Comic Reviews by Walt

While I was happy to finally–months after “Force Friday”–see an actual assortment of new Star Wars figures, after enjoying looking at the various figures and finding myself slightly dismayed to not find Rey…I happened across what I initially thought was just another random Batman toy from the generic-ish Batman line of DC figures.

But then I noticed a now-familiar logo at the top and realized this was a toy from the upcoming Batman v. Superman film due out in the spring. And along with Batman himself (in “Electro-Armor!”) there was a Superman.

And they both talk and have sound effects…WHY Superman would ever have any kind of need for artificial WINGS is beyond me, though. And I get the “Heat Vision” but this toy just makes no sense to me with the lights on the chest (besides the S-shield).

Pulling the indicator on the back of either figure deploys the “action wings” and activates the voice/sound stuff.

I’m really not impressed with either figure…but then, I’m not the target audience for these at all…they seem geared for the younger crowd.

These seemed roughly the size of those 12-inch barely-articulated “titan” figures that are usually about $10. I couldn’t find a price for these (and the price-scanner came up “please see associate”) but I’d guess these’ll probably be in the $24.99-$29.99 range due to talking and their size.

Then there were what appear to be the “regular” figures for the line. I’m very disappointed in these because I’d far prefer the 3.75″ scale…but they probably want to differentiate these from the higher-end “Adult Collector” figures that seem to have become the identifier for the 3.75″ scale of late.

[A bit further below I show photos of a figure that could be construed to be a spoiler for the film. Stop reading now if you don’t want to see spoiler-type stuff regarding Batman v Superman]

I do not “get” WHY Superman would need a SHIELD…but hey, accessories and a way to have variances in toys! Shield Clash, probably will be other variants of Superman.

I’m not at all impressed with the look here…particularly the yellow segments around the waist area. Give him a belt or don’t, but this just looks…half-hearted at best.

The back of the package shows a couple of the other figures in the line…including Wonder Woman (whose figure I could not find). At the least, it’s good to know there WILL be one, and she’s not relegated to her own separate line.

My guess is these figures will probably be in the $8.99-$9.99 range; the price lookup for these yielded the same results as above.

Of all the figures, this Battle Armor Batman makes the most sense, and is the one I imagine I’d be most likely to purchase. Looks decent, and Batman using armor fits, particularly in context of coming into conflict with Superman. I definitely like the helmet!

The back of the card is not at all impressive, though; pretty generic. Also, despite the fact that with this, one is already holding A Batman figure, we’re shown that two MORE Batman figures exist along with a Superman…but no Wonder Woman.

As if we really NEED to have numerous Batman variants as (seemingly) always…

And here we have a figure that–by its very name and existence serves as a spoiler for the film, indicating that yup…we will indeed likely see Batman suit up with Kryptonite gauntlets and beat the crap outta Superman.

Because why not? Batman can beat up ANYone, no matter their power level, skill, or any other factors. He’s the Man with a PLAN. Right?

“Gauntlet Blades,” huh? Yeah…sure. Great. Again, I’m not REALLY the target audience of this figure!

This “Grapnel Blast” Batman seems the most normal of the Batman figures, and seems comparable to the Shield Clash Superman if you take away Supes’ shield… in terms of just being the general, “every day” version of the character(s).

And again, nothing new/different/impressive to the back of the card.

Next we have what I’m considering the “high-end” or “Adult Collector” figures. These greatly resemble (to me) the Marvel Legends packages, and I assume these’ll be priced like those at $19.99 or more.

Appearance-wise, Superman looks about like the Shield Clash Superman of the regular line, only this figure is slightly larger (enough I’m sure it’d be noticeable standing on a shelf loose together, but not overly so just passing by them on pegs in the toy aisle). I’m sure this one is much more articulated, and again has the weird quasi-belt thing going on…the appearance of which annoys me enough to not have me particularly interested in this straight away.

It IS Superman, though, so it should not be a surprise if I backstep down the line and hunt this one down…unless I get the “regular” figure and content myself with that.

The back shows us that rather than a “build-a-figure” (say, an extra-sized Doomsday?) instead it’ll take EIGHT (presumably $20) figures to get pieces to assemble…a display prop of Batman’s grapnel blaster gun.

Consider me thoroughly underwhelmed there, unimpressed, and far from incentivized to seek out the line over the chance to build something “extra.”

I do like the look of Batman here, and it would make a could pair with the Superman one. While I’d be interested on the one hand, like Superman, I could see being just as happy with the “regular” figure…particularly for removing from the packaging.

The backs seem interchangeable aside from the name of the figure printed at the top…and no idea what other Batman variants (probably the Gauntlet Assault at minimum) will comprise the other 4 figures “scheduled” for this line.

(and yet with noting to even provide a photo of to “tease” one to keep checking back, I can’t help but wonder if these might go the way of half the Green Lantern 2-packs that never materialized back in 2011).

Armored Batman looks good, again; and would interest me, though like the others…I’m more likely to get the cheaper version from the main line.

All in all…not a horrible line, I suppose.

Of course, while I haven’t a clue what else is coming in any of the lines, it’s very disappointing to have zero indication of the existence of any villains whatsoever. This Multiverse line I can understand–it seems better-suited for displaying figures, with the higher-end packaging rather than a bubble on a card.

But for the figures in general, that I assume are MEANT to be PLAYED with…this just strikes me as more of the usual fallacy with such toy lines. Umpteen variants of the HERO(ES) and few to no antagonists. (Granted, the movie is Batman v Superman so they can fight each other but still…!)

I expect in the coming weeks these’ll start making more of an appearance in toy aisles at Walmart and Target, likely Toys R Us as well. I can’t see any individual figure of this bunch being overly rare…though the lack of Wonder Woman suggests to me collectors will be snagging her first and making that figure fairly rare.

Given sufficient spending money and finding an assortment including Superman, Batman, AND Wonder Woman…it might not be entirely inconceivable that I would purchase all three in one go (from the regular line) to have (probably the Armored Batman, though).

Time will tell…but chances are really very good that it will certainly be 2016 before I drop any money on any of these.

Filed under: 2015 Non-Review posts, 2015 posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT, The Toy Chronicles | Tagged: Armored Batman, Batman, Batman v Superman, Dawn of Justice, Mattel, multiverse, spoilers, Superman, Superman v Batman, toys, walmart |