DC Collectibles Two-Face: Arkham City

Two-face is one of those characters that can be explored with at least some emotional depth.
Often he's portrayed as the golden boy attorney who changes things for the better, only to be injured in a tragic accident in which he changes for the worse. His obsession with duality is his main
characteristic, and that has been done well on and off to certain degrees.

The game makes him more of a minor villain in the games, as is his typical role. The Dark Knight Christopher Nolan movie did justice to his character in my mind, as did the Telltale Batman games released.

The figure is very well done. The white suit parts and clean, as are the two-tone shoes. The pain application to the "good" side of the face is well done. The "bad" side is incredible. The holes in the suit and the charred flesh were very well painted. His left sleeve is in tatters. His articulation is missing in some areas (ankle and waist) and greater in the knees, for whatever reason. He technically comes with two accessories, a coin to hold in his "good" hand and a well-sculpted pistol to hold in his right.

DC Direct Catwoman: Arkham City

A 2012 arrival along with many of the Series 2, Catwoman was a very fun character to play in the game. The ability to use her whip to traverse terrain and fight enemies, as well as the extra fun factor of having her own collectibles mission was great. This figure has some good qualities, but also some very poor ones.

The suit textures and shading applied are fantastic on this figure. The sculpt is generally good, but unfortunately, QC issues caused the right arm to break off from its shoulder socket when it was rotated. It looks off because I had to drill holes and glue a pin in order to give the arm back its mobility! The head is WAY too big for the body, and the either purposeful or accidental shading of the eyes with red causes her to look not only googly eyed but bloodshot as well.

The bolas type weapon that she comes with is ok, While the rubber used is fine for the chain and ball ends, it makes it hard to put in her hands because it flops around a bunch.
Like most of the Arkham figures before the Arkham Knight, the articulation is fairly limited.

Group Photos: Arkham Asylum

The Arkham Four! Back for another great song: Insanity Now!

So I've decided to do a "Group Photo" post. I will be putting certain characters together in certain scenes and/or groups based on either their set, appearances, or whatever floats my batboat! Expect more in the future.

This group photo will be of the Arkham Asylum boxed set. This set marks my very first foray into buying the Arkham series of figures. It was a turning point and my first real start at collecting figures. Despite their lack of joints, they are a first, and therefore always have some place in my collection, no matter how many times they fall due to poor balance and flexibility (read: a lot!)

Side profile. As a group, they'd probably be into the Death Metal scene. 

Twice the injection, twice the fun! I always wondered how crazy it would be if Batman actually became a Titanized or Venomized version of himself. It would be pretty terrifying. 

There's the the lock

Swear to me! 

Dramatic theatre time at the Asylum. 

Thank you, thank you, you've all been a great audience! 

DC Direct Scarecrow: Arkham Asylum

 Arkham Asylum had a very suspenseful and frightening atmosphere. One part of that intensely blood-curdling, hair-raising experience were the scenes involving Killer Croc and Scarecrow.
The fear-induced delusions were excellent, being both successful in jump scares and chilling horror.

His appearance was more like that of the classic incarnations: burlap sack coverings, rope ties, glowing yellow eyes and for the added terror each finger of one hand adorned with fear-toxin needles. Most of the details are in the stitches, and they did a good job of his representation from the game. This figure really suffers in articulation even more so than others in the line (and that's saying something!). He does come with one bag-o-toxin accessory, and that's nice enough.

DC Direct Harley Quinn: Arkham Asylum

Although true to the character of Harley Quinn, the Arkham games had a radically different take on her appearance, with Asylum being the most drastic. With the Asylum under control of the Joker, Harley Quinn adopts the image of a highly sexualized nurse. Gone are the black and red contrasts, replaced with burgundy reds and azure blues. 

Fantastic details in this one. She comes with a Titan venom injection gun and lots of great paint details. Rivets, blood spatter, collar, boot designs and even buckles on the corset. The poseability is about the same as others in the line, which is to say limited. Apparently, a re-release of this figure came with another accessory; Quincy Sharp's cane used to beat him. Ouch. 

DC Direct Joker: Arkham Asylum

Voiced by famous actor Mark Hamill in the game, Joker was played superbly. An insane, psychopathic mastermind, he has always been Batman's most iconic villain. Although, as a villain the Arkham games perhaps overused him, Asylum gave him the most focused plot role. 

This Joker has tons of great paint from spooky face down to the painted lines of his suit. He even has a real chain link to his pocket watch! 

Though it comes with no accessories, previous iterations of this figure came with the puppet Scarface. Perhaps it will be available on eBay....one day!

DC Direct Batman: Arkham Asylum

In 2009, Rocksteady released Batman: Arkham Asylum,easily one of my favourite video games of all time. Compared to the sequels and prequel game, Asylum had the spooky factor down. The original figure for this line looked like this: 2011 Batman Arkham Asylum Figure. Needless to say, an odd mix of blue and black in the batsuit.

This version was released in a boxed set with Joker, Harley Quinn, and Scarecrow (reviews to come).

This Batman is a solid figure with very little in terms of articulation. The paint is decent in the eyes and face, but very little paint or details elsewhere. The accessories are pretty nice though! A shiny black Batarang that folds? A grapple gun with removable grapple? If only more figures in the Arkham Asylum line had as much!