Re: Hot Toys – MMS 293 & 294 Batman Returns: Batman and Bruce Wayne (Keaton) Set
Initially I thought I'd get the single no matter how the Bruce head ended up looking. I felt I didn't really need Bruce Wayne on display.
But then it occurred to me that I have the complete set of Hot Toys Burton Batman products so far, why stop short when this will quite possibly be the last item they make anyway. So if we get a better Keaton sculpt I'll definitely go for the double set. If we get the prototype-sculpt though I think I'll just get the single release - it really is that bad, usual nice detail and all but one of the worst likenesses they've made as it stands - owning it would be as good as not having a Keaton Bruce Wayne at all.
Yup, the two-pack is dependent entirely on the Wayne sculpt. If we get a revised portrait and they nail Keaton, it's gold, if we get that horrible proto/product one, it's a bust.
The single has no real problems, looks great and is one hell of a steal. I still can't believe it's less than what the DX 09 went for. The only thing I hate are the mouth plates. What a bunch of lazy, uncreative choices. As Batman, Keaton emotes the most in Returns. You wouldn't realize it with the alternate faces Hot Toys went with. These two are fine and look just like Keaton in the mask,
But what's the third one? They don't advertise what it looks like in any of the action poses. I assume it's just a slight variation of #2? What a missed opportunity to not get atleast one of these out there,
DX 09 had great faces (loved the slight smirking, Axis Chemicals one), even the crappy ketchup face had a great sculpt, BUT they never included a rage/angry faceplate. It felt like a glaring omission. Returns Batman would have been the perfect opportunity to remedy that. Instead we get two toothy faces again.
What would be really cool is if this is all just a work in progress and they surprise us with new faces like they did with the QS 001 1/4 Batman. The product pics for that were horrible. The cowl sucked, the faces were all goofy and they advertised only three. Then out of no where, it hit SDCC that year, then shipped with a completely new head/cowl, all new revised faces and 4 choices instead of three.
Beggars can't be choosers though. Besides, look at the variety of expressions Hot Toys tried to give us with the DX 12/Armory faces. They gave us a bunch of options and yet only one or two look good and actually fit the face convincingly.
