The third and final figure in DC Collectible's second wave of Batman: The Animated Series toys salutes "On Leather Wings," the episode that started it all-- kind of. "On Leather Wings" may be the pilot, but it actually aired the day after "The Cat and The Claw, Part 1." But that doesn't matter, what matters is if this collectible is a worthy tribute to the classic episode that saw Man-Bat on screen for the first time and if it's a good value for your money, so let's get started!
If you missed the reviews for the other Batman: The Animates Series and The New Batman Adventures collectibles, you can find links to those articles here:
- Batman (No full review, but it was covered in the 2014 Gift Guide)
- Catwoman
- Mr.Freeze
- Two-Face
- Joker (I'll have a review for this next week)
- Robin
Big thanks to DC Collectibles for supplying this figure to Batman News for review!
Sculpted by Irene Matar, Man-Bat is not only incredibly detailed, but he's by far the most impressive character in the lineup when it comes to sheer size (7 inches in height with a 15-inch wingspan). The figure is huge and, surprisingly, at $24.99 he doesn't cost a penny more than any other Batman: The Animated Series collectible. Here's a size comparison between Man-Bat and The Joker, as well as a look at the attractive red and black packaging decorated with the classic logo from the show:
Out of the box, we find that Man-Bat is not only the biggest figure, he has the biggest accessories as well: wings. Ol' Kirk Langstrom has a pair of open and closed wings that you can swap out at any time to achieve your desired pose, but the heavy plastic arms have a tendency to drop down and not hold position, which can be a little aggravating. Also, unlike the other six figures from this run so far, Man-bat doesn't stand up too well on his own due to his unique shape and as a result you'll definitely need to employ the included stand.
While the extra wings are certainly a nice touch, many of you might be wondering about the real accessories. Well, there's not much to them, but what did you expect? Man-Bat isn't exactly a character that lends himself well to gadgets of any kind. A clue from the pilot episode, the cop's cassette that recorded Man-Bat's shrieking, and three nondescript pill bottles are included, but there isn't anything you can do with these with Man-Bat himself. However, you could always put them in the possession of another figure (sold separately) like Batman's gloved hand and create a little display that recreates a scene from "On Leather Wings."
When it comes to articulation, the creators of the figure got the most they could out of such a unique, monstrous sculpt. Man-Bat boasts 19 points of articulation and you do see pegs/pins for the joints at the shoulders, but fortunately nowhere else. He can't look up so trying to pose him in flight and parallel to the ground below will just see him gazing straight down and thus make for an uninspired presentation, which is a shame because I'm sure many would've liked to have had Batman's arms wrapped around Man-Bat's neck, making it look like the beast is being steered by the Dark Knight.
Man-Bat also possesses an ab-crunch and chest-swivel, but no waist swivel. The feet both swivel and feature a single peg-hole each, and there is no elbow or wrist articulation, which is to be expected given the hard plastic construction of the generously-sized wings.
Lastly, since I think it spawned some good discussion in the last review, here's a side-by-side comparison of the original 90's action figure and the 2015 DC Collectibles figure:
Overall
Man-Bat probably has the greatest wow-factor of the figures I've seen so far because his look is so spot-on and he takes up so much shelf space. The figure is nicely colored with a detailed jaw-- you can see the tongue inside his mouth-- and there's crisp black linework within his large ears as well. The lack of articulation will be a downside for some, but overall I think it's a mighty impressive collectible and a steal at $24.99.
