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11-29-00
Clayface-Batman,Legends of the Dark Kight, Hasbro
Meat and Potatoes; 4.8
Perks; 3.0
Homer Factor; 4.5
Sorry, No Image
I was a very big fan of the Legends of Batman line, which took an Elseworlds view of creating new Batman figures.  There were a multitude of great figures; a pirate Batman, one taking after Robin Hood, and my favorite, a two-pack with Batman and Catwoman taking an ancient Egyptian slant.  Although the articulation was mediocre, the sculpts were great and the new ideas were wonderful.  After a number of series, the line was replaced by the Legends of the Dark Knight line.  Unfortunately, the line returned to the usual Batman method of gimmicky figures; sonar this, glacier that.  Good news was that the figures were 7" tall and very well sculpted.  The best part were the villains.  All were new incarnations of stand-bys such as Catwoman and the Joker with a much more malevolent look.  Sadly, Hasbor discontinued the line.  The final legacy of these figures, besides the wonderful Dark Knight Detective piece,(Check the archieves, it rocks.) is this wonderful Clayface piece.

The meat and potatoes of this figure are superb. The piece is a humongous mass of dark brown plastic that has been sculpted to resemble molten ooze.  The piece's arms and legs appear to be dripping clay everywhere.  The hands of the piece also appear to be large, deformed claws rather then just giant hands.  The head is also well done,it has four separate faces, each face being more confused and angry as you turn the figures head.  Unfortuantely, the limited articulation is still a problem with the piece.  Elbow and knee joints would have been nice to have on a figure this large.

The perks for this figure are minimal, and could have been better.  The head of the figure features a little dial that allows you to change the expression of Clayface from serene to furious.  A cute feature, but simply putting a neck-joint and letting us turn the head would do the same thing rather then putting an extra gear and dial in the figure.  One accessory the figure could have used are replacement hands and arms.  Batman-The Animated Series had Clayface not simply change his appearance but also change his arms into weapons, such as swords and hammers.  Interchangable arms would have been a nice touch on this figure. 

The Homer factor on this piece was pretty high for me.  I am a huge Batman fan, so seeing such a great character recreated in such detail made the figure very attractive.

Over all, Hasbro created a wonderful new version of this figure.  Unfortuanately, there will be no more characters like Clayface in the future.