First Whiplash...and now a Stroke!

Deathstroke, that is.

This is "Blade Attack Deathstroke" from the Dark Knight movie action figure line by Mattel.



Deathstroke, like Firefly, did not actually appear in the movie. But the toymakers decided he'd make a cool "realistic" villain for your Batman action figure to do battle with, and I must concur.

This guy is clearly an assassin. And a well armed one at that. There is little to connect this figure to Deathstroke's comic counterpart besides the the orange and blue hood, but for some reason it really works, and he actually comes across as much more mysterious and threatening than the comic book Slade Wilson.



You can see his "action feature" button on his back, which is rather large but darkly colored so as not to "stick out" too much. It becomes slightly less obtrusive when he has his sheath attached too.



Oh yeah, and there's the "one eye" thing going on too. Cool.



Slade here is, as always, well armed. However his pistol, bandoleer and knife are not removable. That's fine - less pieces to lose. They are well sculpted and nicely painted and stand out well on the figure, as do his shiny leather gloves and boots.



The sword (and sheath) are removable, and the button I mentioned earler makes Mr. Wilson's sword-holding arm flail in a hacking motion.



Ree! Ree! Ree! Ree! Cha! Cha! Cha! Cha!

Bumble Bee Thy Name

I picked up this Transformers Universe Classics series Bumblebee a couple months back. They are now starting to appear on toy aisles more prevalently, along with new representations of Brawn and Beachcomber in the same line-up. I only picked up Bumblebee on that trip, because he's one of my favorite Transformers of all time.



I love these little guys because they are small and cheap (about $4.99) and toys should be cheap. See, I'm a man of simple tastes. I like dynamite, and gunpowder... and toys. Do you know what all of these things have in common? They're cheap!

Sorry about that.

Also, in robot mode they come pretty close to their 80s cartoon likenesses.



For Bumblebee, that means he has a face. Although I have a preference for the original toy Bumblebee's look, it is fun to finally have a small transforming Bumblebee that looks like the cartoon we all grew up with; after only waiting 25 years!



Unfortunately Volkswagen refuses to license their image/likeness to "war toys" (I guess they are still sensitive about that whole WWII thing.)

So Hasbro had to wing it, and pretty much followed the look of their recent Transformers Classics Bumblebee vehicle mode.



From the rear it's a passable Beetle-esque vehicle...



From the front...not so much. Oh well, we can't have everything.



Here he is next to a Matchbox VW Beetle taxi which was released a couple years ago. As you can see Bumblebee is pretty close to 1:64 scale, which makes him a great versatile toy compatible with Transformers, die-cast cars, etc. etc.



On a side note, this is a pretty cool Matchbox Beetle. I got it a couple years ago so you won't find it in stores now, but I think a green/white version is currently available. Of course, the yellow one is more Bumblebee-ish, and therefore my favorite. I can see Bumblebee disguising himself as a taxi to spy on the Decepticons - he is their espionage expert after all!

And the Decepticons are just stupid enough to fall for it.



Here they are from the front. Beep Beep!



You look...familiar.

Another Batman! You were expecting maybe Humphrey Bogart?

Batman: The Brave and The Bold is quickly becoming one of my favorite television shows, and is undoubtedly my favorite weekly cartoon now airing.

The style, reminiscent of the comic art of the fifties (specifically the work of Dick Sprang,) and the fun, over-the-top story-lines combined with gobs of supporting characters and villains makes this show a real blast to watch.



The toys are just now starting to show up at places like Target and Walmart, and they are very accurate representations of the cartoon's design. Being the Bat-Nut that I am, I had to have Batman!



This Batman is just beautiful. The face/head sculpt is perfect, and the overall design looks just like the cartoon as well as the Golden Age comics. But there is one thing that will turn off a lot of toy collectors (but may not matter to kids...)



Each figure has these holes on their arms, legs and back to attach their accessories to. Let's face it, the holes are pretty ugly, but I understand what they're trying to do. I also know that there's a very high likelihood that future waves will move away from this gimmick.

Which is why I will probably not get more than Batman from this first release. The other figures are equally nice, (I was especially tempted by the Aquaman figure,) but I got this figure for my Batman display and I don't see myself shooting for a Brave and the Bold collection just yet.

If those holes were missing I might reconsider. But in case they stick with them, I at least needed the Batman!

Then again, he does have a cloth cape. You know how much I prefer cloth capes!



Of course, all that is just personal preference and not a specific disappointment. If I really wanted a Brave and the Bold collection or display, I wouldn't let silly arm holes stop me.

However there is one disappointing aspect of this specific figure, which is officially titled "Battle Slam Batman."



His accessory, which at first glance looks like it should have a spring feature to ram baddies with, is just a solid single piece of plastic.


It does have a nice Bat-face, and of course it fits in those silly holes, but I was surprised that it didn't "operate" in any way. Especially since the figure is called "Battle Slam Batman," and not "Door Buster Downer Batman" or "I Speak Softly, But I Carry A Big Stick Batman."

Now I just need for Mattel to make a Brave and the Bold Batmobile for this Batman to drive around in. That thing is pretty slick!

UPDATE: I just heard on the radio this morning that today (Jan. 14th) is the anniversary of Bogie's death, who died Jan. 14th 1957. I had no idea, but found that interesting considering how I titled this blog entry.

Here's lookin' at you, kid.

Follow-up Question

Fans of the Question waited decades until the character, originally published in Charlton Comics and later acquired by DC, was released from copyright limbo and allowed to become "real" in the form of a little plastic action figure.

Last year Charles Victor "Vic Sage" Szazs was released as part of the JLU toyline, representing his fan-favorite appearance in the Justice League Unlimited cartoon.

Kudos to Mattel for not stopping there.

My new-found fascination with DC Infinite Heroes had me perusing the pegs a little closer the other night, and I found The Question!


(Click for larger Image)

But here's the coolest part, I found the Question "variant" figure! This one is different from the image on the card, which shows the standard figure; the variant has a different colored suit and lighter brown hair, as well as an overcoat:



I didn't realize they were releasing variants in this line, and as with most collectors, I have a love/hate relationship with variants. That is, I hate them when I can't find them and love them when I do.



That's not entirely true. I also think variants that do nothing to enhance a figure or reflect an actual comic/cartoon/movie representation of the character are lame. This Question is great because the overcoat is part of his look in many Question appearances and it really enhances the figure's design.

In fact, he's so cool that I'm not sure if I want to free him from his plastic prison just yet. I think I'll wait to get the standard Question figure and weigh my options then.

So now my DCIH ranks have reached two. Since I don't see this train stopping any time soon, I think I'll steal my friend Charles' G.I. Joe/Cobra ranking system in order to keep track :)

Infinite Heroes: 1
Infinite Villains: 1

Shut up!

QUIET!

Keep it down!

SILENCE!

Shhhhh!

I said...



...HUSH!



This is Hush, from the "you either loved it or hated it" Batman comicbook storyline of the same name. He is also my very first DC Infinite Heroes figure!

Boooyaaaah!


(Click for larger image)

DC Infinite Heroes have been getting some flack (and yes, some praise too,) from the toy collecting community since their release a couple months back. I'll let you go somewhere else to get embroiled in all that, but let me say my piece (it is, after all, my blog!)

DC Infinite Heroes (or DCIH for short) has been on my radar since being first revealed online, through photos from Toy Fair. I'll admit, not all of them are the best sculpted interpretations of the heroes/villains they depict. But yowza, they are covering an insanely broad and vast area of the DC Universe, and how! And they are aimed at kids, not necessarily old collectors like me and probably you.

So I knew what to expect, and I knew I'd be picking some of them up when the day came that I saw them on the pegs. I also knew I would happily pass on many. Some I would pass on for other things, but buy if money were no object. Others (namely Batman themed figures) may end up in my collection even if they're a little on the bland side, because dammit I LOVE BATMAN!

Nothing wrong with that. Ahem.

All that being said, I was very excited to see Hush on the pegs, and after looking at him at the store and opening him up at home I can say that there is not one single thing wrong with this figure. He's awesome!



Hush, along with being an obscure Bat-villain, is one of the best looking figures I've seen yet from DCIH. He has plenty of detail, and the usual gripes about these guys' sculpts (head size, hand size) seem perfectly proportioned for this figure.


The paint details are great, and the coat looks like it's blowing in the wind. Nice touch!

There's more than enough articulation for a toy his size (although his kilt blocks his legs a bit,) and based on the character selection available and upcoming, including purported vehicles and play-sets, if I were a kid I'd seriously be going ape-poops over this line.

Okay okay, I do have one minor quibble...no accessories.

Even old school Star Wars figures from the seventies came with guns and light sabers and little things like that. While I understand and accept that an accessory for Superman or Captain Marvel may be unnecessary, the least they could do is pack one or two in where appropriate. Note to Mattel: Assassins need guns. Period.

I remember this being an issue with the early Justice League animated figures too. I'm sure Mattel has plans are to rectify the lack of accessories in the future with DCIH as well.



In the meantime I gave old Thomas (or is it Jason, or maybe Clayface...) a Star Wars rifle. See how simple that was, Mattel?


So I'm probably now irrecovably hooked on DCIH. Maybe I should have started slow, with a Flash figure or something.

Oh well...while I won't be getting them all (that's just too darn tough!) I'll probably get more than I need, and won't balk at any I don't particularly want/need either, like for birthdays or christmases or things like that.



I look forward to vehicles (Batmobile, anyone?) and other accessories like playsets (a Fortress of Solitude playset would be so cool! Get it? HA!)


...and I hope kids really get behind this series. Parents, you owe it to your children to buy these figures for them. Think about the future!




I don't have any boys, but my nephew needs a handful of these guys on his birthday for sure, and my daughters could always use a Supergirl, Wonder Woman, Batwoman etc etc etc...

Feel the Heat :: Firefly from The Dark Knight action figure collection

Here's another figure I received last Christmas: Firefly!



This Firefly figure is a brand new release and part of Mattel's Dark Knight movie line.




Although he didn't actually appear in the movie, I love the "inspired by" take on this guy and hope they do more "realistic" villains in the toyline. Part of the recent Bat-movie success is that they take a more real-world view on the characters, so it stands to reason that more realistic bat-universe figures like this one would be successful with fans and kids.

Also, it means less Bat-variants, and we've all had enough of those.

Really.



Of course Firefly comes with a rocket pack, so he can, umm, fly. Actually the full designation of this figure is "Rocket Pack Firefly." Kind of like when you put on pants, you're called "Pants McGee," because otherwise people would miss the obvious.

The wings pop out a small bit with a push of a button...

...pop...

...and a little lever produces an equally little plastic "flame" from the turbine.

Yawn.

The figure does have a great design and some fun details. The helmet/mask are really cool, and he also has some sort of unknown apparatus attached to each boot. I assume these are for fire-making and other assorted villainy.

I like his color scheme too, which is more in keeping with the Firefly I know from The Batman the Animated Series and eighties/nineties comic appearances, and not anything like his recent appearance on The Batman cartoon or his first comic book appearance in the fifties...

...although that would make a fun figure, wouldn't it?

The only downside to the figure is that he is sorely missing a blow torch. I mean, he's FIREFLY for chrissakes! At least give him two sticks to rub together! Sheesh!


Here he is after borrowing Azrael's fire-missile launcher.

FWOOOOOSH!

Thank goodness I have plenty of toy firetrucks nearby!