Batman (from Batman Series 4)

[rodkeith]

Mine arrived yesterday from Toycade.

While the rest of the wave, along with the Super Friends wave 2, which I received were all some form of decent to great and I'm generally pleased with, the new Batman is just an unfortunate misfire. The aforementioned head is one thing, with its over-size, long neck and lack of definition on the mask, but I could forgive that if the blue used wasn't so light. I know they were trying for a DC Style Guide look, but Batman's colours should never be lighter than Superman's (see any Bronze Age issue of World's Finest).

The oddly shiny quality of the material is a strange choice. The insignia is once again too small, (especially compounded with the head and cape size) and the short leggings are just this side of irritating.

I could probably forgive the head size if the colours were much more on-point. That to me is the biggest gaffe of them all; he's less "Creature of The Night" and more "Creature of the Nightlife (On The Disco Round)".

What did I like? The long scalloped cape with the wire is well done, though I'd suggest that it needs to be attached to the body suit though, the front of it where it loops over the neck is oddly flattened. And the upgraded gloves and boots still work for me.

Much closer to what most of us would like to see. In retrospect, I wish I hadn't spent $35 on another transitional step, as the 'JLA Batman' was before it, towards what we KNOW FTC can do.

[jacoblb]

I'm surprised about the shortcomings. The trimmed leggings should have been recognized as a big no-no during the preproduction stages for any figure in tights that's not a Teen Titan repro. What happened here? It seems like everything was lost in translation in the fabric room from size, length, color. Of course Batman is a popular figure so the missteps are sure to be noticed and scrutinized by many, FTC should know this. I'm thankful for the posted pictures because this Batman figure, I think, is something I'll pass on buying as-is or whole and just try to buy as parts saving me a lot of money while I buy the other 3 figures together in this wave. I suppose most fans who bought this figure had to do some customization surgery (or plan to) in order to get it to their liking. Anyone think FTC will attempt a 2.0 version if sales suffer due to poor consumer satisfaction?

I think the talented customizes on the board are sure to do neat stuff with the head, boots, belt, and gloves and kit bashing other suits or making one from scratch.

[TRDouble]

I'm surprised about the shortcomings. The trimmed leggings should have been recognized as a big no-no during the preproduction stages for any figure in tights that's not a Teen Titan repro. What happened here? It seems like everything was lost in translation in the fabric room from size, length, color. Of course Batman is a popular figure so the missteps are sure to be noticed and scrutinized by many, FTC should know this. I'm thankful for the posted pictures because this Batman figure, I think, is something I'll pass on buying as-is or whole and just try to buy as parts saving me a lot of money while I buy the other 3 figures together in this wave. I suppose most fans who bought this figure had to do some customization surgery (or plan to) in order to get it to their liking. Anyone think FTC will attempt a 2.0 version if sales suffer due to poor consumer satisfaction?

I think the talented customizes on the board are sure to do neat stuff with the head, boots, belt, and gloves and kit bashing other suits or making one from scratch.

I think FTC will DEFINITELY will attempt version 2.0... and 2.1, 2.2, 3.0, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 4.0, etc.

The head sculpt will remain the same, but it's new, so FTC will want to get some use out of it. Same with the cape design. Change the color scheme, maybe add a shadow to Batman's mask, etc. This changes little for those that hate the head, but maybe we can get a Batman with a darker blue (JLA Batman was good) and a big boy costume with full sleeves and legs.

[tllgn]

well ,i like this Batman ,but i do agree about what people are saying,I will also like to get this again in darker blue ,and looking forward to getting it
again in all black .

[MysteryWho]

TRdouble mentioned the JLA Batman. Does anybody think swapping elements of this new Batman with the JLA one might solve some issues?

[darkbros]

I think FTC will DEFINITELY will attempt version 2.0... and 2.1, 2.2, 3.0, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 4.0, etc.

The head sculpt will remain the same, but it's new, so FTC will want to get some use out of it. Same with the cape design. Change the color scheme, maybe add a shadow to Batman's mask, etc. This changes little for those that hate the head, but maybe we can get a Batman with a darker blue (JLA Batman was good) and a big boy costume with full sleeves and legs.

sounds like a NEW toycade exclusive variant....lol

[TRDouble]

TRDouble mentioned the JLA Batman. Does anybody think swapping elements of this new Batman with the JLA one might solve some issues?

That was my hope, but as I mentioned earlier in this thread, the blues don't match. The JLA Batman has a darker blue. You may still be able to get away with mixing and matching parts though; perhaps the new head sculpt and cape (shiny and all), despite being lighter, will work to offset the trunks being a little darker. Then there is the issue of the boots and gloves.

I am not a big fan of the FTC Superhero gloves and boots. The boots are soft and rubbery, and without a solid sole, they can be a pain to stand sometimes. On the gloves, the hands are small and out of the package, they do not stay on the figure (this can be adjusted by pulling the hand pegs out a bit from the arm). And after getting the Flash with the over-the-hand rubber gloves, I much prefer those to the peg gloves.

The big key though are the trunks. I don't care for the boots and gloves, but they are functional. If someone made trunks the same color as the light blue of the new Batman's head sculpt, and non-shiny, it would be a great swap of parts to fix some of what is wrong on this Batman. Put him on a Type-S or Doc Mego Buff Body and that helps with the big noggin too. Not much you can do about the skinny neck though, unless you are a skilled customizer and can thicken up and match paint colors. The new Batman has a better check symbol as well that I would like to keep.

[jeffbearco]

For me, I'm hoping they do a grey and black version of this with less shiny fabric. I like the shape and style of the symbol but it does need to be a little bigger. Other than that, I like this figure.

They could also do a combination completely without trunks with the black cape, cowl, gloves, and boots.

A version using the same shade of blue as the 66 Batman would be great too!

I wonder if they could even piece together parts from the Knights figures to do an Armored Batman!

There seem to be as many variants for Batman as there are for Wonder Woman.

JeffBearCO

[Figure8]

I liked the idea of a "Neal Adams figure", a more serious version of the Mego-Batman was long overdue. But I don't see any Neal Adams in this figure. The head reminds me of the Famous Covers series. I took a look at the "Michael Keaton Batman" FTC's released and that one appealed much more to me. It's amazing how much the all-white eyes do for the figure. If they made a variant of that in grey and black I would definitely want one.

[longscarf72]

First, let me say that I like this figure and I'm glad I bought it. My wife, who merely tolerates my action figure collecting, absolutely loves this Batman as this particular shade of blue is her favorite color. I told her that's why I bought him--so he compliments the color scheme of our home.

Second, I completely understand most of the complaints people have for this figure. I've stretched and tucked his sleeves and legs into his gloves and boots and for me, that works; however I don't understand why FTC just didn't repurpose the Batman '66 suit. Compared to this Batman that suit is far superior.

Also, maybe it was an artistic, comic-booky choice, but has anyone noticed the lopsidedness of the bat in the bat symbol on his chest? The left wing is much bigger than the right. It's not so bad, but I've never seen it done on other Batman figures.

Finally, his paint job on his face could've been done better. There's some sloppy paint on his nose that is distracting. Also, it's obviously not important to the workers at the FTC factory to slap on a second coat of flesh-tone paint. The color from the mask is seeping through so he looks like he has a blue five o'clock shadow. The single red line between the lips is also indicative of a disregard to minor details. Once again, comparing this figure to the Batman '66 one, I wonder if FTC changed factories in China, because the quality between the two is vastly different.

Still, aside from these issues, I like this figure and I think he looks good on my shelf where he brightens things up (as a DARK KNIGHT should lol). I don't feel too bad about the purchase, mainly because I got it through Toycade and I didn't have to pay FTC's shipping. Woo hoo!

[scott metzger]

Second, I completely understand most of the complaints people have for this figure. I've stretched and tucked his sleeves and legs into his gloves and boots and for me, that works; however I don't understand why FTC just didn't repurpose the Batman '66 suit. Compared to this Batman that suit is far superior.

That's right, I forgot that the '66 figures had full sleeves and legs; I was wrong above on this point. They could have made them longer without a big bulge in the boots and gloves, because they did so before.

[TRDouble]

That's right, I forgot that the '66 figures had full sleeves and legs; I was wrong above on this point. They could have made them longer without a big bulge in the boots and gloves, because they did so before.

Yep. Leave the hem out and as a customer/owner, use a closed paper clip to push the material into the boot and glove. That is what I did on my '66 Batman.

[TRDouble]

A work in progress. Or more like, "I wonder how this would look..."

Batman is on a Type S body. The legs are just stuck into the boots; no pegs to hold them in place yet. I just cannot get the costume to fit inside of the boots very well, hence the wrinkling.

The gloves have been replaced with FTC molded fist gloves. I tried an open hand glove, but they really don't work well with a hand attached. The colors match pretty well with the original gloves and boots. If I keep them, they will need the spikes attached. That's my biggest deterrent to using these gloves instead.

Flash, Batman, Green Lantern.jpg

[lilbrosj66]

I like him with those gloves way better.

[TRDouble]

Also, maybe it was an artistic, comic-booky choice, but has anyone noticed the lopsidedness of the bat in the bat symbol on his chest? The left wing is much bigger than the right. It's not so bad, but I've never seen it done on other Batman figures.

I just noticed this.

I also noticed that the cowl ears do not match. The left ear is straight up, while the right ear is shark fin shaped. Neither really stand out as major issues though, but once you notice them...