McFarlane Toys DC Multiverse Bat Joker - Batman Beyond Future's End (Build-a-fig)

 Batman Beyond is a great show, and it showcases some evolutions of the characters from the original Bruce Timm series, as well as a darker future. A prevalent villain (created by Batman and Cyborg, unintentionally) in the show is Brother Eye, an all-seeing artificial intelligence. Brother Eye sees human beings as a poison and seeks total control over humanity. To that end, Brother Eye has assimilated many heroes or forced them into hiding. It can meld its technology into organic beings to force them to its will. 

Brother Eye created Bat-Joker aka Jokerbot aka Jokerborg as an assassin to eliminate Terry McGinnis, the new Batman in the show. Bat-Joker has a dual personality set and head; the cunning and tactical analysis of Batman, and the viciousness of Joker combined with the order of the Eye. 

The figure is a really neat build a figure. The claws that look wing-ish at the back are more poseable than any backpiece I've ever seen, especially at this price point. The figure is tall and imposing, and the dual faces you can switch are pretty neat. There are no accessories in particular if you don't count the wing/claws which are meant to be part, but that doesn't take away from it being a really cool build-a-fig. 

McFarlane Toys DC Multiverse Titan Joker - Arkham Asylum

 The more I think about the first couple of Arkham games, Arkham Asylum and Arkham City, the more I think it's just a giant warning message about going straight to human drug trials. Most of the boss fights in Arkham Asylum directly involve the use of the Titan formula, kind of an untested mix between Bane's strengthening venom and poison ivy's control poison. The result is a crazy hypergrowth that creates insane henchmen. Joker, being the chaotic evil person he is, tries it on himself as a last resort to take down Batman, and becomes Titan Joker, a massive, clawed, mohawk-touting monster who also managed to grow like 10 feet tall. 

Not everyone loved the Arkham Asylum boss fight, though to be fair many of the boss fights were pretty simple in their attack and dodging patterns. I just thought it was funny to introduce this bane-ish Joker, then they manage to make it near tragic after-effect for the rest of the next game. This Joker is an absolute beast of a figure, and being a Megafig it doesn't come with anything but a card. No stand is going to hold this thing, are you kidding. It is EXTREMELY top-heavy, and I like the paint but the finish is so extremely glossy, it reflects a bit too much. I love the detail, but some joints are useless, like the diaphragm. I can't move mine at all. The elbow double joints are appreciated, but the plastic they used for them is really weak. Mine snapped off with just a couple of careful turns. They of course ratchet everything, which I get in practice since it makes it so big limbs don't just flop, but it was a bit too much. It grabs the joints to the point where moving it leads to weakening. I had to boil and pop the pin and rebuild the joint, and now am not too sure I'll be able to move it much at the elbow again unless I want to risk the same problem. 

Overall, it's a decent figure and I'm glad I got one that isn't a crazy aftermarket price like the original DC collectibles one. That one is like 300+ dollars everywhere I look, so it is nice this was made. 

McFarlane Toys DC Multiverse - Batman Who Laughs with Sky Tyrant Wings (Dark Knights: Metal)

Bringing back the same Batman Who Laughs you know and love (see review here if you missed who the Batman Who Laughs is: Batman Who Laughs review), McFarlane toys made him part of the Build-a-Figure The Merciless because he's a much cooler iteration, and THOSE WINGS THOGH. 

Alright, let's rewind a second. Sky Tyrant is Hawkman of Earth 3 (No, not -3, just 3), where good and evil are reversed. He's of course hella evil and kills to prolong his own life. He actually dies on this Earth, but Hawkman of Prime Earth does end up being infected by The Batman Who Laugh's toxin and unlocks these memories and violent tendencies of his Earth 3 alternate self. He eventually becomes part of the Secret Six alongside other infected heroes. 

The reality is, Batman Who Laughs never actually rips off Carter Hall/Hawkman/Sky Tyrants wings and uses them. That's just a variant cover for Hawkman #18. It is cool though! I like how they mixed up the chest gear and wings for Hawkman into Laughs. The sculpting as usual is both unique in places, amazing, and highly detailed. They really left out some paint here that they would have previously put on though, which I think is a product of Todd rushing through figures as fast as they can be made. Not complaining, but definitely, it's noticeable the product painting is less detailed than usual lately. He comes with the wings, The Merciless head, shoulder pauldrons, blade, and of course the stand and card.

McFarlane Toys DC Multiverse - The Batman Who Laughs

The mother of the Anti-Monitor, Over-Monitor, and World Forger is kind of the villain of the Omniverse. Perpetua is a highly feared super celestial being, and not to be trifled with! She is responsible for creating the "Dark Multiverse", a set of multiverses made of all the bad decisions and nightmares conjured up by every other multiverse. Unlike other Multiverses, which see the light of day, the Dark Multiverses are constantly deteriorating and dying. It is out of these that we get the stories of the Dark Knights: Metal storylines. In one of these many nightmarish worlds, an amalgam of Batman and the Joker has created The Batman Who Laughs; a nightmarish tall ghoul dressed in black leather strips, a spiked collar covering his eyes, and controlling several "Robins" kept on chains. He is one of the Scions of Perpetua. He combines the tactical prowess of Batman and the nihilism of the Joker, along with his dark metal "collar" which acts as a visor into future events. He also has a weakness to Nth metal. 

The figure is one I had to have because...well it's the first Batman Who Laughs action figure. Reading the comics and seeing how McFarlane Toys is pretty much making every Dark Multiverse villain character required that I start collecting them all now! 

The figure is pretty great. It has really good poseability limited only slightly in the shoulders due to the sharp shoulder pads, and the neck due to the collar. These are design elements though, so no biggie. The psychotic look is so cool, and I can't wait for the version with wings and "Robin" figures that will be released. He comes with a few weapons which is always a welcome addition. 

McFarlane Toys DC Multiverse - Joker (Arkham Asylum)

I've previously revied the DC Direct version of the Arkham Asylum Joker here, so I won't go over his role in the game. Suffice to say he's pretty true to form Joker who leans a bit more into the gritty world of the Arkham games.

The previous Joker figure was really good. It had fantastic shading and paint throughout the suit and skin portions. It had a look that felt like it jumped out of the game. It came with minimal accessories (at least the 4 pack version), and the articulation was pretty basic. 

This figure does better in a lot of ways! First of all, it is still in 7-inch scale but stands slightly ______. I really appreciate that to scale in with the other Arkham figures. That's a nice gesture, Mcfarlane! 

Second, the articulation blows the DC Direct version out of the water. It's up to date with double joints and those classic McFarlane ball joints for the end joints. This version also comes with a couple of snapping teeth as well as a nice, hefty pistol. The paint is a bit cleaner than you'd see from the game and I'm not 100% sold on the face accuracy either but overall it's a great improvement in many ways. 

3rd Annual Top 10 (11!) Most Viewed Action Figures!

It's that time again! I first posted on this blog on April 27th of 2017, so here's to year three!
I've bee admittedly far less active this year for blogging, though this time has given me more chances to do so recently. This year I've been branching out more into collecting some less mainstream toy lines as well as diving heavily into the Mafex Christopher Nolan Batman Trilogy figures. I did mention the last year that I'd be buying the S.H. Figuarts version of PS4 Spiderman but that never happened (it is really hard to find and ridiculously expensive now)

Honourable mention also goes out to the Do you Even Bootleg Mafex Batman Justice league post that actually garnered the most views out of anything else, but isn't technically one figure! Also, note one entry has two figures because it came in a two-pack I reviewed together, so technically this is 11!

Without further ado, here are your most viewed of 2019-2020!

Mafex Joker (Police ver.) - The Dark Knight

I've already reviewed the Joker here before, and that figure was fantastic. The actor was also obviously fantastic in the film! He did have several costume changes throughout that made him appear disturbing in each and every one! He begins appearing as a bank robber with an angry clown mask then in his standard wear, then as a police officer (no makeup) and then a nurse. Mafex and SH Figuarts has released quite a few of these versions.

I normally am not a big fan of variants or versions of the character that appear so briefly in a film or comic. They are a bit unnecessary and a bit of a money grab usually. THAT SAID....I definitely bought this figure for the alternate arms and head for the original Joker from the interrogation scene. Two for one!!

Mafex The Dark Knight: Joker 2.0

In The Dark Knight directed by Christopher Nolan, one thing stood out above all the rest in the film regardless of whether you are a superhero/Batman fan or not: the performance by the late Heath Ledger.  He was amazing as the Joker because he put such a unique take on the character's personality and appearance while also keeping to the essentials of what Joker's motivational psychopathy from the comics.

S.H. Figuarts Joker - Batman Ninja

In a world where Grodd has opened up a time portal to feudal Japan, Joker ha become one of the daimyo's, ruling from a giant mechanized Arkahm Castle against the other Batman villains, who ALSO have crazy castles.  If this isn't jumping the shark, I don't know what is! If you listen to the English dub, he is voiced by Tony Hale, famous for playing Buster Booth in Arrested Development. 

Joker appears with his hair grown out into a large bun/ponytail, wearing his classic colours in a mixture of western and Japanese style clothing. This is a pretty dead-on representation of his appearance in the animated movie. They've got every detail down with the small exception that his inner vest (purple edging) has a geometric pattern in the movie that isn't on the figure. We can forgive this!

S.H. Figuarts - Injustice Joker

Given that I've missed quite a few weeks due to summer break, here's a second post of the week!

Joker is the starter for the entire Injustice storyline. He begins by drugging Superman to believe that a pregnant Lois Lane is Doomsday. He kills her, and when the haze clears, finds out Joker was behind it. In a very "Man of Steel" grim-dark, kills Joker and realizes that humanity can't take care of itself. This begins the regime of Superman in which Injustice is set.

This Joker is kind of a mix in design from several places. His lapels and coat are a bit longer like the older cartoon Joker or the Arkham version. He uses knives, chattering teeth, a crowbar (a la Red Hood storyline), gas bombs and a very long handgun (inspired by the '89 Batman movie no doubt!).

I am a fan of redesigns of beloved characters because it shows a creativity and a desire to breathe some new life into them, and I think this one works well. He's got the gangly, sharp-edged, colourful villainous look any Joker fan loves. The joints work well, even if some of them are vaguely Figma looking. The figure is pretty great, as is to be expected by S.H. Figuarts, and each detail is super well painted.

DC Collectibles Joker (Red Hood version) Arkham Origins

The funny thing about Arkham Origins is that it doesn't really spend much time with Batman's origin story (unless you buy some DLC), but focuses more on Joker's origin. This makes sense, given most people's familiarity with Batman. There isn't much else to tell there.

Origins uses the 1988 storyline from The Killing Joke to tell Joker's story. There is even a part of the game where you play as Joker and walk through his memories to how he became who he is. 

Jack Napier, the ex-comedian, is forced into a heist at ACE Chemical plant. He dons the red capsule and cape of the Red Hood, the "spokesrobber" if you will, for the group. An encounter with Batman dumps him into the chemical pool which causes the skin and hair dyeing as well as pushing his sanity right over the edge. 

This figure seems like an afterthought. I don't own a ton of Origins figures, but I'd have to say from reviews I've watched and read, this is probably the worst. The articulation is limited, the figure comes with no accessories and there isn't an actual head underneath the hood part. It seems like with both Joker and Deathstroke a second head would have been a good choice. 

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!