Hot Toys MMS 692 + 693 BATMAN (1989) 1/6 scale Batman 2.0

[Nick D]

HT strategy: dont bother with quality or accuracy, just put a 89 or whatever other batman logo on it and those morons will buy it anyway and we have excuse to make another even more meticulously designed batman with even more unparalleled accuracy (= we fix one issue and make another two)

To go twelve years, announce it in ten, zero research & development in two, on a product already deemed low batch gives me zero hope they even care to revisit this suit later.

This was their opportunity, get rid of the awful design, introduce the fabric suit update after prototype pics just like you upgraded all the other things before release we never heard about. Not throw in a body you think might hold up a little better. Have your artists sculpt and paint the actor at minimum ten times until it can get no closer, your release window from preorder stage to delivery allots for this. I don’t get it.

 

[Dave_W]

For anyone curious on unrealtoys:

"Hello. Thank you for your interest. Custom Batman 1989 head (PAINTED) is 310 usd. Eyes are articulated. The head will take around 3 months to make. EMS shipping is around 35-45 usd depending where you live. Paypal fee 5%. If you order this month, bonus angry mouth plate will be included. At the moment it is for DX9. For Batman 1989 version 2.0 (2024), it is also being made."

"For mouth plates only, I might not do it.
The shape of the cowl is different."

$350 for a 1/6 head?!?! GTFOH, I'll make my own

 

[mattjack]

Oh wow...
For the price, this figure is a piece of trash.
No upgrades on the suit, and somehow everything is worse except maybe for the cape.

I'm happy I kept my Batman Returns MMS293 figure, with custom cape

HT has to stop making these bad reissues for double the price. I hope they don't sell well.

 

[lordnastrond]

Whatever you think of the figure, I maintain that the diorama alone might be worth the price of admission.
If I knew I could grab the diorama for a reasonable price I might consider cancelling, but I took that risk with the Sandman base from Tobey and now it sells for more than $250 on its own!

But yeah - got to admit Justin's video really shows how much HT missed the mark on this one.

 

[Cocoboloboy]

Other than the suit texture it looked pretty good in the video. I think the cowl sculpt is improved. Not the strongest likeness on the neutral faceplate still but the bloody one is awesome. Derpy plate will forever stay in the box. Great to see it holding action poses that my DX09 will never be able to do.

I’m gonna bet that in hand under normal lighting that the unforgivable texture will diminish somewhat. I’m also hoping I can get the cowl to sit more snug on his shoulders. Looked like it was riding high throughout Justin’s review.

 

[Nick D]

Yeah the diorama base is cool, but even that is incorrectly sculpted. The wings on the gargoyle don’t correctly point up to where you could hang his hat and coat on like in the film, they referenced the wrong gargoyle. Can’t put $400 USD into just a diorama cast in plastic when it too is inaccurate.

 

[Dave_W]

Yeah the diorama base is cool, but even that is incorrectly sculpted. The wings on the gargoyle don’t correctly point up to where you could hang his hat and coat on like in the film, they referenced the wrong gargoyle. Can’t put $400 USD into just a diorama cast in plastic when it too is inaccurate.

If we're trying to recreate accurate moments from the film, there were no gargoyles on the stairs either so scene accuracy is already out the window.

 

[Nick D]

If we're trying to recreate accurate moments from the film, there were no gargoyles on the stairs either so scene accuracy is already out the window.

No need for the sarcasm, when you turn the diorama around it’s meant to be accurate to the edge of the cathedral and the stairs are no longer seen.

 

[lordnastrond]

Yeah the diorama base is cool, but even that is incorrectly sculpted. The wings on the gargoyle don’t correctly point up to where you could hang his hat and coat on like in the film, they referenced the wrong gargoyle. Can’t put $400 USD into just a diorama cast in plastic when it too is inaccurate.

If we're trying to recreate accurate moments from the film, there were no gargoyles on the stairs either so scene accuracy is already out the window.

The roof had multiple Gargoyles - and they chose the more important one that is tied to Joker's death scene.
So I wouldn't say its inaccurate - just not the Gargoyle you would prefer, if that makes sense.

This is the Gargoyle he hangs his clothes on

Whereas the diorama's Gargoyle is the one he says "what are you laughing at" and Joker's ankle is tied to which kills him.

 

[Evil_Deadite]

I'm struggling to keep my order, even though I just got the waitlist conversion. I REALLY want the base, but then again I only keep my figures in Detolfs, and the base won't fit in there. I'm really tempted to just upgrade my DX09 with a new cape, and body swap. Urgh...

 

[Dave_W]

No need for the sarcasm, when you turn the diorama around it’s meant to be accurate to the edge of the cathedral and the stairs are no longer seen.

The roof had multiple Gargoyles - and they chose the more important one that is tied to Joker's death scene.
So I wouldn't say its inaccurate - just not the Gargoyle you would prefer, if that makes sense.

This is the Gargoyle he hangs his clothes on
View attachment 720039

Whereas the diorama's Gargoyle is the one he says "what are you laughing at" and Joker's ankle is tied to which kills him.

The whole back of the dio is meant to be this scene as @lordnastrond mentioned. But you're not exactly going to dangle your figures off the back. It's just a nod to the end scene.

 

[lordnastrond]

The whole back of the dio is meant to be this scene as @lordnastrond mentioned. But you're not exactly going to dangle your figures off the back. It's just a nod to the end scene.

View attachment 720040

In theory you could dangle your figures from this diorama if you are decent with fishing wire - the cathedral ledge even has the missing bricks Joker dislodged to knock off Batman and Vicki Vale.
Would make for some awesome pictures.

 

[Dave_W]

In theory you could dangle your figures from this diorama if you are decent with fishing wire - the cathedral ledge even has the missing bricks Joker dislodged to knock off Batman and Vicki Vale.
Would make for some awesome pictures.

I'll let other people take that risk

"Where's Vicky?"

"Err...she fell"

 

[professorratigan]

^I totally planned to dangle Joker off the back. That's like the only reason I still haven't cancelled this mess of a release...

 

[lordnastrond]

^I totally planned to dangle Joker off the back. That's like the only reason I still haven't cancelled this mess of a release...

I might try my own hand at it as well!
I have no doubt you will do better at it than me - so please share pics if you do it!

 

[professorratigan]

If I don't cancel it. There's still that part of me that wants to, to send Hot Toys a message. My fear is they call the bluff, let this release dry up, and close down shop on '89 Batman going forward. This is the kind of thing that has bred such a resentment in me towards Nolan. How you can't go five days without a new and improved Bale Batman, but we had to wait 12 years to get... This.

 

[Dave_W]

How you can't go five days without a new and improved Bale Batman...

 

[sj2106]

It takes less than two minutes on Google images to see the correct suit texture. It's either a mistake at the factory or they literally did zero research.

Still hoping they fix it for the next batches.

I'm definitely not cancelling mine but only because I don't have the DX09. This should have been night and day better than that 13 year old figure. That it isn't is testament to Hot Toys declining standards and complacency.

Not confident at all in new Returns, Reeve or Terminator figures.

 

[Dave_W]

Still hoping they fix it for the next batches.

I may be wrong, but fixing this would require an entire new suit mold wouldn't it? This isn't some misaligned paint job or bad batch of brittle plastic. That would require an entire new suit sculpt.

 

[Nick D]

I’m fine with ‘89 not being popular or the cash cow,
it had its run, achieved unfathomable success.

However, shouldn’t that be the reason you nail it here? When you know you can’t sell droves of these like you once could, shouldn’t you try to make it the best you can in an attempt to either A - have positive word of mouth on the product to boost sales, or B - do everything you can here, because saving anything for a later version doesn’t seem lucrative. We’ve seen them before go all out on characters nobody wants ever, because they know that’s their only chance at selling the product.

Keaton is an easy Batman to put together from an R&D perspective.

New rubber molds, spandex, a couple faceplates you were already decently close at 12 years ago, no hair, forehead, nose, cheekbones or ears to worry about. Eyes you don’t even have to paint, some Nike trainers and gauntlets you already have the molds for. A cape that still isn’t any good so that wasn’t the clear and cut focus here.

No one anticipated this release to be so bad
so we didn’t talk about it to any real degree.
The prototype looked great and we thought they had it in the bag.

This was an easy release and the fact that they went to the lengths they did on the diorama base but not the figure is insulting, and I’m tired of companies doing this. If your figure is awful then am I supposed to display the massive diorama by itself and be stuck with it if you never end up making an accurate figure for it?