{"id":15964,"date":"2011-12-21T00:00:43","date_gmt":"2011-12-21T06:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=15964"},"modified":"2011-12-22T01:48:14","modified_gmt":"2011-12-22T07:48:14","slug":"dc-classics-com-batman-legacy-batgirl-catman-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=15964","title":{"rendered":"DC Classics.Com Batman Legacy
Batgirl & Catman Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>Last week, I\u2019d planned to do a big write-up on Batman Legacy Wave 2, but the Golden Age Batman stole the spotlight during the photo session and he scored his own review. Now, it\u2019s time to finish off the assortment with a quick look at the Silver Age Batgirl & Catman. <\/p>\n

I mentioned in my Golden Age Batman review<\/a> that the Batman Legacy line really hasn\u2019t impressed me all that much and a lot of that has to do with figures like Batgirl here. This is Barbara Gordon in her earliest incarnation, a black bat-suit with yellow gear and a blue cowl & cape. <\/p>\n

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A few QC issues aside (we\u2019ll get to that in a minute) this isn\u2019t really a bad figure. The sculpt, one of the original \u201cS-3\u201d DC Superheroes sculpts from 2006, harkens back to an earlier time when fine details were a little more prevalent in the form of seams, stitches, and some textured surfaces. When I first picked up this Batgirl (in grey, 2nd from left below) back in 2006 (in a Target Exclusive 2pk with Batman), I was happy to add her to my collection despite the fact that I actually prefer her original black costume. <\/p>\n

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But that original costume I wanted isn\u2019t exactly replicated here. I’m going to nitpick because the accuracy here really just comes down to the belt and a key part of her gear that’s missing. Yeah, it seems so wrong to complain that a female superhero didn\u2019t get her purse, but that\u2019s awkwardness is more about the state of comics. In the toy world, it’s really about the simple idea of replicating the figures from the comics instead of making inaccurate toys. And, this costume, in its most iconic form, includes a red, bat-embroidered purse and a unique belt buckle in the shape of a bat. It received neither. <\/p>\n

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If that one little piece had been tooled \u2013 a new, accurate belt with the purse attached, I would\u2019ve been happier with the figure. Just looking at that Batgirl lineup and seeing how the Cassandra Cain Batgirl was given a new head sculpt and belt to achieve her look is enough to remind me how budget concerns are slowly strangling this line. And that’s a bummer I’d rather not think about when I look at this figure.<\/p>\n

In addition to the belt, I had a heck of a time finding a well-painted Batgirl. I love the color choices \u2013 the bright, molded yellow and the glossy black, but it was hard to find a well painted face. And when I finally did find one, the belt buckle was pretty sloppy. I overlooked that because I was happy to for the face paint, but it’s still crappy. When I got the figure home, I was greeted by another QC issue, warped limbs. This Batgirl had a pretty out of whack right leg. I\u2019ve straightened it out a couple times, but as you can see in the pics, it still bows back out given enough time. <\/p>\n

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Batgirl didn’t receive any accessories despite being a complete repaint. There was a poster included in the packaging, but that’s the kind of filler toy companies think add value when it really doesn’t (or did a majority of you out there pop those posters up on your lockers?). Also included with each figure is a Batman-logo stand. The shallow peg makes them not particularly useful, but some collectors do enjoy stands so that surely beats a poster. I do wish Mattel had carried the color scheme through and give the modern characters like Catman a different color from silver, but I’m not sure what color would’ve been appropriate. Continue to Page 2…<\/a><\/p>\n

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Okay, I can’t tell you how happy I am that got that Batgirl bit out of the way. I really haven’t been looking forward to that review at all. Thankfully, the last figure in Wave 2 is far and away the best figure in the entire sub-line. And if you told me a few years ago that figure would’ve been Catman, I would’ve laughed in your face. <\/p>\n

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Catman is a literal “mort of the month” (if you remember ye olde Wizard magazine) and it wasn’t hard to see why if you read any of his early appearances. He always felt like DC should’ve stopped while they were ahead with Catwoman and that was before you saw him riding a giant mechanical housecat to battle the Dynamic Duo. His subsequent appearances didn’t help much (though he did get a Hostess Ad<\/a>), culminating in his appearance in Brad Meltzer’s (a.k.a. ruiner of things) Green Arrow run. By that time, he was overweight and downright pathetic (even for a mort of the month). Meltzer ultimately had him killed off panel. <\/p>\n

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His off-panel death was particularly convenient for the next writer to use him, Gail Simone. While I might have once easily dismissed Catman, Simone ensured that was a mistake on my part. In 2005’s Villains United<\/em> and the Secret Six<\/em> title that spawned from it, Catman had left his past as a gimmicky crook behind in favor of being a badass that wanted nothing to do with the DC Universe (he must’ve been reading Relaunch comics). Catman returned to monthly publication as more of a anti-hero than a bad attempt at an anti-Batman. He’s still a villain, but he has the fortune of facing off against some particularly dastardly and evil individuals, and can easily come across as a little cleaner by comparison. I love all the Secret Six, but Catman has easily become a favorite. <\/p>\n

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Catman features the standard “Super Powers” buck that Batman’s been sporting all these years, but he also received a nice complement of new pieces to get his costume details right: new feet, a new belt, a new cape\/harness combo, and a new head sculpt with sculpted stubble<\/em>. I know I was just complaining about part reuse on the previous page, but Catman is a great example of how just a little care, and a few new pieces, can really make or break a figure. Where Batgirl suffers, Catman excels. <\/p>\n

The paintwork was similarly sharp on my Catman, especially the “clawed” tampo on his chest. I think the colors are probably one of the things that draw me to the figure. I love the orange and the airbrushed highlights really make for a great figure. When you’ve got your collection on display, Catman tends to draw the eye with his unique colors. <\/p>\n

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In addition to the aforementioned base and poster, Catman included two accessories: his claws. These are almost cool, but they needed a little more work. In the comics, these are wolverine-like brass knuckles that he can hold on to and rest close to his fists. The design on the toy gives them a little bit more room between the hands and the blades, which isn’t too bad except that his right hand is very loose and it’s hard to keep a good pose on that side without gravity swinging the blades downward. Still, I’m glad these are included. <\/p>\n

Articulation is what you’ve come to expect on the figures in the Classics line. There are some new parts, like Catman’s head which doesn’t look up particularly well, but the part reuse provides consistent articulation for both figures so I’m going to skip listing it all out. <\/p>\n

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Overall, Batman Legacy looks to be wrapping up soon as we get closer to The Dark Knight Rises<\/em>. The next wave is half comic-based and half video-game based, so there’s not too many more figures for me to collect. I can’t say I mind. I admit that SP Freeze provided novelty as the specific color choices were lifted right here from IAT, that GA Batman turned out ridiculously fun, and Catman turned out ridiculously awesome, but the overall lineup still seems lackluster. <\/p>\n

We did get Batgirl in one of her more iconic looks, though some tighter QC and a little money spent on some new tooling would’ve gone a long way to making that figure better. When I think of this sub-line, it will be mainly for it’s inclusion of Catman. My excitement for his character is still at an all-time high, (even though his recent appearances might’ve been wiped out by the DC Relaunch, I really fear for Bane – will DC go back to making him a worthless one-note character?), and I’m stoked to finally get Catman in the Classics line. He’s had a spot reserved next to Bane & Deadshot for awhile. Now, if we could just talk to someone at Mattel about getting to the rest of the team…<\/p>\n

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For more DC reviews, check out our
\n DC Universe Classics Collector’s Guide<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/center><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last week, I\u2019d planned to do a big write-up on Batman Legacy Wave 2, but the Golden Age Batman stole the spotlight during the photo session and he scored his own review. Now, it\u2019s time to finish off the assortment with a quick look at the Silver Age Batgirl & Catman.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":15967,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_options":[]},"categories":[6,34,10],"tags":[1191,70,940,1304,665,2562,20,274],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.itsalltrue.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/catTN.jpg?fit=50%2C50","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pObc6-49u","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":15884,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=15884","url_meta":{"origin":15964,"position":0},"title":"DC Classics.Com Golden AgeBatman (Legacy) Review","date":"December 14, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"You know what they say about best laid plans? I\u2019ve been holding off reviewing Catman & Batgirl from Batman Legacy Wave Two for awhile \u2013 waiting because I was planning a group review for this wave. Then I finally get the Batman and he ends up getting a solo review.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "DCClassics.Com"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":15520,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=15520","url_meta":{"origin":15964,"position":1},"title":"DC Classics.Com Batman Legacy Wave One Review","date":"November 23, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"When I\u2019m choosing what to review, I gravitate towards toys I like or figures I want to get done while folks are still talking about it. It usually works great, but it causes some figures I don\u2019t particularly care about to fall off the radar. Enter Batman Legacy Wave One.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "DCClassics.Com"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":28726,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=28726","url_meta":{"origin":15964,"position":2},"title":"DC Collectibles Capullo Series Batman Wave 2 & TAS Harley Quinn!","date":"July 17, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"","rel":"","context":"In "DCClassics.Com"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":29729,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=29729","url_meta":{"origin":15964,"position":3},"title":"DC Collectibles Solicits Batman Animated Figures Wave 4","date":"December 18, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"","rel":"","context":"In "News"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":17178,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=17178","url_meta":{"origin":15964,"position":4},"title":"DCUAllStars.Com Update: DCU All Stars Series 3 Revealed","date":"February 24, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Our checklist at DCUAllStars.Com is still a work in progress as we wait to have some figures in hand and to get a peek at the packaging, but we\u2019ve got some more names added to the checklist courtesy of BigBadToyStore. Series 3 will include Batman, Batgirl, Hawkman, and a Steel\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "DCUAllStars.Com"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":28926,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=28926","url_meta":{"origin":15964,"position":5},"title":"SDCC 2014 Armchair Coverage! DC Figs from Mattel, DCC, & Sideshow!","date":"July 25, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"","rel":"","context":"In "DCClassics.Com"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15964"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15964"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15964\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15988,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15964\/revisions\/15988"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/15967"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15964"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15964"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15964"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}