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| Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice Wave 1 Action Figures |
Well I have finally done my Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice
movie review as well as my
thoughts on the criticisms of the movie. So this time around, I'm doing a review of the movie tie-in action figures. Initially, I was hesitant to purchase the BVS action figures because the BVS action figures are so pricey here in the Philippines (costs around P1,899 or $45 each). I also was bummed and got burned years back by the Man of Steel Movie Masters action figures when I purchased it at retail price (P1,799 or $40+) only to find out that two years later, the prices went down as much as half the retail price. It also did not help that the local distributor seemed to have brought in only a limited number of BVS action figures here in the Philippines, making your chances of getting a Gal Gadot Wonder Woman action figure to almost none. I only bit the bullet when I came across a set of 3 (Batman, Armored Batman, and Wonder Woman) loose BVS action figures that were being sold at 30% off the retail price. I figured this price should be ok than instead of taking the risk a few years from now. But at the rate with how critics are killing the movie with their negative reviews, there's a huge chance that Mattel might be forced to sell these figures at clearance price. Anyway, on to the reviews!
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| BVS Superman (left) V MOS Superman (right) |
Superman: I couldn't find Superman anywhere and I actually had no plans of purchasing one. One reason for that is of course the price. Another is that it seems the figure is just a straight repaint of the Man of Steel Movie Masters Superman but with a new (and better) head sculpt and some minor changes on the buckle and S shield logo on Superman's chest. But I could be wrong. Pictured on the left is a comparison photo of both Supermen which I got from the fwoosh
forum as posted by Muthasucka and annotated by Enforcer. From the photo, it would seem that the BVS Superman is slightly taller than the MOS Superman. I'm kind of irritated that Mattel couldn't make up their mind with regards to the scale of their movie based action figures. They started off their Superman Returns action figures at 5 inch, followed by the 5.5 inch Christopher Nolan Batman Trilogy Movie Masters action figures. Then they tweaked and redesigned a rail thin Ryan Reynolds Green Lantern Movie Masters action figures (though it went in good scale with the Batman figures). Then a 4 inch DC Multiverse Michael Keaton Batman and Christopher Reeve Superman action figures. Then came the Man of Steel movie masters which were a tad taller than the Batman movie masters, but still they basically are in good scale. This time around (and still using the Multiverse title), the BVS action figures are standing at exactly 6 inch. Bringing it in scale with the legendary DC Universe Classics (comparison photos for Batman and Wonder Woman below). I just hope that this is the final time that Mattel is changing their scale size. Superman by the way is short packed at one per case, so he'll be harder to obtain. Mattel must have been thinking that the Superman figure will be a peg warmer because of the existence of the MOS Superman figure. Maybe down the line if I come across with a cheaper BVS Superman I might buy it. As far as I know, there are Superman variants coming out. So maybe some collectors might dispose their BVS Superman in favor of the variant ones. So for the meantime, my MOS Superman will have to join the BVS action figures in my shelf display.
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| Batman |
Batman: To tell you honestly, the BVS Batman action figure looks totally better in person than in the pictures. When I first saw the photos of this Batman on the internet, I was totally aghast at how bad the figure looks like. But when I finally saw him in person, he looks way much better than I have thought. Snyder and company adhered faithfully to Frank Miller's Batman designs (which was the inspiration of the movie), which explains the bulkier and heavier look of Batman. Some non-DC fans call him as Fat-Man. But this version of Batman in my opinion is the only Batman that is worthy to go toe to toe with Superman. He has to bulk up if he intends to survive a match up against a super powered alien being like Superman. The action figure's sculpt is ok, but if only Mattel gave us a much darker shade of grey, then this Batman figure would have been perfect. Not much Ben Affleck could be seen under the cowl, though there is a variant version in the second wave that features a removable cowl and sports a Ben Affleck head sculpt. The figure features standard DCUC articulations which are ball jointed neck and ball hinged shoulders, swivel biceps, wrists, waist, and thighs, pivot torso, hinged elbows, knees, and ankles, and double pivot hips. Like I said before, the figure is pretty much taller than the old Dark Knight Trilogy Movie Masters line, and stand approximately as tall as the DCUC. Sadly, this figure does not come with any accessories besides the CNC part. Batman can also be seen warming the pegs here in the Philippines. I think among the wave, he is packed in more numbers than the others. Check out the photos below.
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| Bat-Fleck |
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| BVS Batman V The Dark Knight Trilogy Batman |
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| From Left to Right DCUC Batman Beyond, BVS Batman, Mattel Arkham Video Game Batman, and BVS Armored Batman |
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| Armored Batman |
Armored Batman: I think this is the best figure of the entire wave. Armored Batman again sports the same articulation as that of Batman and the good thing about the figure is that his armor does not hamper any movement of the figure's articulation. The figure's sculpts are done pretty well with nicely done details on its armor. The figure comes with a gun which I believe is the same gun that Batman used to spray a dust of Kryptonite particles to weaken Superman. I was actually torn if I should get this or the cheaper basic version since I actually prefer the cloth capes rather than the rubbery plastic ones. But I realized that the basic version does not feature a cloth cape, but rather a cellophane type plastic cape, which actually looks awful. This figure also looks imposing when displayed side by side with the Man of Steel Superman action figure. But I actually find no problems with that because an armored Batman should supposedly look imposing and should be bigger than Superman (pictures below). Armored Batman is also the second (not counting Superman) most in demand figure in this wave. I hardly see him (and Wonder Woman) in the pegs. Fans must have loved the way Armored Batman looks. It also helps a lot that this figure could work well side by side with the DCUC action figures. I mean you could have owned a lot of Batman in your collection but this is the first time that you will be getting him in this armor. And it also helps that the armor design resembles very closely to Frank Miller's designs. you can ditch the other figures in this wave, but you can't let this one pass.
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| The Dark Knight Returns |
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| Size comparison |
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| Wonder Woman |
Wonder Woman: Well when you are skipping Batman and Superman because you are satisfied with the Man of Steel Superman and Christian Bale Batman action figures in your collection, then Wonder Woman is all that you need. This must be the reason why she is selling like hot cakes as I never chanced upon seeing this figure in the pegs. I told myself then that I can skip the other figures and is willing to settle for Wonder Woman instead at the price point that she is selling at SRP. But let me warn you, the figure's articulation is very frustrating. Wonder Woman sports the same DCUC articulation like the others but she lacks the pivot torso articulation. Her head is also non-moveable because her hair is obstructing the articulation that the figure is supposed to have. The hip articulations will also be limited by her skirt. The figure though looks great with enough amount of detailed sculpts in the costumes and armors. Unfortunately she looks more like comic Wonder Woman than Gal Gadot. The figure also comes with highly detailed sword and shield accessories, with nicely painted metallic colors finish to it. We also got a non-removable lasso of truth on her waist, which is actually a waste. I don't know why Mattel continues to disappoint us by not giving us a removable lasso of truth accessory. It would have been cooler if we get to have a lasso of truth accessory to this figure. I managed to find a replacement lasso for my DCUC Wonder Woman by using a gold thread. Check out the fifth photo below.
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| Gal Gadot she's not |
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| Basic Wonder W |
Basic Wonder Woman: I'll have to include the Basic Wonder Woman action figure in this review to give you readers an idea what to get in case you missed out on the DC Multiverse Wonder Woman above. I actually bought this Wonder Woman figure because I had fears that I may never get to own the DC Multiverse version. So she could be a nice replacement. And also she sells like hot cakes among all the BVS basic action figures, which makes her also hard to find. The figure looks cartoony and features a lesser detailed sculpt designs than the Multiverse one. It also has lesser points of articulation, which is limited to ball jointed head, swivel arms, swivel and hinged elbows, swivel hips, and hinged knees. I also want to share to you that I managed to get a defected figure as the right hip were stuck, making it non-movable. I don't know what happened to it but I managed to unstuck it by slicing it entirely and repaired it with super glue to recover the swivel articulation. Now, it works like there was never a problem at all. The hip articulation is limited by the skirt again, though the head is more moveable than the multiverse version. There is also a useless swivel articulation on the knees as the knee pads hampers the movement. I don't know what got into Mattel as they could have instead put the swivel articulation on the thighs instead on the knees. The figure also comes with a sword and shield accessory albeit with non-existent paint applications. Just a plain gray plastic with minor details. But this move of changing their basic figures' size into 6 inch instead of the 4 inch ones from the Dark Knight Trilogy, Green Lantern, and Man of Steel is a good move for Mattel. Those 4 inch figures were just too godawful. These 6 inch ones can pretty much be good substitutes to the multiverse ones. Well if you could get pass the simplistic sculpt presentations. This Wonder Woman figure goes pretty well with the Christian Bale Batman and the Man of Steel Superman in terms of her scale. Check out the third photo below.
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| Wonder Woman still no Gal Gadot there |
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| The best pose I could get with this figure |
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| Trinity! |
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| Wonder Woman scale comparison |
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| Tell me? Do you bleed? You will! |
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| Fight Night! |
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| Black and Blue |
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| Day v.s. Night |
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| God v.s. Man |
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| The Bat of Gotham v.s. The Son of Krypton |
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| Save Martha! |
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| Is she with you? I though she was with you? |
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| Doomsday! |
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| What if Batman and Wonder Woman aided Superman during the Kryptonian Invasion? |
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| Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice |
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| New Trinity v.s. Old Trinity of the DC Universe Live Action Movies |
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| In with the new, out with the old! |
Well that's it. As of this writing, the BVS movie is still climbing up the sales charts of Superhero themed movies. Whether it hits the One Billion sales mark or not, I think it accomplishes the task of being one of the most hotly debated Superhero movies of all time. People can dismiss the movie all they want, but it does not take the fact that a few years from now, people will still debate the merits of this movie. And if DC/Warner can come up with a much improved follow up which is the Justice League movie, then people will look back at this movie and probably appreciate it as a part of a greater scheme of things.
