Imaginext Bat-Family Foil Packed Figures :: A Christmas Miracle!

Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus...and he got my wishlist! Hot off the digital presses, Imaginext.com just released images of a new wave of foil packed single bagged (possibly blind bagged) Batman themed figures! No word yet on a release date, but the website gives these figures a suggested retail price point of $4.00 each. GOTTA HAVE THEM ALL!

 The most shocking addition to the Imaginext Gothamite collection is Red Hood. Hokey smokes!

Maskless Slade Wilson aka Deathstroke. This is a fun one although I do already own a masked Deathstroke. If I could pass on any of these, this would be the one.

New 52 Nightwing. I never liked the red Nightwing symbol, but this one will look cool next to my other Imaginext Nightwing. I suppose I could pass on this one too but it's always tough to pass up any version of the original sidekick Dick Grayson!

FORCED PERSPECTIVE! Purple Catwoman appears to be a straight repaint of the original Catwoman and also comes with the same cat her original version came with. Still, she's PURPLE so of course she's a must have.

Two-Face. Two-Face was one of the first Bat Villains Imaginext made, and he looks a little dated now that the series is so much slicker and more streamlined. So it's nice to see an updated version.

Batman unmasked! I love it!

Zero Year Batman. PURPLE GLOVES! This is a fun bat variant styled after Greg Capullo's Zero Year Batman. A definite must have.

Imaginext didn't have a single shot of Joker, but he appears to be a repaint of the modern Imaginext Joker with a giant wrench. Because reasons. I do like that they painted his saddle-shoes though. Classy!

Expect to hear more about these the second I or others start to find them at retail. Stay tuned!

Random Toy Pic :: LEGO Two-Face Custom

I found the LEGO Two-Face hairpiece at the flea market a couple weeks ago. t would be pretty useless if I didn't own the Jekyl/Hyde minifigure. But I do, so I replaced the top hat with the hair and voila!

Even though the look lacks the general two-color theme of Two-Face, the clean side/torn up side create an effective Two-Face. Maybe a seventies era Two-Face with those side-burns, but a Two-Face nonetheless.

BONUS: Two-Face enjoying a tea party with his princess friends. Even with only half a handsome face, that Harvey Dent is still quite the lady-killer!

When the Gotham Bunnies come hop-hop-hopping along...

Okay, we're all used to sexy Harley Quinns and Poison Ivys and Catwomen...but did you ever think Scarecrow could make you feel all tingly in your nether-regions?  Or possibly Mr. (Ms.?) Freeze?

The cosplayer team Skirts and Swords is here to make all your embarrassing-dreams-you-dare-not-admit-to come true: Playboy Bunny versions of all of Gotham's Finest Villains!

Inspired by the art of Milkydayy (Oskar Vega) and photographed by Greg DeStefano, cast your peepers at Batman's Rogue Gallery: Playboy Bunny style!

Playboy Bunny Poison Ivy. I be-leaf I am in love!

Riddle me this, Playboy Bunny Riddler: What's incapable of rational thought because all of the blood has left it's brain? Answer: me.

Playboy Bunny Penguin. Is that a trick umbrella in my pocket, or am I just happy to see you?

Playboy Bunny Harley Quinn. Too stunned to come up with a pun.

Playboy Bunny Mr. Freeze. I'd take a frost-bite of that!

Playboy Bunny Joker. Don't forget your rubber...chicken!

Playboy Bunny Catwoman. Purrr-fect!

Playboy Bunny Two-Face. Head's up!

Playboy Bunny Scarecrow. Scary hot!

This photoset was discovered via The Mary Sue

Harley Qwednesday :: Harley Quinn signed by Neal Adams!

Comic book legend Neal Adams made an appearance at Santa Cruz comic book store Atlantis Fantasyworld, and my intern and I not only got to meet him but got this awesome Harley Quinn print signed by the icon himself!

Here we are shaking hands with a legend!

I had originally gone with the intention of having this comic signed: Batman Annual #14 from 1990. I bought it off the shelf a couple years into my Batman comic book collecting run and it has a lot of nostalgia for me personally. Plus, I love Neal Adams' cover art and Two-Face as a character, so  it was a no-brainer. But when I saw Neal's Harley Quinn print on site, I just couldn't resist it! It isn't every day that you meet a comic book legend or get a chance to have them sign a piece of their work illustrating one of your favorite characters after all!

Take these and call two of me in the morning

This is Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde from Lego Minifigures Series 9. A must have for me primarily because he's a Victorian era Two-Face!

Also because he works perfectly in the Monster Fighter themed sets.

He comes with a vial of potion, or maybe grape juice.

'Bottoms up!'

This is a great minifigure even if he's not really any sort of official Jekyll/Hyde or Two-Face character. This is more of a 'mid transformation' design, and it's a shame the set didn't come with two heads, a normal Dr. head and a completely transformed Hyde head. But oh well, points to Lego for their attempt at least.

Brave and the Bold: Plastic Fantastic

I'm lovin' the current Batman: The Brave and the Bold toy Happy Meal promotion at McDonalds. I've only been able to gather together releases #1, #2 and #4 so far, but with three toys in each release that's a lotta bats (and friends,) including two different Batmans (Batmen?) Solomon Grundy, Riddler, Penguin, Two-Face and Firestorm.

There are still a few I really want (Bat-Mite and Spectre top that list) and I admit I'd be happy with all of them. But thankfully, if unable to gather them all together before promotion's end, I have been lucky enough to have gotten one of the best in the bunch already:

Oh frabjous day! Plastic Man as a car!

ZOMG that is the greatest thing ever!

Yes McDonalds, this does indeed make up for all the fat people in America. You are forgiven.

I've always longed (hahaha get it) for a Plastic Man toyline. Imagine how many things he could be made into! I get it, he can make his hands into hammers and such, but that's been done a thousand times. Make him into a picket fence, a painting of Mona Lisa, a kangaroo, anything! The possibilities are endless!

Well at least I finally have him as a car, and I am happy.

One of the three sets I have procured also came with a Batmobile. These toys are small and more figurineish than hotwheelish - the wheels don't all roll (there is one wheel on the underside that does) and the construction is pretty simple, but who cares. Plastic Man is finally a toy car that I now own.

I am elastic...I mean, ecstatic!

Toy Tip #368

The Tommy Gun that comes with Batman: The Brave and the Bold Solomon Grundy makes a pretty nice weapon for the Retro Action Two-Face dolly.

I heart dollies :: I HATE DOLLIES

Do not adjust your monitors. It's true. I bought a dolly yesterday. NO I DIDN'T! Yes I did! NO! NO! I DID NOT!

I got a little birthday money this past weekend and had seen this Retro Action Two-Face at a local Toys R Us express last week. I seriously considered buying him at the time but didn't - I was lucky that he was still there when I returned. A lone Two-Face among a bunch of Batmans and Aquamans.

Apparently Black Manta is also part of this release, but there was no sign of him. And although I was tempted to get Batman, I could only get one and Two-Face is a way cooler toy - partly because he never actually appeared in the original Mego line this Retro-Action line is based upon.

He's also one of the best silver-age looking Two-Face toys ever made. Look at that suit!

Sweet tie, Dent. And look at that split face! So comic booky and awesome - I like the green! What a cool dolly.

I AM NOT A DOLLY! I AM AN ACTION FIGURE!

My pants are removable. I am a dolly. Case closed.

As many others have reported regarding these Retro Action dolls, my Two-Face dolly also has the hunched back and super loose hips these guys tend to suffer from. Fortunately for Two-Face, his clothes are thick enough to support the loose joints and cover the other physical maladies.

And I'm glad about that, because he's a very fun toy! Very old-school looking in both sculpt and toy design. Two-Face truly lives up to the 'Retro' moniker.

I am a changed man, people. NO I'M NOT! I love this dolly. IT'S CRAP! I really think Two-Face is a cool dolly toy and recommend him to everyone. I HATE HIM!

I will hug him and squeeze him and call him Harvey. I WILL KICK HIM AND STUFF FIRECRACKERS DOWN HIS PANTS AND CALL HIM AN AMBULANCE!

SCORE!

Went out of my way to hit up Target tonight, just to see if I could find some of the Imaginext single packs a few folks have been whispering about in toy forum circles.

Well, Booyah boys and goils:



I snagged Mr. Freeze (who I have been eying ever since he popped up in his original pack with some sort of refrigeration unit,) Batman in black and grey, and Two-Face!

The only other single pack figures that were there was the Penguin, whom I left for another day and the Joker, whom I already own.

They are $3.99 each. I think a better value would be $2.99, but not a bad deal for a figure and an accessory. You get more plastic from these than with DCIH, so there's a better value already!

So now I'm officially collecting Batman themed Imaginext toys. Tune in soon when I have these bad boys opened up and set up with my old school Fisher-Price circus train!

Oh yeah, and then there's this coming soon which I just heard about today (picture stolen from eBay:)



I'm screwed.

By the way, I'm pretty sure that "3-8" means "38," which gives me a few more years to enjoy these before I'm too old ;)

And now for something completely different...

Well, not completely. It's still Batman themed.

In honor of my second viewing of The Dark Knight yesterday, I am presenting my Corgi 1950s Two Face Two Tone sedan!



Corgi released one of the best series of Batmobiles (and the only accurate series of villain mobiles) in the early 2000s. This car came out around 2005, near the end of the line's run, when stores like Rite-Aid began carrying them while stores like Wal-Mart had stopped selling the line. This was one of the last ones I found, and one I wanted the most. They were all approximately 1:43 scale, and fit right in along side the now classic Corgi Batvehicles from the sixties and seventies.

The car is clearly a mid-50s high-end sedan, split right down the middle with one side being shiny and clean and the other being all rough and "ugly." They even used a textured paint on the rough side to give it that old car oxidized/rusted look and feel.


There's a coin popping up through the hood, and since you can't flip it they designed it to be pristine on the clean car side and scarred on the other.



The hood opens to reveal more of the engine compartment. Even the engine is asymmetrical. Cool!


Bad Harvey. Rat Rods and Rock and Roll!


Good Harvey. Class act Cadillac. Turn up the Bach.


The detail on this one is great. Even the interior is split down the middle, green on the good side and purple on the bad.

I honestly don't know if Two Face ever drove this car in the comics, but all the other Corgi cars in this series were based on comic appearances. If anyone knows what issue it appeared in let me know, I'd love to compare it to the original art.