Jay's Toy Shelf : Mafex Scarecrow

Dr. Johnathan Crane is a psycho-pharmacologist who probably should have had a psych eval done on him before he became a professor or anyone who is allowed to come in contact with people in general! He is the secondary antagonist in the first film of the Christopher Nolan trilogy, Batman Begins. He is one of the few characters to appear in all three Nola films in one role or another with his biggest role in the first movie.

As per classic Scarecrow, he is using his fear toxin to experiment on people as a psychiatrist at Arkham. He is in cahoots with Ra's al Ghul to destroy Gotham. In exchange for conducting research and testing out his toxins, Scarecrow releases the inmates to cause chaos in the streets. Wouldn't be the first or last time inmates get out of Arkham. The terrible security at that place is like, 50% of Batman's work.

This figure is once again an amazing representation of Scarecrow and Dr. Crane. The likeness is incredible, the articulation is once again great and the accessories are everything you really need. To top it off (and yes, this is some of the reason I bought the figure), it includes an alternate cape, head and hands for the Mafex Batman Begins figure to replicate his fear toxin look when he doses Crane with his own gas (also a classic staple of having Scarecrow as a villain...eventually he gets a taste of his own medicine).

Sculpt/Paint: 5/5 The details on this figure are spot on to the Dr. Crane character in the film. The suit is well done, Crane's head sculpt is great, the mask has suitably creepy details down to the stitches in the seams. The only thing I might nitpick (and nitpicks are not enough to take down a whole point) is that his hair seems a bit grayer than the character is in the films.

Articulation: 5/5 (30 points): He has the basic articulation from the Two-Face figure: very good hip articulation, a hidden double ball diaphragm joint, double elbows, hinge swivel wrists, neck and head joints, single jointed knees, toe hinges and an ankle that is quite restricted by the hems of the pants.

Price/Availability: 3/5 It is still possible to get this one from a few online stores and even at a slightly lower than the original price. Amazon, eBay, Ami Ami, Hobby Link Japan and Mandarake are a few good sources.

Accessories 5/5 This is an excellent set of accessories for the scarecrow. You get many alternate hands, a removed facemask to be held by a special gripping hand, a lighter, and a Cillian Murphy head to change him from Scarecrow to Dr. Crane. The Cillian Murphy head is super well done. ON TOP OF that, they do something great here which is to include accessories for another figure he shares a scene with Demon Batman. This includes a black utility belt, demon batman chest piece with attached tattered cape, clawed hands and the alternate demon head! All well done, though I wish they had done a better job of the teeth and eyes of the demon head batman. As is, it looks a dull silver that doesn't inspire as much fear as the original scene.

Fun Factor: 3/5 This guy, like Two-Face, won't be in a ton of dynamic poses, but there's a lot of fun poses to be had that copy the film. This figure, in particular, is easy to get in a creepy, almost boogeyman style pose. He's a suit-wearing character, so there are some restrictions there. I still think it's a really good figure though and is worth adding.

Verdict: 21/25 Great: The figure is a really good one of high quality with excellent accessories as well as parts to go back and purchase another figure (which I TOTALLY did...good job on your marketing Mafex). It recreates scenes from the movies it is based on and the only thing I'd add to it is to include an open briefcase where the prisoner was gassed from! A really great figure if you want a Nolan Batman Scarecrow, but as a Scarecrow itself, it really is just a suited figure with a scary burlap mask. I recommend!