HeroCon Updates!

Herbie on display for HeroCon

I'm back with more updates about HeroCon as it kicks off this weekend at SM City Sucat. 

Take a photo with Herbie

Herbie, the lovable Volkswagen Beetle from the movie Herbie Fully Loaded makes an appearance at HeroCon as he welcomes those who wants to take photos with him.

Batang X

Taken from Herocon's Facebook Page

"In the 90's Direk Peque Gallaga and Lore Reyes gave us Batang X, after 2 movies and a short spin as a TV series in channel 5 we slowly forgot about them. We believe amidst the problems and calamities we are having, we are reminded of our roots, to harken back and preserve the what's good in our past.

Batang X paved the way to TV/Movie Superheroes taken from DC/Marvel style and adopted it to our culture, making it an instrument to convey messages of hope, unity, patriotism and goodwill to mankind the Filipino way."

With that said, Anna Larrucea and Janus Del Prado will make an appearance in HeroCon. I'm sure a lot of us had a crush on Anna when she played Trina in Batang X as well as other T.V. Appearances. As stated in the HeroCon Facebook Page:

"We are proud to have Anna Larrucea who played Trina in Batang X with us on our Panel with Direk Peque Gallaga and Lore Reyes. She was launched as part of Star Circle Batch 4 and became a mainstay in ABS-CBN TV shows Ang TV (1992-1997), Kaybol (1995), Gimik (1996) and Mula Sa Puso (1997).
She starred in the movie Baby Love (1995) with Jason Salcedo. She did movies such as Batang X (1995) with Aiko Melendez, Magic Temple (1996), Ang TV: The Movie (1996), Batang PX (1997) with Patrick Garcia, Mula Sa Puso: The Movie (1999), Puso ng Pasko (1998), plus Sugatang Puso (2001) starring Lorna Tolentino and Christopher de Leon.

She was nominated for FAMAS Best Child Actress Award in Magic Temple (1996).

She appeared in GMA-7s TV series Hawak Ko Ang Langit (2003) with Assunta de Rossi, and Impostora (2007) starring Iza Calzado and Sunshine Dizon."

Janus del Prado, the child actor who played Control in Batang X will also join her on stage. Here's HeroCon's official statement:

"We are proud to have Janus del Prado who played Control in Batang X with us on our panel with Direk Peque Gallaga and Lore Reyes. He did a lot of shows in ABS-CBN and GMA Network and later focuses on the Kapamilya Network.

Recently we saw him in the ABS CBN Bukas na lang kita Mamahalin and A Beautiful Affair. Also in the Four Sisters and a Wedding, The Reunion and Every Breath you Take to name some."

Peque Gallaga and Lore Reyes, two of the most renowned Filipino Fantasy writers and the creator of Batang X will serve as guest panelist in an effort to inspire young Pinoy fantasy writers to hone their craft and carry on with their creativity.  

Award winning actor John Arcilla will also have a guest appearance

Toy photography enthusiasts will also get a chance to vie for top place in the Toy Photography Challenge.

Guest illustrators will also illustrate your favorite heroes for a cause.

For the other events of Herocon, check it out here

http://actionfigureplanet.blogspot.com/2013/12/herocon-2013.html

Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/HeroconPh?ref=br_tf

HEROCON 2013

HeroCon 2013

If you are a toy collector/cosplayer or just an ordinary fellow who loves pop culture art then HeroCon is for you. For the first time ever, Filipinos from the southern part of Metro Manila need not travel to the North to experience an exciting pop culture event. HeroCon in its first edition, with the partnership of SM City Sucat, will be bringing to Metro Manila a toy event with charity in mind.

HeroCon 2013 Entrance pass and Raffle Ticket

Tickets will be priced at P150 each for a three day pass. So that would be P50 per day. An entrant will also get a chance to win a life-size superhero statue. How cool is that?  

Heroic Kosplay Kontest

 Cosplayers will also get a chance to join this fun cosplay contest, and as an added twist, Kids as young as 3-12 years of age will have their own cosplay contest. So for those kids who still have a halloween hangover, they can gear up once again for this Christmas Season.

On the spot Photography Contest

For photo enthusiasts, they can join the On-The-Spot Photography Contest as they aim their cameras at the huge G.I. Joe/Transformers Crossover Diorama. No photo editing tips allowed.

Custom Action figure Contest

Action Figure customizers can also showcase their customizing skills thru the Custom Action Figure Contest. It will need more than just creativity to win this contest as one needs to have a unique imagination to deliver the goods.

Toy drive Donation

Philanthropists will also get their chance to make child victims of the Yolanda Typhoon happy by being their Santa Clauses this Christmas as they could Donate a toy to bring joy this Christmas Season.

For more details about HeroCon 2013, you can visit and like their Facebook page at

https://www.facebook.com/HeroconPh

The Dark Knight Trilogy: The Dark Knight

The Dark Knight main casts

Christopher Nolan's sequel to Batman Begins blew the superhero movie genre in ways that until to this day few have equaled. Titled as The Dark Knight, Nolan finally pits his Batman against his prime arch enemy, The Joker. Christian Bale returns as Bruce Wayne/Batman, this time more confident in his dual role as both alter ego and superhero. Nolan also brought in another important aspect of Batman as a character when he finally gave his Batman the detective skills that he is popularly known with by the comic book readers. But alas, Bale was upstaged by Heath Ledger's iconic and fatal role as the Joker. The Dark Knight was to be Ledger's final film appearance before succumbing to his death. Reports have it that Ledger died of acute intoxication, having overdosed himself with prescription medicines that dealt with anxiety, insomnia, and pain. Ledger might have over internalized his role as the Joker, leading himself to self destruct as he dealt with the after effects of cleansing his Joker persona in real life. Ledger totally owned the Joker, and not only did the make up covered Ledger's face, but his entire demeanor changed. It was as if Ledger was nowhere to be seen on film and what we saw instead was the psychotic and criminally deranged Joker on the screen. Another villain in the film was Harvey Dent/Two-Face (played by Aaron Eckhart), a Gotham City District Attorney who was Bruce's rival for the love of Rachel Dawes (now played by Maggie Gyllenhaal). Dent had his face disfigured by the Joker and lost Rachel when Joker kidnapped both of them and killed Rachel. The severe corruption in the Gotham City police would lead Dent to change his outlook and instead sought revenge against the Gotham City police force, headed by Lt. Jim Gordon (still played by Gary Oldman). Read on for more about The Dark Knight.     

Batman takes captures Scarecrow in the opening scene

The movie opens with a dashing daylight robbery headed by the Joker as he and his henchmen robs a Gotham Bank ran by the Gotham Mafia. Joker kills each of his men during the heist, and takes all of the money for himself. We then see Batman in his new and more bulletproof padded costume taking on the escaped Scarecrow from the first movie. This easily bridges the first movie and this movie as we last saw Scarecrow running loose during the mass hysteria from the Gotham City jail in the first movie. We are then introduced to Harvey Dent, a young and successful District Attorney who is dating Rachel Dawes. Bruce is impressed by his sense of idealism and throws his support to him, first by offering a fund raiser for him, and secondly by forming a triumvirate with Dent, Gordon, and himself as Batman to finally eradicate Gotham City's crime bosses. While this team is gaining groundbreaking victories against crime, The Joker would present himself to the crime bosses of Gotham as their answer to Batman. The Mafia initially hesitates to acquire the services of Joker, but Joker kills one of the bosses and takes control of his thugs as he forces his way into the Mafia's inner circle, rendering them helpless and consenting to Joker's plan of counterattack against Gotham's crime busters. It also does not help matters when the mob learned that their accountant Lau run off all their money to Hong Kong as he tried to save himself from the sure eradication of Gotham's criminal empire.     

Bruce Wayne and Harvey Dent

Meanwhile, Batman heads to Hong Koong to retrieve Lau and make him a state witness that would finally send the Gotham Mob to jail. In an intense battle, Batman finally nabs Lau and during his return to Gotham, initially celebrates the progress of their work. During the fund raiser for Dent, Joker makes an appearance and threatens the guests, robbing them off of all their jewelries and luxuries, and in the process introduces himself to the terrified guests that consists of Gotham City's the rich and famous. The Joker was in the hunt for Dent but Batman was able to hide Dent just in time. The Joker also kills Gotham's Police Commissioner and the Judge handling the Mob trial albeit in mysterious circumstances despite both being heavily guarded by the Gotham City Police Department. The Joker then challenges Batman to reveal his identity to the public and that people will die each day every time Batman delays his revelation. As time pressure heats up, Joker attempts to assassinate the city mayor but Gordon's quick thinking foils this attempt, sacrificing himself in the process. Gotham mourns the death of Gordon and with too many lives being lost, Bruce finally decides to reveal himself in public. But before he could do so, Dent beat him to it, revealing himself to the public as Batman. Dent did this to protect Batman as he still believed that Batman is the city's only hope. As Dent is being transported with a heavily armed escort, the Joker launches his assault on Dent, but to his surprise Batman appears and both are engaged in a tough battle before a very much alive Jim Gordon appeared and takes the Joker into custody. Gordon had faked his death to throw Joker offhand, one upping the Joker as Gotham celebrates the Joker's capture.          

Batman battles the Joker

Not all good things would last though, as later in the night, reports would appear that both Dent and Dawes had went missing. A furious Batman interrogates the Joker, beating him to a pulp as he extracts information about the whereabouts of both kidnapped victims. Joker would trick Batman as to Dawes location, leading him to Dent. Both were housed in two separated buildings that is wired with explosives, with the bomb detonator hidden somewhere near the Joker's holding cell. Batman manages to save Dent, whose face was hideously scarred in the process. But the Gotham City Police would be too late, as they arrived in time only to see the building where Dawes was held captive explode right before their eyes, effectively killing Dawes. Joker had activated the detonator and escapes with Lau as he successfully fights off the Gotham City Policemen in his daring escape. Joker's escape forces one accountant working in Wayne Industries to reveal Batman's identity. He had deduced that Bruce Wayne is Batman. But the Joker prevents him from doing this by creating a mass hysteria as he tells the public to kill Reese before he reveals Batman's identity or else he would bomb a hospital. A mad scramble ensued as people came attacking the accountant, hoping to stop him from revealing Batman's identity. Police escorts were tasked to protect the accountant but too much pressure even from within the Police ranks would nearly have this accountant killed if it weren't only for Gordon and Bruce's protection. The accountant eventually changes his mind after being saved by Bruce.

Joker convinces Two-Face to turn to the dark side

By then, Joker had made his way to the hospital where Dent was recuperating from his injuries. Dressed as a Nurse, The Joker would visit Dent in his room and tries to convince him to seek revenge against those who have wronged him. Joker then leaves the hospital and bombs it. Dent manages to escape and began plotting his next move. He goes after mobsters and cops responsible for the death of Dawes, deciding their fates if he would kill them or let them live by flipping a coin. Joker meanwhile had rigged bombs in two ferries where one was housing ordinary Gotham citizens and the other housing the Gotham prison inmates and convicts. Joker had created a bomb scare in Gotham City and the government had decided to ship the citizens away from the city for the meantime while they deal with the Joker menace. Joker reveals that each ferry has a bomb detonator and that the citizens must blow up the other ferry or else Joker will blow up both ferries. The citizens and inmates were caught in a quandary as none of them could ever live with the fact that they were able to blow up a ferry full of people just to save themselves. Some citizens were saying that they should save themselves and blow up the other because the other ferry contained criminals, while the other ferry containing the criminals would reason that they should blow up the other because some of them have already killed, and there was no more moral fiber in them. But Joker's game would not be successful as Joker's thoughts where chaos and mayhem would rule over the sane mind was not to be. The people would prove Joker wrong.

Batman's final showdown with Two-Face

Meanwhile, Batman (with the help of Lucius Fox) locates Joker in a building and a fight ensues. Joker had cleverly dressed the hostages as his men while the assaulting SWAT team was on its way to shoot at the hostages. Batman manages to save them all from bloodshed as he single-handedly beat all of them. Batman then engages The Joker in a final showdown, beating him endlessly before saving The Joker from a fatal fall from the building. The Joker gloats that all is not lost for him because he still had a wild card left in the person of Harvey Dent. Gotham's former District Attorney and the christened "White Knight" to Batman's "Dark Knight" had already lost all his sanity and was hell bent on killing Gordon. Joker had concluded that when the whole of Gotham knows that Dent had turned to a life of crime and revenge, all hope would be lost. Batman races against time to save Gordon from Dent and he reaches just in time to witness Dent take Gordon's son as a hostage. Dent had already lost all his idealism and hope in Gotham as he blames Gordon and his entire police force for the death of Rachel. There were a number of corrupt Gotham cops who were under the payroll of the Gotham mafia, and some of them were responsible for the deaths of such noble men like the former police commissioner, judge, and other victims of the mafia. Dent decides to use his coin toss in deciding the fates of Batman, Gordon's son, and himself. He shoots Batman, spares himself, and was about to throw Gordon's son off the edge of the building when Batman lunges at him, saving Gordon's son but fails to save Dent as he falls to his death. Batman tells Gordon to put all the blame on him, preserving Dent's image as the "White Knight", which also in turn preserves Gotham's hope for good people without resorting to vigilantism. The movie ends with Batman running away from Gordon and the police force, escaping from arrest for the crimes that he did not do. 

The casts thus far for the two Nolan produced Batman movies

What separated The Dark Knight from other superhero movies is that this isn't your typical superhero movie that involves camp, humor, and cheesy story lines. There wasn't even a feel good vibe to this movie as it is more akin to a crime drama than two dimensional spandex wearing fictional characters that came from comic books which began as children's past time. Marvel had produced a slew of feel good and cheesy movies, cementing the Superhero movie genre as a strong financial profit vehicle for movie studios. The Dark Knight changed all that perception. Superhero movies doesn't need to be cheesy to be appreciated. And just like how The Dark Knight Returns changed the whole culture of comic books when this Frank Miller penned graphic novel introduced a more mature reader oriented stories, The Dark Knight introduced to us a different facet of the Superhero movies. The movie dealt with a lot of moral and cerebral issues that makes us look at the mirror and question how strong our moral fiber is. There were a lot of instances in the movie (like how the citizens and inmates reacted to Joker's bomb challenge) where we could ask ourselves what would we do if we were in their situation. Chaos and anarchy leads to panic and indecisiveness. But can we keep a sane mind through it all? Ledger's masterful Joker portrayal brought us a different kind of terror. If Nicholson's Joker portrayal in Tim Burton's Batman was a striking balance between camp and terror, Ledger's Joker was purely terrifying. For how would you deal with a villain who had no other motive but just wanted to watch the world burn. The unconventional route that The Dark Knight took would shape the succeeding DC Superheroes movies. DC's Green Lantern (which was written in the same vein with how Marvel's superhero movies are written) bombed at the box office, while their Nolan produced Man of Steel which was written with realism in mind was successful at the box office. The DC and Marvel comic book companies rivalry has now spilled in the big screen. Marvel's movies are more fantastic and more accessible to all ages, while DC's movies are more in touch with the mature and cerebral audience. The Dark Knight blueprint might very well be DC's ticket to success at the big screen.  

The Toy lines

An evolution of Batman toys from the Nolanverse Batman

In my previous entry, I gave a quick review on the basic figures from Mattel as well as those made by Revoltech. Still, I skipped on the Batman Movie Masters figures so I won't be reviewing them for now. What I would review however is the Batman basic figures from the Dark Knight as well as the vehicles that Batman used in the movies. Check them out below.

Basic Batman figure from The Dark Knight

The Basic Figure: Just like the basic figures from Mattel's Batman Begins toy line, these figures from The Dark Knight stands at around 5 inch. It shares the same articulation with that of the Batman Begins toy line. It features a ball jointed neck, swivel shoulders, waist, and hips, and hinged elbows and knees. The figures released on this toy line consists of multiple Batman with different costume colors, two Jokers (one seen above) with different suit colors, Two-Face (as seen above), and surprisingly Deathstroke. Now Deathstroke never really appeared in the movie but I'm puzzled as to why he is included in the toy line. Mattel's Movie Masters toy line also debuted the same year these figures were released. The Movie Masters sported better sculpt details and is more articulated (in the same way with that of their DC Universe Classics toy line). It also stands bigger than the basic figures as it is scaled at approximately 6 inches. The success of Mattel's 6 inch DC Universe Classics would sound the death knell for the five inch figures as moving forward, Mattel concentrated on releasing the Movie Masters for the adult collector market and a smaller scaled 4 inch line for the basic figures. I personally have a preference for 5 inch action figures because I'm a huge fan of vintage action figures. Seeing this scale disappear in the toy shelves is quite saddening to me. 

The Remote Controlled Tumbler

The Tumbler (a.k.a Batmobile): Mattel also was able to release the Tumbler for their 5 inch basic line. There were a lot of versions released and what I used here in the review is the cheaper one, a smaller scaled Remote Control Tumbler. There were versions that could fit the 5 inch ones and the Movie Masters ones, but since I'm not that much of a Batman fan, I skipped on getting the Tumbler. This though is a decent display piece albeit too small even for the 4 inch basic figures.

The Batpod

The Batpod (a.k.a Batcycle): In the movie, when Batman chases the Joker, Joker manages to destroy Batman's Tumbler with a rocket propelled launcher. Batman managed to pull off a surprise by unveiling his Batpod, a big wheeled cycle like vehicle that was made from the Tumbler's undamaged parts. This transformation was one of the coolest scenes to be seen in a Batman movie. The old movies had flashier and sleeker Bat vehicles, but Nolan's Batman sports a more intimidating armada of vehicles. Both the Tumbler and the Bat Pod are perfect examples of these. Mattel was able to release a Bat pod that is more likely in scale with the 5 inch than that of the movie masters. I love how the Batpod looks. Batman's vehicles should bear a menacing look than those sleeker ones made from the 90's Batman movies. After all Batman is about instilling fear in the criminal's hearts. The Batplane in the next movie should be something to watch for.



This wraps up my entry on The Dark Knight. I've got one more Christian Bale Batman entry before we wait for the next Batman movie. Let's hope that Ben Affleck is up to task for his role as Bale's successor to Batman.

The Dark Knight Trilogy: Batman Begins

Batman Begins

In 2005, Warner and DC would reboot the Batman movie franchise under the guiding hands of Christopher Nolan and David Goyer. After the dismal Batman and Robin movie, the Batman franchise was literally left for dead for nearly 10 years. Nolan would give us a very different live action Batman movie from what we have previously seen in the big screen. If Adam West gave us a campy version of Batman, and Michael Keaton giving us a Gothic inspired Batman, Nolan would give us a film noir/thriller styled Batman movie. A take that most Batman comic book fans are pretty well aware of. This facet of Batman had existed in the comic books, and it only took someone with the brilliance of Nolan to be brought out to the general public.  

Henry Ducard trains Bruce Wayne

Batman Begins stars Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne/Batman, an up and coming star who has the makings of a great Batman that is grounded more in reality than its superhero genre. Unlike the Batman movie of Tim Burton (which already establishes Batman from the get go), this movie basically takes us to the origins of Batman as we get to know what were the motivations of Bruce Wayne that led him to take the guise of the Batman persona. This movie felt more Bruce Wayne than Batman as Batman only appeared midway in the movie. As a child, Bruce's parents were killed, forcing him to be orphaned at a very young age and was left under the care of their family butler Alfred Pennyworth. When Bruce reaches adulthood, he decides to take the law in his own hands by attempting to kill the person responsible for his parents death. Unfortunately, someone beat him to it, a hired gunman from one of Gotham's most dangerous crime syndicates. Bruce decides to pay this crime boss a visit, a person named Carmine Falcone, who is one of the persons responsible for turning Gotham into a crime laden city. Falcone had Bruce beat up while revealing to him that one should be feared to fully grasp power. Bruce runs away from Gotham city and engaged himself to do criminal activities (particularly theft) as he wanted to learn and understand how the criminals operate. During one of his crime spree, he and his gang were busted and arrested. In his prison cell, he was visited by someone by the name of Henry Ducard (played by Liam Neeson), a self styled vigilante of the group The League of Shadows who were led by the enigmatic Ra's Al Ghul. He offers to train and recruit Bruce to join the league. An offer that Bruce initially accepted before he turned against the group.

Bruce battles Ra's Al Ghul

Bruce comes to learn that the League of Shadows is targeting to destroy Gotham City because they view Gotham City as excessively corrupt and beyond saving. The league in a way is practicing their vigilantism too extremely to the point that they would play God as to which city or civilization should continue to exist. Bruce burns to the ground the League's headquarters and goes face to face with Ra's Al Ghul, beating him and leaving him for dead as the headquarters crumble to ashes. Bruce saves Ducard in the process, showing his appreciation for taking him under his wing and leaves him under the care of the villagers he met on his way back to Gotham. With new found knowledge and recently learned skills on hand to hand combat, Bruce returns to Gotham City with a new mission, to save Gotham City from the criminal organizations that engulfs it. Posing as millionaire playboy Bruce Wayne by day, and a masked vigilante by night, Bruce seeks to rid Gotham City from its criminal bosses by starting with Carmine Falcone. While visiting Wayne Enterprises, Bruce stumbles across Lucius Fox, head of the company's research and development department who shows to Bruce a number of items that would prove helpful in his quest to fight crime. Bruce also conquered his fear of bats, and using it as an inspiration to strike fear in the criminals' hearts as Batman.  

Batman squares off with Jonathan Crane a.k.a Scarecrow

Bruce equips himself with high tech gadgetry and weaponry as he took on the identity of Batman. His first act was to bust Falcone's illegal drugs shipment and brought him to jail. Batman successfully defeats Falcone and his men, sending them to jail. But Falcone's involvement with Dr. Jonathan Crane, a psychiatrist who is an ally of the League of Shadows, would cause Falcone to hallucinate and psychologically break down as Crane exposes him with his Fear toxin. Crane did this to protect the League from being exposed as they have been working together to smuggle fear toxins in their plot to contaminate Gotham City's water supply with it. During this time, Bruce also befriends an up and coming honest and incorruptible cop by the name of Sgt. James Gordon. Meanwhile, Bruce's childhood friend, Gotham City Assistant District Attorney Rachel Dawes, visits Falcone in Arkham Asylum (a prison facility for the criminally insane) to solicit information from Falcone. Due to her meddling, Crane captures her and douses her with the same fear toxin but not before telling her about the League's plan for Gotham City. Batman saves Rachel as the two escape the facility through a tank like vehicle simply called The Tumbler (this movie franchise's version of the Batmobile). Batman manages to acquire an antidote for the fear toxin through Lucius Fox and used it on Rachel to cure her from the effects of the toxin. He also orders Rachel to send Sgt. Gordon a vial of the antidote for mass production.  

Batman defeats Ra's Al Ghul

Later that evening, Bruce celebrates his birthday in his mansion with a number of Gotham's rich and famous but was suddenly surprised to find the presence of a young Ra's Al Ghul and the very much alive Henry Ducard. Ducard then reveals that he is in fact the real Ra's Al Ghul and all the others were just decoys to hide his real identity. Bruce, feigning drunkenness, orders his guests to leave the mansion. Ra's then reveals to Bruce the League's plan of destroying Gotham City by using the fear toxin to create mass hysteria among Gotham residents, effectively justifying their move to run Gotham to the ground and destroy the city's populace. Bruce being outnumbered, got beat up by Ra's men and had his mansion burned down. It was Ra's act of repaying Bruce for burning his house. Bruce awakens at the sight of his burning mansion but he disregards it and instead dons his cowl. As Batman, he races against time to halt The League's plan of destroying Gotham City. Batman enlists the help of Sgt. Gordon to assist him as the Gotham City Police Department tries to contain the mob and the escaped criminals. Batman confronts Ra's and a battle ensues. Batman manages to beat Ra's Al Ghul, this time lamenting to him that he won't kill but also he is not obligated to save him. Batman escapes the monorail train as Ra's falls to his death. In the end, the public accepts Batman as Gotham City's defender but Bruce begins to lose his personal life as Rachel could not love Bruce and his duality as Batman.    

Revoltech Batman v.s. Mattel Movie Masters Scarecrow

Initially, I did not enjoy Batman Begins in the same way that I enjoyed Tim Burton's first Batman. Batman Begins as I've said earlier was more like a Bruce Wayne action movie and crime thriller than your average superhero movie. Tim Burton's Batman from the get go was a Batman movie that seemed to have been taken right from the pages of the comic books. Batman Begins did not make me feel this way. What could be the reason behind this? Is it because of the villains that they have chosen for this film? Mobsters and criminals are not your traditional superhero movie villains. It also does not help that Scarecrow rarely wears a mask. But if the lack of identity as a superhero movie is what drives die-hard superhero movie fans away from this, then this is also what makes it standout from the other superhero movies. Batman Begins was the first act of a trilogy. Although Nolan did explain that while filming this movie, he had no other plans for a sequel, Batman Begins for me is still an incomplete movie when it comes to introducing Batman for the new generation if viewed as a stand alone movie. Maybe I found it like it is because the bigger superhero movie fan in me wanted more of Batman on screen than Bruce Wayne. Tim Burton's Batman did wonders for me because if viewed as a stand alone movie, all of the elements that I wanted in a Batman movie can already be viewed there as a whole. But if viewed as part of a trilogy, then that is a different story altogether. One must view Nolan's Batman in its entirety. Batman Begins set the tone for this franchise, but the sequel would blow away the audiences (me included). But if taken on a one on one comparison, I'd still choose Burton's first Batman over this.     

The Toy Lines

Mattel Batman Begins action figures

There are two toy lines that I would like to review for this entry. There was supposed to be a third one (Mattel's Movie Masters), but since I'm not a big Batman fan, I skipped on the Movie Masters and got instead these two:

Mattel Basic Batman Begins action figures:
These action figures stands at approximately 5 inches and features a swivel neck, shoulders, hips, and hinged elbows and knees. These are pretty standard for action figures from the 90's down to mid 2000s before toy companies started downsizing their basic action figures to 4 inches. This toy line features a number of Batmen with assorted colors and gimmicks, Scarecrow (not shown on the picture), Henry Ducard, and Ra's Al Ghul. I actually missed out on the Batman figures in this toy line. The Bruce Wayne/Batman figure I used here came from The Dark Knight toy line as it reissues the same figure from the first movie but with a different head sculpt.   
I only managed to back track Ra's Al Ghul and Henry Ducard in the discount bins. All three (Bruce, Henry, Ra's) shares the same body sculpt but with different paint applications. I think they also share the same accessories. The head sculpt is not as good as let's say the Movie Masters releases but it's passable for its standard. The likeness of the actors is there, though it is not as highly detailed as that of the Movie Masters. The Bruce to Batman action figure is a must have for me because of its gimmick of dressing up Bruce to become Batman. The Tim Burton Batman toy line also had this kind of gimmick as shown here.  
Though not as superior as the Movie Masters adult collector toy line, this is adequate enough for those who want to save up from owning the more pricey Movie Masters. More photos below.

Mattel Batman Begins and Batman The Dark Knight basic figures

Batman Begins Bruce Wayne figure all suited up

Revoltech Batman Begins

Revoltech Batman Begins

Batman Begins

Revoltech Batman Begins: Japanese toys have always been superior to American toys when it comes to sculpt, accessories, and gimmicks. This Batman Begins action figure from Japanese toy makers Revoltech is another testament to that. The figure comes with an assortment of articulation. It features a ball jointed head, shoulders, elbows, wrists, chest, hips, knees, and ankles. It seems this figure has ball joints all over them. Its cape even includes a couple of ball joints. This Batman looks skinny though when compared to the Movie Masters. The figure also comes with an alternate Bruce Wayne head that does not look like Christian Bale. It actually looks like an anemic and old Bale to be exact. The figure stands at approximately six inches. What I love about this figure is the amount of detailed sculpts that it comes with. I find this figure less durable though when compared to the movie masters because the hard plastics that it is built from would have the tendency to break during hard play. I still would prefer the movie masters over these. I only loaned this figure from my brother for this review. Check out below for more pics.  

With Bruce Wayne alternate head

Ball jointed cape allows you to do this

This wraps up my feature on Batman Begins, next stop, The Dark Knight. See you in my next entry.

Tim Burton's Batman

Tim Burton's Batman

Before Christopher Nolan reinvigorated the Batman franchise, Tim Burton had his share of success. Under Burton's guiding hands, Batman was relaunched in the 90's in a more artsy and Gothic world with funnyman Michael Keaton donning the cowl. The Keaton starred Batman had two successful films (Batman and Batman Returns) before a downward spiral from two more sequels (Batman Forever and Batman and Robin) snuffed the life away from the franchise. Keaton was replaced in Batman Forever by an up and coming star in Val Kilmer with Burton still guiding the film as a producer. In Batman and Robin however, an even newer up and coming star in George Clooney took on the role. The story suffered in favor of making the Batman films star studded and a more merchandise friendly (think toys that could sell) costume changes and bat gadgets aplenty. The star studded cast that the whole four movie run was able to produce involves Jack Nicholson as Joker and Kim Basinger as Vicky Vale for Batman, Danny De Vito as Penguin and Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman for Batman Returns, Tommy Lee Jones as Two-Face and Jim Carrey as Riddler in Batman Forever, and Uma Thurman as Poison Ivy and Arnold Schwarzenegger as Mr. Freeze for Batman and Robin (with a small role for little known Pro Wrestler Robert Swenson as Bane). The Tim Burton led four picture franchise simply tells the story of Batman's first appearance up until he forms his team of Bat family. In Batman, Michael Keaton goes up against Jack Nicholson as both of these stars played the pivotal role of Batman and Joker respectively. Keaton's portrayal of a brooding Bruce Wayne and a jawline that screams of Batman made him the best Batman to ever appear on the big screen. Even to this day, Bat fans still have these heated debates as to who among Keaton and Bale is the best Batman on film. Jack Nicholson's portrayal of an animated Joker brought to light the more sinister side of Joker without sacrificing this evil villain's love for mischief. Some fans even prefer Nicholson's portrayal of Joker than Heath Ledger's more sadistic and psychopathic Joker. But that is still up for debates and I personally feel that both actors brought different facets to the Joker as seen in the comic books. The first Batman movie simply tells the story of the birth of Batman and Joker as both of these arch nemesis face each other head on until the brutal death of Joker. In Batman Returns, Tim Burton once again returns with Michael Keaton as Batman goes up against the filthy Penguin (played by Danny De Vito) and the sultry Catwoman (played by Michelle Pfeiffer). This follow up is even better in my opinion as we are even drawn to the sympathetic side of Penguin as an outcast and Catwoman's thirst for revenge. Penguin's run for the mayoralty of Gotham City under the support of a corrupt businessman however turned Penguin into a drunk for power as he thirsts for revenge against the surface world who deemed him as a freak and outcast. From there, all bets are off as Batman deals with both of these villains while also escaping the police force that goes after him after he was framed by Penguin.

Batman

The luster of the franchise however went into a drastic turn by the time Tim Burton relinquished the directorial duties (in favor of a producer role) to Joel Schumacher in the third installment of the franchise, Batman Forever. But there was no forever in Michael Keaton's book as Batman as he leaves the role due to his distaste of the direction of the film. The prior two Batman films were more brooding in nature, but Warner Brothers wanted a lighter Batman film for the third installment. Keaton was replaced by golden boy Val Kilmer in his one off role as Bruce Wayne/Batman. Tommy Lee Jones and Jim Carrey were brought in respectively as Two-Face and Riddler, but Two-Face was more of a filler as his origin story was only featured through flashbacks. Riddler on the other hand was the main villain of the film as he was given a more fleshed out role. But Jim Carrey's over the top portrayal was too distracting for the film. Chris O' Donnell as Robin was also introduced in the film, and for the first time on the big screen, Batman is paired up with his partner Robin to form the dynamic duo not seen since Adam West and Burt Ward's Batman TV series. The mild success of Batman Forever led to another sequel, but this time without Tim Burton's involvement as producer. And from one golden boy to another, Kilmer leaves the franchise and George Clooney took over the cowl. Schumacher returns to direct and brought in Arnold Schwarzenegger to play Mr Freeze and Uma Thurman as Poison Ivy. Chris O' Donnell also reprises his role as Robin and Alicia Silverstone was brought in to play Batgirl to bring in an even more crowded superhero mix. O' Donnell would later on lament that filming Batman and Robin felt like filming a two hour long toy commercial than filming an actual film. Among the four movies, only the Keaton starred Batman movies were highly praised by critics and Batman fans, the last two however killed the franchise. It took 8 years from a duo composed of Director Christopher Nolan and Writer David S. Goyer to come up with a new Batman for the new millennium. The Dark Knight Trilogy would explode on the movie screens as perhaps one of the best comic book movies ever made.   

Michael Keaton as Batman

The Toyline: Kenner managed to milk this incarnation of Batman through the four films that this version of the franchise appeared. Fresh from the success of their Super Powers toy line (which was based from the Super Friends cartoon series), Kenner re-uses some of the body molds (most notably Joker and Penguin) of that toy line. Batman on the other hand lacked the knee articulation that the Super Powers toy line possessed. But the lack of articulation in Batman action figures would be made up through the various gimmicks that the Batman figures possess. These action figures simply possess the standard five points of articulation of the vintage toys of the 80s, namely the swivel head, swivel arms, and swivel hips. Here in this entry, I'm posting a photo of the Bruce Wayne to Batman dress up gimmick. This was the first Batman toy that I ever had when I was a kid. Other gimmicks consists of a Silverhawks like Batman, a Sky Commander like Batman, and other Batman action figures with a different color scheme. The Batman action figures for Batman Returns on the other hand (save for Penguin and Catwoman) were re-issues of the same ones from the first movie. The action figures for Batman Forever and Batman and Robin however, are more stylized than the Super Powers like action figures from the first and second movie. These were more in line with Kenner's Total Justice toy line as the toy company decided to improved their action figure's sculpts. Check out the other action figures not seen here in this blog. I've still yet to complete these action figures as I'm on the process of deciding if I should get these. Though I'm not a die hard Batman fan, having them in my collection helps beef up my DC Movies collection.

Christian Bale donning Keaton's cowl and costume

A tale of two Bruce Waynes, Michael Keaton and Christian Bale

Join me in my next entry as I delve into Christopher Nolan's the Dark Knight Trilogy. See you!

A look at my Toy Collection Display Cabinet

A view of my New Toy Collection Display Cabinet

After 2 weeks of painstakingly displaying my collections in their new display cabinet, I'm finally (almost) done. The easiest part was essentially unboxing/unpacking them from their large containers as seen here. The hardest part was displaying them. Now when it comes with my toy collections, I'm a very meticulous hack as I make it a point that no figures' parts should stick with another. I have this Obsessive Compulsive Disorder belief that if the figures would rub on each other, and under the warm climate of a tropical country like the Philippines, the paint apps of the figures would smear/smudge on each other. So I always made sure that all the figures will have spaces between them. That two weeks was also spent on planning as to how to display my action figure collections in a certain theme or grouping. I wanted my display to tell a story. I could have opted for a diorama like display but space constraints prevented me from doing such. What I opted to do instead is to present them in a way where there will be some sort of a cohesive theme. And the largest and most noticeable theme is that it's DC and Marvel all over again occupying the extreme opposite sides of the cabinet with Japanese and American pop culture icons standing in between them. Join me below as I take you a tour to my Toy Collection Display Cabinet.   

DC Direct, DCSH, and DCUC

Top Most Left Corner: Among all of my collections, hands down my favorite are the six inch ones from DC and Marvel. I put both of these on the extreme corners of my cabinet. The six inch DC action figures from Mattel's DCSH/DCUC and DC Direct/Collectibles occupies the top most left corner. They are separated into five layers with the top most layer housing an assortment of Super Villains of the DC Universe. Half of those are from Superman's Rogue Gallery while the other half are the main arch enemies of the other DC Superheroes. The second layer houses the Bat Family (Batman and his allies), Teen Titans/Young Justice, and Justice Society of America. For me it's a natural grouping for Batman to be standing side by side with the Teen Titans and Young Justice teams because Batman basically mentors Robin, the leader of the aforementioned teams. Justice Society of America (JSA) is also put on this layer because in the latter incarnations of the team in the comic books, the older JSA helped mentor the newer JSA members. The third layer meanwhile houses the Justice League of America (JLA) and the Green Lantern Corps (GL Corps). I put both of these teams together in one layer because majority of the GL Corps (the human ones that is) were also JLA members. Human Green Lanterns such as Hal Jordan, Kyle Rayner, John Stewart, and Guy Gardner were members of the Justice League in one time or another. The so called big seven (Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman, and Martian Manhunter) of the JLA teams is also placed front and center. Martian Manhunter is partly covered because his role as one of the team's big seven diminished when the New 52 reboot happened. In fact, he was replaced entirely by Cyborg, a mainstay of the Teen Titans teams before the New 52 reboot. The fourth layer on the other hand displays the Superman family. As a huge Superman fan, I had to devote a special layer for my Superman collections. The fourth layer comprises the different Superman related characters as seen in the comic books. Prominently displayed on the left side are the Daily Planet staff while on the extreme right are the Reign of the Supermen characters that appeared after the Death of Superman. Of course you can also see two Supermen standing in front, the Classic costume and the New 52 costume. This helps transition into the last layer where I displayed an all exclusive Superman action figures that highlights some of the key incarnations of Superman by different artists or eras. In this layer, you could see the first appearance of Superman in the comic books down to the latest incarnation that he sports in the New 52 Universe. As of now, I'm trying to complete all of the DC Direct releases of Superman because I'm such a huge fan of DC Direct action figures that are artist centric. Noticeably missing here is the DC Direct Superfriends Superman, MAD Superman, and Dark Side Superman, among others. That wraps up the upper left corner of the shelf.    
  

Vintage DCs and Movie Masters

Lower Left Corner: The last layer of the top most shelf also transitions to the smaller scaled (five inch below) Superman action figure collections that I have which is housed in the first layer of the lower left corner of the shelf. The reason why I separated them from the six inch ones because basically they are vintage toys of the 80's to the 90's mixed with the more recent releases that were geared towards the kids. Among these are the more rare ones like fast food toys and other kiddie toys. This layer still has a lot more spaces left and I still might toy hunt on more Superman toys that would fit in this category. The second layer meanwhile houses the grittier DC Superhero Movies action figure collections. Prominently displayed in this layer are the action figure sets from Chris Nolan's Batman: Dark Knight Trilogy, Martin Campbell's Green Lantern, Bryan Singer's Superman Returns, WB's Smallville, Zack Snyder's Man of Steel, and Snyder's Watchmen. I also managed to sneak in a custom Christopher Reeve Superman in this layer. Since neither Mattel nor DC Direct had released a six inch version of Richard Donner's classic Superman movie, I took it upon myself to customize one. I'm also contemplating on completing the older Batman movies from Tim Burton and Joel Schumacher, but space constraints might prevent me from doing such. Moving on to the third layer, I opted to display the vintage Kenner/Hasbro Total Justice toy line from the 90's. I Absolutely love this toy line back when I was a kid because of the ultra sculpt detail it sports, way advanced during its time. It is also joined with other Kenner made DC action figures, namely the Man of Steel toy line. I also managed to sneak in a Justice League fast food toy collection set from Jollibee. This transitions to the fourth layer which houses the various animated incarnations of the Justice League in toy form. Of course on the center is the highly popular Vintage DC Super Powers toy line that were derived from the Super friends TV show. Displayed on the left most corner is the more recent Justice League Unlimited toy line which was derived from the highly successful Justice League animated series of the 2000s. This animated series in my opinion is the best animated series ever (yes it trumps Batman and X-Men the animated series). Joining them on the display is the Batman centric animated series that replaced the Justice League animated series. This Batman centric animated series is simply called The Batman and featured the Justice League in its last season. This animated series was also cancelled and replaced by a more kid friendly Batman centric animated series that involves a rotation of DC characters that served as Batman's guest stars. This newer animated series is called Batman the Brave and the Bold and I've made it a point to try to collect some key Justice League members that I could find in this toy line. Lastly, this layer is joined by the Young Justice animated series toy line, the most recent animated series from DC Comics. The last layer meanwhile houses the Masters of the Universe toy line and the Thundercats toy line. You might wonder what both of these toy lines had to do in a generally DC Comics part of the cabinet. Well, Masters of the Universe have been for the most part assigned by Mattel (the toy line's owner and current makers of DC Comics related action figures) to DC Comics for their resurgence in comic book form. Thundercats on the other hand in the mid 2000s was also assigned to Wildstorm comics (DC's sister company) when it came to producing comic books. So basically both of these properties were in one point or another a part of the DC Comics stable. I also decided to join both together because of their almost similar theme (sword wielding strongmen and both are 80s cartoon series). It does not help that when I was a kid, I always wondered who would win in a fight, He-Man from the Masters of the Universe or Lion-O from Thundercats. So merging them together in one shelf was only natural for me. This wraps up my left most corner of my display cabinet.

Hot Toys and Japanese live action series

Top Center Cabinet: I made use of the center cabinet to house the bigger action figures in my collections. By bigger I mean those who are scaled at 10 inch and higher. The top most layer of the center cabinet houses my one and only Hot Toys collection. And that Hot Toys is none other than the Christopher Reeve Superman. I have always been a fan of Superman ever since I saw the 1978 Superman movie which was starred by Christopher Reeve. Though Hot Toys are quite pricey for someone like me, I managed to turn a blind eye on its price just for this once. This is perhaps the holy grail in all of my collections. The Hot Toys Superman is joined by a cheaper 12 inch Superman Returns action figure/doll. I intentionally purchased this so that I could have him join the Hot Toys Superman since they are similarly scaled. Hidden at the back of this figure is my very first Superman toy that I owned since I was a kid. I also included in this layer the 10 inch version of the Justice League Unlimited Superman and a complimenting scaled Krypto the Superdog as well as the Kryptonian Battle Suit from the Kenner Man of Steel toy line. A Movie Masters Man of Steel Superman also stands there for the meantime as I contemplate if I should get a Hot Toys Henry Cavill Superman from the recent Man of Steel movie. The second layer on the other hand is devoted to Japanese pop culture icons such as Super Sentais (Power Rangers),  Rider series (Kamen Rider), Kaiju (Ultraman), Tokusatsu (Ryukendo/Shaider), and Mechas (Voltron) among others. Growing up, I've been a fan of Japanese live action series such as Bio-Man, Shaider, Ultraman, Power Rangers, and Kamen Rider. So I made it a point to collect some of the characters that I watched as a kid. I got them more for nostalgias sake.      

Anime and Basketball action figures

Lower Center Cabinet: The first layer of the lower center cabinet is a continuation of my Japanese pop culture related theme. This time, I focused on anime (Japanese for cartoons) like Dragon Ball. This is actually a work in progress layer as at this moment I temporarily displayed a Real Steel Rock em' Sock em' play set. I'm not quite a fan of anime except for Dragon Ball Z, Slam Dunk, and Samurai X. I'm a confessed Dragon Ball junkie and lately my toy hunting is spent mostly on completing the key Dragon Ball Z characters. Samurai X is also on my radar, I'm just waiting for a good deal to fall on my lap. The second layer is devoted to vintage Basketball figures from the Kenner Starting Line Up toy line and Space Jam. I'm a huge fan of Michael Jordan, and I have been collecting Michael Jordan memorabilia ranging from trading cards, shoes, to action figures. For the vintage basketball action figures, my focus was to collect all of Michael Jordan and his Chicago Bulls' main nemesis during their 6 championship title run. The bottom shelf meanwhile houses the more recent McFarlane NBA action figures. For this particular toy line, I focused on collecting Chicago Bulls action figures and the more recent NBA Superstars with championship titles such as Shaquille O' Neal and Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers, Lebron James, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh of the Miami Heat. I also collected some of the more popular NBA Superstars of the 90's like Hakeem Olajuwon, Clyde Drexler, and Charles Barkley among others. Basically the whole display cabinet is still a work in progress and I might change the contents over time. I'm still planning to collect a couple of Wrestling action figures that I might display here. I've also kept some of my Star Trek and Transformers action figures in storage while I'm still contemplating if I should put them in this display cabinet or if I should just sell them.  

Marvel Legends and Marvel Select

Top Most Right Corner: Since I'm a more outspoken DC fanboy, not many may have known that I'm also a keen follower of the Marvel Universe. And if my love for DC is well represented in 6 inch form through DCUC and DC Direct, my love for Marvel had brought me to collect their own 6 inch toy lines. Marvel's Marvel Legends and Marvel Select stands on the extreme right corner of my Display Cabinet. You could actually see from a distance that the extreme opposite corners of my Display Cabinet is devoted to two of these competing comic book companies. The first layer houses the Marvel Super Villains. I only cherry picked on the key arch enemies of the Marvel Superheroes and left out the more obscure ones. The second layer is devoted to the Fantastic Four and various Marvel Superheroes that are neither a member of the Avengers or the X-Men (except for multiple figures like Captain America, Iron Man, and Wolverine). Meanwhile, the third layer houses the Avengers. Majority of my Marvel collections are from the Toybiz Marvel Legends as I find them better compared to Hasbro's Marvel Legends. The last layer on the other hand houses the X-Men and their fellow mutants. And if you noticed, I chose to complete the X-Men movie versions first before going to the non movie characters. I've always hated Toybiz and Hasbro's uneven release. They are constantly releasing X-Men action figures sporting their costumes from different eras, eliminating the chances of having them displayed together with the same eras. The movie version at least gives the key X-Men characters a uniform look. So basically, I completed the X-Men movie action figure series first before venturing into the other characters that did not appear in the movie. So majority of the 6 inch X-Men action figure collection that I have does not actually represent the comic book versions. The comic book versions however will be represented in the lower corner.

Vintage Marvels, TMNT, and some G.I. Joes

Lower Right Corner: If I owned a number of vintage DC action figures from the 90's, I also own a number (albeit smaller) of vintage Marvel Superheroes action figures from the 90's. Though not as wide as DC's, I managed to collect a few vintage Marvel Superheroes from the 90's. The first layer houses the vintage 90's Avengers action figures, Sam Raimi's Spiderman movie trilogy, as well as the more recent kid friendly Avengers and Spiderman movie mighty battler toys. I opted these instead of the more pricey Marvel Legends movie action figures because these are great toys for my son because of their playability. When he's not playing with them, I usually store them in my display cabinet to balance my DC Superhero movies action figure collection. The second layer houses the vintage 90's X-Men action figure that I had since I was a kid. One can clearly see that I'm a huge X-Men fan because of the sheer number of these vintage X-Men toys that I managed to accumulate when I was still a kid. These toy line went into popularity right behind the strength of the 90's X-Men animated series, one of the best animated series of my time. So while my 6 inch X-Men collection are mostly the live action movie versions, these vintage ones represents the comic book versions. I think it's a good balance in my collection as I have both the movie and the comic book versions well represented in my display cabinet.  The third and fourth layer meanwhile houses the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT), one of my favorite toys when I was a kid. I'm a kid of the 90's, and I'm sure those who grew up in the 90's in one point or another owned a TMNT toy. The third layer houses the different versions of the TMNT. This ranges from the vintage TMNT, 2003 TMNT, CGI Movie TMNT, NECA Eastman and Laird TMNT, and the recent TMNT classics by Playmates. The fourth layer houses the allies and villains from the vintage TMNT toy line as well as the recent Nick Toons TMNT deluxe battle sound fx action figures. I opted for these battle sound figures in favor of the  basic ones because of its playability. My son enjoys all the noises that these Turtles (and Shredder) makes while he's playing with them. And finally, the last layer is an odd mix of Western and Eastern pop culture icons that I find very nostalgic. The left side is composed of the Western gun wielding action stars like the vintage Rambo action figures from Coleco and the 80's G.I. Joe cartoon series. On the right side, I displayed the Eastern Martial Arts action stars like Bruce Lee, Brandon Lee, and the cast of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. I also included in this layer the vintage Street Fighter action figures that was produced by the makers of the G.I. Joe toy line. So basically, the front row is composed of the G.I. Joe scaled action figures like the G.I. Joes, Robocop, Rambo, A-Team, Indiana Jones, and the Street Fighters. While the back row is composed of the 7 to 8 inch action figures of Rambo and the Force of Freedom, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and Bruce Lee and Brandon Lee. And as usual, all of my comic books are stored in the compartments below the showcase cabinet.

So this wraps up my blog entry for today. Hope you guys enjoyed the little tour that I gave. Will be reviewing all of my toy collections in this blog whenever I could find time. It just sank in to me just now that it feels daunting to remove all of these action figures from their display and one by one do a review on them. But we'll see. See you in my next entry.