Written By Dan Hickman • Toy Editor
The Figures Toy Company’s Retro Batman 8 Inch figure is a beautiful tribute to the old Mego World’s Greatest Superheroes line.
Figures Toy Company does an excellent job bringing the retro styling into modern-day with their line of figures. Perhaps I’m a bit nostalgic for the old Mego toys’ durability, but even though these are amazing to look at, that’s pretty much all they are good for.
Orphaned as a child when his parents were murdered, Bruce Wayne spent his life training in martial arts, learning detective skills, and using his family fortune to equip himself to become the scourge of crime in Gotham City known as the Batman.
Yeah, you’ve all heard it before, so let’s just jump right into the review.
The Retro Batman figure does a great deal of justice to his old Mego counterpart with styling and attention to detail both on the figure and in the packaging to evoke that old school feel. Batman’s packaging is very reminiscent of the original look.
The window box gives us a clear view of the figure and the comic book art inspired “profile” pictures of the other available figures in the wave. There’s also a beautiful picture of the Dark Knight detective on the packaging back.
Batman himself is detailed very well with paint apps applied to his mask and eyes. His costume is made of soft goods and, like Superman, all of my stitching was tight, and didn’t bunch up at the joints when articulated.
These are certainly an improvement over the originals. Of course today’s materials are also significantly better than those were. As with the original, Batman’s costume is gray, with black trunks, the blue cowl, boots, Mego Mittens, and cape and the yellow oval Bat emblem.
I am pleased with the new styling for the emblems on each of my figures and feel that they will last much longer than their predecessors. The boots are made of an upgraded, harder plastic and have a distinct shine to them which looks fantastic.
Yes, there is some redundancy in the reviews as there are multiple similar aspects to each figure. My biggest gripe with Batman, though, is that there was a small smear of yellow paint on the top of his cowl.
I tried in vain to remove it and only managed to leave myself with a small greenish smudge, grrr. Additionally, his belt refuses to remain centered on the figure and has the annoying habit of sliding to the side due to the way it is fastened behind the figure.
Review: DC Comics Retro Style Boxed 8 Inch Action Figures: Batman
Unfortunately, this Retro 8 inch Batman suffers the same articulation issues as Superman. Granted, today’s figures are highly articulated, using the most modern techniques available.
To truly match the retro styling, Figures Toy Co. used similar joint mechanics as the originals. Batman’s head will only turn side to side and is rather loose on my figure. The arms will rotate 360 degrees, but the cloth costume really limits the movement. In other words, you’re only going to lift them above his head and that’s it.
The arms will move outward in a limited “T” pose. The elbows will bend 90 degrees max and the wrists hinge. Batman does have some waist rotation, but the costume quickly swivels him back to forward facing.
There is no ab crunch and the legs will only kick forward and back. The knees are single jointed and bend 90 degrees. The right knee was a huge problem on the first Batman I received as it was broken.
I had to return that one and wait for the replacement, which I’m reviewing now. The feet hinge up and down but have no pivot. The biggest problem with the articulation is the limits imposed by the costume.
Unless you meet the joint “ratchet” point, the costume itself will straighten your limbs or swivel the waist back front facing. This is retro-styled articulation at it’s best (and worst.)
Overall, The Retro Batman, as with Superman, brings back very fond memories of my childhood and the fun I had playing with my old Mego figures. However, the modern price point of about $30 and the aforementioned articulation makes this more of an “in box” display collectible than it does a playworthy/dynamic posing figure.
My retro figures arrived with the boxes not taped shut, which made getting the figures out easy for review pictures. That being said, my Retro Batman will remain in his box, on display on my shelves.
At least this figure’s articulation is a bit tighter than Superman which is a positive, but that stupid green/yellow paint smudge really irritates me.
I give the Retro Style Batman a 3.25 out of 5 toybox rating. Thanks for stopping in and reading through! See you all soon, until next time, Geek Out!
Related: Review: DC Comics Retro Style Boxed 8 Inch Action Figures: Robin
