I've got BootLEGO bats in my belfry!

Looking at BootLEGOs on eBay the other day, I stumbled on to a brand new Bat-lot of Batmen with the new style cowl (I had yet to own any LEGO or BootLEGO Batmen with the new cowl style) and not only that, but the set included some great Batman variants. So even though I was as yet unfamiliar with the bootleg company that produces this lot (Duo Le Pin) I figured the pennies-on-the-dollar cost was worth the potential risk, so I ordered them...and man am I glad I did!

First up is Batfleck. I am pretty sure I will end up with an official LEGO set or two for the upcoming Batman v Superman movie, but BootLEGOS are so damn inexpensive and WHO CAN WAIT?!?! Also, thankfully I now know that Duo Le Pin is pretty high quality. These BootLEGOS are even closer to LEGO quality than the Sheng Yuan and Decool I have previous experience with! This set is just incredible. Don't get me wrong, they are still bootlegs and there are a couple flaws (one Batman head had the same no-emotion expression printed twice...ironic for Batman who isn't one to emote...and this Batfleck inexplicably has a scuba mask on the other side of his head) but...damn they are great. And they cost me less than 75 cents each with free shipping from China! And it only took less than a week for them to arrive! GOD BLESS AMERICA!

Up next: at first I wasn't sure if this were an 'official' Batman or not, it actually took me a minute to realize that this is the Batman: Arkham Knight Batman! How cool is that?!?!

This Batman even has printing on his arms and the sides of his legs! QUALITY! Another fun detail is that Arkham Batman has a calm expression without stubble while his angry expression has stubble. Like in the game, Batman gets angrier and less fresh as he battles throughout the night!

Next: Batman Begins. Each Batman minifigure comes with a batarang, a base and a bunch of pieces to make some little Batmobile/Batdrone or something. I left those out of the shoot because they are really just filler.

Next: Batman from The Dark Knight (in grey.) Some of the Batman minifigures came with plastic extended wings, and some came with cloth capes. I actually did a little mixing/matching to suit my desires, this one may have come with the cloth cape that I gave to Batfleck. Whatever, the whole point of these buildable minifigures is mixing and matching!

Batman Beyond. HOLY MOLEY! This guy alone is worth the low low price of admission! Other BootLEGOers have made half-assed attempts at Batman Beyond, but this is the first correct and screen accurate one I've ever seen. He came with a red cloth cape (another irony, THIS is one that should have the solid wings...in red) but Batman Beyond does not have a red cape, he has red retractable wings, so I left it off the minifigure.

Batman of Zur En Arrh! This is now the third BootLEGO Batman of Zur En Arrh I own (each from a different BootLEGO company. Wow!) We do indeed live in incredible times. I will have to do a side by side by side shoot of this version of Batman soon.

All these Batmen have back printing too, BTW. MOAR QUALITY!

Green Lantern Batman! Another wonderful and surprising addition. Now that I think about it, this guy had a cloth cape, so I switched it out with Batfleck. He looks better with solid wings (although they would look better still in green. GL Batman also came with flesh colored hands...weird...so I switched them with some spare black hands (BootLEGOS always seem to come with additional hands.)

Last but...well...least...is Space Batman! I think this Batman appeared in the LEGO Batman 3 video game. He has a normal face and a space face but the 'normal' face is weird because it is printed on the white plastic head. No skin tone. He looks more like Batzarro with the other face. So I'm sticking with space face!

Man, what a set! The quality of Duo Le Pin is incredible, even the cloth capes are better than anything I've experienced from BootLEGOS to date (while still falling short of LEGO quality...but not by much.) The unique characters and the use of the new style cowl makes this set a must have for anyone who likes to dip their toes in the BootLEGO pool from time to time.

Batman Begins Again

If you want to read the "long story" on this figure, skip to the diatribe past the pictures. Otherwise, just enjoy the toy :)


This is Survival Suit Bruce Wayne. This figure is from the Movie Masters line and although it's labeled as "The Dark Knight," this figure recreates a scene in Batman Begins.

Remember before Bruce decided to be a Bat, when he put his gear together and held a stapler to Detective Gordon's head? Good times.

My favorite part about this scene in Batman Begins is how it's reminiscent of the similar pre-Bat costume scene in Mask of the Phantasm. Bruce is trying to thwart crime, but he just doesn't have the "edge" he'll need; that split second of fear, intimidation and surprise that the bat costume gives him.

He's learning.

Like most of the Movie Masters figures, Bruce comes with an inexplicably large accessory item, in this case a ski mask. If I had any Mego or Retro Action dollies, I'd put it on them. Otherwise it's pretty useless.

The back of the package shows a few more of the new releases in the Movie Masters line, as well as a close-up of Beanieman.

"Criminals are a superstitions, cowardly lot.

I know, I shall go to Vail, Colorado!"

The beanie is made of a soft stretchy rubber and is removable, revealing the excellent likeness of Christian Bale formerly only available on the variant unmasked Batman figure.

The costume has all sorts of details too, buckles and straps and stuff on his belt, and perfectly recreates the movie moment in it's design.

With Alfred on vacation, Bruce decides to do his own laundry.

3 hours later:
"Dammit!"

Good luck to all who are going to run to Toys R Us to find this figure. Be sure your Karma is clean before you go!

And now for my long toy rant. Read on if you need to get some sleep:

Two years is a lifetime where pop culture is concerned. So many toys, TV shows, movies and iPads have been released in the last 24 plus months it's hard to remember the golden days of Spring 2008. A new movie was about to be released called The Dark Knight, and dreams of awesome action figures based on the iconic characters in the film danced in our heads.

In addition to the kid based movie tie in toys, Mattel used The Dark Knight to launch a new action figure line: Movie Masters. Larger collector aimed figures with movie accurate sculpts, this toyline seemed to answer all our hopes and dreams and even gave rise to speculation on where the line could go after The Dark Knight (a movie accurate Keaton Batman, anyone?)

Then the Mattel curse hit. Lead infested toys, scalper speculation about the Joker action figure, QC issues, limited variants, schizophrenic distribution, etc etc etc. The line, although producing some excellent figures in it's short run, soon died of over saturation of a few figures (Joker, Goon) and extreme difficulty in finding some key movie moment figures (maskless Batman, Ghoul Batman etc.)

Mattel had a long list of figures it was planning to release as the line went on, but retailer interest waned when shelf upon shelf of Jokers and Goons couldn't be given away for years on end. Mattel then promised to release them on their website direct to consumers. But after raising the price five to ten dollars depending on the figure, fans of the line felt cheated and frankly robbed.

Then, almost exactly two years after The Dark Knight hit theaters, a strange thing started to happen. On top of the half full aisles of Joker and Goon action figures, clearanced to $4.98 at Toys R Us, new Movie Masters Dark Knight figures have started showing up, unannounced and unexpected - and in Two-Face's case, BEFORE he goes on sale at Mattycollector.com!

The figures people are finding are:

Survival Suit Bruce Wayne
Joker (as he appeared in the Jail Cell escape scene)
Scarecrow (in a suit)
Two-Face
"Night Vision" Batman
Harvey Dent

Some toy collectors are even getting these new figures for $4.98 because Toys R Us isn't paying attention to new or old product; they just see this release as the same stuff they've been unable to sell for years. Some collectors are getting them for $12.99, the retail price these new figures are supposed to sell for. Regardless, Mattycollector.com is still charging $15 plus shipping for the only one they list as "coming soon" (Two-Face is scheduled for a May 17th release,) so either is a good deal.

No one knows how many of these will hit retail or if all Toys R Us stores will get them. But with so many clearance figures hanging around, it's unlikely many stores will want them. I can't see this line being anything more than appealing to a niche market at this point anyways.

Frankly it could go either way; no one cares about the line, so it's plentiful, or the release is limited due to lack of demand, so it's as rare as an online comment praising Mattel's customer service. Only time will tell. And it's been two years already!

Toy collecting is a weird beast indeed.

So good luck to anyone out there wishing to get these figures.

It's That Tim Again!

Somehow this has turned into Tim Drake week here at ToyRiffic.

Fine by me.

Therefore, to honor the event, I present the very first ever Tim Drake Robin action figure!

This guy was made by Kenner and came out in 1992, not long after the debut of Tim Drake as Robin in the comics.

I think he came out as part of the Batman Returns line of action figures, and came with some sort of zipline backpack accessory that I have laying around somewhere.

This is a great Robin figure. His outfit is pretty much an exact representation of his new nineties look, but you may be wondering about the hair. Very Kid N' Play, no?

Well, rumor has it that Marlon Wayans was set to play Robin in Batman Returns, and was even fitted for a costume, but the character was cut from the script before filming began. This figure was supposedly sculpted based on a Damon Wayans Robin, and was later made more comic accurate (ethnically speaking) when the role never materialized on film.

Also of note - this Robin is sporting a really keen cloth cape!

This is my favorite TDR (That's "Tim Drake Robin" to the uninitiated ;) ) if only because he came out near the time Tim Drake was introduced and has been in my collection for over fifteen years.

He's 4.5" tall and fits in perfectly with figures in that size range - even if he comes across as a bit too old to be Robin ;)