Mars Toys 1/6 Prank Villain (Three versions of Cesar Romero's Joker)

[Asta]

 

[Mike86]

The prison pants don’t seem as bright in the video review but still are brighter than the promo pictures.

 

[GhostBeard]

Not bad. I made the correct choice in getting the 1st/classic version.

 

[Wor-Gar]

Thank you for the review, Breda.

I have to say, that Prison Joker is one of the cheapest looking figures I have ever seen in modern times. It's like a 1/6th MEGO style. The baseball glove is the only thing that looks nice. The shirt and pants look lazy -- snaps visible, wrong color, etc.

The black-and-white clown is a little better. It would likely pair well set next to Nicholson's mime Joker -- that black-and-white make the green hair and red lips pop. But the thick material just doesn't hang very well and adds to the "Mego" presentation. Nice of them to include two different hat sizes -- that's smart thinking ahead. Leaving the black shoes was not.

But overall, I think BOTH these figures should have been boxed together for the price of one. Maybe a very low edition run will justify the price one day when they become hard to find.

 

[Asta]

I have to get into the habit of labelling him Softball Joker rather than Baseball Joker.

I looked up the differences yesterday, and it turns out you need bigger balls to play Softball.

Thank you for the review, Breda.

I have to say, that Prison Joker is one of the cheapest looking figures I have ever seen in modern times. It's like a 1/6th MEGO style. The baseball glove is the only thing that looks nice. The shirt and pants look lazy -- snaps visible, wrong color, etc.

The black-and-white clown is a little better. It would likely pair well set next to Nicholson's mime Joker -- that black-and-white make the green hair and red lips pop. But the thick material just doesn't hang very well and adds to the "Mego" presentation. Nice of them to include two different hat sizes -- that's smart thinking ahead. Leaving the black shoes was not.

But overall, I think BOTH these figures should have been boxed together for the price of one. Maybe a very low edition run will justify the price one day when they become hard to find.

They could've made these cheaper by selling them without the sculpts, since they came with version A.

I think B and C came out practically as advertised. Neither looked as high end as A, and the shirt poppers were already showing on the prototype of the Softball version. He looks to be wearing quite a thick fat suit.

The materials used seem to be the same. Maybe soaking the Pagliacci outfit will enable it to be shaped more realistically?

It's just the colour of the prison trousers that became inexplicably brighter.

It's hard to judge the real colour of those, as they change quite a bit in the light. These screencaps are from the copy I keep on my PC, but also match my Blu-ray set.

Joker and the batsman are wearing a design without belt loops, while the catcher and fielder behind Joker have belt loops:

Switching them out for a grey pair will hopefully go a long way to capturing that vivid memory I have of seeing this episode for the first time, sitting on the floor in front of the TV at around four or five years old and being completely transfixed and disturbed by The Joker.

 

[Wor-Gar]

Switching them out for a grey pair will hopefully go a long way to capturing that vivid memory I have of seeing this episode for the first time, sitting on the floor in front of the TV at around four or five years old and being completely transfixed and disturbed by The Joker.

I actually believed the pants to be on the brown side from the proto, until I watched the episode recently and realized they are closer to gray. They have that weird Indiana Jones pants coloring where its hard to place whether its more gray or more brown.

I'll have to see more photos of these two but for now, I'm not impressed. And yes, it does nick away at my recently love for Mars Toys.... as do the handful of promises that have gone unanswered.

 

[Asta]

I'll have to see more photos of these two but for now, I'm not impressed. And yes, it does nick away at my recently love for Mars Toys.... as do the handful of promises that have gone unanswered.

With the Pagliacci there was a laziness from the start.

Added to the colour and style of the shoes there was also the lack of hair on the mask, and the undersized pompoms.

All the effort went into the classic Joker, which acted as the lure, and I had the sense when ordering that these were literally being treated as lesser versions. However, they were so rare a subject for 1/6 that it was easy to overlook their shortcomings.

Since no improvements were made (apart from the ruff collar) it looks as though Mars didn't place much importance on them. With the amount of figures they're planning to make I doubt they can spend much time with refinement or matching the source on anything other than prime versions of major characters.

I hope they don't go down the Present Toys route where quantity overtakes quality, with little time or the care to study the source for accuracy.

 

[Cocoboloboy]

I will always love Mars Toys just for the fact that I have an absolutely awesome 66 Joker on the shelf. If that’s all they ever gave me then quietly slipped into oblivion the love would still be there.

My confidence in future quality releases is starting to fade though.

 

[Lee in MI]

I think it's ok for the quality to slip if they are pushing these things out like widgets. However, they seem to be taking their time to complete these releases and with the long waits comes higher expectations. When those expectations are not met, it makes the wait seem unrewarded...unappreciated. That leads to disappointment and an eroding of confidence in the company.


....so yes...WE HATE MARS NOW





Just kidding but I did get a "shipping soon" for the Mars Keaton in tuxedo and I'm dreading what that will look like based on these offerings.

 

[Wor-Gar]

with the long waits comes higher expectations. When those expectations are not met, it makes the wait seem unrewarded...unappreciated. That leads to disappointment and an eroding of confidence in the company.

YES! Exactly true.

Promises not met, and expectations built but undelivered upon, will make your audience turn on you like no other.

I hope Mars is struggling hard in the right direction, and the delays are only because they are trying to be a real player, maybe even THE competitor to HT.

 

[Lee in MI]

YES! Exactly true.

Promises not met, and expectations built but undelivered upon, will make your audience turn on you like no other.

I hope Mars is struggling hard in the right direction, and the delays are only because they are trying to be a real player, maybe even THE competitor to HT.

I agree...still waiting on the HT killer to present himself. Maybe it's IA...maybe Mars...maybe SooSoo, maybe who knows who

I collect A LOT of HTs but I do like to see other companies who can offer more than the main big three (Marvel/DC/Star Wars) who I can support if the quality is high.

 

[aragen]

I think it's ok for the quality to slip if they are pushing these things out like widgets. However, they seem to be taking their time to complete these releases and with the long waits comes higher expectations. When those expectations are not met, it makes the wait seem unrewarded...unappreciated. That leads to disappointment and an eroding of confidence in the company.


....so yes...WE HATE MARS NOW





Just kidding but I did get a "shipping soon" for the Mars Keaton in tuxedo and I'm dreading what that will look like based on these offerings.

From who?

 

[BigWayne]

I think it's ok for the quality to slip if they are pushing these things out like widgets. However, they seem to be taking their time to complete these releases and with the long waits comes higher expectations. When those expectations are not met, it makes the wait seem unrewarded...unappreciated. That leads to disappointment and an eroding of confidence in the company.


....so yes...WE HATE MARS NOW





Just kidding but I did get a "shipping soon" for the Mars Keaton in tuxedo and I'm dreading what that will look like based on these offerings.

If it turns out to be a red tuxedo, we’ll know they got a real good deal on the material for the joker pants

 

[Raleig.h]

Im not surprised, after 66 Joker dropped everyone thought Mars was the second coming of Christ.

 

[Wor-Gar]

everyone thought Mars was the second coming of Christ.

It's sad to be so wrong about both.

 

[Brett Banner]

This is why I am always hesitant to PO 3rd party stuff. Very happy I passed on both of these.

 

[Gipetto0812]

Im not surprised, after 66 Joker dropped everyone thought Mars was the second coming of Christ.

Yup! I like my Romero Joker, but I wasn't as wow'd by it like others who were calling it figure of the year as I mentioned in my unboxing review earlier in this thread. I'm happy to praise companies (official or 3rd Party) when they make a win, but I don't tend to go all in with blind faith on anyone any more like some did with Mars after the release of Romero Joker. I'm still debating on if I actually want to keep it or not to be honest even after upgrading it with the Dino tie. InArt is slowly earning that respect, but I still have the "wait and see" vibe with them given they only have 1 figure actually released and in collectors' hands.

Still waiting on my '66 Dynamic Duo from Mars as well as Mob Joker. If either of those flop, I may not PO their stuff any more and instead wait for initial reviews. Though, I'd be hard pressed NOT to get their Depp Wonka if they actually put it up for PO as anything would be better than the Medicom version. All that said, after slowly buying official DX08 parts, I'm seeing the difference in quality of the Mars KO vs the real deal more and more.

 

[Mike86]

I never thought the first Romero was figure of the year either. That was always overblown in my opinion.

Now as my first exposure to a third party figure and for the price and all it came with I was pretty damn impressed.

 

[HAL9000.]

with the long waits comes higher expectations. When those expectations are not met, it makes the wait seem unrewarded...unappreciated. That leads to disappointment and an eroding of confidence in the company.

It's amazing how many people in the forum either don't understand or choose to ignore this simple premise. Especially in the EXO-6 threads.

Waiting for anticipated figures, only to have them fall short of expectations and promises is a repeated theme in 1/6 collecting.

IMO, the worst is when they show a prototype, you pre-order, wait a year, only to have the figure look nothing like the one promised. False advertising. And yet, when some people bring up their disappointment, there's always others ready to shoot them down and point out the obvious "it's just a prototype", as if we haven't just paid hundreds for a sub par figure, and can pay a couple hundred more to have a new sculpt and paintup.

There are always the ones who like to say "I told you so" and "I don't know why you expected them to be so great". Why? Because the proto' looked fantastic and I'm/we're a huge fan of the franchise.

I never thought the first Romero was figure of the year either. That was always overblown in my opinion.

Now as my first exposure to a third party figure and for the price and all it came with I was pretty damn impressed.

The year ain't over yet. Plus it's subjective.

I do think it's a strong contender so far. Looks great in person, and getting 3 head sculpts is practically unheard of.

 

[sj2106]

First release is still figure of the year for me. Three excellent sculpts, well tailored outfit, an abundance of hands and fun accessories. All for a very nice price.

The paint isn't on Hot Toys level but it's less noticeable than it would be with flesh tones.