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Mattel- The Dark Knight Returns: Joker.
Remember like 10 years ago with Mcfarlane toys were in full production with their various Spawn lines and each figure would be really gruesome, with blood, guts and frightening imagery? Those were some pretty messed up things to sell at Toys R Us. Now I must have gotten soft over the years, but I find this Joker and his Batarang through the eye head sculpt to be BANANAS crazy to be selling in a toyline. I mean, sure it is based on a beloved, yet gritty, Batman comic and it is fairly accurate to the source material, but lets not forget where these are being sold and to whom might be picking them up. I suppose that Joker in a white suit, does not really scream “hey kids, I’m a super fun action figure!” next to the likes of Batman and Superman, but the odds are that there is some Granny who bought their grandchild a Batman and Joker figure for their birthday and will either have scared a kid for life, or created a fan for life… I’m kind of hoping the latter.
Pros: Nice sculpt that is true to the source material, ok amount of articulation considering the bulky suit and it being a Mattel figure. Ballsy inclusion of the batarang in the eye head sculpt.
Cons: To paraphrase a line from one of my cinematic heroes “This belongs in a comic store!” seriously Mattel, drop the licence or just focus on the kids market. The ship has sailed on the collector market for Mattel and the higher end or more unique figures could be better done by DC Collectables without out your lackluster trash flooding the market.
