Monday, September 10, 2018

A New Batgirl Review: Batgirl from Batman Missions: TrueMoves by Mattel

    A month or so I was checking out She's Fantastic and discovered that the new Batman Missions series was releasing a 12 inch scaled Batgirl figure in their TrueMoves line.  Over the past 5 years or so Hasbro and Mattel have been releasing these inexpensive, 12 inch scaled action figures and they're really rather ho-hum to me: Decent character selection but limited articulation, questionable likenesses, and a very "flat" appearance. When I learned that a Batgirl was coming out, though, I was might tempted. At this point there is so much Batgirl stuff coming out that I just can't keep up, particularly due to the number of statues and other higher end items. I decided to go for this one though because she is only $10 dollars and I like how it represents Batgirl as one of the big guns worthy of being in this sort of line. These are called Batman Missions: TrueMoves with the TrueMoves name indicating that the articulation has been improved. These remind me quite a bit of the DC Super Hero Girls basic figures, which my 5 year old loves. I could see her possibly being interested in these to bolster her ranks of the girls. Let's check this version of Batgirl out to see how she fares...



 The Facts:

Height: 10 7/8ths inches

Articulation: Hinged knees, swivel/hinge hips, swivel/hinge shoulders, swivel/hinge elbows, and a swivel head.

Accessories: None

Non-Scalper Price: $10 dollars
 The Positives:

 
* The Batman Missions series seems to be using a really nice mixture of the current Rebirth era costumes with a bit of extra styling to make for toys that kids will easily recognize. Batgirl's colors look very similar to her newer appearances but the suit is armored versus being a leather outfit like the Batgirl of Burnside suit. It's kind of a cool look and makes for a nice action figure appearance by blending an armored suit appearance with the recognizable colors of Babs' modern appearance. There's a nice amount of detail in the armored bits, too.


* The headsculpt isn't my favorite Batgirl headsculpt but it fits this costume/ color scheme pretty well and looks quite a bit like some of the modern depictions of Babs. This actually looks very similar to the DC Comics Multiverse Batgirl of Burnside figure from 2017, so maybe this is an upscaled head sculpt?


 * Since this package touts this as a "TrueMoves" figure, the articulation had better be pretty spectacular, right? Well, not really but it is much improved from what most of the 12 inch scaled figures in this style offer. Rather than just five points of swivel articulation this Batgirl has swivel/hinged shoulders, elbows, and hips along with hinged knees and a swivel head. It's not collector level articulation but it definitely makes for a much more fun toy than most other offerings in this scale.


* I really like the work on Barbara Gordon's utility belt. The belt looks pretty simple and is covered with some larger yellow pouches to hold all sorts of bat gadgets and goodies.



* I also like that Batgirl has an actual fabric cape. It is sturdily attached and looks pretty cool with the figure. Again, we're not talking Hot Toys or Mezco quality by any stretch of the imagination but it's not bad for a $10 dollar toy.
 The Negatives:


* What are these weird little marks all over the figure? Some kind of molding leftover (or maybe even where the figure was removed from a plastic sprue?) that is kind of noticeable at this scale.




* The boots are really, really dull. The Batgirl of Burnside costume and the DC Super Hero Girls costume both feature very cool yellow combat styled boots but this version uses more traditional high heeled knee high boots. There is just no detail here, though, which looks a bit cheap.
   This figure definitely isn't going to be everyone's cup of tea but, for a figure of this style, it's not bad. Overall I like the design, the colors, and the articulation. It's not a great figure but it is a Good and a 1/2 toy. I'd definitely consider buying these for my kid if she were interested in them, although I haven't seen any of these at retail yet. The Batman Missions line is having some pretty limited articulation so far it seems. Hopefully Mattel starts getting this product out there in force before Christmas as this seems like it could be a great mass market Batman toyline if handled properly.



I've reviewed so many Batgirl figures that she has her own review archive! Check out the Batgirl Library for more Batgirl reviews!

For more Batman Missions figures, check out the following:
Harley Quinn
The Joker 

2 comments:

  1. At that size and that price it's extraordinary. I must find one.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I snagged mine on Amazon. I have no idea what retailers are carrying these. Some Target stores in the States have some of the Missions Series figures, but it mostly seems to be the 6 inch scaled ones.

      Delete

What'chu talkin' 'bout?