Whoop! Whoop! Joker Week!

So you made it through Batman Week on Eclectorama and thought you would see if I had moved on to something else... Surprise!

Mego Batman spied this guy moving in on his territory this past Saturday, so I thought I would kick off Joker Week with one of the best, hands down Jokers around, Mego's the Joker! Okay my example is not the best specimen of Mego's Clown Prince of Crime, but the figure itself is what I'm talking about.



This Joker was won in an auction along with another one with one shoe (not shown) that was a fist fighter version of the character. When I was bidding on them I just figured they were the same figure since the seller didn't specify, I figured I would eventually pick up some reproduction shoes for the second one and I would have one at work and one at home... I was really surprised to find out one was a fist fighter.

Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah the Mego Joker to me is one of the best likenesses of the character around and I figured if I was going to have a Mego Dark Knight I needed Mego Villain, which lead me to a Mego Batmobile that they both usually go riding in.

I'm not sure why, but as a kid I only had Star Trek and Marvel Megos, but my Buddy had Batman, Robin, Joker, Penguin, the Batmobile, the Bat Cycle, and I believe the Bat Cave so I didn't miss out, there was always plenty of Batman Mego goodness when Steven was home!

So like Batman Week, in celebration of the Dark Knight (like every blog in the toy universe), Joker Week is going to be full of some of my favorite Joker Action Figures and toys.



Enjoy and... Haahaaahaaaahaaahaaahaahaahaaaaahaaaahaaaahaaaaahaaaaahaaahaaahaahaaaahaaahaahaaaaa!

Batman Week Bonus!

So I usually try to take the weekends off from all things computers, but thought it would be neat to throw out a bonus post, so here is my refurbished Mego Batman. I know he's not the best example of a Mego Batman, but here's his story anyway.

One summer Saturday, much like today, in the heat of the Texas morning this Mego Batman and I crossed paths. You see there is this little flea market down the road from the house, and the family found itself killing time on a sunny Saturday morning checking out the junk at the local market of fleas. I say junk, because the Flea markets in Texas (in my mind anyway) are nothing like the tales I've heard coming from New York city or even Cali-forn-i-a, no Texas flea markets are basically a bunch of junk dealers. I say this with the highest regards for the dealers, so if I do offend, I am sorry, but let's call it for what it is.

Anyway this trip yielded a sword from a knife dealer for my son (yes he is old enough to purchase mid evil weapons from a flea market), some great Mexican pottery for the misses, and nothing for me... until I saw him, Mego Batman, buck nakid in a display case. Now being a Bat Fan I knew I had to rescue him, so I inquired to the cost. One buck for a bare assed Batman! Sold! I took my prize home, much to the amusement of my wife and son who teased me the trip home and days after for buying a nude super hero dolly. That didn't phase me, cause I knew as he sat in the cool a/c on my drawing desk that this Batman would ride again!



So months passed and it was getting close to Christmas and my wife who can't keep track of the ever growing collection suggested I pick out something that I truly wanted, hum what do I truly want... I know some pants for Batman, so with the okay I went to a site I had been scoping out by the name of Dr. Mego. I went crazy and picked up a whole costume for my crime fighter, apparently though I forgot to add gloves to the cart, so Batman didn't get any standard issue mitts. The package came quicker than I thought, and right before Christmas I was playin... err, I mean posing for display my very first Mego Batman. No I didn't have one as a kid, I had Spidey and Captain America, but no Bats. I was thrilled. I will also add that Dr. Mego included a little freebie in my order, what looks like a short Knight sword and some literature on other items. Dr. Mego you made one owner of a crappy Batman very happy that year, if this gets back to you I want you to know you are a Mego Saint and I highly recommend your fine website to any and all who need pants for their superheroes!

Wait what's that Mego Batman? Who do you see? Mego Joker, Oh no that must mean we are going to have a Joker Week! Thought I would keep the Dark Knight Movie train going, so tune in next week for the Joker Week!

Dah Na Na Na, Dah Na Na Na Microman... Batman!

Batman Begins yielded some pretty cool merchandise when it came out and one of the coolest items was from Japan and is cousin to the Micronauts!

Takara Micromen are 3 3/4" super articulated figures that come with extra hands and all sorts of Bat-goodness. If your comic book shops are like the ones around my home town, you've seen the comic versions of Batman, Catwoman, and even a Batman / Batgirl set kicking around. These comic sets were imported by Diamond select. Batman Begins on the other hand you had to resort to a importer or eBay to get your hands on one.



So what does he come with? For starters you get a stand to pose him on (though he doesn't need it to stand up), a little sprue with extra hands in different poses, the Bat Grenade from the movie in it's deployed and storage form, the Batman Begins Bat-a-rang in a deployed and storage form, and a little iPod... okay it looks like an iPod, it's the cell phone he uses to call Alfred for help. And what is possibly the coolest feature, one huge freaking cape!



The cape has a wire in it so you can pose it, sort of like the Hasbro and DC Direct 1st Appearance Batmans. The idea being that the cape is this huge Spawn like monster in itself that flaps in the wind as Batman plays Gargoyle on a building. It really is a cool feature, thought it can get in the way. The cape is easily twice as tall (if not more) than the figure.

The figure itself is loaded with all sorts of crazy articulation, plus if you have a specific hand gesture (sorry the middle finger is not included) you just pop off the hands at the wrist and pop on a new hand. Seems that most Japanese toys are like this. I think this is kinda cool if you are posing the figure to sit on a shelf, but if you are a kid you are losing these things left and right.



I had hoped that Takara would get the Dark Knight license and we would get a Joker figure, but I haven't seen anything. The Batman Begins series not only had Batman here, but a Ras' al Ghul and a Samurai Batman, which is probably more of an else worlds sort of thing. Ras can still be picked up on line, and searching eBay turns up the others on occasion. Takara also makes blanks along with a few other licenses, so I guess if worst came to worst a custom Joker could be put together.

Combat Belt Batman

Back when Hasbro held the Batman license a little cartoon made a debut called Batman the Animated Series. Hasbro not missing a beat released some of the best all around Batman figures ever. These things were spot on to the cartoon, well with the exception of all the multi colored bat suits with skis and jet packs and the like. Combat Belt Batman was the only way you were getting a "regular" looking Batman from the cartoon in the sea of goofy Suit Batmans.



This Batman not only combines the look of the show, but has a pretty cool play feature, that actually makes sense, the utility belt! If you didn't feel like wearing the Combat Belt, you could remove it and not ruin the look of the figure.

So what comes on a Combat Belt. You get the standard issue humongous grappling launcher with rope and hook, you also get a bat-a-rang that fits into the launcher and has a storage loop on the belt, plus you get a neat little set of Bat-Cuffs for apprehending Gotham City's Goons.



Combat Belt Batman is by far my most treasured Batman in my collection. You know that question people ask, what is the one item you would grab in an emergency? Well besides the Family and Pets, Vintage Boba Fett, and the family pictures. Combat Belt Batman is right there with them. Of coarse I might have to grab his Batmobile as well, especially if that's were he is at at the time, no time to stop and think about these things...

Frank Miller's Dark Knight

I will admit that I am a fan of Frank Miller's the Dark Knight Returns. I was first exposed to this wonderful tale back in college when a buddy and I were out hitting comic shops in 1989 caught up in the bat craze. I picked up the trade paperback not knowing what to expect and ended up reading it three or four times over the next couple of days. I loved everything about that book and it was to me the end all be all bat story.



DC Direct finally came to their senses a few years back and turned out a series of four figures based on the book. The series was to included Batman, Carrie Kelly Robin, the Joker, and Superman, each to included a piece of sidewalk that makes up the street corner where Bruce loses his parents in the book. The Robin figure also includes the street lamp that Batman uses to power his Superman fighting suit!

This Batman is one of the first DC Direct figures I bought, it was at a time when I was freelancing and I picked him up as a reward for a fine job on a little catalog I was working on. The catalog would come due in November and the day after the press checks I would swing by the local comic shop to pick up a Batman. I timed that years catalog just right as I knew this chunky Batman should be making an appearance right when it was going to press!



As you can see it's not very poseable, I think of DC Direct stuff more as movable statues, the articulation is basic, but the sculpt is dead on to the comic. This version reminds me of the panel where Batman rises up from the Bat "Tank" Mobile to fight the leader of a cult of punks and hands him his ass along with his teeth and a few other bits and pieces. This Batman does not mess around, this is the Batman I think of when someone says Dark Knight.

Justice League Batman

This Batman is from the Justice League and Justice League Unlimited cartoons and has been sitting on my desk forever, begging for a picture. Now most of you are going big deal, these things hang around on shelves forever, but this is not one of the smaller figures, it's none other than the 9" to 10" figure that came out a few years back. Yes, yes, if you can find them, they are still on shelves, but if you missed them, I think you are missing out on one cool figure for this reason alone... it can stand up by itself. Those that collect JLU figures will know what I am talking about.



Okay besides that it is a really nice stylized version of Batman, more stylized than the Batman the Animated Series version (not better mind you). If you followed Batman the Animated Series (BTAS) all the way through it's various incarnations you will notice that Batman's style evolved into what is now shown on Justice League Unlimited. I like stylized versions of Batman, whether it be BTAS, JLU, or the newer "the Batman", and from what I've seen the next incarnation, the Brave and the Bold. So when these hit stores it could be understood why I would grab one.

I thought that the larger line would do better than it did, the figures where a cool scale, large enough for small hands, plus they make really cool display pieces for older collectors. I guess not everything bigger is better. To go a little off topic I'm kicking myself having not picked up any of the other of the main characters besides the Flash. This larger scale really displays much better than the smaller scale, and captures the clean lines of the show much better as well.

I think what makes this version one of my favorites is the attitude he brings to the Justice League cartoon, there are more times than I can count that I've watched that show and gone "Now that's the Batman I know, kickin' ass and takin' names!" Those are the times that I think the Dark Knight shines through.

Boo! I'm the Batman! the Batman Begins Movie Masters Chase Figure

Like most Bat-Fans this week is a pretty big week for me with the release of The Dark Knight, the second in the re-imaged Batman movie franchise and the debut of the new Joker. So this week is going to be a Batman Toy Week here on Eclectorama. I plan on featuring some of my personal favorite versions of the Dark Knight, some new finds, and hopefully some cool stuff all from the Eclectorama Collection!

So to start off this week I'm spotlighting a figure that I thought I would never see, straight from the movie "Batman Begins". I remember sitting in the theater thinking if they ever made a figure of the scene where Batman gasses the Scarecrow with his own fear toxin it would be one of the coolest figs ever. That scene, to me was great, so I pretty much decided that I would never see it, mainly because it would be considered too scary for the kids. So, as I was walking through the store the other day what was staring back at me was none other than this little demon of a Bat from the Mattel Movie Masters figures line! They did make him! I was truly surprised!



I immediately thought, no way, how did this get by me. I didn't even have a clue this one was coming out. I certainly did not think that I would see any new Batman merch since having heard a lot of it was voluntarily recalled (not sure if that is a myth or not, but would explain why I haven't seen a lot of DC toys on the shelves).



This is none other than the Chase figure from the second release of Batman Movie Masters figures. The series includes Batman in his Batman Begins suit, Scarecrow, and this version from the scene described above. I say bravo to Mattel for pulling this character from one of the coolest scenes in Batman Begins. You know if you were going to scare the crap out of criminals dressed like a giant bat, this would be the way to do it! Some cool things about this figure is the finish, it's matte and has a wash that makes it "feel" grittier than the normal version. The matte finish also helps set off the gloss paint used on the eyes, probably the best feature of the figure. It really gives you the effect from the movie when Batman had the black beady eyes and blacked out features, as viewed by a fear toxin treated Scarecrow.



Now I'm not saying this because this is a chase figure, but if you see this guy on the pegs I would recommend picking him up just because he's a cool figure. Sure it's a head swap and new paint application, but it really is a nice figure in it's own regard. This from someone who stays away from chase figures...