DC Direct The New Batman Adventures Wave 4 Blue Cowl Batman Figure
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00:00You knew he came in black. Did you know he came in blue?
00:03Here's a look at McFarlane Toys DC Direct, the new Batman Adventures, Blue Cowl Batman.
00:30As a child, Bruce Wayne watched as his parents were brutally killed in Gotham City's crime alley.
00:37Traumatized by their deaths, he devoted his life to becoming the world's greatest weapon against crime, Batman.
00:42To become the ultimate vigilante, the Dark Knight disciplined his mind and body to reach the pinnacle of mental and physical superiority in the relentless pursuit of justice.
00:52Even though the Caped Crusader's cowl has changed, his focus remains the same.
00:55Before we get a closer look at the new Batman Adventures, Blue Cowl Batman, I'd like to thank the folks over at McFarlane.
01:00Batman Toys. Yeah, that did provide the sample we could have a look at.
01:03All this week, in fact, we are going to be looking at this entire wave of new Adventures of Batman figures.
01:07We wanted to start things first, though, I felt, with Batman.
01:09Taking the tape measure, and let's see how tall the figure actually stands,
01:13Batman in his blue cowl state actually still stands the same, at 6 inches in height, or roughly 15 centimeters tall.
01:20Todd and his team did pick the reins up from the DC Direct.
01:23Because of that, these figures are essentially using the same bodies as the original DC Direct new Batman Adventure figures.
01:28Different deco, very similar style of bodies.
01:31It seems like they have made some tweaks, though.
01:33You may notice already right away, like the very visible pegs at the tops of Batman's thighs are completely omitted now with the newer releases.
01:40Here's also what the figure looks like with the Batman animated series Batman.
01:44One of the few one-shot figures that we actually got from McFarlane on the DC Multiverse line.
01:48I'm sure the common cold wouldn't prevent Batman from fighting crime, nor will the common cold prevent me from doing this review.
01:53The figure, first of all, from an accessory standpoint, does come a clue with this.
01:57It's a reproduction cell from the new Batman Adventures.
02:00As you can see, it comes framed like this.
02:02It's a really nice presentation.
02:04I mean, this would be like an additional bells and whistles that, as a collector, you really wouldn't expect them to have things like this thrown in.
02:09So I really appreciate the fact that it would take the time to do that.
02:12On the back, though, it actually does give you a description of this.
02:14It's from the episode of The Legend of the Dark Knight, Season 2, Episode 6, Synopses.
02:19Several children give their widely varied opinions on who they think the Batman is.
02:23Airdate is October 10, 1998.
02:26Directed by Dan Riva.
02:28Story by Bob Goodman, Bruce Timm.
02:30Animation Services by Coco Enterprises' CO.
02:34And that's in Dong Yang.
02:35Music by Shirley Walker.
02:38I'm sure when we are going to be looking at...
02:39Now, we are also going to be checking out the Scarecrow and the Riddler that are also part of this wave as well.
02:45Like, way to just give it all away now, humbled reviewer.
02:48So I would imagine that they're probably going to come in with very similar reproduction cells.
02:51Like, again, these aren't the original ones.
02:53But the fact we get ourselves reproductions is a pretty cool little accessory.
02:56Got to thank Todd and his team for that.
02:58Also got to really thank Todd for upgrading the state of the display stands that come in clear with these figures.
03:04Now, I don't have the original one for Batman.
03:05I'm sure I do, and it sits somewhere.
03:07But I do happen to have one here from Batgirl.
03:10The stands worked essentially the same, where you had a front half turn and a three-quarter turn.
03:15And basically would just show you what the character designs would be.
03:17I mean, these looked okay, because they actually looked like they would be inserts of, like, a characterization book.
03:22But I actually do have a behind-the-scenes kind of book that basically tells all the synopsis of Batman, the character backgrounds.
03:29It's like a writer's guide to the Batman animated series.
03:31I should really look at that one day.
03:32While the stands looked okay, I mean, the state of the waist clips, though, were dismal.
03:38Now, this one actually did have an adjustable waist clip.
03:40Some of the earlier ones even had less than that.
03:42And these actually would open and close.
03:44But these would always come loose.
03:45They never really felt...
03:46I never really felt that they securely fit around the waist of any character, Batman or otherwise.
03:51The ones that we get now, though, are a vast upgrade.
03:54Although the shape seems somewhat the same, I'm almost even identical,
03:57now has Batman the New Adventures on the top, or New Adventures of Batman.
04:00And instead of having this awkward waist clip, what they've done instead is the most simplest route.
04:05They actually have themselves, like, an actual spring clip.
04:09So you can open and close this and move this around.
04:11My only one criticism, though, is I feel like this sits really loose on the peg, on the post.
04:16Other than that, though, it's a really nice display stand.
04:18And I'm sure we will be getting more of this as we look at the line moving forward.
04:21This, of course, does fit into Batman's, or fit around Batman's waist.
04:25The only one issue he really does have is the fact that, obviously, his fabric cape or his plastic cape
04:29would get in the way of things, so you kind of have to move the cape up.
04:32And then you have to kind of get this right up on Batman's.
04:35Now, you could also really clip this also around Batman's leg, too.
04:37Nothing really has to say that it has to fit around Batman's waist.
04:40If you'd rather instead, in this case, because, again, Batman's got his cape in the way,
04:44probably you could just easily clip this around his leg and call it a day.
04:48I'm going to call it, though, a day and at least move these display stands out of the way.
04:51But, by the way, too, it comes in two separate pieces.
04:54Technically, it really came in three separate pieces.
04:56The waist clip, the actual post, and then the display stand.
04:59And when you are putting this in place, as you probably already know,
05:02this basically just sits in place, and now you get to go with the display stand.
05:06Moving that out of the way.
05:07Batman does also come included with the hands.
05:09Now, I think the original black cowl Batman had the very same accessories.
05:12One said accessory I already have attached onto the figure's forearm.
05:16It just happens to be this one.
05:17The figure does come included with two versions of the grapple line.
05:20One that's as a separate piece, one that's already attached to his hands and molded as one piece.
05:24If I bring back in the black cowl Batman, you can already see that I've already had the figure for a while displayed with this.
05:30I still kind of feel the same way, though.
05:32I mean, it's nice to include, like, a separate accessory like this to be displayed with the character.
05:37But you're only going to ultimately lose it anyways.
05:40And it's not like, really, he has a hand really dedicated for...
05:43I guess you could technically take yourself, like, this hand, for example.
05:46And it basically just fits around his hand that way.
05:48But you're never going to get the accurate molding similar to what you would have with this.
05:52And if you're only going to lose this accessory anyways,
05:55why not just release the figure with only just this accessory already molded to the figure's hands?
05:59Which, as you can see, this one is.
06:01So I guess it's okay for some.
06:03I would rather if they just had spent the plastic, dedicated the plastic just to do this,
06:08rather than having two separate standalone bat lines.
06:11The figure does also come included with a Batarang.
06:14Nice-looking Batarang, though.
06:15Now, with all of these, by the way, the figure does also have dedicated hands.
06:19So, like, for example, he's got...
06:21If I grab both of these here...
06:22He comes with two hands specifically dedicated for holding the Batarang.
06:26Take yourself the Batarang.
06:28Fits this inside the hand like that.
06:29And Batman holds it perfectly.
06:31He has that on this side.
06:33And would you believe, again, he has a mirror flip of it.
06:35So he has the hand, yes, yes, that goes on this side as well.
06:38The figure does also come included with a couple C-clamp hands, C-gripping hands.
06:43Again, you know, if you want to bring back in the Batarang here, the Bat line here.
06:47The Bat line basically just fits.
06:48Not so easily, though, but it basically fits inside his hand.
06:52I guess somewhat...
06:52Someone like that?
06:54Someone, I guess, like, no, that's not the right...
06:56That's not the right way.
06:57Basically, this would fit somewhat in his hand.
07:01And basically, we just plug in place like that.
07:03Or, again, like, if you just want to have him with, like, just partially relaxed hands,
07:06he also comes with those included as well.
07:08So those are all the accessories.
07:09So let's move those all out of the way.
07:12Getting, though, a closer look now at Blue Cowl Batman.
07:14Which, again, to look at this one, I mean, it's no different, really,
07:17that if you had the chance to already pick up the original DC Direct one.
07:21There is, though, considerable changes.
07:23One of the biggest changes, I would have to say, is probably the use of the plastic that they have.
07:27One thing about the original DC Direct figures, which will find figures for their time,
07:32they always kind of felt like they were more brittle plastic.
07:35I mean, yes, they still had full posability where it counted into the elbows and obviously in the knees.
07:39Also, from the design of the characters in the cartoon, it made for much more lankier characters.
07:45I've actually had a couple of DC Direct Batman figures over the time
07:48that have unfortunately broken their ankle pegs just because of the weight of the character.
07:52Or maybe I was just moving it carefully, cautiously, and yet it still unfortunately broke and snapped the ankle.
07:58This Batman still stands, knock on wood, okay.
08:00I find, though, that the plastic that they're now using for the Blue Cow Batman seems more durable,
08:06even though, like, obviously still missing leg day.
08:09I do find, like, the plastic that they're actually using feels a little bit more durable.
08:12Like, I can bend the knees, for example, and I don't feel like, well, providing, of course,
08:16you've got the ankle, the knee bent in the right place.
08:19We'll kind of talk more about that in a moment.
08:21But it does feel like I have less worries, really, about this kind of plastic being used.
08:25The only trade-off, unfortunately, though, with using a more forgiving plastic,
08:29it does make the character a lot shinier.
08:31The DC Direct, for example, had a much more matte finish for Batman's suits,
08:35while now the gray that we get here for the new release has a much shinier plastic.
08:39He has much, obviously, the shoulder pads look very similar to one another as well.
08:44But again, like, it has a much more shinier plastic.
08:46So, if you don't like shiny plastic on your Caped Crusaders,
08:49you may be a little turned off by the idea that, yeah, they're now using...
08:52I would almost even, like, best describe it as more of a...
08:55I don't know, like a more user-friendly, but again, like a much shinier plastic.
09:00Head sculpt still looks good.
09:01I mean, there's nothing at all that I would say I would have changed to this.
09:04I still dig, though, Batman being in black, then in blue,
09:07but I do think that the head sculpt is still really good on this figure.
09:10Now, of course, when it comes to the articulation on this figure,
09:12nothing changes at all between this guy that wasn't already present on this one.
09:16The only thing already mentioned, though, is that while this one did have pegs,
09:19very visible pegs, on the tops of the thighs,
09:22the new one from Todd and his team now replaces all together with seamless-looking legs,
09:26at least from the top.
09:27You can still obviously see the joints down below here.
09:30Now, for the figure's articulation, Batman's head is going to be on a ball joint,
09:33like the one before.
09:34It's going to rotate the head all the way around.
09:36That's going to look up only by just a little bit, though.
09:39What's he looking at?
09:41I guess we'll never know.
09:41Head looks down, and you can also move the head back and forth as well.
09:46Here's where the limitations come into play.
09:47Obviously, you can't get Batman fully at a T-pose
09:50just because his shoulders are covered over by the cape.
09:52Sure enough, yeah, you can move the arms forward and back.
09:55The problem with it, though, is as you're doing it,
09:56you can see it starts to lift the cape.
09:58My like, I would imagine it's probably been glued right around here,
10:01and it's been made deliberately free on the shoulders,
10:04but still moving the shoulders forward and back,
10:06it does feel like it wants to lift from the torso.
10:08The figure does also have swivel in his forearm,
10:11a single-hinged elbow,
10:13which I noticed on these figures are super, super tight.
10:16I would recommend really using a hair dryer
10:18or even hot water just to soften up the joints a little bit.
10:20I've already done it on this side.
10:22I guess I didn't go back and do it on this arm either.
10:25The figure does also have a swivel here in the glove area
10:28and also rotation all the way in the hands, forward and back.
10:31Whether, again, you want to use these hands
10:33or to show you what it looks like to swap out the hands,
10:35let's grab a hand that we want to use for the end of this review.
10:38Maybe use the Batarang hand.
10:40The hands are super easy as well to detach.
10:42Not that I really had a problem before with the DC Direct ones,
10:45but I find like these hands,
10:46maybe, again, it's just the type of plastic that they're using.
10:48The hands are a lot easier, I find, to swap out.
10:52Waist swivel, still got your waist swivel right there.
10:54The legs do manage still to split out.
10:56They, of course, move forward and back as well.
10:58Again, when it comes to like the knee area,
11:01I had a little more of an issue with, again,
11:02like very much like this elbow here,
11:04the joint seemed super tight.
11:06It doesn't really bend all that much.
11:08I mean, that's to the extent, it seems,
11:09of what it can actually bend in the knee.
11:11So if you're looking for extreme poses on Batman,
11:14you're not going to really be able to pull that off.
11:16The figure does also have mild swiveling.
11:17I shouldn't even say mild swiveling.
11:19That's considerable swiveling,
11:20swivelage down below here in the boots.
11:22Ankle up and down, ankle rock back and forth.
11:25And that's basically Batman.
11:26Yeah, yeah.
11:27Again, so if you've already had the DC Direct Batman,
11:29you already kind of know the territory
11:30that McFarlane toys are covering now.
11:32Now, essentially just giving us a re-release
11:34of the original DC Direct figures.
11:37Now, that can be good as well.
11:38Let's just say you're a collector that's late to the game
11:40and never got the chance to get
11:41the original DC Direct Batman figures.
11:43You sort of now get the chance to do that
11:45at a much more affordable price.
11:47Some of these Batman New Adventure figures,
11:48and even for that matter,
11:49the original animated series figures,
11:51go for some stupid money online.
11:53These are a lot less stupid of a price
11:54because, again, like you're just only paying
11:56the retail price.
11:57I think Blue Cow Batman works out
11:58to be about like a $25 figure,
12:00based at least on most of the online sites.
12:03In the end, though,
12:03while still using some of the body elements,
12:06the plastic certainly has been improved.
12:07I feel like the plastic is a little more easier going.
12:10The figure actually does feel heavier, too,
12:12than the original DC Direct.
12:14It's certainly, again,
12:15done away with the pegs there,
12:16very visibly at the top of the joints.
12:18And it does,
12:18while not maybe appealing to everybody
12:20that doesn't like the look of Batman being in blue,
12:23it certainly does give us
12:24a much more user-friendly figure
12:26that doesn't feel like it's going to break as easily
12:28as maybe some of the earlier DC Direct figures did.
12:31One of the best things that came about
12:32McFarlane acquiring DC Direct
12:34was it gave then new-time collectors
12:35a chance to get figures
12:36that they missed out on before.
12:38Because they are using, for the most part,
12:39the same used molds,
12:41it means that if you missed your chance
12:42to get those old DC Direct Batman animated series
12:45or new Batman adventure figures,
12:46you don't have to worry about breaking your bank
12:48to try to get them now.
12:50These figures look and feel,
12:51well, I would say look,
12:52at least like the original DC Direct counterparts.
12:55They feel different, though.
12:57Not only do these feel heavier,
12:59but the kind of plastic feels, again,
13:01a little bit, I don't want to say rubbery,
13:03but if you were to have this one in your hand
13:05and then you try to pick up
13:05a DC Direct Batman figure,
13:07you would definitely notice
13:08there's a difference in plastic.
13:10Yes, unfortunately, it does mean
13:11that now Batman has a shinier-looking suit,
13:13but I think the trade-off, though,
13:15is that this Batman feels like
13:16he isn't going to break necessarily in your hands.
13:18Not that the DC Direct ones did,
13:20although I have had a couple of the ankles
13:22on my figures break
13:23because, or even over time,
13:25they really developed overly loose legs,
13:27which seems to be a problem
13:28that was really facing the DC Direct figures.
13:30Because they were built
13:31and based on the original cartoon designs,
13:34it made for much leaner-looking, thinner limbs,
13:37limbs that would eventually develop
13:39looseness over time.
13:40And now, again,
13:41we are going to be wrapping up
13:42the review for the Batman here,
13:43but though, as I already mentioned,
13:44we are also going to be looking
13:45at the new Batman Adventures,
13:46Riddler and Scarecrow,
13:48all thanks to the folks
13:49over at McFarlane Toys.
13:50Have you guys had the chance
13:51to pick up the resurgence
13:53of DC Direct new Batman Adventure figures,
13:55or are you still keeping the ones
13:57that you had from the DC Direct days?
13:59Let me know what you think
13:59of the new line down below
14:00in the comments section.
14:01If you guys did also enjoy this video,
14:03you can do it a solid throw to like.
14:05You guys want to stick around for more, so?
14:06I hope so.
14:07I certainly hope so,
14:08because I've already told you guys
14:09what else is going to be coming your way
14:11during the rest of this week.
14:12So I hope that you guys are coming back
14:13for those remaining
14:14new Batman Adventure reviews.
14:15As always, guys,
14:16thanks for watching.
14:17See you guys next time.
14:19I'll see you back in the next week.
14:22Anyway,
14:22this is so ph
14:27I'll see you next time.
14:28See you next time.
14:29Bye bye, everyone.
14:29Bye bye.
14:30Bye bye.
14:30Bye bye.
14:31Bye bye.
14:31Bye bye.
14:32Bye bye.
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14:47Bye bye.
14:48Bye bye.
14:48Bye.