DC Direct doing Batman The Animated Series figures!!!!!

[DiFabio]

Re: DC Collectibles doing Batman The Animated Series figures!!!!!

I don't trust the plastic for these in the long run, especially after seeing what the breaks look like with that brittle plastic.

My money is on these going the way of McFarlane Robocop, Hicks, NECA T-1000, etc. Deteriorated joints. I had a Robocop that I never even opened, kept it mint in it's packaging. A few years later I looked at it and noticed the hip was just hanging there. It broke off just from old age. Hicks is currently rotting at a comic shop with his rifle arm floating in the bubble. NECA T-1000? I bought a bunch of him because I kept getting broken arms and crappy quality control (sort of like this).

(my first pic when I got them as a group, had more than this)

I thought my "good ones" were fine, they had no breakages at all. I left them on the shelf for years only to find last year that their arms were at their feet. Their elbow joints had disintegrated. I got over it and just threw them away.

 

[batfan08]

Re: DC Collectibles doing Batman The Animated Series figures!!!!!

That's what it is. It really just feels like shoddy plastic. There was that dance a few years back they called "the stanky leg" that was all over the internet. I only bring that up because I feel it best describes what Catwoman's doing every time I even tap her leg with my finger. Now, the hip joint's wobbly, too. I would think nothing of it, but her left leg seems perfect. It's rigid, yet easily posable, and the other one just feels...off.

 

[DiFabio]

Re: DC Collectibles doing Batman The Animated Series figures!!!!!

Just don't mess around with it anymore and put it on the stand (or however you're going to display it). Leave it be. I see some people have decided to just glue the joints and make them statues, not sure if you'd want to try that.

After what I experienced with Batman, I don't regret my decision of only buying BTAS versions and keeping what I get carded/unopened. That's why I opted to just keep Catwoman mint and not pursue any TNBA figures for the time being. I'm just speculating here, but it seems to me DCC went into this line with good intentions but decided to go the cheap route when it came to manufacturing. Cheap assembly, cheap plastic, etc. I would hope that maybe this was just a case of them rushing out shoddy product to get them on the shelves by Christmas. I wouldn't be too disappointed if Wave 1 was just a trial run for them and things improve later down the line. For the first wave, I'm not too terribly impressed. The only impression they left are Irene Matar's sculpts and the weapon/accessory choices.

By the time BTAS Batman hits stores, I'd like a reason to have a reason to go nuts with multiples. I don't think it's hyperbole to say that he is everyone's most anticipated. If it's anything like Wave 1 though and DCC botch him too, forget it.

 

[batfan08]

Re: DC Collectibles doing Batman The Animated Series figures!!!!!

Yeah, since my LCS had that sale, I was able to get multiples, but I'm wondering if TNBA Batman and Catwoman shouldn't just be standalones and leave the rest MOC like my second set. Batman feels like a sturdy figure to me (I know your experience wasn't the same), but Catwoman, like I said, she just feels ridiculously fragile to the point of seeming structurally unstable.

 

[DiFabio]

Re: DC Collectibles doing Batman The Animated Series figures!!!!!

Speaking of which, I'm curious to see how they'll handle this guy.

That seems like an accident just waiting to happen.

 

[YankeesFanboy]

Re: DC Collectibles doing Batman The Animated Series figures!!!!!

The plastic is so crappy because profits. I wouldn't expect any upgrades or changes. Same old, same old. We still buy 'em. Then we get pissed/disillusioned when they break. Shame on us.

 

[batfan08]

Re: DC Collectibles doing Batman The Animated Series figures!!!!!

Oi, you aren't kidding. As far as Catwoman goes, though, could it just be a loose joint? When her knee is bent, it doesn't wiggle; only when it's straight. At the end of the day, I think it comes down to DC biting off more than they could chew. It seems like they wanted to make this a collector's line, but also retain the price that they had before. I'd pay an extra $5-10, if I felt like I was getting all of the accessories and so forth without having to sacrifice quality.

 

[DiFabio]

Re: DC Collectibles doing Batman The Animated Series figures!!!!!

If they were $30-$32 but painted better with better plastic and no hip holes, I'd buy them.

I'm not talking indestructible figures mind you, **** happens, I get that. I just think a figure that doesn't fall apart in your hands minutes after opening it isn't too much to ask. I could see if people were beating these things and being rough with them, but when you have something that's loose or broken from little handling, you have a problem.

Now, that isn't to say broken toys is anything new to the hobby, it isn't. I remember quite a few of my Toy Biz Lord of the Rings and Marvel Legends figures snapping right out of the package well over a decade ago. The difference though? Those suckers were $5.99 (singles), $9.99 (2-packs), $20 (Deluxe), $30 (gift packs) and were more complex and they were STILL better made. There's really no excuse with these figures. They aren't super detailed or complex. The paint and joints should be perfect.

 

[batfan08]

Re: DC Collectibles doing Batman The Animated Series figures!!!!!

Agreed. You're always going to have QC issues; even some $200+ Hot Toys figures have some stuff that slips through the cracks, but, for people to have a roughly 50/50 chance of getting a broken figure is insane. Honestly, I wouldn't mind one bit if they recalled the line and relaunched it in a couple months, exactly like you said, with a $5-7 increase, and no hip holes, better quality plastics, etc.

 

[Sephiroth1089]

Re: DC Collectibles doing Batman The Animated Series figures!!!!!

I wouldn't mind paying 40 if it was the same quality as sh figure arts. I love my Dragon Ball Z figuarts line. Every figure looks great and has an incredible range of articulation.

 

[YankeesFanboy]

Re: DC Collectibles doing Batman The Animated Series figures!!!!!

Agreed. You're always going to have QC issues; even some $200+ Hot Toys figures have some stuff that slips through the cracks, but, for people to have a roughly 50/50 chance of getting a broken figure is insane. Honestly, I wouldn't mind one bit if they recalled the line and relaunched it in a couple months, exactly like you said, with a $5-7 increase, and no hip holes, better quality plastics, etc.

The problem is DCC likely wants to keep these figures costing closer to $20 than $30 or, perish the thought, $35! So we get crappy-ass plastic.

I wouldn't mind paying 40 if it was the same quality as sh figure arts. I love my Dragon Ball Z figuarts line. Every figure looks great and has an incredible range of articulation.

I have this weird feeling we are much more forgiving than the Japanese market. That's why we get what we get.

 

[Sephiroth1089]

Re: DC Collectibles doing Batman The Animated Series figures!!!!!

So I just opened up my wave 1 set and they all seem to be fine. No broken joints yet. The paint apps are all great. I wish Mr. Freeze had a second headsculpt so I could display both the normal and spider version. Its a little disappointing to see the lack of articulation on the spider legs. My old kenner freeze was perfect, even had an opening hatch on the chest like in the show.

I guess I'll see if I can find an extra one for cheap down the line. Now I need to find a good way to store all the extra accessories and label them so I know who they belong to.

Man comparing it to my kenner set which I have on display, Kenner made some fine quality products.

 

[McHaleyArt]

Re: DC Collectibles doing Batman The Animated Series figures!!!!!

Man comparing it to my kenner set which I have on display, Kenner made some fine quality products.

They certainly did. The BTAS was (mostly) great. When they started their TNBA line, they where fantastic. But after Batman, Robin, Creeper, Mad Hatter (BTAS), Two Face & Freeze, they started to release those multi-packs with exclusive figures and the quality of the sculpts and paint jobs went way down. Then they really dropped the ball on their Superman & Batman Beyond figures. Those were pretty bad....and they didn't really give us much in terms of a good line-up of characters. Was happy when it looked like Mattel would pick up the line...but they petered out too.

 

[Sephiroth1089]

Re: DC Collectibles doing Batman The Animated Series figures!!!!!

They certainly did. The BTAS was (mostly) great. When they started their TNBA line, they where fantastic. But after Batman, Robin, Creeper, Mad Hatter (BTAS), Two Face & Freeze, they started to release those multi-packs with exclusive figures and the quality of the sculpts and paint jobs went way down. Then they really dropped the ball on their Superman & Batman Beyond figures. Those were pretty bad....and they didn't really give us much in terms of a good line-up of characters. Was happy when it looked like Mattel would pick up the line...but they petered out too.

Yeah I wasn't too happy with the Mattel stuff. It annoyed me that the JL and JLU stuff they made was smaller than the old kenner toys. I use a couple of the JLU stuff in my BTAS/TBNA kenner display like Etrigan, and Zatanna but the rest of the figures are just too small.

I wonder if DC Collectibles will try to make a Dark Knight Returns batman or characters in the 60s style since they were in the in the episode Legends of the Dark Knight. It would have to be much further down since there are a lot more character I hope we get in this line first (Alfred, Gordon, Bullock, TBNA Scarecrow).

 

[sfa]

Re: DC Collectibles doing Batman The Animated Series figures!!!!!

The original Kenner Isis fits perfectly around Catwoman's neck


I did have a few stiff joints with my figures, but heating them up worked a charm and now they're all moving freely and normally. Aside from those pesky leg holes (which admittedly don't look as bad in-hand but are still very noticeable on Batman & Catwoman) I'm overall very pleased with these. Bring on wave 2 now - need to fill that shelf space!

 

[YankeesFanboy]

Re: DC Collectibles doing Batman The Animated Series figures!!!!!

Thanks for the pics, sfa, Catwoman looks terrific!

 

[sfa]

Re: DC Collectibles doing Batman The Animated Series figures!!!!!

No worries! Yeah, she turned out great. I like her a lot more than I was expecting to actually. Same with Two-Face. They all seem to have more appeal once you get them in-hand.

I'm at that stage where I can't stop posing them at the minute. I kinda wish they hadn't come with extra hands and loads of accessories so I didn't have as many different options!

 

[sfa]

Re: DC Collectibles doing Batman The Animated Series figures!!!!!

I made a handy image showing all the figures announced so far.

Note: The sizes may not be 100% accurate. I just guesstimated based on the sizes of the wave 1 figures and the heights given in the solicits.

 

[YankeesFanboy]

Re: DC Collectibles doing Batman The Animated Series figures!!!!!

Awesome pic, many thanks!

 

[DiFabio]

Re: DC Collectibles doing Batman The Animated Series figures!!!!!

Nice looking shelves sfa, looks nice. Digging your line ups.

I really hope BTAS Robin isn't too short with the final figure. He's one of my most anticipated but if he looks like a little kid compared to Batman and is shorter than the ladies, I'll be disappointed. The shots of it at the various shows and in the pamphlet line up pack in doesn't bode well.