Stantz Sunday leads us right into Movie Masters Monday, and we have a treat for all of you Bat-Fans out there – Jail Cell Joker! This Matty Collector exclusive features the first new Heath Ledger likeness since the the original Joker figure released nearly a year and half ago. Mattel was not able to bring their final assortment to retail but the figures will live on at Matty in monthly installments. Check out the usual with pictures and thoughts.
As you probably know, over the next few months we are due to get several new Movie Masters figure featuring characters (in various incarnations) from last summer’s super-smash Bat-Flick The Dark Knight. Featured figures will include Bank Robber Joker, Harvey Dent, Survival Suit Bruce Wayne, Arkham Asylum Scarecrow, Batman (with his RADAR eyes), Two Face and of course, the Jail Cell Joker. I am excited for all of these figures, especially Two Face but after seeing the original Four Horsemen 2-up of this figure at New York Comic Con, Joker’s stock certainly rose for me.
The sculpt of this figure is very, very nice (if you haven’t figured out that the Horsemen have a knack for doing amazing sculpts, now is the time) and the likeness in the head sculpt is by far their best effort. At this scale, it is amazing how close to Heath Ledger they came. We have seen some very strong likeness to real people lately with Egon and Ray but they really nailed this one. In fact, it kind of makes the old figure obsolete. The expression, the hair, everything is just spot on this time around, and you really need to have him in hand to see just how nice it is. So with the head sculpt being as purdy as it is, it is easy to miss something like the hands but they are really well done as well, with lots of lines and folds to them. The one spot that I would fault the overall sculpt/engineering of the figure is that his head looks down a little too much for my liking. It is not terrible but he does not have a lot of movement in the neck joint (something that we have been seeing quite a lot of lately).
However, perhaps the area seeing even more improvement than the sculpt is in the paint department. Wow. The paint on the face is what really makes this figure in the end, I think. I still believe that the original Movie Masters Joker has a great head sculpt too but is got a bit lost with the thick white paint they used for his make-up. This time they really got it though, especially with the white and black grease paint. You can see past it to flesh and it is really messy, just like in the move. It also works very well in bringing out the nuances to the face sculpt instead of hiding them. The on spot people might take issue with is the red lip make-up, but it has come a LONG way since the previous figure. The paint on the hair is really well done too, it looks ratty and shabby this time instead of like a big green wig. Finally, the paint detail on the Joker’s shirt is unreal, I mean, they hit it pattern for pattern and some of the dots and lines are so small, they had to have had one heck of mask in order to get them all right.
Joker also comes with a rocket launcher accessory, most likely to represent the one he used in the big semi/SWAT chase in the middle of the movie. This one has been “Joker-fied” a bit with colors and “smile” decos. It is always nice to get an accessory, especially with exclusive figures, but I think this one will look better with the previous Joker.
Overall I must say that, of all of the new things I have looked at this go around, this is one of my most pleasant surprises. I LOVED The Dark Knight but I am really more of a comic-based figure guy. This figure is simply stunning though and I think fans of TDK, Movie Masters and Bat-figures in general will be quite happy with this incarnation of of everyone’s favorite psychotic clown. Now, Matty, let’s get Nurse Joker too!
*Thanks so much for reading and thanks to Toy Guru for sending the Joker along!
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