It's Official. I Have Bats In My Bobblehead Collection

I have been looking all over for the new toys based on the 1966 Batman TV series and had been coming up short. Toys R Us, my local comic book stores, Walmart, Target, no store I went to had anything I wanted.

But, as you can guess from the title of this blog entry, I did find something to add to my Batman collection. So, what did I find?

I was on my way to a friend's pre bachelor party and I was a bit early. I hit Midtown Comics Grand Central location to look around. I was actually planning on grabbing the New 52 figure I saw a few weeks ago, but when I got there it was sold. So I was looking around and I found something just as good and bought it.

I came across the Funko Batman Wacky Wobbler bobblehead and snatched it without thinking twice. Midtown also had Robin, Catwoman and Joker. At some point, I will have to get those for the collection, but for now, I have Batman and I am quite happy with that.

It looks like most of the Batman stuff will have similar artwork. I dig the one on the box. It screams TV Series with the KaPow's and Biff's.

I love the back of this box. There are pictures from the TV Series of all the characters who were made into bobbleheads as well as a drawing of the Batmobile and the Bat signal.

Batman and Robin walking up the side of a building always makes me think of the TV Series.

The top has a picture of Batman drawn similar to the way he's drawn in the beginning of the show.

The box is very nice. Almost makes me want to keep it in the box....almost.

My first impressions are that this is a terrific bobblehead. It's going to look great on my bobblehead shelf.

Close up of Adam's face. Love the colors here. The blues and black look great and the sculpting on this bobble is done very well. Definitely has a great likeness to Adam West.

Love the sculpting on the utility belt as well as the muscle or lack there of one. The emblem is dead on to the one he wore on the show. Again, the color scheme is great. The grey and the blue is also spot on to what he wore in the show.

Here is a shot of the back of the bobble. Love the lines sculpted in the cape.

The base is gold with Batman painted on in black. I like that it's painted on as opposed to Funko placing a sticker here.

The bobblehead looks great. I do have complaints though. The paint job was not done very well. My bobble head has a lot of imperfections.

Right on the shoulder is a paint mark.

The back of the head has a bunch of little painting botches. Terrible job by the Funko company on this bobblehead.

Paint perfections aside, I do really like this bobblehead. The likeness to Adam West as well as the sculpting and color schemes are well done. I'm hoping that maybe I just picked a bad bobblehead. I have other Funko bobbleheads and they came out great. That won't stop me from getting the rest in this series. Having seen them up close, I know that they are also well done and I cannot wait to be able to add them to this Batman in my bobblehead collection. Because of the paint job, I would only give the bobblehead 4 out of 5 stars. Everything else is well done and would make a great addition to any bobblehead/Batman collection.

Newest Luke Skywalker Addition, Black Series

You would think that living in NYC would make my toy hunting for the new figures easy. I live in one of the biggest cities in all the world. There are stores galore here. We have Toys R Us, Target, Kmart, Walmart (Outside of the city, of course), Cosco, Sam's Club, to name a few. Not to mention a few comic book stores and a few smaller shops that sell toys and other products that would appeal to a geeky SOB such as myself.

But, that doesn't make finding such cool items any easier.

I have been looking up and down NYC and Westchester for the new 1966 Batman figures and have come up ridiculously short. I have been looking for POP Vinyls, Spider-Man, Man Of Steel and have come up either short or have seen them once, never to be seen again.

I have also been looking looking for the new Luke Skywalker Star Wars Black Series 6 inch figure to add to my Skywalker collection and again, was coming up short. I found Darth Maul, R2D2, and the Sandtrooper pretty easily,  but no Luke.

Until today.

 Behold the Star Wars Black Series Luke Skywalker in X-Wing Fighter gear. 6 inches of New Hope goodness. Crazy articulation and it's mine, all mine! Mwhahahahaha...um, let's continue.

I love the packaging. Luke came in a black box (hence the name, Black Series, duh!) with Star Wars in lighter black lettering, outlined in silver. A dark drawing of Luke is off to the right of the lettering, enclosed in a circle. The box hs a huge window front showing off the figure and accessories. Underneth, there is Luke's name in red lettering.

Here's the back of the box. There is a silhouette of Luke, about to climb into his X-Wing Fighter. Above that is some info about the character, a quote from the movie as well as Star Wars in that off black lettering we saw on the front of the box and Luke Skywalker in red lettering under with what I assume to be the numbering of his place in the series, which is number 1.

Here's a close up of the back of the box.

And Luke is out of the box.

Right off the bat, I am very impressed with the detailing of this figure and how sturdy it feels in the hand. But, as with a lot of newer figures, it is having trouble standing up on his own, so I had to prop him up against the wall.

You've been at that Canteen on Tattooine again, haven't you?

I think this figure bares a pretty good likeness to Mark Hamill. Probably one of the very best likeness I have seen on a figure that is not Hot Toys or anything higher end. I like the streaks in the hair to accentuate the hair color. He comes with his little mole on his face. Oh, and the head pops off if you ever wanted to switch heads with Darth Maul, you can.

Love the detail on Luke's chest rig. I know some reviews I read had mentioned that the chest rig  was painted sloppy, but I am happy to report that mine was done well, with no excess on it. Actually, the paint job on this figure is done very well.

Channeling my inner Schumaker to show off some Skywalker butt. Actually, I wanted to show off the detailing of the uniform. Love the wrinkles. Hasbro made this figure to look like Luke's been hanging out in it for a while. Great detailing.

Luke came with some accessories. His lightsaber, a helmet and a blaster. All are made of a rubbery plastic material, which is kind of cool. I just don't know how durable the accessories are.

That helmet is awesome looking. The detailing on it is fantastic. The rebel markings on it just pop out at you and the helmet was also painted to look really dirty. You can tell it's been in a war.

The lightsaber is a nice size. Looks like he can slice your arm off from about half a mile away. The blade comes off and you can hook the handle to his belt.

Luke's fingers come curled so it can wrap around the blaster. The can be squeezed to firmly wrap itself around the the blaster.

This figure is pretty articulated. It has a ball joint head, swivel/hinged shoulders, elbows, wrists, ankles and hips; a hinged neck, ball joint torso, double jointed knees, swivel at the top of the boots.

The one problem I have is finding a position to keep Luke upright. Since there are so many points of articulation, there are so many different poses to have Luke stand in. It just takes time to find that right pose to keep Luke in fighting shape. I did notice that there was holes in the bottom of his boots so I may find a stand for him to stand on.

I have to admit, I love this figure. It's easily became one of my favorites in my collection. I love that it's 6 inches rather than the smaller 3 inch figures we are used to seeing. Some collectors were complaining about the choice of outfit they have Luke in. If it was up to me, I might had him in his Bespin outfit, but I am quite ok with the X-Wing Fighter outfit.

Guys, if you like, no scratch that, LOVE Star Wars, then you have to find a way to add this figure to your collection. The price point is a bit pricey. In most places, you can get him for 19.99. I paid 22.99, plus tax because I had to buy him in Toys R Us in Times Square, the middle of tourist central, so I had to pay a little more for mine. But, even then, I think it's worth it. I doubt you will find a better Luke Skywalker figure on the market.

What I've Been Reading: Crisis On Infinite Earths

OK, here's the truth...I have never read one of the great books of the 1980's. I had never read Crisis On Infinite Earths. To be honest, I can't explain why it took me so long to read it.

It's not like I can say I had given up on comics at that or any point in my life. Honestly, if it was not Spider-Man or Batman, I wasn't reading it (And before you all go saying that Batman is in this story, it's not a BATMAN story and he's really not in it all that much).

Yes, I was more involved in other things at that point: music, sports, acting, writing for my school paper, working at the Public Library had all taken up a big part of my life and I wasn't buying a lot of books at that point, but I do remember reading the issue where Super Girl died, (I think the spoiler alert as passed us by with this book being 28 years old), but I wasn't really impressed with the story, if you can believe that, so I never read the other issues. Now, 28 years after the issues have been released, I decide to finally take a dive and read the books.

Crisis was a 12 part series where DC simplified it's universe. Before Crisis, DC had multiple earths with heroes on each one. There was an Earth One Superman, who was the current hero, an Earth 2 Superman, which would be the older Golden Age Superman, an Earth 3, where the heroes on Earth One were villains with different names and Earth Prime, which was outside current continuity. Confused? So am I.

Any book that George Perez draws, I'm there. Perez is one of my all time favorite artists. Owning a Batman drawn sketch by Perez is one of my goals. I have always loved how he drew some of DC's iconic characters like Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman and The Flash. I even enjoyed Avengers Vs Justice League based solely on his art.

Marv Wolfman wrote the arch and as much as I liked his run on The New Teen Titans, I though Crisis confusing at some parts. So many things were going on at once at some parts and I really did not like while a huge fight was going on and there is a separate series of panels where Lyla is recording the series of events leading up to the present. I found it distracting. I wanted to continue reading about what was going on with The Spectre and the Anti-Monitor. Honestly, as the story went along, it got better and better and after reading it, I'm glad I did and I'm really glad DC simplified their universes for readers like me who mouth the words while they read.

One Of DC's Most Iconic Covers


I remember reading the Death Of Supergirl issue and while I was shocked that she was actually killed off, I didn't pick up the next issue and to be honest, I should have because if you thought Wolfman was done killing heroes off...

Think again. Of course, I should have been surprised that Barry Allen was killed off in the very next issue, but I already knew it was coming. Not because I saw this page...

But because I watched an episode of Comic Book Men and someone bought in the books to sell and Walt Flanagan gave away that little tidbit. I remember slapping my forehead when he told Ming that Barry Allen dies in this issue. Still, it was great read, even though I already knew the outcome.

Even though it took me 28 years to read the book and even though I found the story a bit rough to follow at times, I did think the story hit the points it had to make and gave me a couple of "Wow" moments, even if I knew what was going to happen, which is good for repeat readings. By the end of the book, I was enjoying the read and of course, George Perez's art. Also have to give it up to Dick Giordano, Jerry Ordway and Mike DeCarlo for the ink work they put in to make Perez's work look as great as it did.

Now I can cross this trade off my list and move on to the next one.

From The "Oh, This I Have To Have" Department

So, while I was on the NECA boards, looking for information on the release dates for the large scale '66 Batman and the 1989 Batman figures (No release date, yet). I started looking around the site at some of the other stuff NECA will be releasing. It was my first time on their site. I liked what I saw. I'm going to be looking out for the 1966 Batman Heroclix stuff that NECA will be releasing and I have to hunt down their Batman bobbleheads from Dark Knight Rises as well as their classic Batman bobbles.

Then I saw a bobblehead I have to have.

Is this thing freaking cool or what?

I already have 2 other Spider-Man bobbleheads and I know this one will look look fantastic next to them. I just love that he is crouched down in position to spin his web. The classic Romita look of the bobble makes this a must have in my Spidey collection. 

There was no release date for this figure (shocker!) so I will have to keep my eyes peeled for it. I'm sure the comic shops I frequent will have this on their shelves by the end of the year. This might make a snazzy Christmas gift for a certain sexy geek. Or I'll just save my pennies and pick it up when I see it. Either way, I will definately be adding this awesome looking bobblehead to my Spider-Man collection.

I Know I Said I Was Done With The Hauls....

So, I actually forgot to show off a non comic book pick up from the comic book marketplace. I was actually done shopping, but was giving the place a once over to make sure I didn't miss anything. Oh, but I had.

I went back to the first table I bought books from and was aimlessly flipping through books I had already looked through when out of the corner of my eye I saw a box on the floor, under a chair. When I saw the words "Star Wars" and "Luke Skywalker" on front my interest peaked. I asked to see the box and was handed a Kenner 12 inch Luke Skywalker In Ceremonial Gear figure. It was a figure I have wanted for the Skywalker collection for a while now. I have been watching a few on eBay, but never wanted to pay the prices I saw them finish at. I instantly asked how much he was asking for it.

The dealer looked the box over and the asked what did I want to pay for it. Damn, I hate when dealers say that, I never know what to say. I don't want to offer a low ball offer that will have the dude laughing and asking me to leave his booth. I responded by asking if he had a figure in mind.

"Well, I was selling it in my store for $42.00", he replied.

$42.00? Was he smoking Deathsticks? No wonder it never sold.

I looked the box over. It had dings on it and the cellophane was coming off a bit. No way I would even offer anything close to $42.00. I had seen these figures finish at a lot less than that, so I was going to offer him a figure I would be comfortable with and if I landed it, great. If not, so be it. I told him the best I could do on it was $10.00.

Sold.

So, for the low, low price of ten smackers, I walked away with another piece added to my growing Luke Skywalker figure.

I have not opened the box and let Luke out just yet and I'm not planning to until I have a spot to put him. The figure looks pretty sweet. Luke comes dressed in the Ceremonial outfit he wore at the end of New Hope. Black boots, brown pants, black shirt and mustard colored jacket create the ensemble. The likeness isn't too bad for a mid-nineties figure. The accessories Luke comes with are a lightsaber that is hanging off his belt and the blue blade that goes right into the handle in case you wanted to pose Luke holding the saber. It also comes with a blaster, a blaster holder which is strapped onto Luke's thigh and the medal that Princess Leia gives him at a ceremony on Yavin 4 at the end of the movie. This is a really nice figure.

The back of the box gives a little info about the 12 inch line as well as which figures that will be available. According to the box, a Stormtooper, Grand Moff Tarkin and Greedo were made available, although since Han and Leia are also pictured I would bet an ewok or two that they were also made in Ceremonial Garb as well. Btw, the dealer wasn't kidding. You can see the $42.00 price tag on the lower right hand corner of the box.

At the price I grabbed this figure, I know I got a terrific deal. Yes, the figures I have seen on eBay went for around the same price, but I didn't have to pay shipping and wait a few days for it to arrive. It may not be a Hot Toys Luke (which I would give my right hand...oops.), but I think it's pretty bad ass anyway and it will look great among the rest of my Skywalker collection. Hopefully, I can show it off soon and have everyone see that the Force has been strong with this one.

Ok, I know it's a bad joke, but I really couldn't figure out a way to end this.

Na, Na, Na, Na, Na, Na Bobble-Heads!

I love bobble-heads. Other than action figures, bobble-heads are among my favorite figurines to collect. I usually collect sports bobbles. I have about 25 Yankees bobble-heads, maybe 7 Jets a few Devils and 2 Knicks. I do have a few non sports bobbles as I can say I have a Captain America, Hulk, a couple of Iron Men and the Monkees bobble-heads in my collection.

When the announcement came that we would be getting 1966 Batman goodies, I never thought that bobble-heads would be among the stuff that is being made available. Then I saw the mock ups for some of the bobbles and I got really excited. When I saw the pictures, I knew I would be adding these to my Batman collection.

Wacky Wobblers released a set of bobble-heads featuring Batman, Robin, Joker and Catwoman, who is not pictured. I love the look of these bobble-head figures. Not too silly looking as some bobble-heads tend to be. I had heard these were already out in stores, but I haven't had any luck in finding them.

As you can see, there is also a contaminated cowl Batman from a Mad Hatter episode. This one is a hard one to find. If you do find one for retail, go play Powerball.

I have stated my unmitigated affections for POP Vinyl figures on many an occasion. When I heard POP was releasing a set, I knew I would be getting them. I just never imagined how cool these would look. This figure looks fantastic and I cannot wait to get my hands on them. They won't be released until October so I will have to wait a while.

Of course, I will be picking up the Batman/Batmobile combo as well. Not sure if this is the final product or just a prototype. I guess we will find out come October.

Big thanks to AFI for releasing pictures of this double bobble-head of Batman and Robin, climbing up the side of a building. This bobble-head set can be displayed on a shelf, flat like above or can be hung up on a wall, which would look pretty cool. This will also be released in October so for now I will just have drool all over my keyboard until it's release.

Would you guys believe I do not have a Batman bobble-head in my collection? Even I find that amazing and sad. I need to rectify that ASAP. I have seen some pretty sweet Batman bobble-heads, like the one from the Dark Knight and the blue suit DC Direct Batman. Those 2, along with the ones shown above pretty much guarantee a bad ass Batman bobble-head collection.