The Man Who Killed the Bat

That's right, someone actually managed to kill Batman, the one hero who has NEVER died in all of DC comic history. Until now.

And this is his killer:

Who's that, you ask? Well it's Darkseid. Ruler and Dark God of Apokolips. Hence his king-like pose.

How was Batman killed, you ask? Was it Darkseid's super poseable 20 points of articulation? Nah. He's not that poseable. In fact, he deosn't have the ab crunch joint most of the other figures in the DC Superhero line possess. And his lil' skirt-thingy gets in the way of his otherwise 3-way hip joint, which would have allowed his legs to pose every which way.

Was it his massive size and girth? Well, no. But he is taller than all the other figures I have, including Mongul. He does match up well in size compared to the rest of this line, and that means DC Universe figures too.

Was it this remote control thingy that comes with packaged with him? Nah that's not it. That's a Mother Box, which allows him to open boom tubes for interstellar travel/telepertation.






Fits in his hand nicely, too.



















And Bats definitely didn't die by looking at Darkseid's ugly, but very nicely sculpted and detailed face.



















What was that? The miniskirt and the GoGo boots are what put down the Bat, you say?

Surely not! Though it probably came close...











Ok ok, I'll tell you how Batman got himself killed:

Superman and Darkseid were locked in fierce combat.


And Batman, in his usual smart-alecky way, arrived to help

Having cut off Darkseid's exit route by knocking the Mother Box outta his hand...


That's according to Superman. And who doesn't believe the Big Blue Boy Scout?

But I tell ya, this is how it really went down...


Gotta love it. :)

And gotta love this figure too.

Poseability: 8.0 - He can achieve all his classic poses. But barely in the case of his most famous hands behind his back pose. Also his skirt gets in the way of his classic wide stance, and prevents him from most non "stance" poses. Shoulders also can't rotate all the way--they're hindered by his large shoulder muscles.

Aesthetic: 9.5 - This is where this figure scores. His head is really well detailed and he looks foreboding in his dark blue outfit and zombie grey skin. Bulky and huge as he should be, and he comes with a Mother Box! Very nice touch. ;)

Overall: 8.75 - Great figure. I just wish they didn't limit his movement with a one piece skirt!

Weekend Swag!

First off, I finally managed to get my butt down to the post office to collect Batman:

Got him lose off Ebay from a seller in China. The Holy "Batman" Grail is DC Superheroes Black and Grey Bats, but this guy will do for now. ;)

So that was Thurday.

Friday night was the Toys 'R' Us midnight launch of the new Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen toy line

I only intended to go for a look see and perhaps meet some of the great guys that make up the fantastic tf.sg local Transformers community.

Then TRU had to give us each free $20 dollar coupons. Those buggers! Haha, well there was no way then I was gonna leave without getting something. So I picked up these two:

And the thing was that Melissa also was a card-holding member of TRU, so I got to use her voucher too. Props to you, Dear!

Why Sideswipe and Sideways? Well, cos I'm actually not a big fan of the movie design TFs, but these two go well together: both are silver sports cars, one's a Deceptican and the other an Autobot, and they haven't better than decent looking robot modes. :)

Oh yes, and TRU gave away a ton of free stuff, including posters, lanyards, guidebooks to the movie TFs, and these, my personal favourite:

Awwww damn. Guess who's riding in style now? :P

And Sunday of course came along, which is the traditional "Visit the toy flea markets at China Square Central" day, so I popped by thinking to get DC Superheroes Darkseid. And I did for a good price:

Fearsome figure, he is. He's huge and bulky, but if you turn the package to the side you'll see that they have him in there with his knees bent, so that he can fit into the standard-sized bubble on card. I can't wait to crack him open and see how much he'll tower over the rest of the DC Superheroes line. ;)

Then last but not least, I had to pick up another item I won on Ebay, which was one I'd been eyeing for a while now but simply put buying him off:

Animated Sunstorm (with Activator Rachet!)

Now I've got all the Seekers they've released in the Animated line: Starscream, Skywarp, Thundercracker & Dirge (who're both Activators), and finally, Sunstorm.

With the Hasbro's announcement that they'll be releasing Thundercracker as a Voyager later next year, I'll be looking to add him to the gang as well.

And as luck would have it, as I'm doing the deal with guy for Sunstorm, when Mel turns a facedown TF Universe 2-pack box lying on some boxes over, saying, "What's this?" and answering herself, "Oh, Ultra Magnus and Skywarp." (Level of enthusiasm on a scale of 10--about a 2.)

And I went, "Ultra Magnus and Skywarp?!?!?!" (Level of enthusiasm on a scale of 10--about an 11.) Well, what else could I do but snag the "Battle for Autobot City" 2-pack set? ;)

For you see, I'd been eyeing Ultra Magnus for the longest time, but he seemed like one of those figures you had to pay a premium price for even if he was loose, somewhere in the region of S$70 (US$46). And I did so here as well--except just for $14 more, I also got the very nice (and exclusive) Skywarp.

So all in all a brilliant toy hunting weekend. There was plenty of other stuff I wanted to pick up but had to hold off on, like DC Universe Classics Shazam! (Or DC's Captain Marvel), Green Lantern, and Flash. But not getting them over the weekend just makes for more thrill for the hunt for next time. And besides, with a haul like the one above, it would be such a waste if I didn't take the time to savour it.

Watch out for reviews of the haul over the next week! :)