66 Batman BootLEGO Minifigs

Since the 66 Batman Batcave LEGO set is priced way out of my range (and I wouldn't know where to display the thing if I did buy and build it) I did the next best thing and bought a set of eight 66 Batman bootLEGO minifigs off eBay for about a buck each!

As great as the character selection is with this set (it lacks a Riddler, but otherwise has all the minifigs from LEGO set 76052) the quality of these bootLEGOs is relatively low. Not low enough to pass on them for around a buck each, but not the best quality bootLEGOs out there by any means. There's lots of plastic 'flashing' and many paint apps don't line up. A couple of the figures' feet' barely lock into the base (or other LEGO pieces) and there's been some plastic stress marks show up on pieces that fit tightly together. Also, as happens with many bootLEGOs, once I had Batman's cowl in place it's pretty permanent. So he does have two expressions, but it's going to be a task getting the cowl off to turn his head around. That's ok, as I picked the expression I liked best first. I've learned what to expect with bootLEGOs!

Robin has two expressions too, and fortunately his hair pops off easy enough to spin his head around. Unfortunately...

...the paint apps are not too clean and it looks like he may be missing a tooth or something.

'The umm, ahem, blue phone, sirs.'

Alfred is a welcome addition tot he set, the first minifig Alfred I've ever owned, LEGO, bootLEGO or otherwise.

Alfred also has two expressions and, inexplicably, a translucent blue phone. But who cares, he's awesome!

Adam West's Bruce Wayne. Keen!

Brucie also has an alternate expression.

Burt Ward's Dick Grayson.

And alternate expression.

Catwoman. She looks more like Lee Meriwether to me, but who can say.

Catwoman's alternate head is a masked face! 

Cesar Romero's Joker!

With mustache and yellow teeth!

This Joker's alt expression is classic Romero! I love it!

Burgess Merideth as Penguin! Penguin only has one expression, but he comes with a bootLEGO umbrella so I guess that makes up for his lack of a cigarette holder in his mouth.

The best part of having Bruce and Dick minifigs is being able to make maskless Batman...

...and maskless Robin minifigs!

Even Alfred got in on the fun...

Umm...err...ahem...nevermind, nothing to see here. Goodbye.

Batman LEGO and BootLEGO Minifigures :: We Are Batman!

I got it in my head this week to gather together my Batman minifigures and get a picture of them all together. Most of these guys are BootLEGO, a few are legitimate LEGO, and a couple are customs made up of LEGO parts from various minifigure sources.

BootLEGO Batman Beyond is one of the gems of my collection, because LEGO never made a Batman Beyond minifigure and I can't imagine there was a huge letter writing campaign asking the bootleggers to do it BUT THEY DID IT ANYWAYS!

This simple Keaton Batman custom is one of my prouder creations - a simple arm swap with the vampire bat minifigure from the blind bag series a few years back. A simple but extremely effective recreation of an iconic moment in Bat film history! I also can't get enough of the BootLEGO Batman of Zer-en-arrh on the right there - I have three different BootLEGOs of that guy!

Bruce Wayne is LEGO legit. This blue/grey Batman is BootLEGO and so is his spacey counterpart to his left (stage right.)

In my second-hand hunting I have only ever found two Batman LEGO bits, the body shown here from the original Batman LEGO run of the early 2000s and the white cowl shown stage left. Without a head or cowl, I turned the Batman body into Old Man Bruce with this (I think) Star Wars face that looks like Frank Miller's Bruce Wayne pre shaved 'stache in The Dark Knight Returns. The white cowl I added to a Stormtrooper body and gave a clone trooper jetpack and a grapple gun to make him into Bat-Trooper.

Also a BootLEGO is Batfleck. I really like the new cowl design with the shorter ears! You can also see Batzarro on the right, that one is legit LEGO, but I have a BootLEGO version of him too.

Here's my line-up (so far) of Batman LEGO and BootLEGO minifigures, for those of you keeping score at home:

Bat-Trooper (custom LEGO)
Batman Beyond (BootLEGO)
Electro-Suit Batman (LEGO)
Bruce Wayne (LEGO)
Blue/Grey Batman (BootLEGO and LEGO with cape, LEGO with extended wings)
Space batman (BootLEGO)
Batman Begins (BootLEGO x2 with cape and BootLEGO with extended wings)
Batzarro (BootLEGO and LEGO)
Old Man Bruce (custom LEGO)
Keaton Batman (custom LEGO and LEGO)
Batfleck (BootLEGO)
Batman of Zur-En-Arrh (BootLEGO x3)
Scuba Batman (BootLEGO)
The Dark Knight Batman (BootLEGO) Green Lantern batman (BootLEGO)
Arkham Knight (BootLEGO)

With the Batman v Superman movie on the horizon and the BootLEGOers seemingly losing no steam whatsoever, I am sure there are many more to come, so stay tuned. Same Bat LEGO time, same Bat LEGO channel!

Imaginext Bat-Family Foil Packed Figures :: A Christmas Miracle!

Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus...and he got my wishlist! Hot off the digital presses, Imaginext.com just released images of a new wave of foil packed single bagged (possibly blind bagged) Batman themed figures! No word yet on a release date, but the website gives these figures a suggested retail price point of $4.00 each. GOTTA HAVE THEM ALL!

 The most shocking addition to the Imaginext Gothamite collection is Red Hood. Hokey smokes!

Maskless Slade Wilson aka Deathstroke. This is a fun one although I do already own a masked Deathstroke. If I could pass on any of these, this would be the one.

New 52 Nightwing. I never liked the red Nightwing symbol, but this one will look cool next to my other Imaginext Nightwing. I suppose I could pass on this one too but it's always tough to pass up any version of the original sidekick Dick Grayson!

FORCED PERSPECTIVE! Purple Catwoman appears to be a straight repaint of the original Catwoman and also comes with the same cat her original version came with. Still, she's PURPLE so of course she's a must have.

Two-Face. Two-Face was one of the first Bat Villains Imaginext made, and he looks a little dated now that the series is so much slicker and more streamlined. So it's nice to see an updated version.

Batman unmasked! I love it!

Zero Year Batman. PURPLE GLOVES! This is a fun bat variant styled after Greg Capullo's Zero Year Batman. A definite must have.

Imaginext didn't have a single shot of Joker, but he appears to be a repaint of the modern Imaginext Joker with a giant wrench. Because reasons. I do like that they painted his saddle-shoes though. Classy!

Expect to hear more about these the second I or others start to find them at retail. Stay tuned!

Gotham Season 2 Premieres Tonight :: Gotham SDCC Exclusive Minimates

Gotham Season 2 premieres tonight! Season 1 had some great moments and a few missteps, but I am hopeful Season 2 will be a bit more cohesive and continue with the more entertaining aspects of baby Batman and 'tween James Gordon. Okay, so they aren't quite THAT young, but you get the idea.

I didn't make it to San Diego Comic Con this year, but my in-laws live in San Diego, and my Mother-in-law likes to run out to Barnes & Noble during the convention, because B&N always sells some SDCC exclusives like Funko POPs and Minimates and she usually grabs fun stuff for the grandkids.

She must have somehow heard that I like Batman, because she picked up this set of Detective Gordon and Bruce Wayne Minimates for me! Well, my wife claims she picked them up for her, but they are in my house so whatever.

Young Bruce Wayne comes with a 'I'm sad my parents are dead' head and a 'Goddammit my parents are dead!' head. I admit that it is kinda morbid to have a 'my parents just died' Bruce Wayne figure, but he is completely unique in my collection (the only other Bruces I have are of the 'Bruce to Batman' variety) so I'm pretty happy to have him.

As for James Gordon, this would be my second, the other being the TNBA Commissioner Gordon. But my first DETECTIVE Gordon!

I'm not sure what makes this set an exclusive - if it's the whole shebang, the accessories, the 'Goddammit my parents are DEAD!' face or just the SDCC sticker. But I'm glad to have it, as Gotham is towards the top of my 'must-see TV' list. And besides, any Batman toy, even if it's pre-Batman, is alright by me!

The Batman Bruce-to-Batman action figure

Today we jump in the Wayback Machine and set the dial for that far-off year of 2004. The world as we know it was about to change as Batman was getting set to Begin on the big screen, and on the small screen fanboys were shocked to see a new Batman cartoon that had nothing whatsoever to do with the universally applauded Bruce Timm Universe.

In retrospect the new animated direction the Batman took in, well, The Batman, wasn't all that bad, but it suffered from having to follow what is inarguably the greatest animated Batman incarnation in the history of the medium.

Regardless of anyone's opinion of the show, The Batman had one hell of a showing; it lasted five seasons (two more than the far superior in every way Batman: The Brave and the Bold) and had tons of action figures and other merchandise to support it for the show's entire run (I still use a The Batman thermos to carry along my workday oatmeal daily.)

I have quite a few The Batman action figures (including an Azrael inspired Batman, Killer Moth, Poison Ivy, Scarface/Ventriloquist, and even a SpaghettiOs promotional Batman) but I did not own the Bruce Wayne-to-Batman until today, when I found him at the Flea Market for $3 - mint on card!

I'm not usually a fan of these types of figures - they generally come across as bulky and awkward and you end up having a mild-mannered-citizen figure dressed in some ridiculous get-up and a bunch of extra pieces laying about. But it was Batman, and mint on card, and three bucks, so I couldn't walk away this time.

As Bruce Wayne, the figure isn't too bad. He of course is wearing a ridiculous leotard of some sort, but you could envision him working out in the batcave or something I suppose. He isn't attending any WayneTech board meetings like this, I can assure you.

His costume parts are better than I expected; the gloves, belt and boots are made of a harder plastic, like any accessory might be made of, and snap into place snugly. You can still see Bruce's hands through the gloves, but the costume parts don't come across as utterly oversized.

The cowl is a softer rubber but fits snugly over Bruce's head and looks like something out of a Frank Miller Batman story. All parts work well with the style of the figure and really do look good on him.

The batarang, well it's pretty massive. It's more like a bat-Sword or something. But Batman grips it well and it could be far worse.

The back of the package shows you all the stuff you get. I am impressed that the utility belt is a separate piece and I'm surprised at how well it fits on the figure.

It's bitter-sweet seeing these old card-backs. Often I see stuff and wish I could go back in time and tell myself to grab it off the shelf! Fortunately I do have that Batmobile and that Joker too, I can live without the dive suit Batman.

That's some nice artwork there.

The blue-on-black may not be canonical, but it looks pretty good on this Batman and helps him to stand out amongst all the other Batmen I have around here.

Pretty much every photoshoot I do these days immediately turns into playtime with my Intern. I'm learning to set up and shoot fast, because you never know when Dr. Porkchop might show up to throw Batman in jail.

See what I mean!

Batman had to deputize Robin-Tortoise, Robin-Tiger, Robin-Lamb and Robin-Pig in order to escape Dr. Porkchop's clutches.  The beer? Well, what pairs better with porkchops? HAW HAW HAW!