Batman Legacy – Poe Ghostal's Points of Articulation

Ask Mattel > Answers for November 15

On November 15, 2011

1.) At NYCC, the Arkham City Catwoman was significantly taller than the Arkham City Batman. Will that be corrected for the production figure?Â

What you saw were the intended sculpts. Arkham City Catwoman IS tall in her heels, but she IS slightly shorter than Batman (and for honesty, that’s measuring to the top of the head, not the ears).

2.)Â Given the fact that Green Lantern got the Green Lantern Classics line in a movie year, it seems like throwing money away to table the Batman Legacy line during 2012. Why are you putting it on hiatus?Â

Bat-Week | Review > Prototype Suit Batman & Lt. Jim Gordon (Batman Legacy, Mattel)

By Poe

On August 31, 2011

In Reviews

One of the most beloved rarities among action figure collectors are action figures of supporting cast characters. I don’t mean sidekicks or team members, but “everyday” characters such as Lois Lane, Jarvis, Uncle Owen, and many others. Such characters rarely get figures, for a few reasons. Though popular among diehard fans, casual fans are rarely interested in them. There’s little chance of a casual toy collector picking them up because there’s nothing particularly interesting about them in and of themselves–often they’re just a person in a suit (seen any Movie Master Harvey Dents at your local TRU?). The figures aren’t eye-catching, so parents ignore them.

SDCC Preview Night Pics

By Poe

On July 20, 2011

In News

Here are a few pics from SDCC, courtesy of Rustin Parr. Not as nice as you’ll find on other sites of course, but something to talk about.

First up, it appears Mattel is indeed expanding its Arkham City figures–here’s the Joker and Harley:

I can confirm that Harley, at least, was sculpted by the Four Horsemen. The Joker looks a little off, though–the head looks too small, and the hair looks too short.

Review > Batman & Two-Face (Batman Arkham City, Mattel)

By Poe

On July 13, 2011

In Reviews

Until Batman Arkham Asylum, most Batman videogames were at best mediocre and at worst, completely unplayable. But given the character’s popularity and the way he seems to appeal to really great creators in all media, it was just a matter of time until we got a great Batman videogame*–just as we’ve gotten a great Batman movies and a great Batman TV show alongside countless great Batman comics.

The “Arkhamverse” has quickly become one of my favorite incarnations of the Batman franchise. Given the presence of Kevin Conroy as Batman, Mark Hamill as the Joker and (in the first game at least) Arleen Sorkin as Harley Quinn, the game was sort of a much more brutal, darker version of Batman: The Animated Series. Given the immense popularity and critical acclaim for the first game and the massive anticipation for its upcoming sequel, it’s not surprising we’re now getting plenty of merchandise from both games.

DC Direct released their first wave of Arkham Asylum figures earlier this year, and the second wave–consisting of Bane, Poison Ivy, Mr. Zsasz and Armored Batman–hits comic ships this week (they should arrive in stores today, actually). But DCD isn’t the only manufacturer making Arkham Asylum/Arkham City figures; at this year’s Toy Fair, Mattel revealed their new Batman Legacy line, which included a two-pack of Batman and Two-Face from Arkham City.

Pics of Batman Legacy Wave 2 Leaked – Catman, Bat-Mite

By Poe

On June 28, 2011

In News

User Samttary of the HKFigureClub, a Hong Kong-based toy site, has revealed the rest of Batman Legacy Wave 2. It looks like the rumored Catman is indeed part of the line-up, while Batgirl comes with a motorcycle and Golden Age Batman comes with none other than Bat-Mite!

I’m not 100% sure the motorcycle comes with Batgirl (can anyone read the page? – my Google Translate efforts were messy), but it stands to reason, particularly since she has no new sculpting to add value.

Odds ‘n Ends > June 24, 2011

By Poe

On June 24, 2011

In Odds 'n Ends

Today’s Odds ‘n Ends is mostly stuff I’ve meant to write about but never got around to it. First up: this piece over on OAFE, revealing how Toys R Us prices items higher in stores in wealthier areas.
October Toys is developing OMFG!, a homage to M.U.S.C.L.E. and Monster in My Pocket figures from the ’80s and ’90s. Depending on how much you donate, you can get flesh-colored and/or black sets of all five figs.
Mattycollector.com will be having their SDCC voucher pre-sale, which allows SDCC attendees to reserve their exclusives, on July 11. The post-SDCC sale will be on August 1.
The Power and the Honor Foundation is a non-profit group dedicated to creating an archive of materials related to all things Masters of the Universe. Their first project is a hardcover catalog of MOTU design art. For a donation of $55, you get 160 pages of MOTU history. This is ideal for those who missed out on the SDCC MOTU art book a few years back.
To my surprise, the Batman Legacy Arkham City figures are already shipping; mine are en route from BigBadToyStore. I was sure we wouldn’t see these until September at the earliest, given that the game doesn’t come out until October. These may be the figures I’m most excited about this year; we’ll see how they turn out in person. BBTS also has singles of some of the other Batman Legacy figures, such as the Golden Age Joker.
Speaking of Arkham City, Best Buy recently revealed that their pre-order bonus is a Tim Drake Robin. It’s unknown whether Robin will show up in the campaign (as a playable character or otherwise), but he will be available in the challenge modes and will have his own move set (i.e., he’s not just a skin of Batman). Chances are those who pre-order through Best Buy will just be able to get Robin first, and a few weeks or months later he’ll be available as DLC. But unless some other, even more cool pre-order bonus character is revealed at some other store (Nightwing maybe?), this basically guarantees I’ll be pre-ordering the collector’s edition through Best Buy, which for price alone I’d probably do anyway. All that aside, what do you think of Robin’s look? I like the outfit. Some folks are complaining about the shaved head, but I don’t really care either way.

Ask Mattel > Answers for June 1, 2011

By Poe

On June 1, 2011

In Ask Mattel

1.) Zach asks: Iâ€™ve noticed a disheartening increase in the amount of Collect-N-Connect figure pieces stolen from the packages of DC Universe Classics figures. While their placement in the package (at the bottom, behind the name card) looks great, it makes it easier for thieves to steal them unnoticed. Would you consider laying out the packaging differently, with the Câ€™n’C piece more prominently displayed, to hopefully help prevent theft?

In-store theft is something Mattel has very little control over. We actually did a lot of testing and fans greatly preferred the pieces packed below as to not have a â€œfloating limbâ€ near their figure for those who wanted to keep figures in package. While this is good feedback, we donâ€™t have plans to reposition the C&C pieces at this time.

2.) Nicholai asks: Why the decision to go with a Batman Legacy sub-line when the Green Lantern sub-line did not pass two waves? Was GLC not meant to go on longer?

Odds ‘n Ends > Wondercon/Joecon Edition

By Poe

On April 3, 2011

In Odds 'n Ends

My friend Popeonabomb was at Wondercon yesterday, and he took some pics for me – primarily of MOTUC and the Golden Age Batman & Joker. You can check ’em out here:Â http://www.flickr.com/photos/poeghostal/sets/72157626418374964/
I’ve been reading the G.I. Joe: Special Missions trade paperbacks from IDW. The concept, as described, really appealed to me–Joes performing “realistic” military missions. I’m enjoying the heck out of them, and between that and the incredible awesome reveals at JoeCon this weekend, I’m now actively resisting getting into G.I. Joe collecting. Which is kind of amazing, because G.I. Joe has been around forever and I never had the slightest interest in it (I was a He-Man/Transformers/TMNT kid). But Hasbro seems to be going balls-out with stuff like this and especially this. We’ll see whether I can hold out.
Some news bits from Wondercon: according to Scott Neitlich, Leech will have no other head, his jaw is not articulated, and Hordak’s armor will be vac-metallized (i.e., chrome).
As you know, I’ve often discussed expanding the scope of this website to encompass more geek-related, but not necessarily toy-related, topics. I just as frequently have shot the idea down, deciding that keeping a laserlike focus on toys is the best way to keep the site popular. However, I’ve found I do need some sort of outlet for my non-toy geekishness, and to that end I’ve decided to create a spinoff website that will allow me to write about non-toy stuff. All I need is a title…Poe Ghostal’s…Pop…something? I don’t know. As such, I’m holding a contest! Post your suggestions below. If I decide I like any of them enough to use as the site’s title, that person will win a special Sword of Ages variant–purple hilt, black blade!Â Enter as many times as you want.

Golden Age Batman revealed at C2E2

By Poe

On March 23, 2011

In News

(Image from Toy News International)

There wasn’t a whole lot of new stuff at C2E2, but one thing we did see was the prototype for the Golden Age Batman, a figure in the upcoming Batman: Legacy sub-line by Mattel.

Looks great–and I’ll be getting it–but what I really want is that same figure with the yellow oval, to truly match Super Powers Batman. I prefer the lighter gray with the blue, rather than the darker gray used on the DCUC1 figure. Oh, and double-articulated knees and elbows, please.

Ask Mattel > Answers for Mid-March

By Poe

On March 16, 2011

In Ask Mattel

1.) The Batman : Legacy figures look great. Regarding Two-Face: will he come with an alternate, non-coin-holding right hand (hopefully one that can hold a gun)?

No.

2.) The Movie Masters figures tended to be in a slightly smaller, more “realistic-to-humans” scale than DCUC. Will the Arkham Asylum figures be closer to Movie Masters or DCUC, in terms of scale and style?

Tag: Batman Legacy