okay...i'm going to be in the hospital for a bit, but i wanted to leave everyone something new to read while i'm gone...
i've got a few of these stocked up to keep you entertained in my absence...
the inmates are running the asylum...
tonight i'll be reviewing the new dc direct arkham asylum figures, series 1. since my camera is still broken, i borrowed the pics from my beloved michael crawford, but made sure not to read his review.
the packages:
these are very well done, with the front bubble of the clamshells shaped like batman's cowl. it creates a great visual, and displays the figures nicely...which will please the moc-ers. for those of us that insist on freeing our toys from their tiny plastic prisons, it's time to break out the razor blade. i'm sure each of us has figured out our own system for cutting these open, an avoiding injury, but in case you're new to this scene, be careful! clamshells can be brutal!
the figures:
this first series consists of four figures: the joker, harley quinn, the scarecrow, and the dark knight detective himself. these figures are all based on designs from the batman: arkham asylum video game, but for those unfamiliar with the game, i'll base my review of each solely off the figures.
batman is one of the least redesigned of this wave. basic blue and grey, but with a black cape. his eyes are visible behind his cowl, which is uncommon for a batman figure not based off the movies, but it's a good look. batman looks angry and ready to kick some ass. he has fine sculpted lines in the grey bodysuit to indicate that this outfit is armored, with silver rivets to complete the look. his gloves and boots are topped with armored gauntlets and greaves, adding to the more beefed up lppk of the caped crusader.
the articulation here is good...but not great. he features an excellent ball-jointed head, with a great range of movement. he has pin and disc shoulders, slot and pin elbows, and cut joints at the bloves, boot tops, and hips. some pin and disc hips, and ball jointed ankles would have really put this batman over the top. he stands tall and well, but lacks the dynamism that i want from a batman figure. the molded rubber cape looks great, but does hinder the movement of his shoulders a bit.
he only comes with one accessory, a batarang. it's a good accessory, though. it fits tighly in his left hand, and folds in half as well.
next, we have batman's archnemesis, the clown prince of crime...the joker. joker is pretty classically styled, and this is a good thing! he's got a wonderful, malicious, creepy face. this is no benign clown...this is a villain that looks the part. clad in his classic purple pin-striped suit, with a yellow shirt, this one eschews the more classic string tie for a bow tie, but it works well. the patch on the left knee and wilted flower on his lapel help give him a grimy, lived in look.
the articulation really, really hurts this figure. he has a ball jointed head, which works well, but then he has pin and disc shoulders, slot and post elbows and knees, and cut joints at the wrists and hips. there were supposed to be cut joints at the ankles, but the sculpting of the shoes and pant cuffs keep them frozen. pin and disc hips, ball jointed ankles, and cut joints at the biceps were called for here. the joker really can't get in to many poses, so again, we're robbed of the dynamism we should be able to expect.
the real crime with the joker's lack of poseability, though, is that he comes with easily the best accessory of the bunch. he includes a fully articulated figure of scarface, the ventriloquist's evil dummy. scarface is really a figure all his own, with cut joints at the neck, shoulders, hips, and wrists. he even features a slot on his back that the joker's hand fits into perfectly...except that with the poorly articulated arms, the joker just ends up looking like he's waving scarface around. trust me...scarface will look much better just standing next to the joker on your shelf.
next up: the scarecrow. he's been drastically redesigned, which is nothing new for this character. i have seen him portrayed in so many different ways, and this one seems to be an amalgamation of all of them...with a heavy dash of freddy krueger thrown in for good effect. his mask looks more similar to the live action movie portrayals, with a rebreather attached to the burlap hood. he has his hangman's noose around his neck, and scraps of stitched-together fabric strapped to his body. he is mostly bare-torsoed, and all of his ribs and vertebrae are showing through the skin, giving him a creepy, emaciated look.
as for the freddy krueger influence...his right hand features an assembly that looks straight out of freddy's workshop. needles on each his fingers, with tubes running back to reservoirs on his wrist, all painted with an ichor color, to indicate the toxicity of the fear serum within.
this time, the articulation is pretty decent. ball jointed head, pin and disc shoulders, slot and pin elbows, and cut joints at the biceps, hips, wrists and thighs, with well done ball joints at the ankles. the hunched nature of the body keeps him from standing upright, but there are still plenty of menacing poses you can get him into.
his one accessory, however...not so hot. it's a sculpted burlap sack, which fits perfectly in his left hand. but...it just looks a bit silly to me...almost as if the god of fear decided to brown bag his lunch. i think this bag will end up at the bottom of one of my toy drawers.
lastly, we have harley quinn. harley, like the scarecrow, has been heavily redesigned here...and i like it! whereas harley often looks silly, and even a bit sweet, this girl looks as serious as a heart attack, and sexy, too! she has sort of a nurse/raver thing going here. platform boots, one red and one purple, matching elbow length gloves, an underbust corset, fishnet stockings, a two-tone bra peeking out of her top, and pigtails to top it all off. i really like this look, and would be happy to see this replace her harlequinne costume on a full-time basis. oh, and as a bonus...her fishnets aren't sculpted, they're fabric...and much better than we've seen done recently at this scale!
she is very well articulated, with plenty of sexy poses she can be displayed in. cut joints at her neck, wrists, hips and thighs, pin and disc shoulders, and slot and pin elbows and knees. i think a ball jointed neck would have really rocked for this figure, but overall, i'm still pretty happy with her.
she actually gets two accessories: a candy cane gun, and a cane. the gun doesn't really fit in her hands properly, from an aesthetic style, but it fits well enough in her right hand that it shouldn't fall out when she's standing on the shelf. the cane, too, fits in either hand, but not perfectly. still, she'll display well, and the figure is nice enough for me not to nitpick her accessories too badly.
so, all in all, these are a pretty decent set of figures to own. at around $20 each, they're a little step, but the upcoming waves promise some great additions, so i think, if dc direct keeps running with this line, we should end up with a nice collection of figures to display. this, sadly, isn't always the case with dc direct...my kingdom come and dark knight returns collections fell woefully short of what i was hoping for...both collections together don't even fill one shelf...
til next time, loves!
i've got a few of these stocked up to keep you entertained in my absence...
the inmates are running the asylum...
tonight i'll be reviewing the new dc direct arkham asylum figures, series 1. since my camera is still broken, i borrowed the pics from my beloved michael crawford, but made sure not to read his review.
the packages:
these are very well done, with the front bubble of the clamshells shaped like batman's cowl. it creates a great visual, and displays the figures nicely...which will please the moc-ers. for those of us that insist on freeing our toys from their tiny plastic prisons, it's time to break out the razor blade. i'm sure each of us has figured out our own system for cutting these open, an avoiding injury, but in case you're new to this scene, be careful! clamshells can be brutal!
the figures:
this first series consists of four figures: the joker, harley quinn, the scarecrow, and the dark knight detective himself. these figures are all based on designs from the batman: arkham asylum video game, but for those unfamiliar with the game, i'll base my review of each solely off the figures.
batman is one of the least redesigned of this wave. basic blue and grey, but with a black cape. his eyes are visible behind his cowl, which is uncommon for a batman figure not based off the movies, but it's a good look. batman looks angry and ready to kick some ass. he has fine sculpted lines in the grey bodysuit to indicate that this outfit is armored, with silver rivets to complete the look. his gloves and boots are topped with armored gauntlets and greaves, adding to the more beefed up lppk of the caped crusader.
the articulation here is good...but not great. he features an excellent ball-jointed head, with a great range of movement. he has pin and disc shoulders, slot and pin elbows, and cut joints at the bloves, boot tops, and hips. some pin and disc hips, and ball jointed ankles would have really put this batman over the top. he stands tall and well, but lacks the dynamism that i want from a batman figure. the molded rubber cape looks great, but does hinder the movement of his shoulders a bit.
he only comes with one accessory, a batarang. it's a good accessory, though. it fits tighly in his left hand, and folds in half as well.
next, we have batman's archnemesis, the clown prince of crime...the joker. joker is pretty classically styled, and this is a good thing! he's got a wonderful, malicious, creepy face. this is no benign clown...this is a villain that looks the part. clad in his classic purple pin-striped suit, with a yellow shirt, this one eschews the more classic string tie for a bow tie, but it works well. the patch on the left knee and wilted flower on his lapel help give him a grimy, lived in look.
the articulation really, really hurts this figure. he has a ball jointed head, which works well, but then he has pin and disc shoulders, slot and post elbows and knees, and cut joints at the wrists and hips. there were supposed to be cut joints at the ankles, but the sculpting of the shoes and pant cuffs keep them frozen. pin and disc hips, ball jointed ankles, and cut joints at the biceps were called for here. the joker really can't get in to many poses, so again, we're robbed of the dynamism we should be able to expect.
the real crime with the joker's lack of poseability, though, is that he comes with easily the best accessory of the bunch. he includes a fully articulated figure of scarface, the ventriloquist's evil dummy. scarface is really a figure all his own, with cut joints at the neck, shoulders, hips, and wrists. he even features a slot on his back that the joker's hand fits into perfectly...except that with the poorly articulated arms, the joker just ends up looking like he's waving scarface around. trust me...scarface will look much better just standing next to the joker on your shelf.
next up: the scarecrow. he's been drastically redesigned, which is nothing new for this character. i have seen him portrayed in so many different ways, and this one seems to be an amalgamation of all of them...with a heavy dash of freddy krueger thrown in for good effect. his mask looks more similar to the live action movie portrayals, with a rebreather attached to the burlap hood. he has his hangman's noose around his neck, and scraps of stitched-together fabric strapped to his body. he is mostly bare-torsoed, and all of his ribs and vertebrae are showing through the skin, giving him a creepy, emaciated look.
as for the freddy krueger influence...his right hand features an assembly that looks straight out of freddy's workshop. needles on each his fingers, with tubes running back to reservoirs on his wrist, all painted with an ichor color, to indicate the toxicity of the fear serum within.
this time, the articulation is pretty decent. ball jointed head, pin and disc shoulders, slot and pin elbows, and cut joints at the biceps, hips, wrists and thighs, with well done ball joints at the ankles. the hunched nature of the body keeps him from standing upright, but there are still plenty of menacing poses you can get him into.
his one accessory, however...not so hot. it's a sculpted burlap sack, which fits perfectly in his left hand. but...it just looks a bit silly to me...almost as if the god of fear decided to brown bag his lunch. i think this bag will end up at the bottom of one of my toy drawers.
lastly, we have harley quinn. harley, like the scarecrow, has been heavily redesigned here...and i like it! whereas harley often looks silly, and even a bit sweet, this girl looks as serious as a heart attack, and sexy, too! she has sort of a nurse/raver thing going here. platform boots, one red and one purple, matching elbow length gloves, an underbust corset, fishnet stockings, a two-tone bra peeking out of her top, and pigtails to top it all off. i really like this look, and would be happy to see this replace her harlequinne costume on a full-time basis. oh, and as a bonus...her fishnets aren't sculpted, they're fabric...and much better than we've seen done recently at this scale!
she is very well articulated, with plenty of sexy poses she can be displayed in. cut joints at her neck, wrists, hips and thighs, pin and disc shoulders, and slot and pin elbows and knees. i think a ball jointed neck would have really rocked for this figure, but overall, i'm still pretty happy with her.
she actually gets two accessories: a candy cane gun, and a cane. the gun doesn't really fit in her hands properly, from an aesthetic style, but it fits well enough in her right hand that it shouldn't fall out when she's standing on the shelf. the cane, too, fits in either hand, but not perfectly. still, she'll display well, and the figure is nice enough for me not to nitpick her accessories too badly.
so, all in all, these are a pretty decent set of figures to own. at around $20 each, they're a little step, but the upcoming waves promise some great additions, so i think, if dc direct keeps running with this line, we should end up with a nice collection of figures to display. this, sadly, isn't always the case with dc direct...my kingdom come and dark knight returns collections fell woefully short of what i was hoping for...both collections together don't even fill one shelf...
til next time, loves!
VIEW 13 of 13 COMMENTS
And how are you doing? All well after your surgery?
And watching in movies in bed isn't the worst thing evar to do