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Ramblin' Man   Gallery		 Roy's Toys Shelf
Bruce to Batman - The Batman, Mattel
Meat and Potatoes; 4.6
Perks; 5.0
Homer Facor; 5.0
Description; The newest incarnation of the animated Dark Knight. 

This version of Batman is approximately 6" tall.  The base figure has Bruce Wayne's face and hands while wearing a black body-suit with some blue trim on it.  Batman comes with quite a bit of articulation; knees and elbows are FINALLY used on a Batman figure.

To tranform into Batman a helmet with cape, gauntlet, boots, and a yellow utility belt are attached to the figure.  The belt is yellow while the rest of the costume is blue.  Finally the figure comes with a large bat-scimitar.  
Remember 'Batman - The Animated Series'?  The Danny Elfman music?  Mark Hammil doing THE most evil version of the Joker? (Sorry, Jack, but as over-the-top as your version was, it wasn't EVIL.  Mark... THAT was Evil.)  The Car that was a city block long?  Oh, and that opening... no voice-over, no title, just the silhouette of The Bat kicking the snot outta the bad guys, and then him standing on top of a skyscraper with a lightening flash behind him.  Oooooohhhhhhhhhhhh.  Was the series perfect?  Heck no, but it was an awe-inspiring interpretation of the character.  Hasbro also came out with a stunning toy line with the entire rogues' gallery.  Not just the biggies like the Joker, but EVERYONE; Ras' Al Ghul, The Mad Hatter, the works!  Woohoo! 

After a number of seasons hearing Kevin Conroy scaring the daylights out of everyone in the DC 'Toon Universe, the series was laid to rest... until now.  The WB, looking to beat to death the release of 'Batman Begins' has resurrected the animated series in the form of 'The Batman'.  The press releases state the stories are sort of 'Year One/Legends of the Dark Knight' stories that occur a few years after he's taken up the cowl.  The series begins in August, but the TOYS are out now!  So how are they?  Do they live up to the first incarnation?  Well, pretty dang close.

The meat and potatoes are a surprise on this one.  The sculpting on the figure is... different.  The figure is rather angular, like it's based on a CGI wire-frame.  It works pretty well, giving the figure a different 'look'.  Like the earlier figures, the key thing is not rippling musculature, but a clean, simple look like the animated series.  The painting on this figure is a throwback to the Silver Age figure; blue cowl, gauntlets, and boots with the yellow utility belt over a black body suit.  And the yellow bat-shield rather then the current, retro one.  But the BIG surprise is articulation!  FINALLY knees and elbows!  Woohoo!  Granted, this isn't Marvel Legends level articulation, but this is a huuuuuuuuuge improvement.

The perks are solid.  To do the transformation from Wayne to Batman, a 'helmet' with a cap attached, gauntlets, yellow utility belt and boots, are attached to the Bruce figure.  I was afraid the gauntlets and boots would destroy the look of the figure, but the excessories manage to stay within scale with the rest of the figure.  The figure also comes with a bat-shaped scimitar as a weapon.  Ok, ok, it's not the usual armament, but a heck of a lot better then a gun the size of a howitzer. 

There is one problem with the helmet.  The series is going for the short-ear look, but on this figure the ears are so short that... well, he looks like a rat at times.  Granted, bats are flying rodents, but having Mickey Mouse with a cap chasing you isn't quite the same as a giant demon from hell swooping towards you.

Homer factor?  Um.... I'm a Batman fan, what do you think!  Besides, considering the work Mattel has put into the Batman line, it was definitely worth a try to see how these new figures worked out.

In the end, Mattel continues to put out good figures for the comic fan.  Oh... and just think... 'Batman Begins' is out in 2005... oh the toy possibilities...