Our look at the tie-in toys for The Dark Knight Rises concludes with a look at the best line Mattel has to offer: the Adult Collector line known as Movie Masters. There are six figures in the line, the reviews start with the hero of the piece, the Dark Knight himself, Batman.

FIGURES AND MORE ACTION FIGURE REVIEW

Special Feature: The Toys of the Dark Knight Rises

Figure:                                            Batman

Company:                                      Mattel

Line:                                                 The Dark Knight Rises Movie Masters

UPC:                                                   746775072650

Ok boys and girls, here we go. It’s time for the main event. First introduced in the Dark Knight line 4 years ago, Movie Masters is Mattel’s Adult Collectors line. The figures are 6 inches tall. They are sculpted by the Four Horsemen for ultimate accuracy and detail to their movie counterparts. The Dark Knight was the perfect property to debut these new figures, as two of the standout pieces are the Joker and Two-Face figures. The Joker’s facial sculpt recreation of Heath Ledger is eerie and serves as a lasting memorial to the actor whose portrayal of the Joker is held in as high regard as that of Mark Hamill. The Two-Face figure features an incredible sculpt of the complicated and intricate makeup effect used to portray the devastation wrought on one half of Harvey Dent’s face. Mattel has again provided up with a series of Movie Masters figures to tie into this film. There are six Movie Masters in the line, and this time around, Mattel is introducing a “Connect-and-Collect” feature, with one piece of the item coming with each figure. The end result is one of the coolest add-on accessories in the history of not just Batman figures, but action figure lines in general. But, I’m not going to tell you what it is until later. So, the first figure in the line, which will come as no surprise, is Batman. So, the question, we need to answer is “Is It Worth It?” Let’s find out. Here’s our review

Look: What a difference from the basic figure. The intricate sculpting of Batman’s costume makes it possible to see every armor plate and gap and ridge in the armor. The bodysuit underneath has sculpted texture. Batman’s main costume is painted in matte black and grey, with a glossy paint applied to the gauntlets and boots. The utility belt is painted gold, with silver accents and the pouches, latches in the back and communicator on the side are all molded pieces. The bottom half of the face is sculpted in a nonplussed expression and they eyes have painted pupils, with sculpted ridges showing where the eyeholes are. The cape is…vinyl. This is probably the only disappointing thing. The Basic line capes were all cloth, WHY IS THIS ONE VINYL?!!! It is fairly flexible and lifts up so you can see that the back of Batman’s costume is just as good as the front. Everything is molded and painted accurately, including the back of the utility belt. It’s an amazing testament to how good movie figures can be. In fact, I thought it was really awesome when I first saw it….FOUR YEARS AGO! That’s right, kids, this figure is a re-release of the Dark Knight suit figure from teh Dark Knight line 4 years ago. Is it still a great figure? Of course. But, if you collected the previous line, your probably have 2 or three of these already.

Articulation: Oh boy, is this figure EVER articulated. Get ready to follow along. The figure has a ball-jointed head, ball-jointed shoulders, cut biceps, pin joint elbows, cut wrists, waist swivel, “ab crunch” joint, ball-jointed hips, cut lower legs, pin joint knees and pin joint ankles. That is an extraordinary list for a 6 inch figure.

Accessories: Each figure in the Movie Masters collection comes with a “Collect-and-Connect” piece. When assembled, these pieces for a larger extra object that reltes to the line. I am pleased to announce that for the Dark Knight Rises Movie Masters line, that object is the BatSignal. In light of this, a special section called Building the Batsignal will be added to each Movie Master review. Batman comes with part 1, the base of the signal itself.  To say I am really excited about building this thing would be a MASSIVE understatement. The picture on the back of the package makes it look amazing.

BUILDING THE BATSIGNAL: Early days, but here is the first piece, which comes with Batman. It is the square base of the actual signal light itself.

IS IT WORTH IT?: It depends. If you don’t own the figure yet, absolutely. This is one of the best Batman figures I have ever seen in a movie line. If you want the Batsignal, you have to buy it. But, shame on Mattel for recycling a 4 year-old figure that is a required purchase to complete the Batsignal. It’s not a bad figure, it’s just unfortunate that most people probably already own it and will have to buy it again.

FINAL SCORE: 3 out of 5

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