Mattel's New Zipline Batman, Robin And Joker Figures Reviewed By John DeBarbieri

Mattel's New Batman Toys
Written by: John DeBarbieri (screen name: Thunder)

I just received 3 of the new batman figures sculpted by the Four Horsemen. Let me tell you, they are fantastic! I got Robin, Joker, and Zip-Line Batman (basic Batman). The only fault I have with these is that their elbows are not jointed. And yes, they ARE in scale with DC Direct. Here are my comments:



1) Battle Board Robin.

This is a dead-on interpretation of the Tim Drake Robin, from his spiky hair to the molding on his chest armor. The skimboard accessory is kind of cool, it's like a mini flying skateboard that fires a disk. The decision to make the shoulders and neck of the cape plastic and the rest of the cape cloth was a good one. Slight differences in color from the comic really make this Robin stand out. The gloves are black instead of green, and the arms rotate at the end of the glove. His spiked black hair actually has some eXtreme-sports style blond highlights, like a teenager might have.

Overall Rating:





2) Joker.

This figure stepped right out of "The Killing Joke" graphic novel. From his maniacal grin to his well sculpted tuxedo. This Joker exudes insanity. The accessories were a bit much though. His jester-headed cane was well-sculpted, but his other accessory was too much. He came with an oversized big green pistol. It actually fires a playing card-headed missile and a large "Bang!" flag. Again the wrists rotate at the gloves and he looks perfect.

Overall Rating:





3) Zip-Line Batman.

Hands down, the best interpretation of the Dark Knight I have seen. Again, the cape is cloth with molded plastic shoulders, a nice touch. The wrists rotate at the glove line, but the hands are made of a soft rubber so Batman has Kung-Fu grip. The individual pouches on the belt are reminiscent of his current look in the comics as well as his treaded boots. The boots even have little tiny bat symbols integrated into the soles. This was the only one whose accessories really worked for him. His grapple launcher was a bit large, but it had to accommodate the hook and actual Zip-Line. One end of the line was a large bat-hook, while the other was attached to a batarang shaped end. The pulley that zips Batman along has bat-shaped grips on it. By far, this is the BEST interpretation ever.

Overall Rating:



I'll probably pick up the Nightwing 2-pack and any other villains as they arrive. I'm going to have to stop collecting Marvel legends and collect this series.

Just my little 'ol opinion.



Toys are reviewd on a 5 bases. 5 being the best and 1 being the worst.