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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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:
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