DKR/MOTUC Batman *UPDATE*
4H Say ‘Some’, Design Says ‘Two’

Amid the excitement over the possibility of the DKR Batman utilizing a MOTUC buck, I was privately getting worried that we were setting ourselves up. Unable to determine scale, I thought we might just be looking at a new “chunky” DC buck. I’m happy to report that my concerns were unfounded.

Click Her to Jump Directly to the Update

When asked by Poe Ghostal on Twitter (you follow Poe Ghostal, right?), the Four Horsemen confirmed (you follow the 4H, right?) that the upcoming Dark Knight Returns is indeed built using parts of a MOTUC buck:

“Yes and no. Parts of him [DKR Batman] are MotU re-use and some are not.”

Sweet! Judging from the one pic we’ve seen, it looks like the re-use is limited from the shoulders to the elbows, the hands, and the hips to the upper calves (this is why they answered “yes and no” to Poe’s question). That means this is yet another example of the significant amount of new tooling going into the Unlimited lines very quickly. I have high hopes that a few more classic (but high profile) characters can leak out through retail and get some serious love from Mattel & the 4H.

While I’m overjoyed with this new Batman (and already licking my chops at the prospect of a companion DKR Superman figure), some collectors have expressed concern over the scale. With DKR Bats sharing upper arms and upper legs of a MOTUC figure, he’ll easily be topping out closer to 7″ than 6″ like the figures that have been populating our DC shelves for the last five years. The 4H addressed this as well:

“Don’t worry about the height. He looks awesome. Take Cornboy’s word for it.”

“In Cornboy We Trust”, indeed. The figure looks pretty sharp in the one picture and it’s an interesting choice that has morphed into a must buy for me. I know I’m not going to have a scale issue as he’s destined to hang out with my MOTU figures. As for others, I don’t know. I don’t think I’d plop a DKR Bats down in the middle of my DCUCs anyway, so I don’t imagine it will be a major issue, but for some folks the scale will make it an easy pass.

Finally, one last point to address as some collectors are unsure about how there can suddenly be buck sharing between the two lines. Mattel’s typical stance is that the buck body is proprietary to the licensor. Some had speculated that some circumstance may have changed to allow for this to happen, but the answer to how this figure can come about is actually much simpler.

It was again Poe Ghostal who pointed it out on twitter (and the 4H later confirmed) that Mattel can take a MOTUC buck and reuse it in this instance because they are the MOTU licensor. It is the DC bucks that are proprietary to DC and can therefore not be used in MOTUC to make MO2K Prince Adam, Inspector Darkney, or other figures in the MOTU world that could use a slimmer buck. Basically, it’s a one-way street. Things can come out of the Mattel-owned MOTUC, but licensed tooling cannot go into MOTUC.

Some have already asked why this solution wasn’t thought of in time for the upcoming Metal Man, Lead, and I think that’s a valid question for Toy Guru to address. Personally, I have a feeling that Lead’s going to look great with the Metal Men on the Darkseid buck, but it isn’t comic-accurate and now that we know a more comic-accurate solution did exist, it may change the minds of those of us who were initially more accepting of the oversized Lead.

Anyway, with the newest retail reveals being 75% Batman. And, in turn, making the initial Unlimited offerings 50% Batman overall, we may as well embrace things and start proclaiming what versions of Batman we want to see. More artist specific Batmen? More one-off costumes? I’m still angling for that Zebra Batman personally. But there’s the old Rainbow Batmen, Future Damien (666) Batman, and of course, Zurr-En-Arrh begs the question, where in the heck is my Dick Grayson Batman?

Update!

While we got early word about the re-use from the 4H’s Twitter account, one thing I’d been waiting on is for some Ask Matty answers at the Mattycollector forums. Now, technically, this Dark Knight Returns Batman falls under the province of the triumvirate of folks that oversee the retail line and comprise “Matty Justice League”. We’ve had no word from him yet, but many collectors took to the online forum to ask Toy Guru about the figure. He answered three times:

I actually checked with the DC team. This is not a Batman fig using the MOTU buck. It is in “scale” to MOTUC (in order to create that unique one time Dark Knight Returns look) but the only MOTUC part it uses is the shoulders. All other parts are brand new. We were happy to loan the use of the shoulders as a one time help for the DC team, but as always, MOTU classics parts will only be used on MOTUC toys.

The only parts this Batman uses from MOTUC is the shoulders. Otherwise it is a 100% new figure. Normally we don’t share parts from MOTU but we made a one time exception due to only using the shoulders.

And then this one after Toy Guru was linked to this very article:

Design has told me it is just the shoulders that were lent but I haven’t seen the fig itself to inspect it.

I’ve been thinking about it since TG posted these earlier and it’s hard for me to wrap my head around. Heck, it appears difficult for Toy Guru to wrap his head around after seeing the comparison pics. So far, the pieces look so much alike that it seems unlikely they aren’t the same. It seems unlike Mattel to waste tooling dollars so frivolously. It seems unlike Mattel to develop a buck that they can’t reuse because it has no shoulders after this “one-time exception” is over. And screw this one-time exception! Where’s Superman? Where’s the Mutant Leader? The buck shouldn’t stop here, so to speak.

There are plenty of possibilities though. Maybe the pieces will look completely different close-up. Maybe Mattel really did make new tools for the Batman figure except for the costly insert-molded shoulders? Maybe the 4H used similar pieces during the design phase that were still retooled by Mattel for whatever reason? The DC Movie Masters suit body and the DCUC suit body are the same sculpt (wth the lower legs reversed), but required completely different tooling based on size. Anything goes.

Truth is, I don’t care. Just give me the Batman already, Mattel.

91 thoughts on “DKR/MOTUC Batman *UPDATE*
4H Say ‘Some’, Design Says ‘Two’

  1. Could that be Battle Armor He-Man’s nipple-less torso?

    I think we need to lobby like all hell to get Lead on a MOTUC buck. I *think* the timing works out right and the change can be made.

    Dunno how it is DC can own the bucks, their I.P. is the decoration, not the form. I suspect it’s a case of “we really don’t want to do that” more than anything.

    1. It’s not a MOTUC torso, just look at the lats on Wun-Dar. With exceptions for figs like Roboto, all the guys have those lats. Plus, the Battle Armor He-Man had the same torso as everyone else (http://www.itsalltrue.net/?p=3583). I’m actually jealous that a lower torso piece with no belly button exists and we likely can’t get it back in MOTUC!

      I don’t think we can do anything about Lead. They’re not going to delay him. We do have 126 days from his sale date, but the Club IE figures appear to be getting produced an average of 80-90 days before the sale date (Jay was the only exception, he was closer to 60), so it’s a lost cause at this point.

      Mattel has always considered the bucks IP. As a doll company, I think they’re a little more keyed in on the form/design of the non-specific parts than other companies. They were even tweaking the Retro-Heroes to specifically not be Megos and copying Big Jim’s design because that was a design they had complete control of.

      1. Yeah, it’s the abs missing on BA He-Man. Dammit. the silver tank top must have confused my brain. šŸ™‚

        And things being things I guess it’s impossible for Mattel to swap out Lead for another figure to give more time. I mean, if the WILL was there it would happen, but yeah. OK. No change possible. šŸ™‚

        The Retro-Heros are based on Big Jim? really? huh. I’ll have to get one and see for myself. That Big Jim body was pretty distinctive and I know for SURE he didn’t have riveted wrists like the pseudo-Megos seem to.

        1. Even if they could swap figures, he’s the next to last oversized figure. Mallah is advertised as coming with the 2013 sub and Lead with the 2012 so it’s all in stone at this point. If there enough demand, I’d love to see it get done, but I really got the feeling that us loud ones were mostly okay with Lead as is.

          Yeah, the Mego folks were talking about the Retro-Heroes bucks back when the line debuted. The execution of the articulation is still Mego I think (I only bought one and never opened it), but the look of the sculpt (the IP part) is Big Jim, not Mego like the EMCE stuff.

  2. Honestly either way on Lead would work for me. I am digging the DKR Bats and Itold myself no elseworlds too. Killed that rule already. Bring on Speeding bullet bats and Crimson mist bats.

    1. Yeah, I’m not worked up over Lead. Haven’t been since I saw it. A MOTU buck would probably have it more in scale, but he looked so good in the case with the others, that I think I have to give ’em a pass.

      The no Elseworlds rule was a good one, but if this is the future of the retail line and my subscription is keeping my character needs in check, I wouldn’t mind going all out – Speeding Bullet Batman would be cool. And this could finally be a chance for a Justice Lords Superman or Superman Beyond?

  3. This is cool news. I’d definitely love to put Batman, and hopefully Superman, with my MOTU figs.

    I’m a bit disappointed that his chest and abs aren’t new MOTU pieces though. It would have been nice to get some MOTU characters that don’t have the nipple/belly button look poking through their super tight shirts.

  4. I think the size works great for DCU. I dunno what the outcry is all about – i bet you can show any figure from Mattel nowadays and there will be a stake ready for anyone at Mattel. And the stuff will be bought anyway, haha.
    The size will be awesome and will offer some good difference that this line is needing (well, in my eyes), and i always thought DCU figures will make great bucks for MotUC renditions of side characters of the Filmation cartoon. ((sidetrack thought/idea: Bat-Mite can be easily made into Starchild šŸ˜€ šŸ˜€ šŸ˜€ long hair + a bit adjusting of the limbs – – oh 2013! come here sooner, please!))
    Without the sub in 2013 i can easily now go out and cherrypick me cool stuff! Even Motu-bucked figures! Haha.

    1. I don’t think there’s been too much outcry, there’s been some concern over the scale and the part reuse, but the threads at AFI, Fwoosh, the Org, & the Mess have been mostly positive for this figure. It’s kinda weird. šŸ˜‰

  5. Upon first seeing MOTU Batman, and being a MOTUC collector, I almost immediately came up with this MOTU centric bio:

    “After watching some of Queen Marlena’s memories of her favorite films of her time on Earth from Man-At-Arms’ memory projector, Lt. Spector had an idea, if He-Man was bound by the laws of eternia and unable to end the threat of Skeletor and his minions permanently, then Lt. Spector himself would take on the role of the Bat-Man, not the hero that Eternia wants, but the hero Eternia needs! He set about dyeing one of his spare green uniform unitards and assembling a belt of random inventions he found lying around Man-At-Arms’ workshop, fashioned himself a cowl & cape, and set out on his first mission. He climbed up to the tallest spire on Eternos palace, spread his cape and leaped just as he saw in Marlena’s memory. Unfortunately nobody had told him that Earth movies were fake and not real. His body was found the next morning during the calisthenics of the guard as they made their way around the palace grounds.”

  6. First and foremost, I’ve gotta have the MOTUCish DKR Batman. Maybe even two.

    Regarding the newly tooled parts for this Batman, it’s possible that the parts were developed for a MOTUC figure we haven’t had revealed to us just yet. Of course stuff like the gloved forearms and crotch overlay are probably DC-only tooling BUT in I’m hopeful that some of the parts were planned appropriately into MOTUC tooling so these parts can be available in the MOTUC parts library.

    1. Based on what the 4H have tweeted, I don’t think they’re for unrevealed MOTU figs. Poe’s specific question was, “Is that DKR Batman built on a MOTUC body…?” and the 4H chose to answer “yes and no”. If they were parts intended for future MOTU figures, then I don’t think they’d give that particular response.

      That said, I’m with you. I’d love to see the parts used in MOTUC. Maybe, Mattel should start saying they were developed for MOTU after all… šŸ˜€

  7. Thanks for the update Noisy! Just pre-ordered 3 of this dude from BBTS. Looking forward to MOTUC-ish Batman..fingers crossed for a new Supes and when wishing for it, why not a Wonder Woman as well (from Teela buck)

  8. Does it also mean that we could expect a Killer Croc based off the Whiplash Demo-Man and Kobra Khan bucks šŸ™‚

  9. The only thing I would change on the DKR Batman is to put a cloth cape on him. Hate to say my go to Batman is still the Zipline Batman from way back whenever before Mattel got the whole DC license … I really like how they did his cape and I can’t seem to find a Batman even with all the new articulation that comes close to him. But that’s beside the point, a cloth cape would rock.

    1. Agreed. Cloth capes are, IMHO, highly underrated.

      I am so stoked for this figure. Now, bring on that Remco Warlord.

        1. Soft goods rule! They’re light, allow for more poses, and don’t make figures as back-heavy. Gotta get working on my MOTUC capes. I’m about 20 figures behind and losing ground fast . . . .

          1. They do have all the benefits you point out, but I still find ’em visually icky. šŸ˜€

            Got any pics of your caped ones? I’m always open to someone changing my mind.

            1. Not yet, mate. Between work, arthritis and eczema in my hands (both improving thanks to new medication), and various other things, I haven’t had much time for customising in the last couple of years or so. Like I said, I’m about 20 MOTUC figures behind and losing ground rapidly. But I’ve got a nice fur cape cut out for Vikor, just gotta add the necklace and clasp so I can take it off and put it on again without having to pop his head off every time!

              But if I may be allowed to share a link to another site’s forums, here’s the 4″ soft goods custom I’m happiest with so far:

              “Ultimate” Royal Guard

              O’ course, Hasbro comes along a few years later and makes one even more poseable, but them’s the breaks when you take up customising as a hobby. I’ve got a few other soft goods modifications on those boards (mostly Star Wars, but I’ve got a Zaphod Beeblebrox work-in-progress in there somewhere as well as a “Filmation” Faker with glowing eyes and removable computer core), but if the Royal Guard doesn’t improve your outlook on fabrics, I don’t think any of the rest will.

              But I must say in closing, that the 1970s/80s Jawa robes and original 1987 Scareglow cape probably couldn’t even be topped by today’s manufacturing standards. That’s why I’m a proponent of soft goods forever.

              1. Cool Royal Guard!! He does look great and getting the articulation back is something I can appreciate, but I don’t know why – I just don’t like the mixed materials? I am starting to dabble in 1/6th scale, I think that’ll help me get over it.

                I never had Scareglow’s cape. I found him second-hand at a flea market without his cape. I had no idea who he even was for the longest time (other than that he was a MOTU fig, of course)

                1. Well, I think the problem is it’s just darn hard to get scale fabric that can drape properly and isn’t tissue thin so that light shines thru.

                  And of course the need for some form of support if you want a little visual drama beyond just a drooping mass. If there was some way to blend super fine silk and aluminum foil into one material that would be perfect.

                  Getting into 1/6 scale is a path to madness. šŸ™‚

                  I’m happy to have my GI Joes in their vintage outfits with the sometimes oversized snaps and buckles. There is a subset in the 1/6 community that insists, DEMANDS that clothing and accessories be actual, true, perfect scale and that leads to lots of very tiny and impossible to handle belts and straps.

                  (tweezers and a dental probe are your friend in that area, BTW)

                  OTOH if you get a Hot Toys Batman you’re not getting him to undress and put another outfit on, so that isn’t likely an issue for you, huh? šŸ™‚

                2. Thank ‘e, Noisy! The bigger the figure, the better the soft goods look on them. So your 1/6-scale stuff should turn out looking spiffy. Just be warned that you’re in for a lot more work! And one of the best ways I learned to stop the edges from fraying: don’t stitch a bulky hem; paint the edges with clear nail polish and let it dry.

                  I once had an art professor (who, incidentally, looked like a cross between Jennifer Aniston and Mariah Carey – I never missed a class) who imparted that all those “plain, naked” statues from Classcal civilisations weren’t actually plain or naked; they were painted in lifelike colours and dressed in real clothing. Nifty, huh? But then, pretty much everything sounds nifty when it’s coming from a stunning woman.

  10. Know what really bothers me? I want this figure RIGHT NOW. I do. I want to slice open the bubble and put him on the shelf and maybe get one of those cool Japanese figure stands so he can be leaping thru the air.

    Crap. He needs extra hands.

  11. I know I’m pretty much completely alone in my dislike of DKR, but a MOTUC-compatible Bats is too awesome to pass up!

    1. Oh, and since “Batman Unlimited” does indeed seem to translate as “Unlimited Batmans”, I second the motion for Crimson Mist.

      (And if we’re playing elseworlds, I would very much like a Thrillkiller Joker, thanks)

      1. Thrillkiller would make for some interesting figures.

        I’m never one to say that we shouldn’t get another collectors wants, but I’ve never understood the appeal of vampire Batman. LOL

  12. I wasn’t really excited about the buck cross over. I feel a little better about it since it’s not complete re-use, but I liked that they weren’t using parts across the two lines. It made each line feel more unique.

    And count me in the camp that’s happy Lead is coming on the Darkseid buck. I love that buck and I think he’ll look fantastic.

    I’m OK with getting more Bats, as there are so many to choose from. First up for me would be a Super Friends Batman. And who wouldn’t love a BTAS Batman? I’d also be game for a repaint of the Legacy GA Batman with the oval to look more like a BBATB Bats so my Legacy version could go back over to the general Bat shelf.

    1. I can see wanting them to stay distinct on the shelves.

      It’s funny that a lot of folks seem open to the idea of the bat-variants. I don’t know if it’s because we have the sub in place or we just always were, but the level of derision is lower than I’d expected.

      1. For me, the excitement is partially because other characters are taken care of in the sub, but also because all the Batmen they’ve shown us so far are something new, not just repaints of the same Batman I already have a bunch of.

        I also think it might makes sense to have a bat heavy line financially. If we can have a line that is 50% batman and 50% supporting characters, why not? Maybe the popularity of Batman will keep the line going long enough that we will get some awesome characters in that other half. And if there is a version of Batman I don’t really want (I can’t believe I’m saying this) maybe I won’t buy him.

    1. Your posts the other day are not in any way vindicated by the good news that we are indeed getting what amounts to a MOTUC Batman. Do you see all the excited posts here? Why detract from that?

  13. The gloves look to be reworked Hordak/Zodak gloves and the boots look to be, Keldro boots with some wrinkles added to them.
    Thia is so an unofficial MOTUC Batman!

    1. It’s possible the 4H worked on them from the pieces you mention, but the reworking would still require retooling, so they’d be considered new for all intents and purposes.

      Now we just need an official Superman…

  14. TG said the only part they used were the shoulders. Not sure but the upper legs and biceps look exactly that same as that MOTUC buck.

    1. I saw that today. I’ll update the graphic with a question mark when I get home or something. If it’s true, it’s a colossal waste of their tooling budget.

      And it would also mean there’s a new DC buck that doesn’t have shoulders.

        1. The fun thing about these grainy pics is I can stare at the legs and talk myself into them being new. The interesting thing about TG’s announcement though is that he had to go ask. It appears he wasn’t consulted and that’s he relaying third hand information. I guess we’ll see when the figure finally comes out.

  15. I’m excited for this figure. Hopefully this’ll open the door for more Dark Knight Returns figures. I mean c’mon if they’re having an entire sub dedicated to Wachmen, the need to have either a sub or at least a more in depth assortment of Dark Night Returns….that OTHER iconic/most important story in comics. At least give us a Mutant leader with the same He-man buck. I think that’d be easier than a Superman. Besides, I have the DCD Dark Knight Returns figures. They’re quite nice. Why duplicate characters already made when you can expand on what DCD did.

  16. I can see TG’s clarification coming up:

    “I talked to Design and have actually handled the proto. It seems Design put it together from some scrap MOTUC buck parts that were laying around so they would have a ‘make like’ for Sales to photograph. I’ve been told the actual figure will be all new tool’d except for the MOTUC shoulders to save on insert molding tool costs.”

    “will there be a DKR Superman? No plans currently but you never know!”

    Hey, can I get a job at Mattel writing BS? I think I’ve got a handle on the style… šŸ™‚

    1. Um, how about a reality check?

      He clearly didn’t know about the specifics, he went and asked, and reported back what they told him.

      You’re right, it couldn’t be that simple.

      1. No, you’re right, it could be that simple. OTOH, TG has a long, long history of saying things he has to walk back, and clarify. I partially blame Twitter culture and Facebook ‘peer pressure’ for these gaffs, that need to be constantly in touch and responding to everything in short contextless bursts.

        Noisy’s dissection seems pretty conclusive to me that there’s a lot more than just the shoulders from the MOTUC buck being used there.

        1. I’m open to the idea that Mattel foolishly wasted tooling dollars on recreating the MOTU parts. The DC suits and DC movie masters suits are the same 4H sculpt with two different tools (in that case for two different scales), so it’s not unprecedented…

          But even TG seemed to back away a bit already, who knows?

  17. I think it looks great and I hope we get a few of DKR characters. Like everyone else, I am curious what the scale will be and I hope we get some accessories with him and some closed fists or even a Mattycollector exclusive Bat Tank…

    1. I think the scale will be good and MOTU sized for sure at this point.

      Ideally, he’ll keep the batarang he has in the picture, but fists wouldn’t hurt… we really need swappable parts.

  18. I wish it didn’t seem like such a big (negative) deal to Mattel that it might be on a MOTUC buck. It shouldn’t be a problem. Many of we fans would find it glorious if they could use this body on more figures. It is a step in a wholly positive direction. Sometimes legalities stifle creativity. Too bad. A line of DC figures on the MOTUC body would probably sell quite well. Imagine a Barda on the Teela body (I’ve been dreaming of one for years to replace the woefully inadequate DCUC Barda).

    1. Yes! I’d love to have a larger Barda. Heck, they could make a two pack with her and Knockout to bring us closer to finishing the Secret Six. I’d pay $50 for that over the YJ 2-pack.

    2. Luckily, I think the folks upset/annoyed by it and have appeared to be few & far between. It’d be nice if this wasn’t as one-time as TG says. Not only is there more DKR, but like you say, there’s plenty of MOTU-sized people in the DCU. Hopefully, TG can do some work to get us characters like Knockout.

      1. I think that’s what gets me.

        See, my takeaway from those posts? “ONE TIME”

        Over and again, one time. So, you know, that’s kind of a ‘pi** off you’ to DKR Superman right there, isn’t it? Shutting the door before there can even be a discussion. It’s a negative semantic loading.

        A positive semantic loading would be “Well, I’m not sure what’s going on as that’s not my department, but if that is built on a MOTUC buck that sure creates all kinds of new possibilities, doesn’t it?”

        aargggh.

  19. I can’t believe how polarizing it is to put a Batman on a MOTU body. Who cares? So he’s a half inch taller. At least it’s a variant that actually, y’know, VARIES from the standard-style Batman, not just some half-assed repaint. It looks cool, and it is in line with the bulkier Batman that Miller drew in DKR.

    Now re-use that buck and make me a Blockbuster! Oh, and you can also slap on He-Man’s “Dutchboy” haircut. There, I saved you even more money.

      1. Truly.

        So much baggage involved with Mattel. I loved collecting before it got complicated. Some things in the last few years have made me consider quitting altogether. No offense to anyone, but it has been 99% Mattel, their practices, their shill sites, and their ardent unbending fan boys. No fun.

        We should all support one another in this tiniest of hobbies. Instead a situation exists that pits collector against collector. It makes me sad. Just give me great toys that my brothers and I can glory in together, no politics; no BS.

        All that aside, I absolutely love what the Horsemen bring to our community. The DKR Batman is a grand slam homer. Cannot wait.

  20. Well, I was hoping we might get some MOTU use out of at least that Batman’s boots and gauntlets, but if the parts-sharing is a one-way street, that puts the kibosh on that particular hope.

  21. man….the update is BS. Its more of that TG “who you gonna believe me or your own eyes ? ” stuff TG is becoming famous for.

    You can tell the BIceps, and Quads are MOTUC. easily. look at the he-man and the Batman..if you look closely batman even has the vein in the same place on the right bicep, as does the same line/striation in the quad towards the top of the leg.

    I don’t understand the need to misinform or LIE to the public. I couldn’t care less ..its a great looking batman, so why lie?

    1. I don’t know that it’s a lie, so much as confusion. I was actually surprised they were using MOTUC parts and he didn’t seem to know!

      The picture could be lying though. If I showed you a pic of the DCUC Question and any of the suited Movie Masters with no scale reference, you couldn’t tell they were unique tools.

      1. you know what happened — people saw the photos and just started making wild assumptions. when poe tweeted to the 4H and they gave their response that only added to the speculation, then TG interjects — idk why people are getting their panties in a knot, the figures looks great — who cares what parts it does or doesn’t share —

  22. I know the MOTU buck. I don’t need a pic to tell me that the BICEPS, and the QUADS ( up legs ) are ABSOLUTELY the motuc buck.

    Im not dismissing what you’re saying, but I’ve never been more sure.

    1) Look at the quads— the middle section muscle of each leg is usually sculpted a little thinner on the WWE and DCU figs. This bulkiness is only present on MOTUC figs. This from the Horsemen referencing the original MOTU figures…they don’t even sculpt legs like that normally.

    2) On the quads ( upper leg muscles) theres a striation on the inner top part…like a knick or cut…also present on the bulky leg on batman.

    3)As mentioned by others, the joint at the top is the same.

    4) the Biceps–look at the muscles on the side of the arm…the same. the biceps ( front of the middle arm ) the triceps ( the back of the middle arm) and the little muscle in between on the side ….its the same.

    5) on the right arm..theres a faint vein sculpted on the right bicep—exactly the same as the motuc arms.

    what i take issue is, that its clearly borrowing more than the shoulders. Its also better proportioned…The DCU figures look terrible to me because they have these gaudy huge shoulder joints that stand out like a sore thumb and makes those figures look badly proportioned and to me, grotesque.

    I whoever told TG that it ONLY shares the shoulders seems to be lying to him.

    1. Actually, if you look on Thunder Punch He-man and Vikor, the faint squiggly vein running on the bicep is flipped and on the left arm. Its in the same place, just on the reverse arm as Batman.

    2. I agree with you, but I just have to wait. The pictures have lied before. Folks were just as adamant that Gygor and Grodd were identical, right down to pointing out common sculpted details, but in the end they were proven two separate tools.

      1. I hear ya. I guess we’ll see but i noticed those details immediately because i collect the MOTUC more. There are formulaic and aesthetic things that are unique to the way the 4 Horsemen sculpt…so they would sculpt on both, but theres things they definitely are unique to the motu buck.

        Im not saying all of it is used again…like the waist. if you look , the musculature is similar in he chest and waist, but its wider in the waist than the motuc. Just my guess…not proof.

        1. at first blush you’d just think it was a plain MOTUC buck, but you’re right — the waist is much wider. perhaps its using the leech size pats?

    1. I agree with you… I do, but what bothers me is theres no scandal here. I just don’t know why they are trying to blatantly deny what so obvious.

      The MOTU buck works great for TDKReturns Batman. If ever there was a right time to use that , its here.

      its a awesome looking fig.

        1. Third. I WANT that RIGHT NOW. I do.

          Here’s a technical point I just realized. Discussion on the ‘scale’ of the figure, maybe he’s shorter, so on. No, he’s MOTUC sized. HAS to be.

          See, unlike the suit bucks which were (as I understand if from how Noisy describes them) pantographed off the same master sculpt and tooled to different sizes, they’re actually (again, so it seems from the statements) using the inset-molded physical shoulders from the MOTUC buck system, using the same tool that is used in production for He-Man et al.

          Doesn’t that use of an actual part fix the size of the figure? If the inset molding is the more expensive tool, simply pantographing off the 2-up master doesn’t result in any savings, because you still have to cut a new inset mold tool.

          So, DKR Batman must, ipso facto, be MOTUC sized.

  23. I have read that this figure is in the MOTUC scale, and it is obvious from that picture that he has multiple MOTUC parts. However, it is also possible that this is just a prototype that was thrown together, and the figure that ends up on the pegs really does just have the shoulders.
    I don’t care either way, I’m just happy to be getting a DC figure that’s in scale with MOTUC.

  24. The DKR Bats does look cool, but it seems like it’ll be too big to go with 6-inch figs, including existing Mattel and many DC Direct Batmans.

    Which is too bad for me, because it’ll be too big to go with my stuff, but surprisingly most folks seem to WANT it that way, to instead of getting a DCUC Batman variant, to get a MOTUC Batman. Well I’ll have to just be happy that you guys are getting what you want, and I’ll have to wait till I see one just in case.

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