Next up as part of NECA’s big November surprise, we get the iconic Batman nemesis, none other than the Joker.
Just not the one I would have guessed.
When the NECA Internet-busting party broke out on social media last week, my dumbass was at my day-job, so I was stuck bouncing between Fwoosh and looking at NECA’s Twitter page on my phone. And I still don’t really understand Twitter. Anyway, I saw the names before I saw the figures. ’66 Batman, Superman, Joker?!?! Sweet! I rightly guessed the Superman, but Joker was a mystery. Could those crazy bastards have pulled it off? Were we getting a Nicholson Joker? Or maybe a Cesar Romero for parity with the ’66 Batman?
Naw, naw. Should’ve just looked at the previous 18-inch figures, and then it would’ve made total sense. We were going to get another crack at that other iconic Joker, as portrayed by Heath Ledger in the Nolan series.
So, I admit, I was maybe a little disappointed at first. But when I saw him at Toys R Us a day later, if I was still not sold, I sure as hell didn’t know it.
Joker comes to us packed in the standard NECA window box with some nice art and a little text on the back.
Inside, he makes out not quite as nicely as Batman did, but he does come with a nice pair of guns and a blade.
The Glock 17 Mod with the 33rd magazine is particularly nice, a unique pistol that fit the Joker well in the movie. Usually just identified as a Glock 18, this one is an armorer’s custom converted to full auto. The other is a S&W M76, an odd little sub-gun with a fixed folding stock, built like the Carl Gustav or M3 Grease guns that preceded it. As far as I know, this is a first for the type in non-1/6 figures.
As with Batman, the sculpt and paint on this figure is extremely well done. The textures on the clothes, the metal pocket chain, and the haunting face sculpt really put him into a class all his own. The paint work balances nice, flat but vibrant colors with a soft wash, and I really can’t imagine a better version of this Joker south of Hot Toys.
Articulation is standard NECA fare, and the range is pretty good, even a bit better than Batman’s. The swivel elbows do limit some of the gun-wielding poses, but he’s hardly unique in that category. His neck and torso joints help make him a very expressive figure, as he can slouch and crank his neck in interesting ways.
Overall, I seriously think this Joker will be a bit of a sleeper behind the big two. Once people realize how nicely he was rendered, or especially should NECA find a way to make a companion Batman, he’ll evaporate quickly, if he doesn’t just do so on the strength of shelf appeal alone.
