If nothing else, the existence of these Batman Mission Masters and Spectrum of the Bat toylines show just how many wild, crazy, random ideas were slapped onto action figures of the Dark Knight. So many colors, so many Noun Verb naming variations, so many pegwarmers. That's all part of the fun and charm, though, in seeing all the silly ideas used to make just one more Batman figure.
Since this is largely based on designs from The New Batman Adventures, think of this as part two of last week's list. I originally had them grouped together in one big post, but it's... it's a lot, and that way lied madness. There's lots of filler here (lots), but some really nice gems too, so it's not at all a wash.
59-51
59. Infrared Batman: He looks like he's made of Twizzlers. I doubt he tastes like one.
58. Desert Attack Batman: This sculpt and accessory are both seen elsewhere on this list, and in both cases done much better.
57. Ground Pursuit Batman: While I still like the little dragster, the mismatch colors are hilariously jarring. Orange vehicle and a crystal blue Batsuit? Eww.
56. Speedboat Batman: More awful colors, made only slightly better because I think that little boat can float. And that's neato.
55. Slalom Racer Batman: I'm all about Batman participating in the Winter Olympics. I would love nothing more than to see him compete, wearing this very outfit. Until that happens, it's stuck here near the bottom of the list.
54. Cave Climber Batman: Also known as spelunking. Doesn't look like the Batman Begins suit. One star.
53. Skychopper Batman: You remember that show Centurions? Guys who had power suits that could get attachments for different missions, with each dude specializing in land, sea, or air. This is definitely something the air guy would have, but the Batsuit is colored like the sea guy, sans mustache. One and a half stars.
52. Jungle Tracker Batman: Arbitrary ranking, serving as a control group. Move along.
51. Shadow Blast Batman: I'm not sure what a "shadow blast" is supposed to be, but I know that that having a reddish orange bodysuit probably isn't it.
50-41
50. Land Strike Batman: Arbitrary ranking. I'll try not to overuse these.
49. Ultraviolet Ambush Batman: He does like kind of ultravioletish, so I'll give it that. Whether he could ambush someone with that loud costume is another thing altogether, though.
48. Highwire Zipline Batman: A highwire and a zipline?! That's extreme, fun, and extremely fun!
47. Infrared Armor Batman: Costume looks a bit like Ultraviolet Ambush if he was in the cold a bit too long, and the accessories look like a mess of nothingness in the thumbnail. Would buy.
46. Midnight Rescue Batman: I do believe that Midnight is when Batman would most often mount a rescue, so points for that. I do not believe that he would mount said rescue at Midnight while wearing neon green accoutrements,however, so only partial credit will be granted.
45. Velocity Storm Batman: Green is a color that can sometimes work with Batman, and more often does not. This... is the latter.
44. Lunar Attack Batman: For when the Moon just needs to be taken down a peg or two, I guess.
43. Glider Strike Batman: Why is Batman so obsessed with looking like a penny in these toy lines? Did the Penny Plunderer get to him? Is he the Penny Plunderer? If only.
42. Lunar Force Batman: For when the Moon puts together its own special team, which is much better than attacking our lone satellite.
41. Midnight Pursuit Batman: Coupled with the name, those bright green whatevers paint a hilarious picture in my mind's eye, with Batman chasing some criminal down the street and just being so obvious about it. No notes.
40-31
40. Inferno Extinction Batman: Also a hilarious name. Batman doesn't just want to fight fires, he wants them wiped out completely. Good theming and everything, I just don't really love the red and black. Not like this.
39. R.A.M. Batman: Not an actual ram. Zero stars.
38. Radar Batman: This I actually kind of like, looking at it now. It reminds me of the Bruce Wayne figure from the Batman Returns line, with the black shirt with gray lines and red bat. Why is it so low? I don't know. Pretend it's number... 16 or something.
37. Sea Claw Batman: Looks like he belongs in the sea, and comes with a big claw. Can't accuse him of false advertising.
36. Battle Staff Batman: Comes with a staff, presumably used for battle. Also not a case of false advertising.
35. Midnight Hunter Batman: Guys. Come on. Unless Batman is the one being hunted at Midnight, he should not be dressed in bright green. These colors are not conducive to hunting, at least at Midnight.
34. Sub-Frequency Armor Batman: Yeah, sure. Why not. Arbitrary ranking.
33. Arctic Ambush Robin: This definitely looks like a Robin who would be ambushing in the Arctic. White and light blue? It works.
32. Knight Strike Batman: This almost kind of works, if it weren't for the black gloves. Weird thing is, I can't imagine the gloves being the same color as the cowl being any better, so I'm not sure how these colors would actually work well. Maybe they wouldn't.
31. Gotham Crusader Batman: I like that purple and the flowy cape. I also like other Batman figures more, but this isn't bad at all.
30-21
30. Arctic Blast Robin: These days, they'd take away the blue controls and yellow belt, make it all grayscale, and call this a "black and white edition" variant.
29. Sky Attack Batman: Does he attack the sky, or attack from the sky? I do not know. What I do know is that he kind of looks like he's wearing the suit Jim Gordon had when he was Batman, so I'll leave it up to you if that's a good thing or not.
28. Electronic R.A.M. Batman: Also not a ram, but I'll give it the benefit of the doubt that it's electronic.
27. Team Batcycle: This should rank higher. It's the Batcycle. That's awesome. Not awesome? Bright red costumes on Batman and Nightwing.
26. Turbo Force Nightwing: A repaint of another Nightwing figure from an earlier line, the black suit with green bird symbol actually kind of works. The ketchup-and-mustard jet ski does not.
25. Shadow Copter Batman: As far as shadows go, the copter definitely fits the bill. The Batsuit? Not so much.
24. Gamma Blast Batman: This design really isn't bad, and the colors are cool. I also like the weird bike thing he comes with. What that has to do with blasting gammas, I do not know. For that, it loses a few points.
23. Virus Delete Batman: The abruptness of this name cracks me up, like it's his catchphrase. "Virus... delete!" he cries, as he deletes said virus.
22. Mountain Pursuit Batman: Mountain Pursuit sounds like a direct-to-DVD movie from 2007 that stars a male lead from Melrose Place and the third credited female from The O.C. Four copies of it are languishing on a clearance shelf at your local Half-Price-Books, two are still in shrink wrap, and all but one of the covers is faded from sun damage.
21. Night Fury Robin: So much fury, with the whirly thing and the surprisingly close to accurate colors.
20-11
20. Anti-Blaze Batman: This Batman also wants to extinguish flames, but is a bit kinder about it. He's just against flames, not out to wipe them all out.
19. Firewing Batman: The Beyond suit lends itself well to action figures, I feel, thanks to its sleek design. This is a bit too much, though I like the craziness of that backpack accessory.
18. Ultra-Frequency Armor Batman: Not a bad look, with the black padding and accents remind me a bit of Capullo's Zero Year design. The big, translucent red Batarang is fun too.
17. Quick Change Superman: Now we're getting to the genuinely good figures. Why is Superman here? I do not care. I love Superman, recycled figure or no.
16. Quick Attack Batman: Hmm. It's an accurate Batman Beyond, so it has an edge on Radar Batman from earlier. Maybe you shouldn't pretend that one was number 16...
15. Antivirus Bruce Wayne: I'll take Bruce Wayne over McAfee or AVG any day of the week.
14. Night Spark Joker: Pretty solid Joker. The end.
13. Freestyle Skate Batman: Radical name, radical design. Makes me wish Terry McGinnis was actually a skater and beat his enemies on the half-pipe. Alas...
12. X-Ray Assailant Robin: Great Robin figure, with a cool glider.
11. Knight Assault Batman: Pretty good, basic Batman figure. There's just a better one a few spots up.
10-1
10. Technocrat Jervis Tetch: Not a whole lot to say about this one, just that it looks pretty nice. Purple isn't his normal color, but I kind of dig it here.
9. Capture Cape Batman: While it's not to everybody's liking, I love the Beyond suit, and it looks nice and clean here. The added gray detailing on the torso isn't too distracting, giving the figure a bit more dimension against the dark blacks and reds.
8. Hydro Assault Joker: Reminds me of the Super Powers line, which is never a bad thing. This is a perfect example of recycled sculpts and accessories being used well, making the figure feel unique and fresh by evoking nostalgia. Not an easy thing to do.
7. Photon Armor Batman: That giant, shiny red cape is super neat. No other notes.
6. Terrorcast Joker: With all the excess and gaudiness in these two lines, simplicity goes a long way, even for the Joker.
5. Night Shadow Batman: A simple, basic Batman figure, in all the best ways. That he comes with a glider pack and a cape is a great touch.
4. Rumble Ready Riddler: Like most of the "updated" looks for TNBA, I did not dig Riddler's new design. Plop him in a little dragster that's shaped like a question mark, though, and all sins are forgiven.
3. Sonic Stun Batgirl: This is a great Batgirl, plain and simple. Great colors that predicted her Burnside look a decade and a half in advance, and the recycled accessories don't detract from the greatness of the figure.
2. Insect-Body Mr. Freeze: One of the boldest, weirdest choices in TNBA was having Mr. Freeze's body wither away, leaving only his head atop a robotic body. It's a striking image, that domed face scurrying about with mechanical spider legs, and you know the only thing that would make it cooler?
1. Virus Attack Mr. Freeze: Making it bigger. Like the design or not, this figure looks awesome, there's no denying that. It takes the spider leg concept and ratchets it up to an insane degree, and even brings back the goggles to round out a more classic Freeze look.
All images were obtained from Figure-Archive.net, unless otherwise noted.