VeeBee continues his seemingly endless Mattel first looks with the Dark Knight Movie Masters Jail Cell Joker. The Dark Knight series continues as Mattycollector.com exclusives for $20 each.
I’m not sure when the Joker will go on sale – originally Mattel announced that they would be selling one Dark Knight figure each month starting in September, with the Jail Cell Joker coming in December. However, the first figure, the Bank Robber Joker, was pushed back from September to October. When I find out more I’ll let you know.
The sculpt of this figure is very, very nice (if you haven’t figured out that the Horsemen have a knack for doing amazing sculpts, now is the time) and the likeness in the head sculpt is by far their best effort. At this scale, it is amazing how close to Heath Ledger they came. We have seen some very strong likeness to real people lately with Egon and Ray but they really nailed this one. In fact, it kind of makes the old figure obsolete. The expression, the hair, everything is just spot on this time around, and you really need to have him in hand to see just how nice it is. So with the head sculpt being as purdy as it is, it is easy to miss something like the hands but they are really well done as well, with lots of lines and folds to them. The one spot that I would fault the overall sculpt/engineering of the figure is that his head looks down a little too much for my liking. It is not terrible but he does not have a lot of movement in the neck joint (something that we have been seeing quite a lot of lately).
Dark Knight Movie Masters Jail Cell Joker – card
Dark Knight Movie Masters Jail Cell Joker – closeup
Dark Knight Movie Masters Jail Cell Joker
Dark Knight Movie Masters Jail Cell Joker – with Scarecrow, Batman, and Joker goon
However, perhaps the area seeing even more improvement than the sculpt is in the paint department. Wow. The paint on the face is what really makes this figure in the end, I think. I still believe that the original Movie Masters Joker has a great head sculpt too but is got a bit lost with the thick white paint they used for his make-up. This time they really got it though, especially with the white and black grease paint. You can see past it to flesh and it is really messy, just like in the move. It also works very well in bringing out the nuances to the face sculpt instead of hiding them. The on spot people might take issue with is the red lip make-up, but it has come a LONG way since the previous figure. The paint on the hair is really well done too, it looks ratty and shabby this time instead of like a big green wig. Finally, the paint detail on the Joker’s shirt is unreal, I mean, they hit it pattern for pattern and some of the dots and lines are so small, they had to have had one heck of mask in order to get them all right.
A week ago we posted pics of the final production headshots if the Hot Toys DX The Dark Knight Joker. The Hot Toys blog entry for the headshots also announced DX Day a week ago. Here’s a video showing the DX Day events, where lots of Hot Toys fans get a hands-on of the Joker.
The DX line features the new Parallel Eyeball Rolling System (PERS), and it’s put to great use in the updated Joker. Not only is the clothing much improved over the initial Joker release, the DX also comes with an additional head and police uniform so you can recreate the Jim Gordon assassination attempt.
I have the Hot Toys DX Joker on pre-order, and should probably consider setting up a direct deposit from my bank account to theirs. When I saw the early pre-production promo pics I was sold, and have since added the DX Batman and Battle-Damaged Iron Man to my pre-order list. Part of me is glad that it takes so long to produce these, because my wallet needs a break, but that’s the smaller part. I want all of them right now!
Mattel has published a MattyCollector.com release schedule for the remainder of the year. As we suspected, the Dark Knight figures were pushed back by a month. And check out December – better start saving up for the holidays! 😀
Upcoming sale dates for MattyCollector.com
Hey gang,
We are working on getting items up on Mattycollector.com about 3 months before the onsale date. Until that goes live in a few weeks, here is an update through the end of the year:
Ghostbusters 12-Inch Egon Spengler
Masters of the Universe Classics Scareglow
DC Universe Classics Animal Instincts Two-Pack
The Dark Knight Harvey Dent
Oct 15:
Ghostbusters 12″ Ray – $60.00
Ghostbusters 6″ Ray – $20.00
MOTUC Teela $20.00 (subscription figure)
MOTUC Zodak – $20.00
Dark Knight Movie Masters Bank Robber Joker – $20.00
Nov 15:
DCUC Color of Fear 2 pack -$25.00
DCU JLU Doom Patrol 4 pack -$30.00
Dark Knight Proto Suit Batman $20.00
MOTUC Scareglow – $20.00 (subscription figure)
MOTUC He-Man reissue $20.00
CARs Die Cast 1:24 Mater $45.00
Dec 1:
3 3/4 Avatar collection (retail items, not exclusive to Mattycollector.com)
Dec 15:
Ghostbusters 12″ Egon $60.00
Ghostbusters 6″ Winston with Trap – $20.00
DC Superfriends Robin $15.00
DC Superfriends Hawkman (brown deco) $15.00
DCUC Animal Instinct 2 pack $25.00
DC 12″ General Zod $60.00
Dark Knight MM Harvey Dent $20.00
World’s Greatest DC Superheroes Green Arrow -$20.00
MOTUC Goddess $20.00
MOTUC King Randor $20.00 (subscription figure)
MOTUC Skeletor re-issue $20.00
CARs Die Cast 1:24 Doc $45.00
Flying Stands for 6″ Mattel figures $15.00 (3 stands)
There may be a few additional item as well and not everything always goes to plan. If any of these dates change we will be sure to announce and update as soon as possible.
Wait until you see 2010! Lots of great items in store!
Just wanted to post a quick reminder that Mattel should have two items on sale on Mattycollector this Tuesday, September 15, at Noon EST. First there’s the Masters of the Universe Classics Webstor. For those of us who signed up for the MOTU Classics subscription, Webstor is the first figure in it – so subscription holders, I know Mattel has us conditioned to hit the site mid-month, but don’t order one unless you want an extra. 😀
Then there’s the Joker as a Gotham City Thug – that’s a mouthful, so I just think of him as Bank Robber Joker. However, as of this writing, the Mattycollector site does not yet have the Joker listed. I guess we still have the business day on Monday to get that listed, but I have a nagging feeling that maybe there’s a production or delivery issue that may delay this figure. We’ll see.
