The Cake or Eating?

I'm putting this one out to my collecting brethren. I was asked if I was able to purchase the Hot Toys Bank Robber Joker, with the condition of not buying any other geek related items for the rest of the year would I do it? That means for me, no more picking up random GI Joes, see a JLU Question hanging on the pegs, forget about it, What? You want that new EMCE Star Trek set, nope. How about the Dark Knight on DVD, nada. Expecting that new, big as life Millennium Falcon for Christmas, out of the question. How about a Happy Meal with a toy, a box of cereal with a prize, or that cool batman spinning lolly pop? No, no, and no! Sweet a ghost busters T-shirt, sorry. What, you were watching for that random holy grail on Ebay? You're not going to win that auction.

So what do you think, could you do it. Not for the Joker? Say for that one piece of your collection you thought you would never get because it's as much as your rent for a month or your car payment? Now I know the Joker here is not as much as those, but it is still a chunk of change, money well spent on other of life's necessities, but this is just a hypothetical question. I don't think I could do it and there is only a little over three months of the year left. I'm really looking for my Bat fans to chime in on this one, but everyone is welcome to chime in, there has to be one item that you could equate to this awesome piece of plastic, that you would be willing to give up your other interests for?

I'll leave this up for a few days before we return to the regular scheduled programming, so leave a comment or vote in the poll!

Joker Target!

Oh, I mean Target Exclusive Joker. Released on the heels of the Batman Gotham Knight Target exclusives, the Joker: Clown Prince of Crime flew in and out of Targets like a thief in the night. Standing at about 8" to 9" tall these figures from Hasbro are what most consider "Mego Like" meaning of course similar to the Mego Toy Company figures of long ago. Megos were known to be 8" action figures of your favorite heroes and villains wearing cloth costumes (yes, like dolls) instead of molded threads like todays plastic action figures.



This Joker fits right into the whole DC Super Heroes of the time, and with the modern Hasbro release of Marvel Super Heroes. So it's like Mego all over again. I think the detail in the costume is crazy and I really like the head sculpt on this Joker, a little more scarier than it's Mego brother, but still a cool little sculpt.



The Joker came with his Jester cane, a "BANG!" gun that while larger is probably more at home in this scale than from were it was recycled from, the Batman the Animated Series figure of Harley Quinn. I guess they at least kept it in the family. He also came with a large present (not shown) that when a button was pushed would split open and a little Jester figure would pop out.



This is another line I wished Hasbro would have kept going on. I could only imagine the other Bat Villains they could have done... Mr. Freeze, the Riddler, Catwoman, Two Face... They did get around to making the Penguin as a Target Exclusive, so at least Bat's got two fiends to fight!

Quick Fire Joker

Before there was DC Universe figures, Mattel launched a series of action figures under the Batman banner sculpted by the Four Horseman. The Joker here called Quick Fire Joker came packed with a huge green gun (not shown) that fired either a hand of cards or a "BANG!" sign. Not your usual projectiles, unless you're the Joker I guess. He also came with one of the most bendable canes I've ever seen. The cane is almost a rubber type of soft plastic, I know they didn't want any little ones to get injured, but wow this thing is like holding a rubber band.

Now usually I try to get a "normal" Batman and a Joker from each series, of course sometimes that plan doesn't always work out. Quick Fire Joker was one of the hardest to find from the series in my area, of course years latter they were released at discount stores in a two pack, though slightly different colors. I finally tracked one down at lunch time durning the week day. That afternoon was the longest wait ever. I left the Joker in the car while I finished up the days work, rushing home at 5:00 to free the Joker from his little plastic prison, I felt like I was 5 years old rushing home after school to catch my favorite show or play with a brand new toy.



The thing I like about this figure is that crazy look in his eyes and what a grin. That and he has a certain style or flair about him!

C3 Minimates Joker

2004 brought us one of the coolest little Joker playsets around. The C3 line of Minimates from Art Asylum hit selves with a bang, zip, pow! C3 stands for Create, Construct, Customize. These Minimates were taken from several sources of the Batman mythos including two different cartoons, comics, and even movies. Though some of the movie versions never saw release.



This set is based on the Justice League cartoon and is titled the Chemical Warehouse Battle. As you can guess these sets come with little Lego like blocks and Minimates. You can follow the instruction like a Lego set or build whatever your heart desires, cool thing is the bricks in the C3 sets are compatible with Lego sets. I know some people really do not like Minimates, but I really love these little toys, they remind me of a cross between some of the first Lego figures and the stuff they produce today. That and they are like a little hybrid of the Medicom Kubrick figures.



Now if you are scratching your head about Minimates, here's how they started. Art Asylum created them based on Japanese block style figures, they originally were 3" high, and several licenses where approached at that scale. Latter they partnered with Diamond Select to bring out the 2" Marvel Minimates, and still later they partnered with a little company called Play Along to bring out the C3 Construction series introducing the first DC Minimates to the world.



Today Art Asylum is in full swing again with Diamond Select toys to release a more comprehensive set of DC Minimates, plus tons of other licenses including Back to the Future, Battlestar Galactica, and Star Trek to name a few. Okay that's Minimates in a nut shell, to learn more you have to check out Minimate Central .



The C3 sets are no longer available, even when they were released some of the sets were near impossible to find, three sets that were released during the end of the line are the hardest, the Mini Javelin from Justice League and two from the Batman Cartoon, the Batcopter and Batcycle.

Let's Get Things Started!

Not a figure per se, but rather a vehicle with a little Joker figurine inside. The awesome laughing fish shaped Joker Mobile! Does the Joker Mobile have a theme song? If so insert it here, I'll wait...

Okay, released around 2004-2005, the Joker Mobile was from a great series of die cast vehicles featuring Batman and his villains. The company responsible, Corgi, one of the kings of die cast. Not only did Corgi release almost every incarnation of the Batmobile known (they left out movies and the Barris) but the did cars for Catwoman, Two Face, Killer Moth (thanks Jay!), Batman's little buddy Robin, and the Joker.

Each one seemed to have a cool little feature, Joker's was you pushed in the smile on the front of the car and the canopy would spring open. Another cool little bonus was there is a relief of the character on the bottom of the car.



I wish Corgi would have kept the license for these so we could have gotten more of the Bat Vehicles, they seemed to be hitting all the comic versions of the Batmobile, so I kept hoping that the Bat Tank from the Dark Knight Returns would have popped up, Wouldn't that have been cool?



I'm happy to have gotten a hold of the Joker Mobile, Just looking at that grill makes me all smiles!

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!

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.

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...

Just Plain Creepy

I picked up some Cheerios, because they are supposed to be good for your heart, not really... because they came with a Dark Knight Toy. And, while I was hoping to get a Joker I really wasn't prepared for the creepy feeling I got when I opened the package and pulled the little Joker out.

I don't know if it's the way the Joker is portrayed in the upcoming movie or if it's because Heath Ledger is no longer around. I even got that creepy feeling when I picked up the Joker figure from Mattel a few days earlier, and he's much more of an animated style.

Anyway I'm not sure if I should be eating this box of Cheerios, since it did contain the Joker, who knows what he put in it, I could break out in uncontrollable laughter and keel over.