The Dark Knight/The Dark Knight Rises 3.75" basic series Mattel 2008/2012

Christopher Nolan's seminal trilogy based on the DC comics icon rejuvenated the fledgling franchise bringing the Batman movie series back to its former glory! This darker, grittier take on the popular character pleased long time fans of the caped crusader and astonished critics and cinemagoers everywhere setting the bar for every other comic book adaptation that followed. Kenner had famously provided Batman action figures for the previous four movies instalments but due to that toy company going bust the licence has now moved on to Mattel who have taken the task of producing actions figures based on this new interpretation of Batman in its stride, not only producing the standard figures and playsets we have come to expect but also more adult focused collectors figures (to be covered in a future review). Here we will focus on the 4" series of figures that we released in 2008 and 2012 respectively:

BATMAN: Few characters are as iconic and instantly recognisable as Batman yet with each new entry that comes to the fore it seems as distinctly individual as the one before (for better or worse) and each Actor who dons the Bat-Suit helps define the character in one sense or another, this is certainly true of Christian Bale who brought a real depth and believability to the role with his Batman being the one children and young adults of this generation will remember with the most fondness 

The Bat-suit was updated for The Dark Knight in 2008 and was kept for the third sequel TDK Rises in 2012 so Mattel just simply recycled the figure they produced for the second film and to add insult to injury didn't even add any accessories! still it is a stunning sculpt especially in this 4" scale with a decent likeness of Bale's lower face  

BANE: Considering that some of Batman's most iconic adversaries have been around almost as long as Batman himself it came as something of a surprise that one of the more recent additions to the rouges gallery was chosen to be pitted against the Caped Crusader in the final instalment, especially after being featured in the ill fated Batman and Robin here the character was reduced to a little more than a dumb henchman! The casting of Tom Hardy suggested that this was to be a very different take on Bane, who in the comics had super strength as a result of pumping a drug named Venom into his body, with this version of Bane being portrayed as a master strategist hell bent on bringing Gotham city to its knees!    

Of all of the 4" Batman  figures produced by Mattel Bane is the most basic looking, there is barley any paint applications at all despite having lots of sculpted details that would have benefited from a little paint detailing!

SCARECROW: One of Batman's greatest adversaries has featured in many iterations and has remained pretty much unchanged until Batman Begins gave him a much more sinister edge, a former doctor at Arkham Jonathan Crane used his fear toxin to keep control of his patients and aided in almost destroying Gotham City by poisoning the water supply with his concoction!


This scarecrow figure was originally released in 5"1/2 scale for the Batman Begins line before being shrunk down to 3.75" for the sequel to be released in a two-pack with a Batman variant. like its larger counterpart this figure has two faces on either side to symbolize the effect of the fear toxin one side appears to be screaming with light up eyes via a clear piece of plastic on the top of the head that lets light through (something of a trademark for scarecrow figures as both the animated series and legends of the Dark Knight series have the same feature) Unlike Bane this figure has plenty of paint applications and even a dark wash to give his straightjacket a dirtied appearance!

TWO-FACE: Arguably Two-Face is the Batman's most tragic foe, a former friend who becomes insane as the result of having acid hurled in his face (or in the case of the Dark Knight doused gasoline and set alight after the Joker tries to blow him up!) a former district attorney Harvey Dent  at first champions the efforts of Gotham's nightly guardian until he is almost burnt alive and loses the woman he loves blaming Batman for not saving her. Dent uses a doubled sided coin to decide his victims fate with the scarred side of his coin denoting certain death! 
Tw0-Face is probably the best figure of the bunch with a strong likeness of actor Aaron Eckhart and lots of great detailing especially on the "burnt" side of his suit!





Mattel's range of figures for the respective Batman movies of late have been something of a mixed bag with the more recent The Dark Knight Rises range really lacking in almost all respects. Thankfully Mattel were able to make amends with the far superior "Movie Masters" range of figures but these basic series (in both the 5" and 3.75" scales) are made up of mainly repaints and re-issues making collecting these a rather dull experience!


Other figures available in the series:


Batman Begins 2005:
(Batman)
-Battle Gear
-attack net
-Bomb Blast
-Power Punch
-Exo-Suit
-Rapid Fire
-Roto-Blade
-Zip-Line Attack
-Bruce Wayne to Batman
-Ra's Al Ghul
-Scarecrow
-Skull Strike Scarecrow
-Ducard


Deluxe:
(Batman)
-Laser Blaster
-Electro Strike
-Light Suit
-Battle Cape
-Zip-Line Blaster


The Dark Knight 2008:
(Batman)
-Elasto-Cuffs
-Grip Gear
-Stealth Wing
-Staff Strike
-Body cannon
-Sky Glider
-Grapnel Launcher
-Sonar Blast
-Sky Glider
-Sonic Spy
-Saw -shot
-Body cannon
-Grapnel Gear
-Battle Case
-Mobile Attack
-Shoulder Cannon
-Spin Blade
-Punch Packing Joker
-Ninja Bruce to Batman
-Descructo case  Joker
-Fear Shot Scarecrow
-Deathstroke
-Firefly
-Two-Face

Ultra Armour:
-Drill Strike
-Areo Blast
-Electro Crush
-Triple Shot
-Swing Shot



3.75" line:
-Batman & Joker
-Stealth Suit Batman & Scarecrow
-Battle Armor Batman & Bruce Wayne
-Thermo Suit Batman & Gotham City Thug


The Dark Knight Rises 2012:
(Batman)
-Black costume
-Gold costume
-Caped Crusader
-Ultra Blast
-Stealth Vision
-Teal/Silver Costume
-Grey/Black Costume
-Batarang Bash
-Zip-Line Blaster
-Bane
-Final Assault Bane


Quick Tec:
(Batman)
-Air attack
-Combat Claw
-Flight Strike
-Missile Amour
-Tank Blaster
-Saw Strike
-Gold Drill Canon
-Cyber Glider
-Brow Drill canon
-Bane Venom Menace
-Bane

Men In Black 2: Hasbro 2002

Men In Black was a huge success on its release in 1998 and was certain to become a franchise when the spin off Cartoon series also proved popular. MIB 2 reunited  most of the original cast and film maker but was generally considered poor when compared to its predecessor. At the end of the first Movie Agent Kay wiped his memory via neutralizer and so in part 2 Jay has some work to do convincing the former Agent of his past in order to defeat a new Alien enemy! For the 2002 sequel Hasbro acquired the licence to produce the Action figures (Galoob provided the tie-in's for the first movie) These figures are smaller in scale in order to fit in with Hasbro's Jurassic Park and Star Wars figures (The rights to which Hasbro had acquired after the demise of Kenner) and generally improved upon previous offerings by producing figures that bare stronger likenesses of the actors and that came with more interactive accessories! here we will look at some of those figures in detail:

MIB STRIKE CRUISER: A flip of a switch transforms a very smart looking 2003 E-500 Mercedes into a rocket powered-flying-alien busting-strike cruiser! Aiding Agents Jay and Kay in their mission to protect the universe from the scum of the galaxy!     

This is an impressive looking vehicle and comes complete with sound effects and light up features which can be activated by pressing the button on the top of the vehicle which will also make the side panels pop out revealing some MIB High-Tec armoury! 

The cock pit opens up and easily seats the accompanying Jay figure though the control panels and chair details are just simple sticker decals

Agent Jay with Alien Patrol Cycle: MIB Agents have access to some of the worlds finest alien battling technology and Agent Jay here, Played by Will Smith, comes equipped with an armoured Motorcycle! Accompanied also by one of the MIB's strangest agents (Robot Squid)

Where this line greatly improves upon the Galoob offerings in 1998 is in the likenesses of the actors particularly in the capturing Will Smith who got a bit of a raw deal in the "Independence day" and original MIB toy lines. Though articulation is very basic on this figure his pose isn't as awkward as some of the other figures in the line, he is designed to be placed on his vehicle so his arms are stretched outwards. This figure was also supplied with the strike cruiser

Robot Squid: This figure is based on one of the Rick Baker designed Aliens who can be seen at MIB headquarters who is dubbed "Robot Squid" as he is both a Robot and a squid! Each figure comes with a little Alien side-kick which are fun and well designed and sculpted and although there is no articulation on these they do have some very nice paint apps 

Alien Pursuit Cycle: Like the strike Cruiser this motorcycle has both light and sound features, the base of the vehicle illuminates blue and makes revving noises when the back wheel is pushed down. Like the all the accessories the other figures come with this earth patrol motorcycle has chrome painted applications!

Scrad and Charlie with Defence Blaster: As played by "Jackass" star Johnny Knoxville Scrad and Charlie are an alien comedy duo (in one) who act as lackeys to Serleena (Lara Flynn Boyle) an evil Alien Temptress who the MIB will have to defeat in order to save the universe! Scrad and Charlie come complete with what looks like giant hair straighteners and of course an Alien companion!

Scrad and Charlie: There isn't a strong resemblance to Johnny Knoxville on this figure but its still a nice looking toy with bright vibrant colours which offsets the dull black and white suits of Kay and Jay nicely also there are some nice texturing and detailing in the clothing portions of the figure, though one bug bear is the hose that protrudes from the figure and it isn't detachable so hinders the figure freely standing



Tri-Pod Alien: Another great looking Alien accessory! This figure even has some very slight articulation and some nice paint detailing!

Defence Blaster: As I mentioned above this accessory is reminiscent of a pair of hair straighteners which adds to the zaniness of these kinds of oversized accessories! The base attaches to Scrad and Charlie and even helps to balance the figure slightly better then when it is on its own. Again the chrome paint detailing looks really good on this.

When you push down the tab on the end of the blaster the shaft opens up to reveal a little green Alien holding a ray gun which lights up and makes a blasting noise at the same time as launching a projectile!





MIB 2 the movie may have been disappointing to some but there is no doubt the action figures were, if nothing else, a lot more fun to play with than the figures that were released for first film! Boasting better likenesses to the actors, a selection of inventive chrome painted light up accessories with sound chips PLUS an additional Alien creature for company. Not a bad set of figures at all.


Figures available in the line:


-Agent Kay with gravitation flight pack
-Agent Jay with Alien Patrol Cycle
-Sleeble and geeble 
-Scrad and Charlie with defence blaster
-Neural Root Serleena
-Anti-gravity Agent Jay


-Talking 12 inch agent jay with frank the pug


-12" Agent Jay (Doll)
-12" Agent Kay (Doll)


-Strike Cruiser

Resturant collectables: Batman Returns 1992 McDonalds

As with any highly anticipated sequel to a hugely successful box office extravaganza Batman Returns was met with much fanfare and enthusiasm which gave way to tons of merchandise and the odd promotional tie-in or two! The most notable of which came from Fast food giant McDonalds who went all out promoting the movie with special themed packaging, toys and collectables for children and adult customers, Giving some parents cause for concern when they realized that the movie itself actually wasn't intended for children given its mature themes and frightening interpretation of the Penguin despite the fact it was seemingly being promoted to children via  McDonalds Happy Meals. Though true that Batman Returns isn't a film for small kiddies the appeal of Batman himself is so wide that that toys aimed at children will invariably be produced at any given opportunity (see The Dark Knight Trilogy)
Despite that minor controversy the items McDonalds produced to commemorate Batman Returns release make for really nice collectables and here we will look at all of those items in detail:  
Bat-mobile Launcher: This Iconic vehicle has had as many incarnations as the caped crusader himself with some of the best versions featuring in the Batman Movies With this beauty coming top of the pile! First appearing in 1989's Batman this sleek and yet fierce looking Bat-mobile reappears in Batman Returns with only some minor tinkering being made to the original design. The biggest new development was this Bat-mobile's ability to shed some the body work  at a flip of a switch to transform into the streamlined  "Bat-missile"!

This toy recreates that feature by having the vehicle launch its front portion when a button the rear of the Bat-mobile is pressed!


Batmobile Neck pen: released exclusively in Australian McDonalds restaurants were a set of four different Neck pens depicting each of the three main characters and the Batmobile! The vehicle, which has moving wheels, comes with an orange coloured pen to simulate the flames that shoot from the Batmobile's jet Turbine!


Penguin Umbrella Roto-roadster: lurking in Gotham city's sewers is a hideous penguin man masterminding a plot to take control of Gotham! With a band of circus freaks and an army of rocket launching penguins at his disposal!
Penguin as portrayed by Danny DeVito is a vicious and hideous creature a far cry from the previous incarnations and so is possibly one of darkest characters to have a happy meal toy modelled after! Of course there is no hint at the sinister nature of the movie penguin to be found here it still manages to get the appropriate look of DeVito's character but just in slightly less threatening manner you could even call it a sanitised version! The vehicle itself is a kind of circus car with a penguin motif with his distinctive umbrella mounted at the front twirling round in hypnotic fashion when the vehicle is pushed along!      

The Penguin Neck pen: The penguin became one of the most talked about aspects of Batman Returns after its release and many cite Danny DeVito's portrayal as the definitive take on the character. These neck pens as you may be aware aren't unique in their design, both this penguin and the Batman topper can be found on a couple of other mass market products but they certainly work well as pen tops.  

The likeness to the character as he appears on screen is decent enough and there is a fair amount of detailing in the sculpt. The accompanying pen is plain as is the rope that can be placed around the neck, no Batman insignia or anything sadly.

Catwoman Cat-coupe: probably the most iconic female comic book character of all time with arguably the definitive live action version being Michelle pfiffers portrayal in Batman Returns. Catwoman's inclusion in the sequel to 1989's Batman was probably one of the most looked forward to elements of the movie and she didn't disappoint!     

The tight PVC clad, whip wilding vixen doesn't exactly scream out "Happy meal toy" but then again at least only a modest portion of her is actually featured in this figure the rest of which consists of her Cat-Coupe vehicle complete with tail wagging feature!  

The catwoman figure is actually quite a good representation of her on screen counterpart she even has stitching effect on her costume which is a nice little detail!

Push and Go Batman Man: Though his initial casting received plenty of negative attention Michael Keaton proved himself to be a more than effective Batman and there was no doubt that he would reprise his role in the sequel Batman Returns marking Keaton out as one of the greatest Batmen ever!

On to the toy itself and it is clear which Batman this is straightaway with a pretty strong likeness of the actor albeit with much shorter ears than the movie costume. The vehicle is modelled on the Bat Ski Boat as featured in the movie but is modified slightly with tank style trims. The action feature is basic but effect simple push the figure down into the vehicle and watch as the toy is propelled into action!

Batman Neck pen: The nicest looking of the bunch is this Batman, which is very nicely modelled on Keaton's Batman complete with elongated ears and cynical expression!


Again there is no added detail on the pen itself but the batman topper is cool enough without it.


Batman returns may have garnered some negative responses by seemingly promoting what is quite a dark and adult orientated movie via Kid's meals promotions, though not all of what McDonalds had to offer in way of collectables were aimed a the kiddies! Batman Returns is one of the most heavily merchandised movies I can think of and it seems a little unfair that McDonalds got the brunt of the scorn parents were heaping on merchandisers! still its Batman after all and in all of his interpretations Kid's, big and small, are going to want stuff and lots of it and promos of this quality will always be welcomed.