. He has the same legs we have seen in the DC line since forever, but at least they used the ones that had the sculpted boot-lines. Of course the baseball bat and to an extent Batmite pack-ins are also newly sculpted, so compared to the standard DCIE release you are getting a good value.
The first thing I look for when judging a Batman that wields a bat is how posable he is with it. The DCUC body is a lot better than I remember it because he can get into quite a few poses holding the bat with both hands. I’m actually very satisfied with the poses I can achieve with the arms. The biggest gripe I have is actually with the head and neck. Planet-X Batman has what seems like a ball jointed head but it works like a swivel. I can move the head back and forth but up and down is a no-go. It’s a blemish on an otherwise decent articulation scheme. The only other big issue I have is the lack of rocker ankles, I swear DCUC figures used to have these.
The paint is what really drove me to purchase this Batman variant. I’ve always had a bit of an issue with the body they use for Batman. They give him a large upper body but very thin legs. That may be the way he is drawn but I don’t read too many comics so I have my own ideas as to how Batman should be proportioned. This is why I never have bought a Batman since the zipline version prior to the DC Universe Classics line. How does this fit in with paint? Well the paint, more specifically the crazy colors, is what helped me overcome my dislike for the base body. It’s different and out there, I also would have bought that zebra striped Batman they showed off a couple of years back … I assume it never came out.
The Batmite doesn’t do much for me, but it is a nice little pack-in. If you have been keeping up you will now own both a blue and black flavored Batmite with slightly different head sculpts. Don’t expect more than three to four points of articulation since these are fairly simple little characters.
It is nice to see something on a retail shelf I actually want to buy. I don’t think this version of Batman is going to be for everyone, but the colors and the look definitely speak to me. From what I have read this version also covers two different storylines for the caped crusader: R.I.P. and Planet-X I believe. The action figure is a solid release and if you enjoy the DCUC body you shouldn’t have any issues. For only about $15 at Target you could do a lot worse … after all there is another ass-ugly version of Batman on the shelf, and I have no idea what it’s called. If you are boycotting Target for some strange reason you can always pick him up on Amazon.
With baseball season just getting underway this is the best time to invest in a toy that comes with a bat. There isn’t a better person to wield that bat than the Batman. Sorry … enjoy your night.
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Nice man good to see a review of the “other” figure from this wave
Yeah you’re right drrampageo!
Since I am part of the people who reviewed the DKR Bats I cant really complain too much, but its nice to see Zur-En-Arrh Bats get some screen time
No you’re not complaining at all and to be quite honest one should always be critical of the toy they’re buying and also the quality of it so basically you’re a skeptical collector with good morals.Well done mate and no harm done in complaining at all!
That’s really how I felt too, but when I saw him in store I liked what I saw. Not perfect, but fun.
Well fair enough Jon! lol
Oops sorry for the duplicate comment!
This was actually the best part of waking up this morning (screw folger’s) it also woke me up this morning, Great review!
Thank you! Made a concerted effort to push this one out last night, but fell asleep. Thankfully I woke up early enough to proofread and post.
Lol!
Yeah I agree love the midget version of batman he looks like a awesome power packed sidekick!
Hey Jon, what program do you use for the speech bubbles? I could use it for this Garry’s Mod gallery and reviews
Yeah that would be ledge if you can do that but hey also is that your own site flutterlicious?
No, that’s what I’m going to do with the program. My website has just one of Jon’s posts and I was going to do one on some walking Dead figures
I use photoshop, it’s just basically an object and the I stroke it and add text. I came upon the speech bubble pack a while back, I’ll take a look tonight to see if I can find it.
So, Not only the coolest toy collector but a master of Photshop as well?
More like knows how to do enough to get the job done :p
Yeah that’s me!
Cool man!
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Exactly mate and as I said love the midget batman version I mean it looks like some character off of young justice TV series!
Yep, the DC guys sure did have ankle rockers at one point, but one wave and they were suddenly gone to keep costs down. I thought they did the same with the neck construction at some point, but that just to be random and meant to drive me crazy. Sometimes they can look up really well, sometimes not at all.
Nu52 Superman cannot. Makes flying poses not so good.
It seems like a crime to not give at least Superman the ability to up! It’s only his signature pose.
On another note, MOTUC has spoiled me with the removable heads … in a moment of weakness I thought I could do a headswap on the Riddler and broke his peg. Shame, he was one of my favorites too.
LOL!
Hey guys can just ask when is SDCC Comic-Con in July what date? Thanks
July 18 – 21.
Thanks Jon!
Yeah thanks Jon!
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