I hope McFarlane makes a Batman '66 Mad Hatter, Bruce & Dick in street clothes, and Alfred.
Barnabas Collins
Interesting wave. I'll definitely snag Gordon, if he ends up being fudgable with the rest of the 66 line. I enjoyed the New Adventures of Batman cartoon, short-lived as it was. I don't think the Riddler ever appeared in the show, though, due to being used in Super Friends, so that'll be interesting to see (unless they just give us a Super Friends Riddler)
I can't remember his exact wording, but in Pixel Dan's Toy Fair booth tour, Todd mentioned that now DC was letting them use the 66 style on new things, and they were excited to do that rather than go too deep into the existing well. I'm sure it's an easily misconstrued line- Todd often misspeaks- but it did give me pause when I first heard it. I think there's enough left in the 66 show to be able to mix the waves from here on out- one or two from the show, one or two comic/variant figures.
I agree, I would think they could mix and match going forward between the show and the comic or animated.
I have been very happy with the line as it has gone fairly deep, so I wouldn't be too upset if the TV show releases were done - but not getting Alfred and civilian Bruce and Dick for the Library Playset would be unfortunate.
My understanding is that the New Adventures figures will be straight 66 repaints.
Robin gets the inverted R, unpainted chest straps. Batman is brighter colored. Joker, Penguin, and Batgirl are essentially comics colors. Riddler gets his purple suit and was chosen because they already had a mold.
No clue about the accessories but I think there are some new things to keep an eye out for like Bat-Mite and Zarbor as pack-ins.
My understanding is that the New Adventures figures will be straight 66 repaints.
Robin gets the inverted R, unpainted chest straps. Batman is brighter colored. Joker, Penguin, and Batgirl are essentially comics colors. Riddler gets his purple suit and was chosen because they already had a mold.
No clue about the accessories but I think there are some new things to keep an eye out for like Bat-Mite and Zarbor as pack-ins.
Yikes. I'm not interested in off-model New Adventures figures with the live action likenesses. I'd probably only grab a Gordon if this is the case, just as a placeholder for the regular '66 figures.
Also, I'm betting they make Robin's cape incorrectly for the fourth (or is it fifth) time...
My understanding is that the New Adventures figures will be straight 66 repaints.
Robin gets the inverted R, unpainted chest straps. Batman is brighter colored. Joker, Penguin, and Batgirl are essentially comics colors. Riddler gets his purple suit and was chosen because they already had a mold.
No clue about the accessories but I think there are some new things to keep an eye out for like Bat-Mite and Zarbor as pack-ins.
Yikes. I'm not interested in off-model New Adventures figures with the live action likenesses. I'd probably only grab a Gordon if this is the case, just as a placeholder for the regular '66 figures.
Also, I'm betting they make Robin's cape incorrectly for the fourth (or is it fifth) time...
Well, it's not like anyone was ever begging for 10 POA Filmation Batman figures, honestly. I think it was chosen mostly as a way to justify an "expansion" of Batman '66 mold use and a way to do a Gordon without a likeness.
I think they just looked at what Adam West had also done as a starting point.
I also kind of think we could get into stuff like the masked characters from the Super-Heroes Roast specials like Hawkman. I get the impression that's also a part of how Superman and Lord Death Man got chosen: no actor likenesses.
I don't know if we're actually done with 66 comics figures but I think they're essentially trying to signal that they're so far away from paying for likenesses that the estates of the remaining 66 actors won't object to comics versions.
There's essentially some court precedent going back to, I think, Kenner 90s Aliens figures that establishes that if you're using SOME actor likenesses but not others then, under some state laws, doing something that isn't likeness based can still infringe on a person's personality rights by implying their personality. There was an Aliens actor who sued and won because a figure that DIDN'T look like him somehow implied his likeness by existing in a line with likenesses.
I think they had some backlash with Shatner or Craig's estate with "comics versions".
Something similar happened with Cliff and Norm from Cheers. An airport bar put mannequins that looked nothing like them in their costumes in a Cheers bar. The actors sued and won because they argued that they were so associated with the characters that something that didn't look like them still evoked them.
I think the idea here is to firmly establish this as a line that no longer uses likenesses so that they can eventually do 66 comics figures without the actors being able to object because the line is no longer associated with actor portrayals.
It's wonky but exactly the kind of legal chicken Todd has played throughout his career. He used to essentially use lawyers to determine exactly how close to libel or copyright infringement he could get -- and when he lost cases, he'd take a holding company through bankruptcy to avoid paying the settlement.
I think that's essentially what's guiding the weirdness here. He's consulting with lawyers to lay out the groundwork for how he can go back to doing comics Batman 66 characters without actors being able to lodge claims for their likeness being implied by association with a line that uses some likenesses. By establishing that the line is no longer striving for actor likenesses, that helps fortify the use of comic book versions.
The Review Spot reviews the new McFarlane Lord Death Man figure.
Barnabas Collins
Batman Robot arrived today from amazon. I haven't opened him up yet, but he looks neat.
I went to Gamestop today and they have the newest wave of figures. I only saw Batman, Robin, Superman & Joker. They only had 1 of each, so they may have gotten 1 box and sold Lord Death Man & Robot Batman. I haven't seen them at Target yet.
@barnabas_collins Love the review!
I think the katana sword was a reference to the "anime" origins of Lord Death Man, but, as you point out, I would have much preferred a corny skull-blaster because a katana sword just doesn't feel like the 60s TV show.
The only possible campy joke for me is that, if Lord Death Man had appeared on the 60s show, he would have been played by an actor in a Halloween-store skeleton suit with a skull mask over his head (explaining the slightly oversized head).
I think my favorites in this wave are Lord Death Man and the ridiculous Bat Robot Suit.
Interesting wave. I'll definitely snag Gordon, if he ends up being fudgable with the rest of the 66 line. I enjoyed the New Adventures of Batman cartoon, short-lived as it was. I don't think the Riddler ever appeared in the show, though, due to being used in Super Friends, so that'll be interesting to see (unless they just give us a Super Friends Riddler
Same here for Gordon (although you would think Gordon, O'Hara, Alfred and Aunt Harriet all appeared in the 2 Batman 66 DTV movies so they could just use those likenesses!)
IIRC Riddler appears briefly in the intro only (stealing from a safe before the Bat-Signal shines on him)
Has anyone in the UK managed to get the 66 bat boat at all? No-one seems to have gotten it in stock and Forbidden Planet keeps pushing the release date back even though the other figures that came out at the same time have all shown up here?
Gave up waiting for the Bat-Boat and finally just ordered it from Amazon.Com (my main concern was how it would survive given the half-open box but it was packed fairly well with only some minor scuffs). Overall its nice despite essentially just being a piece of immobile plastic but I'm glad to have another vehicle from the show - just hoping the Bat-Copter and Batgirl cycle show up!
I also managed to pick up the new wave:
- Bat-Bot is awesome, a perfectly 50's/60's style sci-fi robot - like if B-9 from Lost in Space had shown up in the show
- Lord Death Man is a great looking figure to
- Joker/Superman - they're ok, totally would have skipped them but I ordered the whole case to get...
- Batman & Robin - glad these were reissued as I wanted a set of them to keep MOC
I do like the robot Batman and I suppose Lord Death Man is hokey fun. They did make me feel better about buying this wave overall.
I feel like they will try my patience if I have to wait forever for a David Wayne Mad Hatter, and I may eventually stop buying characters such as a Superman who looks like no one in particular or a masked Joker with no strong association to the show.
To me, they should be trying to give us at least one additional show character per wave. And they have so many other possibilities from the show too: Alfred, Aunt Harriet, Chief O'Hara, Commissioner Gordon, Yvonne Craig Batgirl, False Face, Bookworm, John Astin Riddler, Clock King, Killer Moth (from the unaired Batgirl pilot), and Bruce and Dick in street clothes.
I will also continue to hope for the TV show Batgirl Bat Cycle and the Bat-Copter before the line ends..
To contradict myself though, I think I would definitely buy Batman 66 comic versions of Scarecrow and Clayface. And maybe even a Betty and Veronica Batwoman and Batgirl (the Kathy and Betty Kane costumes).
Now if only someone will make a compatible custom head of George Reeves to go on this Superman body.
So the Lord Death Man glow-in-the-dark variant was only available on Todd's site via that raffle sale method? Or will they hit stores, too?
So the Lord Death Man glow-in-the-dark variant was only available on Todd's site via that raffle sale method? Or will they hit stores, too?
I’m pretty sure it is a regular chase release, not exclusive to MTS.
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