MANBAT

Another one of the collections of my childhood was the Batman the Animated Series action figures from Kenner (who else?). I got one single Batman since i didnt need more than one, but i loved the villians figures: Catwoman, the Scarecrow, Clayface and of course, Manbat. When DC Collectibles re-released the figures a few years ago, of course i wanted them all, but the price and lack of shelf space made me think it twice.

I finally decided to focus my collection and get just Batman to represent it, but i also needed to chose a villian, and Manbat was the only choice. On Leather Wings was the very first chapter of the series and the one i remember the most, how dark and beautifully animated it was, Shirley Walkers magical score and how the shole chapter felt more like a Universal horror movie from the 30s than a cartoon.

I have yet to get Batman, but i was able to get Manbat at an extremelly low price. He was sculpted by Irene Matar and i dont have anymore my Kenner Manbat, but i am sure this version is bigger since he is taller than a Figma but looks in scale with McFarlane toys.

The sculpt and the paint are cut clean and extremelly angular, as they should. There is actually very little paint in here since he is cast on his brown for color soo the paint is limited to his wings membranes, mouth and eyes and the figure dont have any texture, wich makes him looks very 2D, very cartoony wich is perfect for him.

I love his long ears and his malevolent expression and those big pecs and back muscles… i think is pretty evident i have a thing for in-human character since i find both Swamp Thing and this Manbat to be specially hunky and sexy.

He is articulated on his head, chest and abs, his legs, knees and shoulders. The big surprise are the chest and abs, his torso moves with total freedome and i always hated the weird looking articulations this toys have on theyr legs, but as unatural as they look, they works really good and are pretty strong. Tough he cant move his ankles to adjust his balance….wich i think is maaayyybbbeee a good idea since an articulation down there sould make him more inestable…maybe?

I also wish he had a neck articulation soo you can pose his think head looking up front on a fliying pose since he is perpetually hunched. Also, his wings are a big piece of plastic and dosnt have any kind of articulation neyong his shoulders, tough he comes with a pair of extra wings to pose them closed or open.

While this limit his poseability a lot, it helps to give him a more clean and refined look since the segmented wings never worked (rigth Figma?). The arms can be replaced easy and theres absolutelly no problem with them, quet the oppposite since they give him a pretty imposing and amasing looks.

This figure also cast a pretty good shadow…

His accesoryes are the tape that the laboratory security guard records without noticing and helps Batman find who is behind the chaos and also three tiny pills container with the medicine that turns Dr. Krik Langstrom into Manbat. Of course, this are items for Batman since Manbat cannot hold them and they are more like…proop replicas from the set.

He also comes with a small base with the character design illustration. This idea to add design art to the base is really classy since it gives it the personality of the character to each base. The arm to hold the Manbat is a little anoying to move around but it does the job perfectly.

Of course, if you want Manbat to be fliying you need a different base, a pretty strong once since even the Play Arts Kai base have problems keeping up with his heavy frame.

The downside of this figure? Hes a pain in the ass to stand. The base helps but not too much given his big toseo and the wonky shape of his legs, the real help to make him stand are his wings. They give him balance, open or closed, they keep him up but once you close one wing then the whole balance is lost and he keeps falling over and over.

I am afraid to hate this guy just for that (like the Mantis Alien) but is not that bad as long as he is posed straight.

Overall i am extremelly happy with him, he is one of my favorite characters from Batman and Irene Matar did a great job traslating Bruce Timm clean design into 3D form, now i just need Batman to see my BTAS collection complete.

SWAMP THING

When i was probablly six years old, i remember enter into a toy store and being left in awe with the Swamp Thing action figure series from Kenner. I didnt knew there was a comic about it nor did i watched the movie and the cartoon was never on TV but i feel in love of those characters.

The main character was a plant man that was somehow cute and sexy (muscled plant) and i loved Dr. Arcane spidery shape and his mutated and monstruos Un-men. A century later i still have those figures and remember them as one of the most unusual and fun collection from my childhood.

Fastforward 26 years later and here i am, getting a brand new Swamp Thing with modern touches. This guy was….extremelly cheap, i could not pass on him due to the low price and how big he is.

He is from DC Classic series and since i dont own any other figure of the series i cant do a size comparission, but i seen photos on the internet that show hes bigger than Bane and double the size of Batman. This figure is a little bit smaller than a Play Arts Kai but dwarfs all other action figure scale being Neca or Figma and is really heavy.

Tough he can stand perfectly with his own huge feet but he comes with wath is his only accesory: a base. The base consist on a swampy setting with logs and skills and a spinal cord coming out from the fungus and mud. The details are good but wath i love the most about this is the colors. The vibrant greens are really good looking and looks poisonous and radioactive and match perfectly with the oranges and browns here and there. The base is deffinetly nicelly done.

Now going back to the Swamp Thing, he can stand perfectly and is huge, like i say, but he also have the same green radioactive texture and color from the base soo is really consistant with the overall look almost like he and the base are the same creature. He have brown vines and mushrooms coming out randomly on him as well as yellow flowers and sweet potato on his back (a great detail for those who reads Alan Moore story arc and still remember that grose scene with a character eating this sweet potatos).

The colors are vibrant and strong and are perfectly deffined. This is specially evident on his face with his dark green lips and shiny red eyes. His eyes and the overall shape of his face reminds me the Boris Karloff Frankestein Monster, his face features are menacing and cold but they have a bautifull statuesque angles as well.

Now here is the thing, he is squishy, veeeerrryyyy squishy soo that gives him a kind of….organic texture that makes him very different to any other action figure around.

He is articulated on his head, shoulders and legs. The legs articulations can be opened but the gap is pretty evident and not pretty to see, tough he also have a frame skeleton under his squishy ruber meat soo he have invisible articulations!!! Elbows, wrists, knees and ankles can be also moved without revealing a gap wich gives him an amazing look!!

Tough as pretty and bautifull as this figure is, he have his issues. The thick rubber meat limit his articulations a lot and is not recomended to keep him in different poses for too long or force the articulations sicne i am afraid the rubber skin can broke apart (and is also possible to broke the inside frame) soo this guy is extremelly delicate.

Even soo, i dont think this guy was too expensive, as far as i know, he is in “standar” action figure category, in mass market price, wich is pretty amaxing since the framed body, super detailed sculpt and vibrant paint is much more of a high end market. This is like a Hot Toys figure in smaller scale.

And while i love the Kenner figures set from 1990, i am very happy to own this character in a more modern and impresive figure. He looks great for a DC and comic books collection but he looks terrific as well as a horror character as well and can be paired with any monster figure around (Universal Monster or horror movies figures) and….i still think he looks kinda hunky.

TALKING ABOUT TOYS

Toys, those little pieces of plastic that seems meaningless but suddenly, they get a big meaning depending of theyr shapr, paint or action feature, when i was a kid they where the most fun part of my life. I am sure most people childhood have a big part levitating around toys, but when i got older, toys evolved along side me and grew in a steady way.

While most people got older and leave toys behind, my obssesion about figures didnt diminish but keep steady and follow the evolution of old and new brands; from Kenner to Sideshow, from my first action figures of The Real Ghostbusters, to the latest ultra expensive premium format statues of Sideshow, along the years i been collecting a lot from different series and markets.

Its fun to collect, is really fun to fool around with this figures but i also enjoy sharing them in photo format and talk about them over the internet and i lose my Tumblr rescently, soo in order to not lose the big amount of reviews and photos of figures i had over there, i decided to open this place.

I ont know who is gonna read this (or if someone at all is gonna read it) but from now on i will update this place with my opinions, reviews and images of figures i own and i want. My pictures and writing are not the best, but if someone find this place and find my opinions and info usefull, tats all i can ask for.

Figures of all sizes, of all rages of prices, of many different series and brands, from the 2019 releases to 1984 figures, Kenner, McFarlane, NECA, Good Smile, Hot Toys, Sotorm Collectibles, Kotobukiya, Epoch, will fill this space from now on.