This is pretty much how I felt. A buddy of mine was convinced that I’d like it more in hand and I won’t lie: when I saw the enormous, vault-like box and when I saw the figure inside, partially obscured by shadows and plastic glare, I was kind of vibing with the overall presentation and, dare I say, even a little excited. I was really hoping it would be one of those cases where “it looks better in person” and then I opened the plastic tray, lifted up the plastic cover on the face, and it was…fine.
I think a part of it is I grew up with the DX figures. I was 17 by the time the DX 08 and DX 09 came out, but I was 16 when they were solicited and I followed those teaser pics and license announcements through my adolescence. By the time those figures reached me in hand, they floored me. I sold them years ago when I was hard up for cash but always told myself I’d buy them back…but then time happens and things change and evolve and I don’t know that I want them back, anymore. To be frank, a lot’s changed in the decade since those figures came out and, at this point, I feel like you could construct a release that is superior.
This figure didn’t give me that sense of wonderment the DX08 and DX09 gave me in their heyday. It didn’t give me the sense of wonderment I got opening the InArt Battinson this year, and, if I’m being honest, it didn’t even give me the sense of wonderment I got opening the new red and blue suit Spider-Man that Hot Toys themselves provided when that figure came out…I don’t know. I’m selling the figure and keeping the base and the shoe, like I originally planned, and hoping Jazzinc or somebody comes through and makes something special because the only thing in my mind looking at this figure as I opened it was “Keaton deserves better.”
I sometimes feel like these older licenses are almost the opposite end of the spectrum from the Ledger Joker/Nolan anal retentiveness where people are so grateful to get any representation at all on their shelves that they’ll settle for whatever **** HT throws at them and be happy with it, whether it’s worth the money or not…and that’s the other thing. I got this dude discounted from Seconds and it was like $350 out the door with tax and shipping. Full price was $340, alone, so, you’re looking at almost $400 or even more if you’re somewhere where you need to import it. “Good enough” ain’t good enough when you’re charging what they’re charging for these things. Full stop.
If it can’t even compete with a figure from a decade ago, much less stuff on the market today, that’s a problem.