{"id":14971,"date":"2011-10-19T03:59:19","date_gmt":"2011-10-19T08:59:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=14971"},"modified":"2011-10-19T13:09:59","modified_gmt":"2011-10-19T18:09:59","slug":"batman-legacy-toys-r-us-arkham-city-1970s-batman-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=14971","title":{"rendered":"Batman Legacy: Toys R Us Arkham
City 1970s Batman Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>Anyone miss the days of \u201cfree\u201d figure offers? Getting toys by mail is common enough now, but remember being able to get toys free with a tank of gas, flag points, or proof of purchases? I loved that. And whenever there\u2019s a free figure offer these days, I find myself tempted…<\/p>\n

The subject of my review today is a Toys R Us Exclusive, available free with purchase of Batman: Arkham City<\/em>. The game debuted yesterday, and the first thing you might be asking is, “Noisy, if you just bought Arkham City<\/em>, then why the hell are you writing this review instead of playing it?!?” Well, friends, I<\/em> didn’t buy the game because I just don’t have time for it right now. <\/p>\n

I love a good video game (my first job was working the electronics section at Toys R Us), but I rarely find time to get in front of my TV, controller in hand, these days unless its my wife insisting we play through the latest Lego Star Wars, Harry Potter, etc., game. I still haven’t even finished Ghostbusters for cryin’ out loud… <\/p>\n

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So, no I didn’t buy the game, but luckily I have friends that did; video game friends that don’t care about toys (that’s a wonderful thing, isn’t it?). I’d known about this particular Arkham freebie and thought that Arkham Batman in classic colors was a cool idea, but I really hadn’t given owning one much thought. I knew I wouldn’t be rushing out to buy the game (prolly oughta at least play the first one first, no?) But today, I got no less than three text messages about this figure being at TRU. Two were just showing me that it existed, but the third came with the offer. “If I buy the game at TRU, you want this?” <\/p>\n

I evened up that deal a bit by offering to buy dinner. So that was my free figure offer: buy a friend dinner, get a “free” figure. Well, who in their right mind would say no to that? (If you don’t have a cool video game, non-toy-collector friend, the figure is free with purchase of the game at Toys R Us, but I’ve heard you can also snag this guy at $14.99 if you’re so inclined.) <\/p>\n

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I included a package shot up above since this Batman is unique in the Batman Legacy line. His packaging dimensions match that of the DCUC-Compatible, single-carded figures, but the graphics have been changed to reflect the new game. It’s a nice piece in package, but, here at IAT, packaging goes in the recycle bin. <\/p>\n

Real quick, I did have to laugh at the copy on the back of the package. It really talks up the figure and its “meticulous design”, “deluxe articulation”, and “supreme quality sculpts” all made by possible because each figure is “expertly crafted by industry masters”. To sum up, I wish the folks involved in making the figure were as good as the guy who wrote the ad copy for the packaging…. geez.<\/p>\n

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Let’s start with “supreme quality sculpts”. Whether you bought this guy in black\/grey in the 2pk or this blue version, you might feel like this isn’t the best Batman that Mattel has produced. But let’s examine that for a second; nearly all of the other Batman were contracted out to the Four Horsemen. This figure was done by the in-house Mattel team, and thinking about some of the other in-house sculpts I’ve bought over this year… well, this might be the best Batman that Mattel has internally<\/em> produced. <\/p>\n

There’s good detailing covering the entire figure. The texturing, the paneling, the ribbing, quite a few of the other costume details from the game have been translated to this figure, right down to some awesome treaded boots! And even the head sculpt is a good 3D rendition of the game. And yes, most of the figure is just reused from the Two-Face 2pk, but the chest piece used here doesn’t have the raised bat symbol on it, so some tooling was done to get this figure out (and possibly make it available to be used for the other skins featured in the game – Sinestro Corps Arkham City Batman<\/a>, anyone?). I’m kidding, Mattel.<\/em><\/p>\n

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While we’re talking about the sculpt, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the size. I still really don’t know why Mattel went big on this line. Toy companies just seem to feel the need to cover the spread and make figures all different sizes. There’s some thought that Mattel went a little bigger on AA toys to make them more compatible with DC Direct, but compatibility never seems to be on the mind of a toy executive. I’m imagining something more along the lines of “We’re already selling 4″, 5″, and 6″ Batmen – let’s shoot for 7”! <\/p>\n

Anyway, the size isn’t a dealbreaker for me. I didn’t buy<\/del> receive this figure to put it with my existing DCUC collection. I wanted it for the novelty and being bigger than everything else doesn’t really affect that. So if the scale bothers you, remember to knock a few extra points off my summary because I probably won’t mention it again. Continue to Page 2…<\/a><\/p>\n

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With the majority of the figure being a reuse of the 2pk, the figure relies heavily on paint to sell the 1970s look. It completely works for me. While my favorite Batsuit will forever be the all-black with the yellow oval, the blue\/oval is a close second. For the record, I’m so pro-oval, it hurts. Alfred carrying guns in a cartoon? Who cares! Batman sleeping with tons of women to keep up the Wayne farce? Whatev. But oval vs. no oval? There should never not be oval…<\/em> I know some of you may vehemently disagree, but luckily for me, this figure serves up that oval in spades. Really, it’s ridiculously large and it may just be my favorite part of the figure. <\/p>\n

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The large, clean symbol aside, the rest of the figure is well painted. My bud said there were some QC issues among the pile here at our trusty TRU, but he picked out a great one for me. Granted, a lot of the parts are molded in the appropriate colors, but the places that needed paint like the belt and face received sharp work. I love the face on my figure as a matter of fact. He’s grumpy. And hey, it’s too bad Mattel didn’t try to talk up the paint in the ad copy, isn’t it?<\/p>\n

Next up is articulation, or what’d Mattel call it? Deluxe Articulation? Um, no. Two words: rocker ankles. As long as Mattel is being cheap and avoiding the insert molding to give us proper ankles, they don’t get to say anything has deluxe articulation. Yes, the legs have the DCUC hips, thigh swivels, hinged knees, and hinged ankles. And, yes, some decent poses are possible out of that combo, but rocker ankles make deep poses much better, increase stability, and well, rock<\/em>. I normally wouldn’t be so adamant, but “deluxe articulation”? Indeed…<\/p>\n

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The rest of the figure is pretty solid though. Ball-jointed head and shoulders, hinged elbows, swivels at the biceps, forearms, wrists, and waist, and an ab-crunch for good measure. And nearly all the joints, the whole figure in fact, feels pretty sturdy. I appreciate that quite a bit. <\/p>\n

While we’re on the subject of articulation, I just gotta pick on that ad copy one more time. There’s a lot of articulation on the figure, but some it is blocked by the so-called “meticulous design”. The figure can’t put his arms down at his side, the hip articulation is partially blocked by the lower torso, and, if I want to get real nitpicky, the elbow hinge is lacking in range because the bicep gets in teh way. That said, I do appreciate that some of the articulation blends in the paneling an I really enjoy the cape and how it tapers back forward towards the bottom. It’s a bit heavy (and can be cumbersome in some poses, including standing), but it does provide some extra stability in deeper poses all the same. <\/p>\n

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Overall, I do have my share of nitpicks for this figure: blocked articulation, lack of rocker ankles, the scale differences with most anything else I have, but I have to be honest here. I got this as a display piece. It’s an oddity – the modern, armored Batman in the classic spandex colors. Heck, if there’s ever a Bruce Wayne head in the Mattel Arkham line, I could see picking him up and swapping heads with this figure on occasion. There’s just something cool about Batman with his cowl off when he’s in his blues & grays. Anyway, the figure moves enough that I’m happy with it as a display piece and it looks pretty cool on the shelf. And I even find myself kinda wanting Mattel to do an Keaton\/all-black repaint of it. That’d be sweet…<\/p>\n

That said, I keep going back to that packaging. It kinda sums up what’s wrong with Mattel to an extent, doesn’t it? Here’s one of their toys, clearly visible in the bubble and on the back of the box it touts its own “meticulous design”, “deluxe articulation”, and “supreme quality sculpt”. Well, there’s an old term in writing about that: show, don’t tell. Mattel needs to focus on that a bit. Don’t tell me he has a fantastic sculpt or great articulation, make me notice that on my own by making better figures. <\/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":"

Anyone miss the days of \u201cfree\u201d figure offers? Getting toys by mail is common enough now, but remember being able to get toys free with a tank of gas, flag points, or proof of purchases? I loved that. And whenever there\u2019s a free figure offer these days, I find myself tempted…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":14977,"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":[1238,1237,70,20,388,1239],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.itsalltrue.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/arkTN.jpg?fit=50%2C50&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pObc6-3Tt","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":28926,"url":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=28926","url_meta":{"origin":14971,"position":0},"title":"SDCC 2014 Armchair Coverage! 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Star Wars\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sponsors"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":19485,"url":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=19485","url_meta":{"origin":14971,"position":2},"title":"Sponsor Announcement: Past Generation Toys","date":"July 7, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"This week @ PastGenerationToys.com PreOrders The new Spider-Man movie is here and we have the Diamond Busts and Status below MSRP + Free Shipping. The four include: Spider-Man Amazing Spider-Man Movie Statue (preOrder) Lizard Amazing Spider-Man Movie Bust (preOrder) Proto Spider-Man Amazing Spider-Man Movie Bust (preOrder) Spider-Man Amazing Spider-Man Movie\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sponsors"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":22138,"url":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=22138","url_meta":{"origin":14971,"position":3},"title":"Review Round-Up (December 3rd-December 9th)","date":"December 14, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"It\u2019s finally happened! If you want a TMNT review, this round-up isn\u2019t for you! Someone call Playmates, it\u2019s time for Series Three! All kidding aside, we\u2019ve got a good crop this week. DC has more reviews than Marvel for the first time, Halo\u2019s on the list, and yes, there are\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Reviews"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":23221,"url":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=23221","url_meta":{"origin":14971,"position":4},"title":"April Review Round-Up (April 1st-14th) 129 Links!","date":"April 19, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Review Round-Up is back again with a look at the reviews from the first two weeks of April! The plan going forward will be for this feature to go bi-weekly. Once a week seems too often and once a month was just way too big! This week we\u2019ve got a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Reviews"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":22401,"url":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=22401","url_meta":{"origin":14971,"position":5},"title":"Review Round-Up (January 1st-14th)","date":"January 19, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"We\u2019ve seen a few bi-weekly round-ups of late, but never fear \u2013 Review Round-Up is still planned as a weekly feature and should be back on track by February. For the glass half-full crowd, the first Review Round-Up of the New Year is kicking things off with a massive two-week\u2019s\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Reviews"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14971"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14971"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14971\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14981,"href":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14971\/revisions\/14981"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14977"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14971"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14971"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14971"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}