Tag Archives: batman

February 12, 2026

2026 – The Year in Figures to Come

By Joe
Toy Fair is coming which basically means the start of the year in toy reveals for 2026!

2025 is history. We’re done talking about it. Well, sort of. I have written-up posts for the last of the 2025 action figures I received, but they haven’t gone live just yet so I’m done looking back, but dear reader you are not. Attention turns to 2026 and we’re coming up on the eve of New York Toy Fair. Last year, Toy Fair ended up being perhaps the biggest show of the year for many toy producers. Some of the more collector-focused companies weren’t there, but for basically anyone selling toys at big box stores it was a big event. I don’t know if that was necessarily by design for it was shortly after Toy Fair the industry got slammed by tariffs which probably caused many companies to reevaluate what they were doing. Traditionally, Toy Fair is for the year to come. In the old days, this was where producers would exhibit their products in hopes of driving up orders for the fall holiday shopping season. Now, it’s more of an antiquated model and Toy Fair has even struggled some to justify its existence. The Pandemic caused it to get cancelled and the organizers tried moving to the fall which didn’t really work and lead to yet another long layoff as you’re not going to have an event in the fall and then come back in February with another. They even tried moving it out of New York, but basically no one wanted that.

Still, Toy Fair is happening and there will be new product shown soon that will delight and enrage toy collectors, because that’s what tends to happen. I have ideas of what will be shown there and at the conventions to come during the year, but this post is less about predictions and more about my hopes and dreams for the various lines and companies I’m interested in. Some of the motivation here is to consolidate my own collecting. I am running out of room in these parts and it would be highly beneficial to my home and wallet if I were to become more selective. I probably bought too many “cheap” figures in 2025 and I do think I’d probably be better off getting fewer toys, but higher quality ones that I’ll enjoy more. That’s perhaps a topic for another day (and I say this after impulse buying a Marvel Legends figure so I’m off to a shaky start), for now I want to think about the potential 2026 has in store for us as action figure enthusiasts.

Playmates Toys – Bring Back Monty Moose!

The one that got away (photo from Hollywoodheroes.com)

The biggest news to close out the year in the toy world was the revelation that Playmates Toys was losing the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles license. It’s still almost hard to wrap one’s head around that, but it’s gone and the new company is already in place, but keeping quiet at the time of this writing (Update – It’s Mattel). Playmates does have all of 2026 to release TMNT figures plus another relief period following that to unload whatever stock is left. Recently, Playmates has been releasing product from the newer Mutant Mayhem film and spin-off show while also supplementing those releases with its remastered line, some Last Ronin, and reissues from the vintage line. My hope is that Playmates goes hard into the reissues this year now that the end is in sight. Monty Moose is the one I highlighted here because he’s the one I want most, but Playmates should use this as an opportunity to cash-in on the hard to find figures like Scratch, Hothead, Hot Spot, that dinosaur Shredder, and other figures. It’s been a bit of a surprise they have yet to go to this well yet, but maybe they were holding out for some reason? I don’t think they care about crashing the collector market. It’s possible they don’t have the molds anymore, but it’s probably worth it to them to recreate them like they’ve done with vehicles like the Foot Cruiser. And the same should apply to hard-to-find vehicles and play sets as well.

NECA Toys Needs to Get Out Tempestra

The purple lady with the glowing eyes is the only one missing from the NECA toy collection.

Keeping things to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for a moment, the threat of a new master license holder really puts a lot of what we’re accustomed to getting into some jeopardy. It could all work out and be fine, but it could also go away like Playmates. We don’t know. If there’s even a chance of that though then the companies in the TMNT game need to push out the most sought after characters and figures and number one for NECA’s line of TMNT cartoon figures is Tempestra. She is a bit of an obscure character who first appeared in the season four episode “Leonardo Versus Tempestra.” In it, the character Tempestra is a boss character in a video game that eventually breaks out and does battle with the turtles. It’s not particularly memorable on its own, but the character would make a return in the episode “Night of the Rogues.” There she was joined by the villains who are actually pretty popular hence why they all have received figures in the line already. Tempestra is the lone holdout so people want her to complete that set. She’s also unique in that she’s a rare female villain for the show and has a good look. I have a feeling NECA has already mocked her up at least, if not tooled, as they revealed an April figure years ago that was going to come with an arcade cabinet. It was from the movie line and it would have put actress Judith Hoag in a yellow jumpsuit like the cartoon character (or actress on the old arcade cabinet), but it may have been cancelled. My suspicion is that NECA did not develop the in-scale arcade cabinet for that figure, but for Tempestra and this was just another application for it. I guess we shall see, but I think NECA finally reveals her this year.

Mattel Brings Back Batman: The Animated Series

This property deserves better.

Mattel surprised a lot of folks when it announced in 2025 that it had reacquired the DC license. It wasn’t quite the shock that we experienced several years prior when McFarlane snatched it away from Mattel, but it’s always a surprise when a major license changes hands. McFarlane will see its ability to release DC figures come to an end at some point this year. The gates open for Mattel in the second half of 2026 and we’re probably going to start seeing what they have planned very soon. Most expect a Marvel Legends type of approach with action figures and that’s probably a safe bet, but for me personally I’m hoping we get a brand new line for Batman: The Animated Series. The DC Direct stuff looked pretty good, but the articulation and construction was terrible. McFarlane has been re-releasing a lot of those figures, but with reduced quality, bad paint apps, and an absurd price point. The best version of Batman deserves better. Let’s hope Mattel can be the one to deliver the definitive take on the show.

We See What’s to come for The Tick

It’s unlikely, but imagine if we could get all of these guys in plastic?!

Big Bad Work Shop announced it had the license to produce figures based on The Tick last year. Actually, they seemed to have the license going back a little ways as they did a 5 POA version of the character already. Last year was just when we found out they were going to bring us a fully-articulated, seemingly 1:10 scale version of the big blue guy. I love the old Tick cartoon so I would love to see a figure line based on that. Unfortunately, that show is owned by Disney and apparently most of the characters created for that show are in licensing purgatory. Maybe they can work something out, but Disney is a notoriously difficult company to work with when it comes to licensing so I’m not holding my breath. We do know there is a Tick and a variant beach Tick on the way this year and we have seen a prototype for Chairface Chippendale. I’m hopeful that we’ll see Arthur and I think the chances are pretty good that we do. This line is going to be a very slow moving one, but I’m okay with that. I don’t think I need an expansive collection, but I may have to attempt to customize a Naughty or Nice Santa into a Multiple Santa.

Mondo Gives us The Venture Bros.

A terrible, blurry, photo from one of my oldest entries on this blog of my old Venture Bros. dolls. Check out that iPod!

Speaking of The Tick, a related series to that show is The Venture Bros. I love The Venture Bros. It is one of my favorite television series of all time. Back when the show was still in production, Jackson Publick and Doc Hammer were approached about doing toys and the two picked a specific lane. Not being toy boys, they felt any toys based on the show should be intentionally lame. That would also fit with the vibe of the show where it’s modern, but it has an aesthetic from the 70s. That’s how we ended up with those Mego style dolls. There were some 5 POA figures that followed, but that’s mostly been it aside from a Kid Robot vinyl here and there. I want something that’s at least on-model. I don’t think the show needs a super articulated approach which is why I’m hoping we see Mondo get the license for their Squads line. These are basically statue or 5 POA type of figures, but in a 9″ scale, fully painted, and they have swappable limbs, portraits, and so forth to create different displays. It gives them a very clean look. Of course, if someone wanted to do proper figures that would work for me too, the Mondo Squads just seem like something that might work for both collectors and creators, though if they want to knock the scale down I’d be okay with that too. I don’t need Hank Venture to be 9″ tall.

To Celebrate 40 years of The Real Ghostbusters, Mondo does Stay Puft

Sticking with Mondo, we have this want for a Stay Puft based on his appearance in The Real Ghostbusters. Mondo released it’s first figures in its line of roughly 1:12 scale The Real Ghostbusters which have been pretty well received by most. They could use a Stay Puft, but I think the best way to release the big guy is to do what Mondo does best and make him a sofubi. A sofubi is a soft vinyl figure with limited articulation and it would likely be easier to make Stay Puft big in this format. He just doesn’t need a true action figure form. Just give me arms pre-posed like they are in the intro and I’ll be happy. It will really tie together a truly awesome RGB display.

Bandai returns to Dragon Ball!

The scale is so bizarre with this line.

I love the Dragon Ball franchise. Dragon Ball Z hooked me in during the 90s and I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed its return via Dragon Ball Super, but my favorite era for the franchise will always be the original Dragon Ball. When Bandai got rolling with the Tamashii Nations line S.H.Figuarts there were almost equal parts Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z, but over the years the Dragon Ball figures have been all but phased out. The last one released was Lunch back in 2022. Last year, Bandai did release a 40th anniversary Goku as seen on the first cover of the manga with him riding the dragon in an orange gi so that kind of counts, but as of right now they haven’t made it available to folks in the US (I think it’s being sold at their very limited pop-up locations). The new figure isn’t exactly what I want, but put that Goku in blue and I am there! The old figures were always way too big to scale with the adult characters. They kind of work with Master Roshi who is sort of in his own scale, but not with Bulma and the others. The new, smaller, body is a huge improvement and I would happily replace my kid Goku and Krillin with new ones. Plus we never got Yamcha, Tien, Cyborg Tao, and many others that would be great to add to the shelf.

Someone Gets the Futurama License

It sure would be nice if someone made some good Futurama figures…

The Simpsons have changed hands the last couple of years and had a pretty strong presence in the world of toys, but what about Futurama? We just have the old toyline from the early 2000s which was honestly kind of bad. I sold all of my figures except Fry and Bender and I feel like it’s high time someone took a whack at these characters again. Jakks could always do it as a companion line for The Simpsons, but they’ve frustrated me with their distribution so I don’t really want that, per say. Mondo Squads would be another decent landing spot, though I’d prefer they aren’t in that 9″ scale as that’s just too big. I don’t really expect this one to come true, but I’ll keep my fingers crossed.

Super7 Returns to Vintage-style TMNT

Super7 had a bad 2025. I even named them the worst toy company of the year, but I don’t want to have to do that for 2026. One way they could climb back into my good graces is to return to the vintage inspired TMNT line that went on hiatus with the arrival of the 2003 line. Now, I realize some of this is out of their control. There are reports that Viacom basically ended that line and forced 2003 upon them and most assume that was the result of pressure from Playmates. No, I don’t think Playmates losing the license really means much for Super7, but I do think Super7 has at least some sway here. When fans responded negatively to their Rat King based on Shredder’s Revenge Viacom relented and let them do a figure inspired by the Playmates original. Who’s to say they can’t get one more waves out of Viacom to finish off their vintage stuff? I need Heavy Metal Raph!

Jada Toys Announces More Christmas Figures

Frosty could really use HIS Santa to join him on the shelf.

Hey, I love Christmas! And I love toys based on Christmas things. Last year, Jada gave us a figure of Frosty the Snowman and I was pretty damn happy about that. No, the figure isn’t anything amazing, but it’s Frosty the Snowman! I would love to see more of that from Jada and I have a few ideas how they could go about that. The easy path is to do more Frosty. He could use a Karen, Professor Hinkle, and a Santa Claus just to name a few. I don’t think we really need all of those other kids, but if they sell really well I guess there’s room to expand. I think it would also be neat if each figure came with another version of the rabbit, Hocus Pocus, with swappable heads and bodies to let us build out a fun little display. If they think Frosty (and Hocus) stands on his own just fine, then how about parlaying that Flintstones license into a Santa Barney? Yes, I’m referencing the classic Fruity Pebbles commercial where Barney tries to impersonate Santa to get his hands on some delicious sugar cereal. And if they could do a Santa as well that would just be ::chef’s kiss:: It might be more likely they tackle more Rankin Bass which, perhaps to the surprise of many, doesn’t thrill me nearly as much. Now, if they shock the world and announce a Chuck Jones Grinch figure I just might explode.

Bucky O’Hare Makes a Shocking Comeback!

I refuse to say good bye to this crew!

I love Bucky O’Hare and the Toad Wars. It broke my heart on multiple occasions: the end of the cartoon, the cancellation of the original toy line, the cancellation of the Boss Fight Studio line. No, I don’t think he’s going to make another comeback because those Boss Fight figures are still out there and pretty damn cheap (well, most of them). However, I can’t stop wishing and hoping for a revival. The Cowboys of Moo Mesa are getting figures right now as we speak, why can’t Bucky get another shot? Maybe the entire IP could be bought at this point making it a target for someone like Nacelle. Larry Hama could probably use the payday and it’s not like Continuity even makes comics anymore. Per Boss Fight, it was Continuity that lost interest in licensing it out. I guess the return just wasn’t worth the work. I did speak in person with another individual from the company who seemed to suggest the sales just weren’t there either. That the license was just too obscure. I don’t know the real deal here, but I’m sure the license excites few. In a recent episode of the YouTube show Geek. Dad. Life., Peter Santa-Maria of Mondo expressed some love for Bucky so maybe there’s a glimmer of hope there? Another recommendation for the Mondo Squads makes sense here as both Hasbro and Boss Fight Studio were unable to deliver the full crew of the Righteous Indignation (Hasbro left out Jenny, Boss Fight left out Blinky and Willy). I’m going to keep hoping for that Blinky figure though until the day I die so maybe 2026 can be the year?

While you ponder the year to come, here’s some current stuff to tide you over:

JoyToy TMNT Leatherhead

It was in my year-end wrap-up post on 2025 where I mentioned how awful the tariffs instituted by the US during the year made action figure collecting. The added cost is a given, but also the shipping. Importing a figure from overseas became a bigger issue as understaffed sorting centers were ill-equipped for figuring out…

by Joe

S.H.Figuarts Dragon Ball Daima Super Saiyan 4 Son Goku (Mini)

It’s no great secret that the black sheep of the Dragon Ball universe is the anime Dragon Ball GT. Created in-house by Toei animation, Dragon Ball GT was a continuation of Dragon Ball Z without creator Akira Toriyama. While Toriyama had to grant approval to many aspects of the series, he wasn’t directly involved with…

by Joe

NECA TMNT Adventures April – The Fifth Turtle

NECA’s line of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles action figures based on the pages Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures by Archie Comics is like the little engine that could. It’s not a fast-moving line, the releases aren’t always heavy hitters, but when they land they’re usually pretty damn good. And NECA appears to be slow-walking this…

by Joe

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January 15, 2026

Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate

By Joe

When Batman: Arkham Asylum was released in 2009 it ushered in a new era for the caped crusader where video games were concerned. Prior to that, Batman had not had a good video game in a long, long, time. Depending on your opinion of his efforts, you may have gone all the way back to The New Adventures of Batman and Robin for the Super Nintendo, or even further back to the Sunsoft classic Batman for the Nintendo Entertainment System. His outings on the PlayStation and Nintendo 64 weren’t particularly memorable and he all but skipped on the PlayStation 2 era. The low point may have been the cancellation of the The Dark Knight video game tie-in as it felt like DC throwing up their hands and saying, “We can’t make this work with Batman.”

Rocksteady Studios was up to the challenge and Arkham Asylum proved so good that Sony basically ripped it off for its successful Spider-Man video games. Rocksteady was able to craft a simple, but relatively malleable, combat system for Batman that had some challenge, but mostly succeeded in making the player feel like they were playing as Batman. Random thugs weren’t going to get the better of Batman unless they were in mass quantities and heavily armed. The one-button attack system made handling Batman a breeze and the stealth elements added on top of that complemented the action well. If there was one critique, it was that the environment was a little closed off so for the sequel Rocksteady gave Batman run of the city. Arkham City was more of a sandbox game, but mostly played the same. Boss encounters also had more variety and many still view it as the pinnacle of Batman video games.

In this one, Batman has to work with Catwoman to quell a prison riot.

For the sequel, Rocksteady bowed out. Enter WB Games Montreal which crafted Arkham Origins for release in 2013. The game was mostly well received, but not as enthusiastically as its predecessor. WB Games Montreal did receive praise for largely carrying forward the game mechanics fans had grown accustomed to and the franchise continued to roll along. Developed alsongside that release, was Arkham Origins Blackgate. Blackgate was the handheld version of the game released on the PlayStation Vita and Nintendo 3DS. Development on Blackgate was entrusted to Armature Studio which had cut its teeth previously on the Metal Gear Solid HD Collection also released on the Vita. Blackgate would be the studio’s first original game and it too was released in 2013.

When Blackgate came out I was instantly intrigued. As an owner of the PlayStation Vita and the 3DS, a portable take on the Arkham series of games held some appeal. Blackgate also wasn’t a direct port of any of the console games. It was its own thing and is technically a sequel to Arkham Origins as far as plot goes. Batman (Roger Craig Smith) encounters Catwoman (Grey DeLisle) at the start of the game which serves as the tutorial mission. Shortly after, there’s a prisoner revolt in Blackgate prison and Batman heads in to investigate. Three of the biggest crime bosses in Gotham: Joker (Troy Baker), Black Mask (Brian Bloom), and the Penguin (Nolan North), have taken over and each rule over a segment of the prison. Catwoman is also there, but willing to aid Batman in helping to free the hostages the criminals have taken and ultimately save the day. Batman will have to explore Blackgate in a non-linear fashion acquiring various gadgets to help him progress through the prison.

This is how you will be viewing Batman most of the time – from the side.

I did not play Blackgate in 2013, but always wanted to. Recently, I had a chance to rectify that and I was intrigued by what I found. I know I read reviews in 2013 for the game and ultimately passed, but what I had read I had mostly forgot. What I did know going in was that Blackgate was a 2.5D action game. The environment and character models are all rendered in 3D, but gameplay is largely restricted to a 2D plane. There are some moments in the game where Batman can move into the foreground or background, but they are few and far between. Other times the environment will curve or swing into either the foreground or background, but having Batman just walk in a straight line will cause him to just follow the path. It’s also what the cool people on the internet refer to as a Metroidvania. That’s a non-linear action title that plays in a style similar to Metroid and the nonlinear entries in the Castlevania series.

Utilizing stealth and Batman’s Detective Mode is crucial to surviving Blackgate.

Despite the perspective change, Blackgate plays a lot like its big brother on the home consoles. The systems are largely still intact. When it comes to combat, the player is encouraged to chain attacks together with just the press of one attack button. There’s a separate parry button with onscreen indicators for when to use it as well as the ability to perform a cape stun maneuver. Successful attacks continue the chain as do successful paries. Early in the game, enemies will likely be a cakewalk, but tougher ones are introduced later that either have weapons or a means of defending themselves. For criminals armed with firearms, Batman can’t take them head-on. For those enemies you’re expected to play it sneaky either via alcoves high up or by utilizing passages in the ground. Batman can perform stealth takedowns when in the proper position and they are preferable to running in Leroy Jenkins style.

Why does he always need to re-find his equipment every game?

As Batman makes his way through Blackgate, he will encounter gates that prevent him from progressing deeper. In order to progress he will have to either upgrade his hacking device or uncover a new tool. At the start of the game, he is only armed with a Batarang and grapnel gun, but along the way he’ll acquire the Bat Claw, the line launcher, and an explosives gel gun. The claw allows Batman to pull down things like vent covers while the line launcher lets him cover long gaps and even opens up the background and foreground elements to a degree. The explosive gel can only be used on specific spots to blow holes in the environment. At any point Batman can also enter Detective Mode as he can in the other games which can reveal weak points in walls and other secrets and help Batman progress. The three boss characters can be encountered in any order and as such it means there aren’t any items tied to any of them. Most just require you to use Batman’s base abilities in a certain way to clear the encounter. Also hidden throughout Blackgate are weapon and armor upgrades, new costumes, and collectibles that just add a little extra length to the game. One playthrough takes about 7 – 8 hours and the only reason to go back is to defeat the boss characters in a different order to unlock another costume.

All of the boss encounters are uniquely constructed – none of that “Ride the big guy” stuff from Arkham Asylum.

Playing through Blackgate is largely an enjoyable experience, but there are some quirks that hamper things. The locked perspective takes away the ability for Batman to just point and shoot his grapple gun and can make navigation a chore at times. There is one area in particular where Batman has to deactivate a bomb with a timer on it and I could see where I needed to go, but the rules of the game wouldn’t let me just go there because it was in the background. A lot of context items are all assigned to the X button as well which can get clunky when you don’t want Batman to interact with the environment. X also makes Batman run so you can imagine how that might get in the way. Blackgate is also broken up into different maps and navigation can be a chore. The map system isn’t particularly intuitive and it’s also locked to the menu screen so you constantly have to refer back to it. Batman also can’t simply exit a section and has to work his way back to an exit which gets very tedious. There is no fast travel system. There’s not a lot of variety to the scenery, though apart from that the game generally looks and runs smooth. Story advancement is done with stylized still image cutscenes, but fully voiced which might feel like a downgrade for the handheld, but I honestly didn’t mind. Voice acting is strong while the overall sound design is fine, though a bit repetitive. Music is a little sparse, but it suits the vibe of the game.

Back in 2013, I passed on Blackgate because the reviews were just kind of ho-hum. No one seemed impressed by the game and since there was Arkham Origins available for the main console experience it probably made Blackgate seem worse by comparison. More than ten years removed from that environment, Arkham Origins Blackgate plays like a slightly different sort of game and it’s honestly pretty fun. It probably drags on a little too long as it feels like that 8 hour runtime is padded out by lots of backtracking. Repeat playthroughs would certainly go much quicker, but there’s really no reason to go back. The extra costumes are all pretty terrible and of the era. There are no classic looks for Batman which is a little disappointing, and while I like the standard costume enough, it would have been cool to go old school. The boss encounters also aren’t great. They’re not as repetitive as they were in the original Arkham Asylum, but they are underwhelming. Especially the final boss which left me thinking “That’s it?”

Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate must have sold well enough because there are plenty of copies floating around for a decent price. The Vita experience was a good one and I don’t know if the same is true of the 3DS. The game is also available on Steam so it’s rather playable. What works best is the novelty of a portable Batman experience on par with what the console games were doing while also not trying to be an exact copy. I’d like to see another Batman adventure in a similar style, maybe one that plays a little faster and actually does more to separate itself from the console games so we’re not constantly comparing the two as we play.

For more Bat-content, check these out:

Batman: Caped Crusader

In the far off land of 2021 we received word that a new animated Batman series was in development and attached to it was none other than Bruce Timm. Timm was one of the main creative minds behind Batman: The Animated Series and the DC Animated Universe it spawned so this news was met quite…

Keep reading
by Joe

Batman – The Adventures Continue #50: Batman

If you’re a repeat visitor here at The Nostalgia Spot, then you’ve probably noticed that around here there is a high opinion of the television show Batman – The Animated Series. I did a re-watch of the series that spanned more than two years and also checked out the various films based on the property.…

Keep reading
by Joe

Batman Beyond – The Complete Series (Blu Ray)

Last year, when Warner Home Media announced a new Blu Ray set for the series Batman Beyond, I decided to wait. I had been an early consumer for the similar Batman: The Animated Series set the prior year and had some misgivings. The price on that set fell and a slimmed down version was even…

Keep reading
by Joe

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , | posted in Video Games

January 1, 2026

The 2025 Action Figure Round-Up

By Joe
What greatness was delivered this year?

It’s the end of the year so that means it’s time for year-end awards and accolades. It’s easy content and who doesn’t enjoy reflecting on another year gone by? Unless, of course, that year was a bad one. I don’t think 2025 is going to go down in history as a particularly good year, but that doesn’t mean there weren’t some great toys released or announced. I don’t always do posts like this, but I felt like I did a lot of toy reviews this year so it felt warranted. It was also interesting because some staples, like NECA’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon line, didn’t put out a ton of figures. And yet I still managed to have reviews up almost weekly this year. I have a bunch coming in early 2026 as we play catch-up, but that’s probably true most years. It did feel like this year in particular had a heavy dose of releases at the end of the year and I think I know why – which I’ll get to momentarily. My rules for this list are pretty simple though: if it came out in 2025 and I got it then it’s eligible. Even if I haven’t technically posted the review yet. And since I’m based in the US, it’s all US release windows so if Asia was enjoying something at the end of 2024 that didn’t arrive at my house until 2025 then it’s fair game for me. Now, let’s get started with an atypical category:

The Storyline of the Year – Tariffs

Yes, those wonderful tariffs are being brought up again, but hopefully it’s the last I need to say about it until they’re gone. The “brilliant” strategy of the new administration in the US was to tax the hell out of imports because someone convinced the president that a trade deficit is akin to being robbed. It’s not. And even though tariffs are paid by those who are doing the importing, it’s a regressive tax that is passed onto the general public either in whole or in part. It varies from company to company, but it also created a bottleneck in shipping and some packages have been tossed or seized for “reasons.” I had one seized, but was fortunate the shipper re-sent without any additional charge to me, but it has meant I’m on week 6 for a package that still isn’t here as of this writing. I’ll tell that story when I get to the figure review. Anyway, tariffs have had a huge negative impact on a lot of industries this year and I’m not going to pretend that my hobby is the worst affected, but it still sucks and continues to suck as we head into 2026.

Reveal of the Year – Mondo X-Men ’97 Beast

He looks so good!

I don’t know why, but it feels like we’re always waiting on a toy company to deliver some version of Beast. Back in the early days of Toy Biz, Beast was one of the last characters featured in the cartoon series to make it to plastic (poor Jean had to wait even longer for a non Phoenix version) and current Marvel Legends collectors are waiting on him to finish up the X-Factor squad (they may technically be waiting on a properly costumed Angel too). With Mondo’s X-Men and X-Men ’97 line of sixth scale figures, we’re still waiting on Storm, Jean, Morph, and Beast, but in 2025 all but Morph were shown. Storm already went up for preorder too and I think Beast is expected next. Mondo showed him off in their end of year stream (they had previously announced and displayed him at a convention) and he looks fabulous. We’ve never had a proper animated Beast. The last one Hasbro did is good, but the portrait isn’t right for that version of the character. Animated Beast never had those whited-out eyes which I have always felt was inappropriate for the character as the pupils show the human within the beast. I’m a little afraid of how much a chunky boy like Beast is going to cost, but I can’t wait to add him to my collection in 2026!

Honorable Mentions: Mondo Squad Rocko’s Modern Life, Big Bad Workshop The Tick, Marvel Legends X-Men ’97 Apocalypse

Worst Toy Line of the Year – Jakks Pacific The Simpsons

Jakks got to take over The Simpsons from Super7 which meant more releases at a much cheaper price. Their output has been fine. I have nits to pick with them as I do most things, but for the price it’s hard to complain. What lands Jakks on this list though is just how damn frustrating the line is to collect. My local stores never got anything past Wave 2 until very recently when they got Wave 4. I was able to snag a Barney off of Target’s website, but nothing else from his wave has shown up in store for me or online and it’s very annoying. I’ve basically “quiet quit” the line as I’m not paying scalper prices for them or blowing a ton of gas riding around hoping to find them because the on-line inventory tracking is so poor.

Honorable Mentions: None

Figure I wish Arrived in 2025 – S.H.Figuarts Gamerverse Cyclops

A weird thing happened in 2025. Two companies, Hasbro and Bandai, decided to unleash upon us a “Gamerverse” line of figures. Hasbro has been doing that for years, but mostly for the Spider-Man games on PlayStation. In 2025, both companies are dipping their toes into Marvel vs Capcom and, oddly enough, both are focusing on the Marvel side of that equation. For Hasbro, it’s not a surprise as they don’t have a license for anything Capcom, but Bandai has been doing Street Fighter figures for years. Maybe they’ll get to more from them, but thus far we’ve only seen Marvel and sneaking out in Asia just before the end of the year is the first figure in the line – Cyclops. There are some things about the figure I’d change based on what I’ve seen so far, but overall I think he looks like the best Cyke that’s ever been. I like the Legends Cyclops I have from the VHS styled line of X-Men figures, but that one came with almost nothing. The X-Men ’97 one comes with some effect parts, but it looks horrible. This one may be the last Cyclops I’ll ever need so I’m really eager to see how he looks and moves in person.

Honorable Mentions: S.H.Figuarts Across the Spider-Verse Scarlet Spider, Storm Arena Street Fighter Alpha 3 Sagat

Debuting Toy Line of the Year – Storm Arena Street Fighter Alpha 3

Storm Collectibles has been releasing figures based on Capcom properties for years, but always in a weird scale and for a large sum of money. Perhaps feeling pressure from Jada Toys, Storm decided to launch a new line in 2025 based on designs from Street Fighter Alpha 3 and this time they were finally listening to fans. The Storm Arena line is a true 1:12 scale action figure line where each figure comes with alternate hands, portraits, a stand, and effect parts and for the low price of $26! I honestly didn’t see this one coming. Larger characters, like Sagat who is due any day now, will retail for more, but still at a hell of a price in today’s market. And the figures do not sacrifice anything as far as I can tell. The sculpts are terrific, the articulation is excellent, and they even retained that soft plastic torso Storm loves to use. They only managed to release two figures in 2025 and they’re basically the same figure with different heads – Ken and Ryu, and yet I was tempted to make them Line of the Year anyway. They are that good and I can’t wait to see how Sagat turned out. 2026 could really be the year this line takes off.

Honorable Mention: NECA Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012), Marvel Legends “Not Marvel vs Capcom” Gamerverse, InArt The Dark Knight Rises, Mondo The Real Ghostbusters

Most Disappointing Cancellation of the Year – Super7 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Vintage)

Super7 did not have a good 2025, but it did manage to finally make it’s long-planned pivot to action figures based on the 2003 version of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, though how long-planned that was we don’t know. When Super7 first announced they were doing figures based on that show it was supposed to be in conjunction with their line of vintage-inspired TMNT. The release pattern would go Vintage, 2003, Vintage, 2003, etc. Well, plans apparently changed as Super7 clarified things to say the vintage-inspired line is “on pause.” I don’t know about you, but anytime I’ve seen a toy line described as being on pause the phrase has been synonymous with cancelled. Other than Marvel Legends, which saw Hasbro pivot to a 1:18 scale line when oil prices were incredibly high, I can’t think of another line that came back. Maybe Super7 will buck the trend, but it’s disappointing because there are some Technodrome-sized holes in the collection headlined (for me) by Heavy Metal Raph. We know Super7 was running into issues with Playmates who did not like them recreating their figures, but this is a case where the company needs to take a stand and go to bat for its collectors. Paramount wanted them to do 2003 which is fine, but they should have negotiated at least one final wave to give their fans what they have been waiting for. They managed to do it for Rat King, surely they could have for the rest.

Dishonorable Mention: NECA Gargoyles

Toy Line of the Year – JoyToy Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

This is a line I never saw coming. When JoyToy first showed off their 1:18 scale Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles I was very much intrigued, but thought they would mostly be a one-off in my collection. Then came Shredder, Bebop, Rocksteady, April, Krang, and on and on it went. JoyToy pumped out a ton in this line in 2025 and there’s still more on the way including a 1:18 scale Turtle Van! And it’s not just the volume of releases, but the quality. These figures have a ton of unique sculpt, accessories, and paint and the roster is basically complete even if the line came to a sudden end today. We got freakin’ Zork already – that’s insane! Trying to pick a favorite is almost a pointless exercise and it’s the line I’m basically most excited for when a new reveal is announced because I never know what to expect. If you dismissed this line because of the scale or because it’s a little bit of a chore to collect due to the restrictions then I suggest giving it another look. It’s really been phenomenal.

Honorable Mentions: Storm Arena, Mondo The Real Ghostbusters

Worst Company of 2025 – Super7

All of that stuff I said about Super7’s vintage-inspired Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles line can basically be copied and pasted here, but that doesn’t really tell the whole story. Not only did Super7 bungle some of their lines, they also laid off a huge chunk of their workforce and closed their retail locations. I get it, things must not be going well there and tariffs certainly didn’t help, but they dumped some of the people responsible for what little success they’ve had in recent years which didn’t make a whole lot of sense. And they’re still just doing stupid stuff with their line. They are expected to deliver wave 2 of the 2003 TMNT line in the coming weeks, but wave 3 consists of Hun, April, and a Raph with a motorcycle – who asked for that?! And their prices continue to climb where now it seems like $65 is the new norm for them and the figures hardly live up to the term “Ultimate” anymore. They are in a price point all on their own that is grossly out of touch with the wider market. I have no idea how they survive 2026 at this point. I’m not rooting for them to fail, just expecting it.

Honorable Mention: None

Worst Figure I Reviewed in 2025: Super7 Ultimates! Ghost Papa Emeritus IV

I call him Mr. Frumpy.

Probably no surprise that my pick for worst company of the year is also responsible for the worst toy I reviewed in 2025. This Papa Emeritus isn’t terrible on its own. It’s the same body we’ve seen before with a few tweaks, but the blatant false advertising really stuck in my craw. The base figure is merely okay. It looks a little cheap especially considering the price, but is a decent likeness. With the soft goods though it just looks frumpy and awful. The solicitations they sent out for the figure with the soft goods look nothing like the final version. I don’t expect any release to precisely match a promotional shot, especially one using digital renders of a figure and not a prototype, but there’s a limit and Super7 betrayed its fanbase with this one. And yet, I still ordered Papa V Perpetua with the hope it will actually resemble the figure I purchased so clearly I’m part of the problem.

Action Figure of the Year – The Runners Up

Marvel Legends Gamerverse Wolverine – this figure is a blueprint for what I want to see from Marvel Legends going forward. The sculpt is unique and appropriate for this version of Wolverine, but mostly it’s the articulation. They finally went with the double-ball peg joint in the diaphragm and combined it with a ball joint at the waist. No more ugly ab crunch. The only thing that sucked about this release is you had to also pay for a crappy Silver Samurai since it was sold in a two-pack.

Mondo X-Men ’97 Nightcrawler – a sixth scale figure would have to be really special to take the top spot, but Nightcrawler came close. Maybe if I had been able to get the limited version, or if the economic conditions didn’t push the price to over $300 for the same, I’d have given it to Nightcrawler, but runner-up isn’t bad. This figure looks impressive, as all Mondo figures do, but it does something most don’t which is they made it fun to pose. Even their Spider-Man couldn’t manage that. Look for the full review in the coming weeks.

JoyToy Groundchuck – I said it was hard to select just one figure from JoyToy’s excellent line of TMNT figures, but if I had to pick one it would be Groundchuck. Not only does he look impressive, he comes with so many tremendously fun accessories. I love it when an action figure creates a dilemma for me when it comes to displaying it on my shelf and this one qualifies. I currently have him with three effect parts attached which is kind of ludicrous, but oh so much fun!

Action Figure of 2025 – InArt The Dark Knight Rises Batman

Queen Studios really came out of no where for me. I wasn’t asking for a Batman based on The Dark Knight Rises, but this figure looked so damn good that I couldn’t say “No.” This is, quite simply, one of the best 1:12 scale figures I’ve ever had the pleasure of handling. The sculpt is incredible, the likeness is spot-on, and the articulation is great. If you got the deluxe version then you also got a ton of accessories as well. In a way, it has the opposite problem for me when compared with the JoyToy Groundchuck in that he just looks so cool standing in a vanilla pose that I am not tempted to pose him with anything else. The shortcomings with this release are few – the alternate portraits are too similar, no wired cape, and it’s not sold in the US. It was still relatively easy to import for under $100, which while not cheap, actually feels worth it compared with other figures in that price range (it’s cheaper and likely better than what Mezco is prepping). While it’s not exactly fair to compare such a figure to one that costs $25, this one is so exceptional that it just had to be it. It’s so good that they got me to preorder their next Batman based on Arkham Origins even though that’s another figure I wasn’t asking for and they damn near got me with their Dark Knight Rises Catwoman. I expect it to be every bit as good as this one too. Keep your eyes on Queen Studios and their InArt line because they are making some terrific stuff.

If you want to read more about the best figures of 2025 then check these out:

INART The Dark Knight Rises Batman – Deluxe Version

Is this a review I really need to do? Probably not, but I’m doing it anyway. Queen Studios wasn’t a shop that was on my radar going into 2025. I’m guessing that’s true for a lot of folks and that’s probably why they had a media blitz when it came time to promote their brand…

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by Joe

Marvel Legends Gamerverse Wolverine vs Silver Samurai

Video game inspired action figures are quite the hot ticket right now. I’m not entirely sure why that is, but maybe some of that is owed to Jada Toys and how well received their line of Ultra Street Fighter 2 action figures have been received. Hasbro, for their part, has had a “Gamerverse” subline of…

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by Joe

JoyToy TMNT Groundchuck

Last week we had ourselves a look at Dirtbag from JoyToy’s line of 1:18 scale Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles action figures. As most probably expected, we’re back this week with a look at his buddy Groundchuck, the mutant bull that could have very easily been named Bull’s Eye, but maybe Playmates felt that was too…

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by Joe

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December 21, 2025

Dec. 21 – The Nostalgia Spot Christmas Special Countdown #42 – 33

By Joe

We’re back to the regular entries, but not for very long. Hopefully you enjoyed yesterday’s entry on old Emmet Otter, but we’re ditching the puppets today in favor of traditional, 2D, animation. Well, for the most part. We do have one CG entrant for today to wreck the party, but since we’re talking about a top 40 Christmas special I guess it can be forgiven. Today’s entrants are all of the nice, or genuine, variety as I classified them when sorting my list. It’s also a solid mix of 90s and 2000s cartoons with one extreme outlier so this isn’t a chunk of the list being driven by nostalgia, for the most part. My nostalgic attachment is mostly pre 90s with a few exceptions. In general, if I am allowed to toot my own horn for a second, I’m impressed with my own ability to set aside nostalgia when compiling these rankings. Oh sure, some of it plays a role. Is Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer really as good as I’m going to rank it? Probably not, but I’m also not out here to formulate hot takes. You just have to find that happy medium between genuine quality and cozy nostalgia. With Christmas specials, it can be hard to separate the two and in some cases downright impossible. One Christmas episode that I have zero attachment to is leading us off today, and it might be the Christmas special that surprised me more than any other.

42 – Buzz Lightyear of Star Command – Holiday Time

In this episode, Buzz gets into the “holiday” spirit.

I don’t say that Buzz Lightyear of Star Command surprised me because I expected it to be crap, I just didn’t really have any expectations going in at all. I had zero interest in the universe Buzz Lightyear hailed from. Like the unsuccessful film of a few years back, this show depicts the fictional show the toy in Toy Story would be based on. I guess this is the cartoon Andy might have watched while sitting in front of the TV with his action figure. It’s a 2D animated show that actually looks pretty good for something that aired in 2000. What really works though is the casting of Patrick Warburton as Buzz and Wayne Knight as Zurg. Those two Seinfeld alum are fantastic in their roles and the show is fast-paced, witty, and full of action as Buzz and his fellow members of Star Command have to aid a guy claiming to be Santa in order to save their “holiday.” That might have been my one critique here is that the show is clearly avoiding the term Christmas which feels overthought. I get it, it made no sense for the Flintstones to say Christmas since they predate Christ, but if you’re going to replace the term then come up with something better than “holiday.” That’s a very minor complaint though as this episode was a lot of fun. It’s just a shame Disney has no interest in preserving it or making it available as in the five years since I first wrote about it the show has still not been added to Disney+. I’m blaming the failure of Lightyear for that.

41 – Be Cool, Scooby-Doo! – Scary Christmas

Shaggy and Scooby had a little trouble with the wrapping paper.

Scoob and the gang didn’t mess with Christmas a whole lot. Perhaps it was because their vibe was more in-line with Halloween, but the remnants of Hanna-Barbera started to rectify that in more recent times. Be Cool, Scooby-Doo might be the best Scooby-Doo show that’s ever been produced. I can’t really claim to be an authority on that as I have long since lost track of the franchise. The earliest works are kind of bad though, even though I watched a ton of them. I did enjoy A Pup Named Scooby-Doo as a kid and can appreciate it still on some level and through my kids I’ve been exposed to some of the movies and other modern shows. Of them all though, this is the only one I’d sit down and actually enjoy as it’s pretty funny. It’s kind of like a very tame version of The Venture Bros. as we have the usual mystery solving gang dealing with some supernatural element each episode that’s probably a robot or something. In this one, it’s a robot dinosaur that’s plaguing a town at Christmas and looking to mess up an annual celebration. The show is able to create comedy without really dumbing down the characters. Fred is a bit like the character from A Pup Named Scooby-Doo in that he’s more stubborn than dumb. The only real negative is the show isn’t as fun to look at as some others. It’s not terrible, but I’d put it on par with an adult animated sitcom like Family Guy or Bob’s Burgers. There’s a flatness to everything, but it mostly animates well. I might be ranking this one a bit too high, but it feels more impactful given that it’s a venerable franchise finally getting a good Christmas special.

40 Batman: The Brave and the Bold – Invasion of the Secret Santas

Batman and Red Tornado are teaming up to save Christmas.

Speaking of a venerable franchise getting a good Christmas episode, here’s the caped crusader himself – Batman! I dismissed Batman: The Brave and the Bold when it aired in the 2000s because I had heard it was a kid-focused show. I wasn’t mad or anything, I just figured it wasn’t for me. I may have been wrong. This is a softer take on Batman, but the show is really well-animated and Diedrich Bader is a fantastic Batman. It has a dry humor and there’s a subversive element at play and it’s on display in this episode. Especially when a robot Santa goes up in flames revealing a robotic skeleton underneath it. The show had a team-up format where Batman would partner up with another hero in the DC Universe and this one includes Red Tornado. As an android, he has to try and figure out this whole Christmas thing which is pretty humorous all the while Fun Haus is wreaking havoc on a small town and attempting to steal Christmas. There’s some flashback stuff as well to Batman being a little dick at Christmas when he was a kid just adding another layer of guilt to the trauma-laden character. The episode finds time for some sweetness at the end too, which honestly surprised me a bit just given the overall tone of the episode up to that point. More surprising, is that this is probably my favorite Batman Christmas special. It’s more enjoyable than either of the episodes from Batman: The Animated Series and I’m also ranking it above Justice League. That’s definitely not something I expected going in.

39 – Winnie the Pooh and Christmas Too

Oh, you silly old bear. And pig.

As something of a last hurrah for The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh comes this Christmas special, Winnie the Pooh and Christmas Too. These days it goes by a different name, A Very Merry Pooh Year, which sounds kind of gross, but the special is the same. Disney just added some wrap-around plot and a new cartoon to basically fill out an hour. This entry is just for the original though and it’s a very gentle, sweet, Christmas episode of The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, as one would expect. The Winnie the Pooh franchise is definitely one more aimed at young children, but it’s so charming that adults can certainly enjoy it on some level. This one has Pooh forget to ask Santa for a Christmas present, but when he and Piglet try to retrieve the list it gets all messed up. They take it upon themselves to try and play Santa and make sure their fellow denizens of the Hundred Acre Wood have a merry Christmas, but they’re not exactly successful. It’s cute and has a familiar message of not focusing on the material aspect of the holiday and it’s lovingly animated. It’s very much a nice, feel-good, Christmas special you can watch with your kids.

38 – The SpongeBob Christmas Special

We all remember the time Squidward slapped his cheeks in SpongeBob’s face.

The SpongeBob generation is not one I’m connected with, but damn if that sponge doesn’t make good Christmas specials! This is the original where SpongeBob learns about Christmas from Sandy and makes it a point to share the news about the holiday and Santa with all of the people of Bikini Bottom, much to the annoyance of Squidward. He finds everything about the holiday repugnant, but when Santa passes them over the guilt of how much he enjoys their misery is too much and Squidward basically assumes the persona of Santa and gives all of his possessions away. Ordinarily, I’d be annoyed with a Nickelodeon show denying the existence of Santa Claus, but here it’s rather believable that he could miss a village of fish. Plus, he makes an appearance at the end to make things right. Though I should point out, the Santa in this one is a live-action Santa whereas future holiday episodes will make him something of an elf. It’s honestly not the most flattering depiction of the big guy that I’ve ever seen, but at least it’s unique. This one is charming and pretty funny. There’s a great musical segment in the middle and if this is a show you grew up watching you probably have it ranked higher. I’m not sure if I’m at risk of angering the SpongeBob fanbase for having it ranked behind a later Christmas special, but it’s my list and I say this is the second best SpongeBob Christmas.

37 – Have Yourself a Goofy Little Christmas

He’s so bad at Christmas he managed to decapitate Santa.

This Christmas episode of Goof Troop is another example of Disney using a Christmas special as a series finale. It’s considered by the company to be a stand-alone holiday special so if you go to Goof Troop on Disney+ you won’t find it. I find this extremely annoying since it means this Christmas episode has been missing ever since the service launched and it’s a damn shame. While I felt slightly let down by this one, it’s still a great Christmas episode of a solid cartoon. It’s another tale of Goofy trying to do something right, but he goes way above and beyond what he’s capable of doing when it comes to Christmas and he “goofs” it up. Along for the ride is Pete and his family who thought they were getting away from the Goofs, only to find out they rented the cabin next door for their Christmas too. This one doesn’t dive into the Goofy and Max conflict like A Goofy Movie does or even like the segment from Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmas. If the Goofy segment in that were a stand-alone special I’d be curious to see if I would place it higher than this one. The fact that it lacks some of that more emotional material is why I’m not as high on this one as perhaps I thought I’d be, but it’s still an annual tradition in my home.

36 – Life with Louie – A Christmas Surprise for Mrs. Stillman

Electrical cords are so hazardous in cartoons.

The first episode of Life with Louie is basically the only one I remember. Well, it and the other Christmas episode since I watched it somewhat recently. This was our introduction to the Anderson family in toon form and it’s a funny and sweet little Christmas episode about a neighborhood coming together to surprise a widow on Christmas. The humorous bit is that she’s actually Jewish, but it’s the thought that counts, right? A lot of the humor comes from the Andy character, Louie’s dad, who is the one most put out by helping the old lady out, but despite his grumbling we get to see he’s actually a good guy. Louie, for his part, provides a dry wit and there’s plenty of physical comedy as well as situational comedy like when a pair of cops mistake Andy for a prowler. The Fox Kids shows produced some good Christmas episodes, and this is one of the better ones.

35 – Olaf’s Frozen Adventure

Olaf brings the feels when others do not.

For a time, Disney’s Frozen was inescapable and the company wanted it that way. The 2013 film was a bit of a surprise hit. I’m sure the company expected it to do well, it just was so big that such success could not be predicted or counted on. To keep the franchise in the cultural zeitgeist, Disney commissioned a pair of theatrical shorts. One was indeed short while the second was certainly not. Olaf’s Frozen Adventure was clearly developed as a network special because that’s what the runtime would indicate, but that didn’t stop Disney from attaching it to the Pixar film Coco. Sure, Mickey’s Christmas Carol had the same runtime and was released in the exact same manner, but it was attached to a re-release of The Rescuers, not a completely new film going for a very different vibe. Some found it annoying, but remove it from that context and this special starring the world’s second most popular snowman is quite delightful. At least, when he’s allowed to be the star, but in order for Olaf to go on his quest to discover new Christmas traditions we first have to deal with the lack of them in the castle. Elsa has to make every problem all about her so she goes back to being mopey and blames herself for their family’s lack of holiday traditions. It’s a stretch and something the special didn’t need. She and Anna could have just said “Oh yeah, we don’t really do anything, do we?” and left it at that for Olaf to make a big deal out of. As a result, this is the one I’m sure to question my placement of on this list for years to come. And like it or not, this is one of the few Christmas specials that receives an annual showing on network television thanks to Disney owning ABC.

34 – Tweety in “Gift Wrapped”

Come on, Sylvester, kiss the little birdy!

Here’s a nice, simple, cartoon from the golden era. It’s a Sylvester and Tweety short where the cat is out to eat the little, yellow, canary, only this time it’s set at Christmas. That’s it. And you know what? That’s all it has to be. Adding Christmas to the usual dynamic is enough to spice up the old formula and make this a fun viewing around the holidays. Tweety is a gift from Santa for Granny, but Sylvester gets to the tree first on Christmas morning so he tries to swap his gift (a rubber mouse) with Granny. She, of course, catches him which sets the stage for more attempts at the bird. Unfortunately for Sylvester, Granny also got a dog from Santa so we get to add a big bulldog into the mix (he’s basically Hector from The Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries, but I don’t know if he actually had a name in 1952). There aren’t a lot of Christmas cartoons in the Warner library from this era and this one is the best one. We would have to wait many years for Warner to top it.

33 – Taz-Mania – No Time for Christmas

The rest of his family may let him down, but Taz can always count on the love of his turtle.

51 years to be exact! That’s how many passed between the release of Gift Wrapped and this episode of Taz-Mania, the Fox Kids show starring everyone’s favorite devil from down under. I didn’t watch a lot of this show growing up. I don’t know why, but it just didn’t appeal to me. I found it a little slow as the episodes felt like they went on and on. I think I was just at an age where I was losing interest in comedies and was ready for a show like Batman to come along. When I returned to this one in 2018 I wasn’t expecting much, but damn did I enjoy it! This episode centers on Taz who is really excited for Christmas only no one else seems to share in his enthusiasm. Or, they’re more concerned with their own selfishness. As the title implies, all of the characters just don’t have time for Taz and his Christmas. He interacts with a lot of the cast of the show and they’re all preoccupied with something else. Some try to use Taz for their own needs while others just kind of ignore him. It wares down the devil and we even see him have a sad cry. The town rallies in the end as they realize what’s been going on and it’s a nice moment. Did I cry? I might have, it was seven years ago that I watched this thing. I’d love to watch it some more, but Taz-Mania is a hard show to track down these days because the Warner company absolutely sucks. If you do put in the work to find this one I guarantee you’ll enjoy it.

That does it for today, but even though we just returned to the countdown format tomorrow we’re switching it up again! For the final time in 2025, we will be doing a traditional write-up of a holiday classic. And tomorrow’s entry is unique in that it’s actually the one redo I mentioned way back in November. What special is it that I felt was so important that I needed to expand on what I wrote back in 2014? Well, you’ll have to come back tomorrow and find out.

Can’t wait until tomorrow for more Christmas? Check out what we had to say on this day last year and beyond:

Dec. 21 – TaleSpin – “Jolly Molly Christmas”

Kids who did a lot of their growing up in the 90s likely have fond memories of The Disney Afternoon. There were a lot of programs competing for eyeballs in the weekday afternoon timeslot and Disney put forth a pretty compelling block of animation, even though the actual launch wasn’t that exciting. It included two…

by Joe

Dec. 21 – RoboCop: Alpha Commando – “Oh Tannenbaum Whoa Tannenbaum!”

It’s been said that the 80s were pretty wild, and it’s not much of an exaggeration. At least where children’s media is concerned. After years of the government getting involved in what was okay to broadcast to children, the Reagan administration basically said “Eh, kids deserve to have everything and anything marketed towards them.” There…

by Joe

Dec. 21 – A Muppet Family Christmas

This year we’re celebrating two things at The Christmas Spot. Well, 3 things if you count Christmas by itself, which I suppose you should. Every fifth day, we’re celebrating the best of the best which is why yesterday was A Charlie Brown Christmas. If you read the feature on December 1st for this year, then…

by Joe

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December 12, 2025

Dec. 12 – The Nostalgia Spot Christmas Special Countdown #115 – 105

By Joe

Today’s installment of the Christmas Special Countdown basically ends at the halfway mark. After four days in a row of countdown installments, tomorrow’s solo entry comes at a pretty good time. Though in looking ahead, we’re not going to have another one for a week! I guess that’s the problem when you integrate those solo entries into an overall ranking system because they have to post where they rank. I could have taken liberties with the rankings to prevent that, but I have integrity! That integrity forced me to also break-up yesterday’s final entry with today’s first one. I think the two pair well when it comes to discussing the pros and cons of a Christmas special, but I couldn’t figure out a way to make that happen. Especially considering that yesterday’s post included 11 entries and today’s does as well. Had one included 10 it would have been easy enough, but that’s just the way things ended up. Without further adieu, here’s number 115:

115 – Toy Story That Time Forgot

The extent of the Christmas in this one.

I feel this one pairs well with Yes, Virginia because it overcomes the weaknesses of that special, while somewhat lacking its strengths. In case you forgot, Yes, Virginia is a nice little Christmas story with some unfortunate CG animation. It’s not good. This being a Pixar television special, it looks fantastic! It’s just very light on Christmas. Toy Story That Time Forgot is really a post Christmas special. Originally, I even considered doing it as a gag December 26th post. It takes place after the holiday has come and new toys have been bestowed upon young Bonnie, but none appear poised to push out her old favorites (wait until they meet the spork later on). As for her friend, on the other hand, he got something way more interesting: video games. On a playdate, Bonnie gets to experience the same while the toys are left to peruse this other kid’s playroom which has been filled with a new dinosaur product line. This kid got a ton of stuff for Christmas and it kind of takes me back to when my son got into Paw Patrol. As a dad who grew up adoring toys (and still does), I had to get him everything Paw Patrol I could get my hands on and I probably went a little overboard. The same happened for this kid and it’s overwhelming. He doesn’t seem to care and the toys are left to fend for themselves and they’re basically all a bunch of Buzz Lightyears. Woody and the gang have to prove to them they’re actually toys and while it feels a bit familiar, it’s still pretty fun. It’s just not very Christmassy.

114 – The Real Ghostbusters – XMas Marks the Spot

Wait! Don’t bust these ghosts!

This is our second Christmas special (though chronologically, it came first) where the Dickens tale A Christmas Carol is treated like a historical reality. In this holiday themed episode of The Real Ghostbusters, our favorite busters somehow travel back in time and accidentally bust the ghosts that were supposed to show Ebenezer Scrooge the error of his ways. Now, I’ve been pretty vocal about my disinterest in adaptations of A Christmas Carol here, but this one is legitimately clever. Especially when your main characters are known for fighting ghosts. And apparently, that night was extremely important for the world as busting those ghosts changes the future for the worse forcing the Ghostbusters to try and set things right. First, by taking the place of the ghosts, and then by actually springing them from the containment unit. Longtime viewers get to enjoy a trip into where all of the ghosts they’ve been capturing all series long are held and there’s some fun cameos. This one is ranked this high because the premise is fun and this era of the show had some pretty nice animation and vocal performances. If you’ve never cared about Ghostbusters or The Real Ghostbusters then you might not enjoy it as much as I, who was raised on this stuff. Let’s hope Mondo never makes X-Mas variants of their Ghostbusters figures because my wallet may never recover.

113 – Johnny Bravo – ‘Twas the Night

Santa Meathead

Johnny Bravo was another early Cartoon Network original that found success. He’s basically a meat head with an Elvis obsession and this short Christmas cartoon puts that on display. It’s a bit like The Santa Clause, or “Christmas Flintstone,” in that Johnny takes over for Santa because the jolly old elf has become incapacitated. The twist here is Johnny is the one who incapacitated him. I guess Tim Allen did the same when he startled the Santa on his roof, but Johnny literally beats him up. Santa then demands he take over and Johnny reluctantly complies. There’s some good gags as Johnny pops in on characters featured in the show and some who are not, including a famous cameo. Perhaps the best part though is it’s all narrated by Adam West. His dry, yet earnest, delivery is perfect for this sort of thing. The segment is one of three from a half hour show so it’s extremely brief compared to most of the specials on this list which works to his advantage. I can only handle the character of Johnny Bravo in small doses and this is perfect.

112 – The Legend of Prince Valiant – Peace on Earth

You know it’s a big tree when the candle needs to be put on it from the balcony.

This episode of The Legend of Prince Valiant was a tough one to rank. On one hand, it gets a little preachy and the episode’s resolution is perhaps too tidy for the weighty material leading up to it. On the other hand, it’s a more serious addition to the Christmas special lineage which makes it refreshing and the weighty material is handled pretty well, for the most part. It’s all about seeking peace in a war-torn land. A local lord has been killed and his son is expected to rule in his place. His followers want vengeance, but he just wants an end to the long-running feud. Our titular character, Prince Valiant, is politically bound to defend his allies so if a battle is to be waged then he and his knights are duty bound to join in when they want nothing more than to go home for Christmas without bloodshed. It’s not afraid to show some violence and death, it’s just not gratuitous. And such subjects are spoken of plainly. It’s also a relic of the original The Family Channel so, yeah, there’s a religious component to it as well. The plot even centers on a book, though to my shock the book was not the Bible. The animation is solid and if you want something non-comical for your Christmas viewing then this might be worth a look.

111 – Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmas

Despite what the image suggests, the whole gang does not get together to celebrate Christmas.

Mickey’s first animated Christmas special in years is a bit of a mixed bag, hence why it’s here in the middle. The animation and overall look of this one is great, some of Disney’s best television animation for the era. The special is an hour and a half broken up into three segments making it essentially three half-hour specials in one. The sequel special kept the running time, but broke it up into more segments which is about the only thing that special got right. This one kind of struggles with each segment getting long and repetitive. It doesn’t help that the first one is a “Christmas Everyday” story with Donald’s nephews in the lead role. That one is repetitive by design. The middle segment, which stars Goofy and a younger version of Max than we saw in Goof Troop, is probably my favorite and it’s just all about Goofy trying to get his son to believe in Santa Claus. The third is a telling of The Gift of the Magi starring Mickey and Minnie and it’s as satisfying as most adaptations of that story – which is to say not very. Each segment has its moments, but this one falls short of being a true Christmas classic despite its pedigree.

110 – The New Batman Adventures – Holiday Knights

Bullock is not an enthusiastic Santa.

Oh yes, we’re including the Batman episodes! Years ago, in celebration of the 25th anniversary of Batman: The Animated Series, I did a weekly rundown of each episode in the show as well as its sequel show, The New Batman Adventures. As such, these existed outside of the usual Christmas Spot countdown, but since there are two Christmas episodes among them it only felt right to include them here. This one is the series premiere for The New Batman Adventures and it’s like an anthology episode. The first segment features Harley and Ivy going on a shopping spree with a drugged-out Bruce Wayne, the middle segment features Batgirl stopping Clayface at a shopping mall, and the third and final segment actually takes place on New Year’s Eve where the Joker is up to no good and it falls on Batman and Robin to stop him. It’s a weird one for the show because it comes first in production order despite the Robin character getting introduced later on in the series, but we don’t really care about that for this purpose. All you need to know is this is a perfectly fine episode of the show that takes place at Christmas. The segmented nature of it does prevent it from being able to lock-on and tell one cohesive, satisfying, story instead opting more for the Looney Tunes approach. It’s entertaining, and the final scene is a nice piece of Batman lore for this universe, and overall I just find it more enjoyable than what The Justice League did.

109 – Prep & Landing: Naughty vs. Nice

Everything bad that happens to Wayne is deserved.

I am a big fan of the original Prep & Landing holiday special. I hope to be a big fan of the new one coming this year. I am not that big of a fan of Naughty vs. Nice. It obviously isn’t bad since I’m placing it roughly in the middle of my countdown, and by virtue of its association with the better special I tend to watch it annually, but it does some things I don’t like. Namely, it makes the lead, Wayne, just completely unlikable. The first one flirts with that idea, but it’s a bit more reasonable and relatable. This one just gives Wayne a case of sibling rivalry where he comes across as extremely petty, self-serving, and really just an asshole. Can you have a successful Christmas special where the lead is an asshole? Sure, but probably not when it’s ultimately trying to be a wholesome take on the holiday. It’s not all bad as there’s some humorous bits and the presentation is still fantastic, it’s just way less enjoyable.

108 – Popeye the Sailor – Mister and Mistletoe

That’s no candle, Popeye!

Another old school holiday short, and one I deemed much better than the collection of old shorts featured further back in this countdown. Popeye is one of the original stars of black and white cartoons, but this Christmas short comes after that when he was in color and no longer part of Fleischer. That was the best era for Popeye, but these color ones from Famous Studios aren’t all bad. And this mad cap Christmas short is pretty fun and what most probably want out of a Popeye short. Olive and Popeye have put his nephews to bed when Bluto shows up dressed as Santa Claus to try and steal Popeye’s girl. Only Popeye thinks he’s the real deal and is probably more captivated by this rather bulky Santa than Olive seems to be. There’s some funny bits where Popeye is basically throwing himself at Santa until the big guy finally gets rid of him for good. Once the cat is out of the bag, Popeye can get to kicking some ass and eventually Bluto gets his due and violence solves everything. Popeye ends the short in the Santa suit because how could he not?

107 – Nerds and Monsters – Zanti-Clops

Run for your life, kid.

This is one I wanted to rank lower. It’s a 2014 cartoon I had never heard of with only so-so animation, but each time I went back to it for this ranking I was reminded that, “Hey, it’s pretty good!” Now, it’s not sentimental or anything and is just about some kids stuck on a monster-infested island. It’s got some gross-out humor. Poop plays a pretty central role to the monster version of Santa, the aforementioned Zanti-Clops, who takes old junk from kids and leaves behind a steaming pile of green, jewel-encrusted, dung. One of the nerds, Dudley, is anti-Santa or whatever and takes it upon himself to find out the truth, which nearly gets him killed. See, Zanti-Clops eats all who see him, but it turns out he’s not such a bad guy. He still inflicts some terror upon the kids before this one is over and we get even more poop jokes. If you can look past so many poop jokes then you’ll probably be entertained by this. It’s another short one too with some solid character work.

106 – Prep & Landing: Operation: Secret Santa

That is indeed pretty, freakin’, tinsel.

Yeah, we’re doubling-up on Prep & Landing today with this one being the short the franchise has produced. As the title implies, this one is more like a spy mission and it’s a pretty simple one: infiltrate Santa’s work shop and retrieve something for Mrs. Claus. The stakes are a bit undefined. We can clearly see that Lanny and Wayne fear Santa and what might happen should they be caught snooping around, but he’s also Santa. What’s he really going to do? Despite the stakes seeming awfully small, it still manages to create some solid tension while the elves are on their mission. There’s some nice set pieces and stunt shots and the item they’re after leads to a solid enough conclusion. It’s brief, but benign. I usually watch it out of habit at this point after I watch the truly special original.

105 – A Muppet Family Christmas

It was all worth it for this image.

This is a popular one I tend to enjoy less than most. Maybe it’s because I grew up with this one on VHS so it didn’t have that unobtainable quality it had for a lot of people. Now it’s far easier to see thanks to streaming and there have been some physical releases, though some stuff had to be cut for copywrite reasons. The special is great on paper: the Muppets gather at the home of Fozzy’s mom and get snowed in with the gang from Sesame Street and Fraggle Rock. It’s all of the major Jim Henson properties literally under one roof. It just runs out of steam for me. A lot of the setup is fun and seeing the Muppets interact with the cast of Sesame Street is surprisingly entertaining. The Fraggles though are kind of wasted and the back half gets bogged down by concern for Miss Piggy and songs. So many songs. It’s as if they couldn’t fill an hour, so they decided to just have everyone sit around and sing Christmas carols. It’s really not good. Still, some people love The Muppets so much that it’s worth sitting through, but this is the rare special you can turn off about halfway through and not have really missed out on anything. Well, except that Jim Henson cameo at the very end which is pretty sweet. And it’s made all the more so by him no longer being with us.

Can’t wait until tomorrow for more Christmas? Check out what we had to say on this day last year and beyond:

Dec. 12 – King of the Hill – “Pretty, Pretty Dresses”

The 2024 edition of The Christmas Spot has been a year in which we return to a show we haven’t talked about in a little while. Today’s subject is certainly one such show as we’re heading back to Arlen, TX for a Christmas episode of King of the Hill. Up to now, the only episode…

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by Joe

Dec. 12 – Regular Show – “The Christmas Special”

I have a pretty tremendous blind spot for most animated shows produced between 2005-2015. If it was a show animated and marketed at adults, then I might have checked it out. If it was a show created primarily for kids and not based on some existing IP I knew from my childhood then I almost…

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by Joe

Dec. 12 – A Very Venture Christmas

This one has been a long time coming. One of my all-time favorite television shows is The Venture Bros., but it’s a show I really haven’t spent much time discussing on this blog. I guess because I view it as contemporary, even though the pilot premiered almost 20 years ago now. For most of this…

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by Joe

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October 30, 2025

INART The Dark Knight Rises Batman – Deluxe Version

By Joe
You know his name.

Is this a review I really need to do? Probably not, but I’m doing it anyway. Queen Studios wasn’t a shop that was on my radar going into 2025. I’m guessing that’s true for a lot of folks and that’s probably why they had a media blitz when it came time to promote their brand INART and its new 1:12 scale Batman action figure from the movie The Dark Knight Rises. Now, when I say “media blitz” I mean that relatively speaking in the action figure collector universe. I kept seeing video reviews for this thing pop up everywhere a few months back and I definitely ended up watching my fair share as I had no idea who this company was. I’m not on YouTube nor is my blog big enough to get that sort of attention so if I wanted to review this figure I was going to have to buy it. And buy it I have so here’s another review of this thing many talked about months ago.

A trio of Batmen.

One of the most expensive action figure purchases I’ve made in my life was a Hot Toys Batman based on his look in The Dark Knight. I loved that movie when it came out and I really wanted to own a piece of it. There really wasn’t much in the 1:12 scale at the time, but Hot Toys had the film covered. The price was way more than I was used to spending, but looking back on it, I’d guess it was far less than what I’ve been shelling out of late for sixth scale Mondo figures. I loved that figure when I got it, but I was also terrified to touch it. If you’ve never owned a Hot Toys figure, it’s basically a big action figure with a rubber suit. The kind of thing that could split or warp and the figure itself was pretty stiff. I had a hard time with the optional parts and one of my cats even ate a Batarang on me (seriously, what the hell, Izzy?!). Still, I loved the actual look so I kept it on display for years, but when I moved into my current house I boxed it up and then never took it out. After a few years of the thing just sitting in my bedroom, I decided to part with it. I wasn’t getting any enjoyment out of it so it no longer made sense to hang onto it.

“I’m Batman!” “I’m Batman!” “No, I’m Batman…”

When I parted with that Batman I never intended to replace it with a similar figure at any scale. Since getting that, the Nolan Batman trilogy concluded with The Dark Knight Rises, a movie that was just okay. My enthusiasm for the trilogy waned and at the end of the day I just love other versions of Batman a lot more than the Nolan take. I still think elements from those films are cool, but do I need to own them as toys? The reviews I watched for the INART Batman made me question that. And then when I heard the MSRP was only around $69 it really got my attention. Since it’s for the Asian market only, that $69 quickly became more like $100 for folks in the US, but considering what other figures in this scale cost these days, it still wasn’t a terrible value. I reluctantly passed, but then Mezco had to go and unveil their Joker from The Dark Knight. He looked awesome, way better than their The Dark Knight Batman who is more like a mini Hot Toys in construction. I wanted the Joker, but I’d need a Batman to pair him with which got me back to this INART Batman. To ebay I went, as that was the only place I could seem to find one I was confident wasn’t a bootleg, and more money was spent than what it would have cost me over the summer. Oh well.

Deluxe gets you a base an armature for posing. Cool?

The INART Batman comes in two versions: standard and deluxe. I got the deluxe which basically just includes a stand and an unmasked portrait. The difference in price seemed small, so why not? I love a good stand. This Batman is based on The Dark Knight Rises, but the costume is basically unchanged from The Dark Knight. Someone more obsessed with those pictures could probably point out some detail that was changed, but I’m not interested. It looks the part to me. The packaging is pretty robust as INART ships the main box in a shipper box which is also in a brown shipper itself. The actual product box is just black with the logo on it. There’s no window, but I guess that’s fine for something primarily sold online. Inside the box is a tiered tray system with some instructions and a cardboard envelope in between the trays which contains the soft goods cape. I will say, as far as instructions go these are the most robust I’ve seen with a modern toy. They tell you what each item is and what each hand is intended for. It even has diagrams for the articulation and informs you how much range each joint should have. I could probably save myself some time and just post a pic of that in place of the articulation rundown, but I’m not going to take such shortcuts.

Batman doesn’t use guns…that fire bullets. Just ones that fire an EMP and bombs. Bombs aren’t as bad as bullets, right?

The Batman figure comes without the cape applied. It stands just a tick over 6″, and considering that Christian Bale is listed as an even 6′ I’d say that’s some pretty damn good scaling if you figure the boots would have bumped him up an inch or two. What attracted me to this release is that the body construction is all plastic. It’s a mix of PVC and ABS and there’s no rubber overlays in use. It has a very light feel in hand, similar to a MAFEX figure, and the quality is very nice. The finish is matte and per the instructions it is painted, though I’m guessing this is all black plastic. There are different textures at play as there’s some parts that feel like Kevlar and some parts that are smooth. The torso is all segmented, but the pieces are fit together very well. The proportions look great and the copper colored belt looks pretty screen accurate to me.

The Cape looks great when it’s on, but it can be a pain in the ass getting it there.

The cape is in a cardboard envelope and the way it attaches is pretty interesting. The chest where the Batman logo is sculpted in is actually removable and what holds it in place are a pair of small magnets. The cape is connected to a pair of plastic tabs which slot into two gaps of the chest. The magnetic piece is then supposed to be reapplied and that will hold it in place. Getting the tabs to actually stay put is a little cumbersome. I had to try it a couple of times to really get the magnetic piece to sit properly on the figure. I wish they had made slots for the tabs to actually slide into, but it’s a minor inconvenience. The cape itself is not wired, but it is pleated and it hangs really nice. For the price though, it would have been cool to get a drape cape and a wired one especially considering we get a flight stand.

The three faces of INART Batman. I’ll let you decide what each one is going for.

Batman is outfitted with a bunch of accessories, most of which are good. What’s not good are the optional faceplates. There are three included and there is barely any difference between them. They’re fairly neutral, but I’ll post pictures and maybe you can spot the difference. For hands, we have sets of fists, open, sticky bomb gun holding hands, relaxed, EMP rile supporting left hand, EMP rifle trigger right hand, Batarang holding right hand, Grapple Gun holding right hand. As you could have probably guessed based on those descriptions, we also have a grapple gun, EMP rifle, sticky bomb gun, and four Batarangs: two large, two small. The guns all look pretty damn good. I think the sticky bomb gun was featured in The Dark Knight, and it may have reappeared in The Dark Knight Rises. There’s nice detail on all of the guns and the finish is really nice on the matte parts and the copper parts. The hands are as advertised and work very well for their intended purpose. The figure does have some difficulty in looking down the barrel of the guns, but it can be fudged. There’s also the unmasked portrait which features a neutral expression and a terrific likeness to Christian Bale. It connects at the lower neck peg and doesn’t feature any articulation where the neck meets the head, which is a little odd. It was a bit tricky getting the standard neck part off and I did resort to hot water to do it. The peg inside is pretty sturdy though so I probably could have bent back and pulled. The display stand is pretty hefty and has a shiny plate on the front featuring the film’s logo. The armature included is pretty standard and works well.

The Bale likeness is pretty damn good.

As this Batman is an import figure, it articulates like one would expect an import figure to. For the most part. We get the typical setup with a ball jointed head and joint at the base of the neck which works very well for whatever you need. The shoulders are ball peg joints with a shoulder pad over them on a double hinge. There’s no butterfly joint which may disappoint some, but it is a ball peg so you get some up, down, in, and out range. The shoulder pad should be moved out of the way when you articulate the shoulder and bicep swivel, but it feels pretty sturdy. The elbows are double-jointed and bend past 90 degrees and the wrists are ball pegs. The torso is somewhat complex as it’s segmented throughout the diaphragm with a ball joint at the waist. It works more for twisting and shifting side-to-side than bending forward and back. Range there is pretty basic, but there’s some nice nuance afforded by this setup. It does get gappy at the waist, but the belt is floating and can be manipulated to hide it. The hips can kick out 60 degrees, per INART, and kick forward a full 90. There is a thigh swivel and the knees bend past 90 degrees. The ankles are ball pegs that swivel, will kick forward and back and rock side-to-side. There’s a toe hinge as well which is nice and stiff.

He’s Batman, so of course he has Batarangs.

The articulation range isn’t super impressive, but what does work really well are the aesthetics of the joints. These are the best looking elbows and knees I’ve ever seen on a figure. INART sculpted the pieces all the way and there are no gaps or unfinished parts. The texture is so nice I thought it was silicon or something. The toe joint is also really well done and I love how effortless it is to line-up the seems of the costume with all of the articulation points such as the thigh swivels, biceps, and toes. I think Queen Studios did a really good job balancing articulation and aesthetics with this one. Yeah, they may have sacrificed a little on the articulation end, but not on the aesthetics. Considering this is based on a real world costume that also limited movement for the actor in it, I think it’s the way to go. The only shortcoming for me is the lack of a true butterfly joint. I do wish he could hold some of the weapons just a little better, but for the most part I’m pretty damn happy.

And he has a grapple gun – can’t forget that!

And that pretty much is also how I feel about this release in general – pretty damn happy. This Batman looks fantastic and the quality is apparent in the sculpt and construction. I’ve never interacted with a release from Queen Studios before, but I definitely wouldn’t mind handling a few more. They are apparently doing their own version of Heath Ledger’s Joker and I’m not ruling it out. I liked the Mezco one so I got my preorder in, but I didn’t have to pay a deposit. Given how the ’89 Batman from Mezco is not true 1:12 scale, I am a little nervous their Joker will be too big. If the one from INART comes around and looks better then I can easily pivot to it. I’m just curious how they’ll approach the character. It’s definitely on my radar and I look forward to paring this Batman up with a Joker, whoever ends up supplying it.

We’ve got more Batman figure reviews, and if you want to check out something from the early days of this blog, here’s a review of the film this figure hails from:

Mezco One:12 Collective Batman (1989)

When it comes to the world of more high end action figure collectibles, I’ve been able to get my hands on a few. Some rather prominent companies have yet to cross my path though, and it’s not really for any reason other than they either don’t make what I like or I don’t really like…

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by Joe

The Dark Knight Rises

I mentioned in my look at Batman’s best films that I had gone into total lockdown mode for The Dark Knight Rises.  I got off of social media, stayed away from review sites, and just basically blocked the world out where Batman was concerned.  I wanted to walk into this film with an unformed opinion.…

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by Joe

MAFEX No. 105 – Batman: Hush

You may have been wondering why I decided to devote an entry earlier this week to a nearly twenty year old action figure of mediocre quality, and if so, now you know why. I wanted to take a look at the DC Direct Batman based on his appearance in the Jeph Loeb written, Jim Lee…

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by Joe

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November 29, 2024

McFarlane Toys BTAS Christmas With the Joker Action Figure

By Joe
It’s time for your favorite holiday tradition: Christmas with the Joker!

Yesterday, the United States celebrated the Thanksgiving holiday so you know what that means? The Christmas season is underway! And it’s one that feels like it could not have come any sooner. We need a little Christmas, right this very minute, and today it’s coming to us via an unexpected source: The Joker. Yes, the Clown Prince of Crime is getting into the Christmas spirit today for, what else, an action figure release. This is yet another old one from DC Collectibles re-released via McFarlane Toys. The first such set of figures we looked at released this way didn’t go that well. Will this Joker fare any better? Will the magic of Christmas help to elevate him above his brethren? Let’s find out together.

Joker, as seen in the episode from which this figure is based on.

It was years ago (2017, if I’m not mistaken) that DC Collectibles released a Joker action figures based on the episode of Batman: The Animated Series “Christmas With the Joker.” In just the show’s second episode it not only introduced audiences to its version of the Joker, but also made it a Christmas special. Since the show was debuting in September, that meant it had to be held back a bit, but still managed to air in November. Nonetheless, it’s not one of the show’s better episodes, but the mere fact it features the Joker and it’s a Christmas episode helped it to remain memorable.

He certainly looks happy to be celebrating the holidays with us.

When this figure was first released, I considered getting it. I don’t know why I didn’t, I guess maybe I was trying to save money? I probably feared that getting even one action figure from this line of Batman figures would open the floodgates so I held off. When it went on clearance I still held off. When it got a re-release with a pearl finish? Oh yeah, I held off. And when that re-release also received the discount treatment? By then I had become a pro at ignoring this Christmas Joker so it was a piece of cake to do so yet again.

He’s definitely not going to scale with the McFarlane Batman Santa.

Now, it’s 2024 and McFarlane Toys has decided it needs to re-release this Christmas Joker. I don’t know why in 2024 that I feel like now is the time to jump in, but it’s what I’ve done. The wave one figures from McFarlane were borderline terrible. I like the sculpt of the Scarecrow and Freeze is okay, but the Batman and Robin figures were just plain bad. The paint jobs are pretty hideous and the toys feel cheaper than ever. These figures were fragile when originally released, but they didn’t feel cheap. I don’t know what McFarlane is doing, but these feel comparatively worse. Still, for a Christmas figure I just expect it to stand there and look festive. My demands of this figure are pretty minimal and should be easy to please. I’m not sure it’s capable of meeting even those unambitious demands.

“Now here’s a Santa I can really get behind!”

Joker comes in the normal packaging which is a big window box that’s entirely too large. There is no Christmas theming to the packaging which feels like a real missed opportunity. Make it look like a wrapped gift and you stand to sell two of these per person, Todd. Joker is depicted as he was for most of that episode, well, aside from the hat. He wears the hat for all two seconds, but this figure has one molded to its head. In another missed opportunity, McFarlane could have included a non-hatted head to switch to, but maybe this one was never designed for a removable head? Aside from the hat, Joker is sporting a Christmas sweater that’s a simple red with a green turtleneck underneath. From the waist down, he’s basically your standard Joker with purple pants and white and black shoes.

“Here Harvey, you look like you could use a little Christmas spirit.”

The sculpt is fine, but the paint is not. Joker isn’t as bad as the other figures, but the detail work is pretty awful. His mouth and teeth are sloppy and my figure had a big black smudge on his chin that I’ve mostly been able to remove with a Magic Eraser. His eyes are outlined in black, but he has no eyebrows to speak of. The edges of the white on the Santa hat aren’t particularly sharp, but what isn’t dreadful with this release is the cel-shading. McFarlane added some dark red to the right side of the figure and some dark purple to the pants. There’s also a hit of dark green on the inner sweater. It’s far more purposeful than some of the other figures and the color choices are fine. If all of the figures looked like this there probably wouldn’t be many complaints about the shading. There’s also still a lot of bare plastic here including basically all of the white parts and pants. The original release looks like it was almost all painted, by comparison, so if you can get that one instead for a decent price you may find it the better piece.

Yuck.

What’s not any different is the feel of this thing. It’s cheap and it’s pretty junky. The MSRP appears to be $30 though Target initially offered it for $25 (and it is a Target exclusive). Even at the lower end, it doesn’t feel great. This is more like a $15 figure and the articulation is befitting that price range as well. You get very little here as the head only rotates. If it’s supposed to look up or down mine won’t budge. The shoulder pins are fine and the elbows bend almost 90 degrees. The hips are those awful hinges that DC used to utilize and they both look and feel like absolute shit. He can do splits, but you won’t want him to. Kicking forward and back is minimal while the knees do what they’re supposed to. There’s basically nothing but swivels at the ankle. As an action figure, this thing is terrible for $25 and truly god-awful at $30.

He’s got a candy cane. Cool?

All that said, few are going to buy a Christmas themed Joker action figure to put him in crazy poses. Well, some might want to, but usually these holiday themed figures can get away with subpar articulation if the presentation is there. And aiding in the presentation are the accessories. Joker comes with an assortment of hands: fists, gripping, and what we’ll call candy cane hands. He has these candy cane holding hands because he comes with a candy cane – imagine that? It’s basically a tight trigger finger hand. It would have been nice if regular trigger hands could have worked, but I guess they didn’t want to make a really fat candy cane. As for the candy cane itself, it’s fine. It may not be fat, but it is a pretty big candy cane, but at least those custom hands hold it well.

Joker’s sad little tree.

Joker one-ups the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles we looked at earlier this week by coming with his own Christmas tree. This tree makes Charlie Brown’s tree look robust by comparison as it’s really more of a stick. There isn’t a single needle left on this dead piece of pine and it has some twigs poking off of it from which ornaments can be hung. Joker comes with five ornaments: one red, yellow, and green and two blue. One of the blue ones should have a white star painted on the top, but McFarlane cut that from the budget. They’re all spherical with a plastic, black, loop molded onto them so they can be placed on the tree. I wish the loop was just a little bigger as it’s challenging to get them onto some of the smaller branches. Some aren’t angled well for an ornament and the plastic is kind of brittle. I had stress marks on one of the lower limbs as I tried to get a loop over it and had to abandon that idea. His candy cane hands can sort of pinch the hoops on these ornaments so he can hold them, which is a good design choice. There’s also a yellow-painted star molded to the top of the tree.

This little guy enjoys causing mayhem just as much as Joker.

Lastly, Joker comes with his little elf buddy, Laughy. He’s a hand puppet, but not the kind you stick your whole hand into. He’s literally Joker’s fist with a face painted onto the side with an elf costume molded to it. The paint is thick and flakey, but otherwise the hand looks pretty good. It plugs into Joker’s right arm and the fit is rather tight (compared with the incredibly loose alternate hands). There’s a standard, horizontal, hinge which is fine, but the limited range at the shoulder and Joker’s head make it hard for truly convincing posing. If his elbow could actually bend past 90 degrees that would have helped too. Even with the articulation limits, this is probably my favorite accessory of the bunch and I can’t see myself ever displaying Joker without it. Also included is the torso for Maxie Zeus as this is a build-a-figure wave. To complete Maxie you’ll need to also purchase Two-Face, Batgirl, and a Batman variant that’s an homage to an old Kenner toy. I did get Two-Face and if that Batman variant were at all desirable I might have convinced myself to get the rest to complete the figure, but there’s no way I’m spending 30 bucks on a terrible Batman figure.

“Wow Laughy, a shotgun? You shouldn’t have!”

This Christmas themed Joker figure is more or less what I expected. The articulation and overall feel of the figure is truly subpar, but in-line with the first wave of figures. I wish the paint on the Joker’s head was better, but at least the cel-shading is done reasonably well. I also wish he was cheaper, but considering I got the figure at a slight discount I guess I should feel a little better about it. For $30, I can only recommend this for the Christmas enthusiast who also happens to love Batman: The Animated Series. If a Christmas figure does nothing for you then the only reason to get this is for the build-a-figure part. From what I can tell based on the parts I have, the Maxie Zeus figure is going to be a lot like The Condiment King meaning the sculpt is above average, but the scale is way off. He’s a big boy, but hopefully he’s not as floppy in the hips as Condiment King for those who get him. I feel bad for those diehards who really want a Maxie Zeus (I personally did not care for that episode) because they have to get a Batman variant they probably don’t want as well as a holiday themed Joker they may or may not want. For those who don’t, hopefully there’s enough people like me out there willing to buy your unwanted Christmas Joker. At a reasonable discount, of course. That might be the best way to go about getting this guy.

For more Christmas figures or to see what inspired this release check out the below:

McFarlane Toys Gold Label Batman Santa (Blue Suit)

Ho! Ho! Ho! It’s the jolly one – Santa Claus! Oh, wait, no, it’s the somber, moody, one: Batman Santa! Yes, it’s our first Christmas themed post of 2023 and it’s an action figure review – shocking, I know. McFarlane Toys has held the DC license for several years now, but this is my first…

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by Joe

Batman: The Animated Series – “Christmas With The Joker”

Episode Number: 2 Original Air Date: November 13, 1992 Directed By: Kent Butterworth Written By: Eddie Gorodetsky First Appearance(s):  Robin, Joker, Summer Gleason, Arkham Asylum An interesting choice for a second episode of a series. It’s a Christmas episode, which feels kind of inline with Batman thanks to Batman Returns. It’s also the debut of…

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by Joe

Naughty or Nice Classic Santa and Cyborg Santa

It was looking like we were in for a photo finish this year. Last year, toymaker Fresh Monkey Fiction partnered with online retailer Big Bad Toy Store to launch the Naughty or Nice collection. Structured similar to a Kickstarter campaign, FMF posted several action figures for preorder with a minimum order quantity needed for the…

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by Joe

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | posted in christmas, Television, toys

October 17, 2024

McFarlane Toys Batman: The Animated Series Wave 1

By Joe
The lineup for McFarlane’s first wave of dedicated Batman: The Animated Series action figures.

Years ago, perhaps as many as 10 or more, DC Direct was filling comic book stores around the country with action figures based on the classic cartoon series Batman: The Animated Series. The figures were stylized to resemble their onscreen counterparts and it was a line that included many of the characters from the show as well as multiple vehicles. Eventually, DC (or parent company Warner Bros.) decided it no longer wanted in on the action figure market. The branch of the company devoted to toys was dissolved and the license was sold to McFarlane Toys. Since then, Todd’s company has devoted many resources to its DC Multiverse line which is sold at big box retail as well as specialty. The 1:10 line features more variations of characters than I can count and it has its own distinct style. Early in the line, a Batman based on BTAS was even released, though it wasn’t something that I found particularly enticing.

Here is your comparison to what DC Direct was doing in its final days and what we’re getting from McFarlane.

When the DC Direct line was alive and well, I wasn’t really in the collecting game. By the time I got back into it, I was left a little underwhelmed by the offerings available to me. They weren’t cheap, were quite limited in terms of articulation, and it wasn’t an evergreen line where characters were easily attainable. Instead, it was more of a blink and you miss it kind of deal. Towards the end of the line, there were some reissues and I would end up getting the last standard Batman from the line which featured the new tagline of The Adventures Continue. That Batman is fine. The likeness is good enough even if the articulation is pretty poor. It was retooled to have better hips and the paint job was more ambitious and a marked improvement over the Batmen to come before it. I would also add a Gray Ghost, purely out of nostalgia, but any ideas I had on getting more of the figures was pretty much dashed by the absurd aftermarket prices that had emerged. Figures were selling for hundreds of dollars and I just wasn’t interested.

The big selling point for the McFarlane line is the build-a-figure inclusion.

Last year, McFarlane made the wise move to begin reissuing these long out of production figures. McFarlane apparently has access to the molds so this was a pretty low cost way to get some characters out into the wild that fans have been clamoring for. The first wave arrived about a year ago now, but I’m just getting to it for reasons that will become clear as we move along. That first wave consisted of Batman, Robin, Mr. Freeze, Scarecrow, with a build-a-figure of The Condiment King. All four of the retail figures are straight reissues of past DCD offerings with the only new sculpt being The Condiment King. To differentiate these from the other figures, and perhaps to not crater their aftermarket value and risk angering their fanbase, a new deco was applied to each figure and the packaging is all new. These come in oversized window boxes that are honestly way bigger than they need to be, but whatever. It’s just the trash that surrounds the figure. Is this return to stores what fans and collectors have been waiting for? Read on and find out, though you may not like the answer.

What do we think of McFarlane’s attempt at cel-shading?

Let’s start with Batman. This is a reissue of the Batman that came with the Batcycle. He has a soft goods cape and an ab crunch to help make getting him on the bike a little easier. It’s a less attractive figure as a result, but what are you going to do? The main thing that’s going to stick out is the paint job, and that’s going to be true for basically all of these figures. McFarlane decided to attempt cel-shading with these figures. The final Batman from DCD did the same thing to fantastic results. There was blue in the cape, a little gray under the pectorals, and hits of blue on the gloves and boots. It was subtle, but very evocative of the show. This Batman does none of that. He has this ugly brown smear along the side of his face, a dark gray that’s slapped on the side of his body without much regard for anything, and very little blue one the boots and gloves. It’s hideous. DCD gave you the blueprint, McFarlane, why couldn’t you just follow that?

Robin and Freeze get these goofy-ass hips.

Unfortunately, the same is mostly true for the rest. Robin looks almost as bad as Batman with the same brown on his face, but the red and green of his costume at least works better with the shading. They completely missed the yellow on the inside of the cape which is also plastic so he won’t work as well with vehicles as Batman. Mr. Freeze has some pretty atrocious cel-shading as well, though it doesn’t appear to be as heavy as it is with Batman. Scarecrow is the only one who doesn’t look awful, but that’s because his costume of brown and red works better with the shading. It’s barely visible on the red portions while the dark brown doesn’t clash all that poorly. This is also second appearance Scarecrow and, overall, he looks the best of the bunch in terms of being on-model. Mr. Freeze would place second if this were a competition, but he’s too small and his oxygen tank is the wrong color. I don’t think scale is a strength of the line. Robin looks more like a reinterpretation of his old Kenner figure with the big head and dopey grin while Batman just plain looks bad.

It’s a lot of stuff, but how much of it is useful?

Each character does come with accessories. For Batman, it’s a bunch of hands including one with a grapnel gun molded in. He also has a Batarang that’s all black. He has fists, gripping hands, and Batarang hands plus a stand-alone grapnel gun that’s all black. Robin has fists, relaxed hands, gripping hands, and a hand with a molded grapnel gun in it. He also has a bollo that’s just a long piece of plastic. It would have looked better with a whirling effect. Scarecrow has open hands, a gripping right hand, and a left fist, plus an unmasked portrait. The gripping hand is for his scythe which looks pretty good, though I wish he came with two gripping hands or that the one gripping hand actually worked better. Freeze has his freeze gun and then a whole bunch of hands: fists, trigger hands, gripping hands, clenching hands, and open hands. The clenching and gripping hands look specific, like maybe he was supposed to have more accessories (a snow globe, perhaps) that were cut. It’s a comical amount of hands though for a guy who is just going to stand there holding his gun.

That’s not impressive…

Which brings us to articulation, which was never this line’s strong suit and part of that is due to the character designs. We’re talking ball peg heads, ball-hinge shoulders, single elbows, and wrists that swivel and hinge horizontally. Nobody has good range anywhere, save for maybe the head, but it’s at the hips where things get weird. Batman has updated ball socket hips so he can kick forward a reasonable amount and almost do splits. Scarecrow does too, only his range is terrible, but he has a thigh swivel built-in (Batman does not). Freeze and Robin have these awful hinge and peg hips. The hinge leaves this T shape in the cut on the side of the thigh. It allows for full splits, but looks ridiculous and is one of the ugliest joints ever conceived. Neither character can kick forward worth a damn too. All of the figures have double-jointed knees except for Freeze and Robin. Even without the extra hinge, Freeze can still bend his knee 90 degrees. Robin cannot. All of the figures have a swivel and hinge at the ankle with only Batman and Robin having an ankle rocker. Everyone except Scarecrow has a boot cut. The combination of poor articulation and tiny feet make all but Freeze tough to stand. He has large, boxy, feet so it’s not an issue, but his arms are the most limited because of his design. I wasn’t sure if he even had elbow cuts. They’re there, but functionally useless. He’s also the only one without a waist twist.

I like Condiment King’s sculpt and the paint is acceptable, but why is he so big? And I have him lurched forward a bit here just to get him to stand. In other words, this picture makes him look smaller than he is.

Given that these are all old molds and exclusive to Target you would think they’d come at a friendly price. They do not as all of them retail for around $30. Of course, if you get all four then you get a bonus fifth figure in The Condiment King. He is all new and comes with his backpack and twin guns: ketchup and mustard. The guns connect via a thread to the backpack so it limits his posing, but at least they’re here. As for the sculpt, it looks fine. Great even. This is one of the show’s silliest characters and it’s a fun inclusion as a BAF. It might not be the type of character everyone needs, but the hardcore will enjoy building him. His light blue costume with white accents is done well enough. Yes, there’s cel-shading, but it’s not as bad as it is with some of the others. The only spot I hate is the brown smear on the side of his face. Articulation is satisfactory for the line as he has single elbows but double joints at the knee and ball-socket hips, it’s just that the hips are way too loose. Combine that with the backpack and this is one tough figure to stand. The build quality of the guns is also questionable as the handle of the ketchup gun came off when I tried inserting it into his hand. It looks like the guns were molded in two pieces to get the string inside so it’s nothing a little glue can’t remedy, but still annoying. By far though, the biggest issue I have with Condiment King is his size. He’s way too big. He stands around 6.75″ to Batman’s 6.25″. He’s just overall big when in the show he’s just some guy who went nuts. He looks like he’d be more than a match for Batman at this size. It’s almost like he’s from an entirely different toyline.

I mostly just wanted these two. Freeze still sucks for 30 bucks, but Scarecrow? He’s at least okay, though he can barely stand or hold onto his scythe.

Is $120 for 5 figures of worth it? It could be, but not these figures. The paint is not only a bad fit, it’s sloppy too. Batman’s cape feels cheap and the articulation cuts for his torso and the hips on Freeze and Robin are truly hideous. Scarecrow is the only figure of the five that comes close to earning his value, but he still doesn’t feel like a 30 dollar toy. All of them feel very fragile and very cheap. Moving these thin limbs, swapping the hands, all feel terrible. I don’t like handling these figures so I guess it’s good that they don’t pose well since the temptation to change things up isn’t really there.

The Batcycle is pretty cool, though even with the added ab crunch this Batman can struggle to sit on it in a convincing manner.

What drove me to make this post though was where I did find some deals: the vehicles. McFarlane has not only reissued the figures, it’s also reissued the Batcycle and Batmobile with the Batwing also on the way (there’s also a Jokermobile, which was supposed to be a part of the old DCD line, but was cancelled). Initially, these vehicles were pricy, but still enticing, but I got both on sale. For the Batcycle, I think MSRP was 40 or 50 bucks, but I got it down to $10. At full price, it’s not bad, but at ten bucks it’s a real steal. It’s a straight re-release of the old bike including the base. It has battery operated lights, though you have to hold in the button on the bottom of the bike for them to be on as opposed to a switch. The base is reversible and can either resemble the Batcave or just a street and it allows for the bike to be tilted and there’s a little swoosh effect too. Instead of being all black, it’s now cel-shaded, but it turned out great! There’s a nice use of blue on it that really makes it resemble the bike from the show. And if you want Batman to play it safe, it also comes with a new head for Batman that features a helmet. They should have tossed in the same for Robin, but I probably wouldn’t use it anyway. The head looks fine, though it features a pale complexion. The tires are rubber and the thing feels solid. For what it is, it’s terrific.

The Batmobile is big. The last image on the right is with a standard Hot Wheels Turtle Van and the oversized Batmobile, not the standard Hot Wheels edition.

The Batmobile is quite similar in that regard. It’s not fully painted out like the bike, but the sides are black and the top is a dark blue which helps it to resemble the look of the car in the show better than the original all black edition. The canopy slides forward and there’s room for two figures inside. The steering wheel telescopes which makes it easier to get figures in and out. The dashboard is all transparent plastic because this has a light-up feature as well for headlights, interior, rear lights, and the thruster in the back. Oh, and did I mention it’s big? This thing is a shelf hog measuring about 25.5″ long and a little over 8.5″ at its widest. It is a mostly hollow, plastic, box so it doesn’t have as nice a feel as the Batcycle. It does have nice wheels though that are rubber and the front ones can turn, though they are not connected to the steering wheel. The MSRP for this thing is $80, but I got it on sale for $40. Some people have found it for as low as $23! At $80, it’s a luxury item for the Batman enthusiast that has the room for it. At $40, it’s a great deal for the Batman fan that maybe doesn’t know what to do with it, but will figure it out in time. At anything less than that it’s a simple no-brainer. I’m not one who buys toys as an investment, but if you get a Batmobile for under forty bucks and sit on it for a year you’ll probably make some money.

The lights are pretty nifty, and two figures can fit inside though Robin’s lack of a soft goods cape means he’ll sit rather wonky.

What do we make of McFarlane’s foray into this old BTAS toy line? On one hand, I think it’s great that these molds are back out in the wild. I got Freeze and Scarecrow last year because I love Mr. Freeze and I thought Scarecrow looked good. I only recently got Batman and Robin because I wanted them for the Batmobile. Target lured me in with a sweet deal on that Batmobile and in turn got me to spend another sixty bucks (clever girl) I wouldn’t have otherwise. I think Scarecrow is fine, he’s limited, but he looks the part and I think aesthetics are what collectors are after most with a BTAS line. The Condiment King, if he was packed as a stand-alone figure, would be okay as well though I wouldn’t feel good about spending 30 bucks on it. Freeze is imperfect and too expensive while Batman and Robin are pretty bad. Why did I convince myself I needed them just to stuff in a toy car? I don’t know. It was more of a need for Batman, and then with only one figure shy of a Condiment King I figured why not get Robin? My older DCD Batman could not fit in the Batmobile with his sturdy, plastic, cape, plus he actually looks good and I don’t want him hidden. I’m fine hiding these two.

The figures are overpriced and kind of blow, but the Batmobile is pretty cool.

All that is to say, try and track down an actual DC Direct Batman if you want a Batman from this line. This one and Robin just aren’t worth it and unlike the vehicles, they seem to never go on sale. Mr. Freeze and Scarecrow aren’t worth your 30 dollars either, but if you do get Scarecrow you at least may not regret it in time since he looks fine. The vehicles are great though. If you have a DCD collection and passed on them then I think you should reconsider. Especially the Batcycle which looks pretty cool and isn’t too hard to fit into a display. The Batmobile presents obvious space concerns and I still don’t know where it’s going to end up in my house, but it’s an okay problem to have and now I’m wondering if I should consider the gargantuan Batwing. I shouldn’t, but if it ends up at Target for 40 bucks then I can’t be held responsible for my actions. As for the line itself, I wish McFarlane would spend a little to improve these figures. Better hips, better ankles, and figure out how to do proper cel-shading or just give up. No one will be angry if it goes away. This line is fueled only by a love of the show because if there was a better option out there then surely most would get that. Unfortunately, there isn’t and there likely won’t be in this scale anytime soon.

There aren’t a ton of Batman toy reviews here, but we do have some:

Batman – The Adventures Continue #50: Batman

If you’re a repeat visitor here at The Nostalgia Spot, then you’ve probably noticed that around here there is a high opinion of the television show Batman – The Animated Series. I did a re-watch of the series that spanned more than two years and also checked out the various films based on the property.…

Keep reading
by Joe

The Hot Wheels Batman Series

I’m not much of a car collector, but when I was a kid I went through a Hot Wheels and Matchbox phase. My favorite car was a small, black, one that I only barely remember. I have no idea what make or model the car was, but what I liked about it was that it…

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by Joe

DC Collectibles BTAS #42 – Gray Ghost

I have long maintained that the best episode of the now classic Batman: The Animated Series is the Mr. Freeze story, “Heart of Ice.” It is not, however, my favorite episode of the show as that honor belongs to “Beware the Gray Ghost.” That episode introduced the character Gray Ghost, a superhero from television who…

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by Joe

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | posted in batman the animated series, Television, toys

August 8, 2024

Batman: Caped Crusader

By Joe
Batman: Caped Crusader (2024)

In the far off land of 2021 we received word that a new animated Batman series was in development and attached to it was none other than Bruce Timm. Timm was one of the main creative minds behind Batman: The Animated Series and the DC Animated Universe it spawned so this news was met quite enthusiastically. Then Warner stepped in and muddied things up. The series was originally pitched as an HBO Max/Cartoon Network joint affair, but corporate reshuffling nixed that idea. Still, Caped Crusader is actually here now in 2024 which some other projects can’t say the same. It was shopped around for much of 2022 eventually landing with Amazon. This past Friday, the entire first season was dropped all at once on the Prime service ensuring talk of it will likely be ancient history once this goes live, but we should talk about it, nonetheless.

Caped Crusader is said to have come about as a result of Timm not wanting to continue with the universe he helped create starting with Batman. That’s understandable since a lot of that cast has either retired or unfortunately passed on and trying to recreate the magic of that series seems like a fool’s game. Timm instead used the opportunity of a new animated Batman to do things he couldn’t do with the other shows. This was to be a younger Batman set in a distinctive noir setting, not some time-locked version of an otherwise contemporary Gotham. It would not be beholden to any past era of the character, but would also be free to draw from the classic comic run. It could be more mature with its action and plots since it wouldn’t be airing as part of a network television kid’s programming block.

One of the most dramatic redesigns is that of The Penguin, which I rather enjoyed.

Alongside Timm is a host of other executive producers: J.J. Abrams, Matt Reeves, Ed Brubaker, James Tucker, Daniel Pipski, Rachel Rusch Rich, and Sam Register. Brubaker was hired as the head writer and directors Christina Sotta, Matt Peters, and Christopher Berkeley split the 10 episode series (4, 3, 3 respectively). Abrams’ Bad Robot Productions would handle much of the animation with DC Studios and Warner Bros. Animation also credited. Amazon MGM Studios is also listed, though I don’t know if that’s more branding or if that studio did actual work on the show. Frederik Wiedmann was brought on as the composer for all ten episodes.

Wiedmann had some big shoes to fill taking over for Shirley Walker, but equally as large is the role of Batman himself. Kevin Conroy left one hell of a mark on the character, but he had essentially retired from the role when the show was announced and would sadly pass away before this show could be completed. Dawning the cape and cowl this time is Hamish Linklater. He is joined by Jason Watkins who serves as loyal butler Alfred Pennyworth. This is a story of a Batman just starting out. We can assume he has been at this whole crime fighting thing for a little while because he has the costume, the car, and the cave all in place. What he doesn’t have are connections just yet within Gotham’s police department and other legal institutions. Most of the citizens seem to regard him as a myth and over the course of this first season the Batman will become more established and will be known to people like Commissioner Gordon (Eric Morgan Stuart) and his daughter, Barbara Gordon (Krystal Joy Brown).

Two characters featured quite a bit in the first season are Barbara Gordon and Harvey Dent.

I will say upfront that I came away from the first season of Batman: Caped Crusader with mixed feelings on the show. The design is definitely one of the elements I took issue with the least. Batman resembles his original design of black and gray with those tall, wide-splayed, ears on the cowl. He does not have the purple gloves, which is probably a solid choice. Alfred has a younger, rounder, build while Jim Gordon seems noticeably younger than usual while Barbara is noticeably older. She’s a career woman who is a public defender in Gotham. I don’t know how that is supposed to work, her being a public defender for those whom her father essentially locked up, but I suppose it makes for good conflict in a TV show. I just know I wouldn’t want the police commissioner’s daughter representing me if I were to find myself in trouble with the law.

The desire for a noir atmosphere is captured in the setting quite well. Technology is of the 1940’s with old style vehicles, phones, and televisions. There isn’t much technology on display in the rogue’s gallery, possibly to keep the show firmly locked in its setting, though it does give way to more supernatural elements. Batman has always encountered such and the 90s show had villains like Clayface, the Man-Bat, and others, though I can’t recall him fighting an actual ghost at any point like he does here. There are still villains who are very much of the gangster type. The first we meet is The Penguin, who has been gender-swapped to a female crime boss voiced by Minnie Driver. The first screenshot I saw of this version of the character looked a bit silly, like it was just the classic Penguin in a wig and lipstick, but the character model is much better in the show. I actually liked this change and found that bird-influenced appearance suited a female quite well. Another villain, Clayface (Dan Donohue), was redesigned to more resemble a Dick Tracy villain while the eventual Two-Face (Diedrich Bader) appearance was surprisingly simple.

I was routinely disappointed in the lighting in the show.

I could take or leave certain character designs, but what I found myself most disappointed in consistently was the animation on display. Characters have very stiff, sometimes robotic, movements. Walking animations with a character in full frame are surprisingly ugly for a 2024 show. Did Warner really cut the budget on this once it was no longer going to appear on one of their platforms? The lighting also isn’t always up to task. The very first shot in the series is a classic police interrogation scene under a single light. It looks awful as there’s a real lack of shadows being cast by the light. It’s a huge downgrade as far as I’m concerned. There are a few shots where more effort was put into it, but also plenty where it doesn’t even feel like the episode is taking place at night. It was never going to come close to matching the efforts from the 90s, but compared to X-Men ’97 this one leaves a lot to be desired.

The voice cast is a mixture of recognizable names as well as talent that is new to me. Most of them are quite good in their role. The only one I was left disappointed by was, unfortunately, Linklater’s Batman. Like a great many to do it before him, Linklater plays Bruce Wayne and Batman differently. Bruce is more personable, more perky, while Batman is curt and speaks in a lower voice. There’s an art to voicing Batman and I think Linklater needs more time in the role to really get it. His Batman is stiff to the point of sounding robotic. It’s possible he was receiving direction to play a character still trying to figure out his tough guy persona. Linklater is a talented actor so I’m assuming he’ll grow into the role, but it’s a little disappointing since a perfectly good Batman, Diedrich Bader, is right here on the cast already.

I don’t mind some supernatural elements in my Batman stories, but this guy is a little too Scooby Doo for me.

The ten stories of the first season are mostly stand-alone, but with some connecting tissue between them. The final three episodes are more purposefully connected and I suppose it can be considered serialized, but you wouldn’t miss a whole lot by mixing up the first 7 episodes. One villain, Harley Quinn (Jamie Chung), is introduced as her therapist persona first before the villain shows up and that’s one of the few aspects of the early episodes that wouldn’t work out of order. Speaking of, Quinn appears here in an origin separate from The Joker which was a somewhat bold choice. She’s her own thing this time around and I thought the show did a solid job with her. The tone of these stories is also allowed to be more mature. We see lots of people get shot, though gratuitous violence isn’t present. Batman is also free to punch guys in the face and sometimes the show feels a little preoccupied in pointing this out. There’s alcohol and even some romance making the show feel like it’s something akin to a PG-13 rating.

Other episodes were just okay. Few felt like they had heavy stakes and I found it hard to establish an emotional connection to any of the villains of the day. The best Batman episodes found something interesting to say about their bad guys, but this show struggled there. There’s even a kid villain in one episode that I think the episode wants us to have a response to at the end, but it just didn’t do enough to earn it. It at least does a good job of getting us to hate its crooked cop characters, but I think it also mishandles the character of Harvey Dent. We all know what Dent’s fate is to be when he’s first introduced, but this is an unlikable Dent. He’s arrogant and far more consumed with making the jump from District Attorney to Mayor of Gotham than actually doing his job so when the thing we all know is coming does, there’s no emotion. Plus there’s no one close to him to be affected by his transformation that we can feel something for instead. The Bruce/Harvey friendship is shoehorned in too late to make much of an impact, but I will give the show credit for finding another angle to play that at least puts Batman and Alfred at odds with each other. That’s also probably the only real character development we get out of our lead. We spend a lot of time with Gotham’s finest, but not a whole lot of time with Bruce or Batman. The show needs to find a way to make its lead more interesting.

When the show really wants to look good, it can. It gives me hope that a second season will be stronger.

I went into Batman: Caped Crusader not expecting to find something on par with Batman: The Animated Series. That would be an unfair expectation. I did expect to find something good and the product I got was at least approaching that. Caped Crusader is not a bad television series, but is it exceptional? No, not really. It’s a pretty easily digestible 10 episode season that mostly just gets credit for existing. Most of its “bold” choices for the Batman universe are just doing gender and career swaps with its characters. A lot of the story beats felt too predictable, too ordinary. The best episodes of the season were the ones that felt like stories that hadn’t really been told before, but they were few. I don’t expect it to make much of a mark on pop culture and I don’t know if a second season is even a sure thing. The show definitely expects one and it does the predictable thing of teasing a major villain at the very end to try and drum up some excitement, but it all feels a bit played out. Amazon did order a second season back in 2023, but if the streaming numbers are bad then nothing is stopping them from going back on that and getting one of those highly coveted tax write-offs. If it does come back then I’ll probably watch it, and if it doesn’t I probably won’t even notice.

Here’s more Batman content if you’re in search of such:

Batman – The Adventures Continue #50: Batman

If you’re a repeat visitor here at The Nostalgia Spot, then you’ve probably noticed that around here there is a high opinion of the television show Batman – The Animated Series. I did a re-watch of the series that spanned more than two years and also checked out the various films based on the property.…

Keep reading
by Joe

Batman: The Animated Series Wrap-Up

One-hundred and nine episodes plus three features leading to one-hundred and twelve blog entries have been devoted to the subject of Batman: The Animated Series. It started as a celebration of the show turning 25 and then as a curiosity piece. Since its premiere in 1992, the show had become much celebrated and praised all…

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by Joe

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , , | posted in Television

December 31, 2023

2023 – A Year in Action Figure Reviews

By Joe

I don’t usually do year-end wrap-up posts. My collecting is usually too narrow to really warrant it, but this year I felt a little different. I probably spent way too much on my hobby in 2023 as there were a lot of releases that came in bunches. It’s probably going to have a somewhat negative impact on my collecting in 2024 as I try to narrow things down and stick to what I really want as opposed to what just looks cool. I’ve already made the decision to not collect NECA’s The Last Ronin line as I just have too much TMNT as it is and I don’t love the designs from those books enough to warrant figure purchases. Plus, where would I put them? I’ll probably be scaling back on Turtles in general since most of what I want has already been produced. Am I going to stop? No, not entirely, but I’m finally at a point where I can see something new on the shelf and not feel like I have to buy it.

That’s 2024’s business, let’s talk 2023 one last time. Rather than just rank the figures I reviewed in a top 10 or something, I figured I’d do it more like an awards show only my awards are both celebratory and dubious. You can’t have good without the bad, so if you’re one of those types that just hates anything that could be perceived as negative then maybe skip those. I’m also limiting this to figures I purchased in 2023 that were also current. Getting a figure that was new to me didn’t qualify if it was released prior to 2023. On the other hand, release dates are pretty loose so it’s possible you personally got something on my list in 2022 that I received in 2023. That’s just the action figure business at work. Let’s get to it though as so that we’re not here forever.

Longest Wait of 2023 – Mezco Batman ’89

This figure took so long to come out that I was starting to think it was never going to come out. Mezco isn’t known for its communication so folks who had preordered this thing, and paid in full, in 2020 were left completely in the dark. Maybe it would come, maybe it wouldn’t? 2023 ended up being the year where that wait finally came to an end. Was it worth it? Probably not. If I had a category for most interesting release of the year this figure would win that as well. It’s certainly an experience. Mezco did nail the Keaton likeness though which was the most important factor for me. I just question how well this silicon body is going to hold up over the years. Runner-Up: Super7’s The Simpsons Wave One

Best Figure not in 1:12 or 1:10 Scale – Mondo Sabretooth

I mostly collect 1:12 and 1:10 scale action figures, but every now and then a company gets me to dip my toes in something else. Usually that something else is 1:18, but Mondo has absolutely been killing it with its 1:6 scale line of figures from X-Men the animated series. There have been 3 releases in 2023: Magneto, Jubilee, and Sabretooth, and it’s Sabretooth that takes the crown for me by just a smidge. He looks awesome, poses well enough, and came loaded with accessories. These figures half shelf-presence for days. The only negative is the cost and space and that Mondo solicited 5 figures in 2023 which really did some damage to the old toy fund. Gambit should be arriving any day now too with Logan and Omega Red coming in 2024. I better make room! Runner-Up: Mondo Magneto and Jubilee

Worst Company – Hasbro

Sorry to kick you while you’re down Hasbro as the company just announced a layoffs to take effect next year, though maybe look at the top of the company instead? Either way, Hasbro keeps getting worse with its action figure offerings. The Power Rangers brand is stale, the Dungeons & Dragons stuff based on the old cartoon were riddled with quality control issues, and prices keep climbing on Marvel Legends and Star Wars while accessories and paint apps get cut. They’re putting out their most bare bones releases ever in those lines, but at a price greater than we’ve ever seen for those lines. More expensive plus poorer quality is not a recipe for success. I currently have two Hasbro action figures on pre-order and I’m not looking to add anymore. Runner-Up: Super7

Best Company – NECA

A more conventional round-up of the best figures of 2023 would have included these boys.

Basically, see what Hasbro did in 2023? NECA did the opposite. For the most part. Yes, their prices have gone up as well, but we haven’t seen a reduction in the product to go along with that price hike. NECA still keeps putting out tons of unique sculpts that are fully-painted with a generous assortment of accessories. They also managed to deliver their long-awaited Turtle Van and the product turned out pretty damn awesome. Now, lets just not talk about the pricing debacle that is the TMNT Sewer Lair. This is supposed to be a positive entry. Runner-Up: Jada Toys (even though I didn’t review any of their stuff here)

Best Original IP Release – Robot Reaper (Super7)

This is what sold me on this one.

Super7’s The Worst is their own collection of takes on popular, villainous, tropes, I suppose. Their first wave in their Ultimates! collection didn’t thrill me, but I could not keep myself away from wave two’s Robot Reaper. This thing is just a fun, clever, design and it’s also a fun action figure to mess around with. Some of the accessories I could do with out, and part of me feels like a sucker for paying full MSRP knowing full well it’s sure to be discounted, but when a company puts out something good I don’t mind paying full price. Runner-Up: Boss Fight Studio Saurozoic Warriors

Best Figure that Costs Too Much – MAFEX Scarlet Spider

He’s cool, but is he $100 cool?

Medicom’s MAFEX brand is basically known for being super-articulated and super expensive. Figures routinely cost over 100 bucks for those of us who dwell in the west and it’s hard to figure out why. Sure, some of the licenses they grab don’t come cheap, but Bandai puts out similar or better products for considerably less. And sometimes even for the same license. This Scarlet Spider figure is one I enjoy quite a bit despite feeling like it’s not worth the tasking price. It’s a better figure than what Hasbro is set to release very soon (one of two I have preordered), but I could very easily make the argument that the Hasbro one is a far better value which trumps any advantage the MAFEX figure brings to the table. Runner-Up: Super7 TMNT Ultimates! Robotic Rocksteady

Best Figure With Awful Quality Control – Super7 Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Ultimates! Goldar

I’m not sure if Super7 has ever made a prettier action figure than Goldar from its line of MMPR figures. I mean, he is a sort of dog-faced monster, but the gold armor they sculpted and painted looks terrific and the character looks like it stepped right out of a television set in 1993. I can’t say the same for basically anything else in Super7’s MMPR line. It’s also the figure that I’ve seen break on camera in figure reviews more than any other. Whether it be the neck, wrists, or those damn wings, this is a finicky, fragile, mess of a figure. I don’t even like handling it as a result. I basically selected the head I wanted and the wing options and I don’t intend to change anything or move much. In some respects, it’s a terrible action figure, but also a great one. It’s a conundrum. Runner-Up: None

Worst Action Figure of 2023 – Marvel Legends Spider-Man (Animated)

Go ahead Venom, squeeze the life out of this twerp and his weird-shaped head.

This is one of those figures you may have received in 2022 that I got in 2023. Walmart put it up for preorder in the fall and didn’t ship them for awhile, if at all, while some were able to find it in-store in December. No matter, it’s my pick for worst figure of the year that I personally reviewed. And it’s kind of getting it on a technicality, as the worst figure I bought in 2023 was a reissue of an old figure in the McFarlane Batman – The Animated Series Mr. Freeze (what’s with figures based on 90s animated shows getting the shaft?). This Spider-Man is the infamous cel-shaded one, but I’ll defend the cel-shading to a point. It’s not awful like most of the X-Men figures were in 2022, though it’s nothing special. It’s fine. Everything else sucks though. The head is a bizarre shape and looks stupid, the body is way too undersized for the character this figure is based upon, and while it articulates better than some Hasbro Spider-Men, it still does some weird things. The accessories, which include two extra sets of hands and some web splats, are also terrible and since it was a Walmart exclusive it was really annoying to have to track down. Hasbro did a whole line of figures based on the ’94 cartoon series and yet they didn’t make the central character, Spider-Man himself, available in his red and blue threads to a mass audience. What a stupid decision and another deserving reason for Hasbro’s status as worst action figure company of 2023. Runner-Up: Marvel Legends X-Men ’97 Magneto

Best Action Figure of 2023 – Mezco Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Green Ranger

I’m just sorry I don’t have an actual award to give him.

When Mezco first unveiled its take on the Green Ranger from Mighty Morphin Power Rangers I had a feeling it had a chance to be THE Green Ranger for me. I’d have no need for any other. It was another long wait, and the figure was released annoyingly enough as a convention exclusive, but it lived up to the hype. This figure is not perfect, but it’s the best representation of the Green Ranger in 1:12 form. The details look great, the proportions suitable for the source material, and the soft goods actually enhance the figure and not detract from it. It has all of the accessories you could want plus a flight stand. There are effect parts and even an extra holster for the Blade Blaster, if you want it. I was skeptical, and I almost put this guy in the runner-up category for the too expensive, but Mezco delivered a great product. It’s so good that I’m almost tempted to get the rest of the MMPR team, but then I look at the price tag and I feel pretty satisfied to just stick with Greeny here. Runner-Up: None, this figure was in a class by itself

Those are my thoughts on 2023. To my surprise, I didn’t pick anything from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, but then again, that brand had a lot of good releases in 2023, just nothing exceptional. I considered doing a “Best Toy Line” and that probably would have gone to NECA’s cartoon TMNT line, but I didn’t feel that strongly about it, nor could I come up with a corresponding worst toy line. As for 2024, I’m looking forward to it. I have a ton of stuff preordered with Bandai and its Dragon Ball line including some figures that I’m already eyeing as potential Figure of the Year when 2024 is nearing an end. And then there’s Mondo X-Men that I have preordered and we’ve seen artwork for Rogue and Cyclops so that line figures to expand. As for Mezco, I may have given them top prize for 2023, but I’m not planning on picking up anything from that company in 2024. Their brand is pretty specific and it often doesn’t appeal to me. It will take a perfect marriage of enthusiasm for a brand on my part and their unique talents to get me to buy another one. And while I may scale back my toy buying in 2024, don’t expect to see my reviews vanish anytime soon. There will still be plenty to talk about.

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