Review – Batman / Catwoman 2 Pack (Arkham City) – Batman Legacy, Mattel

 Mattel Batman Legacy Arkham City Asylum 2 Pack Batman Catwoman 6" Action Figure

This Batman Week concludes today with a look at the Mattel Batman Legacy 2 pack of Arkham City Batman and Catwoman.

Catwoman seems to be one of those characters fans are always wanting. She’s been around since the very first issue of Batman’s own title in 1940, and has maintained popularity ever since.

She’s gone through many outfit changes over the years, some that seemed to be more practical than others, but they always maintained some sort of sex appeal. Not surprising, considering Catwoman is a character who loves to use her sex appeal to get what she wants and to distract her enemies as she pummels them.

Catwoman represents that side of femininity that often makes men uncomfortable. She’s strong, independent, and she knows what she wants and how to get it. She’s not afraid to use anyone or anything to get what she wants. She challenges every conception men may have about women and the “damsel in distress”. These days, this character type is not very original. We see the strong female characters all the time in T.V. and movies, and in comic books. However, back in the 40’s this was unheard of, and for a character like this to persist for more than 60 years in a male dominated industry I think is a testament to her character.

The choice to not only include Catwoman in Arkham City, but to make her a playable character was certainly a good call on the part of Rocksteady. Their design for Catwoman is more or less just a more realistic looking and textured version of her modern look in the comics.

How did Mattel do on this set? This mold for Batman has been used before, but Catowoman is entirely new. Is she alone worth buying the 2 pack for? Read on and find out!

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Review – Harley Quinn (Arkham City) – Batman Legacy, Mattel

Mattel Batman Legacy Arkham City Harley Quinn 6" Action Figure

We’re continuing Batman Arkham City week by taking a look at the Arkham City Harley Quinn figure by Mattel.

Harley is the Yin to the Joker’s Yang. Or possibly, they’re both Yang which is why they almost never get along (also they’re not very nice people).

Harley was created for the Batman Animated Series back in 1992 by Paul Dini. They wanted a female henchman to give to the Joker, and she was only ever meant to be in one episode, but she was so well received they made her a recurring character and eventually Joker’s girlfriend. She’s now considered an integral part of the Batman rogues gallery, and has firmly planted herself into the DC Comics mythos.

She’s usually depicted in a red and black patterned body suit, with a harlequin hat and white face makeup. In the Arkham City video game, they um…they changed that. Here, she still sports the white face paint, but instead of a harlequin hat she has two pigtails, the ends of which are died black and red, and she’s dressed like any random girl found at a goth club.

The Arkham City designs were meant to be grittier, and if possible more realistic. You wouldn’t see someone running around in a body suit all day, but with this outfit you just might. Regardless it was a bold move on Rocksteady’s part to design her like this.

I think the design is great myself, but did Mattel do a good job of translating that design to plastic? Read on to find out!

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Got Any Questions for Mattel?

Mattel Mattycollector LogoIf you have any questions for Mattel, submit them by 11:59 PM CST on April 14th, 2012. This is for the April 15th round of questions and the answers will be posted then. To submit a question, just leave a comment on this post asking your question. It can be about any of Mattel’s brands. So don’t be shy, ask anything. I’m sure in lieu of recent announcements, you have plenty of questions you’d like to ask Mattel. So go ahead, ask away!

I’ll be leaving this as a sticky post until after the 31st so anybody who wants to ask a question won’t miss it. For newer posts, just scroll down.

Review – Nightwing (Arkham City) – Batman Legacy, Mattel

Mattel Batman Legacy Arkham City Asylum Nighwing 6" Action Figure

This week, I’m going to have a theme for the reviews here at Mint Condition Customs. I’m going to have 3 reviews this week, all pertaining to Mattel Arkham City figures. The first one is today (obviously), the next one is tomorrow, and the last one is on Friday. That’s right folks, it’s Batman week! And not just Batman, but Arkham City! Arguably the greatest Batman game ever made (and one of the best action games ever made), it’s no surprise that it spawned several action figures. DC Direct did a line of figures based on the first game Arkham Asylum in 2010, and Mattel is jumping on the bandwagon by producing several figures based on the more recent Arkham City game.

Today we’ll be looking at Arkham City Nightwing, from the Batman Legacy line. How does it hold up? Is he a worthwhile figure? Keep reading to find out!

 

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News – Mattel Cancels Young Justice Lines and Issues Statement on DCU All Stars

Mattel Young Justice Batman 6" ScaleMattel has posted a response to a question on their Mattycollector message boards last week that they have canceled their 4″ & 6″ Young Justice lines due to lack of demand. It  seems that Mattel just can’t keep a DC Comics based toy line going strong.

It was also recently announced the 6″ DC Universe Classics All-Star line was also getting cancelled and that only one wave with a new lineup was going to be released at retail. Mattel has also released an statement via their Mattycollector forums in regards to that line:

Read the full statement after the jump!

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Ask Mattel – Answers for April 2nd, 2012

Mattel Mattycollector Logo

 1.) When willy you make a Batmobile for a 6″ Batman? Any 6” Batman?

You should be excited by the new Batman line that we’ve created coming out with the movie….

Editor’s Note: This wasn’t the question I submitted. The first question I actually submitted to Mattel was from NICKOLAS and read: “MY QUESTION IS WILL YOU MAKE A DC UNIVERSE CLASSICS BATCAVE OR BATMOBILE FOR YOUR
BATMAN FIGURE?” Granted this is a similar question, which is probably why it got mixed up, but I wanted to clarify it wasn’t one I submitted.

 

 

2.) Muten Chaoz asks: When is the schedule of a re-release for Battle Armor He-Man, Vikor, and also King Grayskull on MattyCollector?

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Got any Questions for Mattel?

Mattel Mattycollector LogoIf you have any questions for Mattel, submit them by 11:59 PM CST on March 31th, 2012. This is for the April 1st round of questions and the answers will be posted then. To submit a question, just leave a comment on this post asking your question. It can be about any of Mattel’s brands. So don’t be shy, ask anything.

I’ll be leaving this as a sticky post until after the 31st so anybody who wants to ask a question won’t miss it. For newer posts, just scroll down.

Ask Mattel – Answers for March 15th, 2012

Mattel Mattycollector Logo

1.) Jason Cue asks: Will there be any chance of getting the rest of the Lanterns done in the DCUC/DCAS size (i.e. Saint Walker, Indigo-1, Munk, etc)?

Something we would love to include as we get to more colored lanterns in the future!

 

 

2.) Jason J Walter asks: Hi! I was wondering if the Vertigo line of characters was under Mattel’s contract with DC and if so is there a chance we could see a John Constantine or Sandman (Morpheus) in the sub line in the future? It seems that these characters were almost tailor-made for the smaller, direct market, so why not pull the trigger and get them made? Constantine especially wouldn’t be difficult to make as large portions of him could be re-tools.

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Have Any Questions for Mattel?

Mattel Mattycollector LogoIf you have any questions for Mattel, submit them by 11:59 PM CST on March 14th, 2012. This is for the April 1st round of questions and the answers will be posted then. To submit a question, just leave a comment on this post asking your question. It can be about any of Mattel’s brands. So don’t be shy, ask anything.

I’ll be leaving this as a sticky post until after the 29th so anybody who wants to ask a question won’t miss it.

News – Dark Knight Rises Movie Masters Alfred and Officer Blake Figures Revealed

Mattel Dark Knight Rises Movie Masters Batman PackagingEarlier today, Mattel revealed on Mattycollector two new Batman The Dark Knight Rises Movie Masters figures. The two new figures revealed were that of Officer John Blake, played by Joseph Gordon Levitt, and Alfred, played by Michael Caine. They also showed off the new packaging for the TDKR Movie Masters toy line. Mattel originally stated that the TDKR Movie Masters line would consist of 6 figures. With the previous reveals of Batman, Bane, and Catwoman, that just leaves one figure left to be revealed.

Read the full announcement and check out the pictures of the new figures after the jump!

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