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.