March 13, 2013

Waddle Waddle Waddle... It's the Penguin!


The Penguin was one of the first villains I picked up when the Batman the Animated Series figures were released. That is saying something, as the Penguin is probably one of my least favorite of Batman's Rouges Gallery.

Sure, I like the character and the actors that have portrayed him over the years, but he never really was that cool of a villain, in my opinion anyway. I will say that out of all the different versions I do like this first attempt at the character for the Animated Series the best.


Penguin here is sort of a cleaner version of the Danny De Vito version of the character from Batman Returns film. I believe that the Animated Series was airing about the same time as the Tim Burton Batman films. So, it would make sense that some of the characters share similar attributes. Say, like Penguin's flippers, heavy coats, and longer hair.


One thing that I did always sort of dig is that the Penguin had crazy Umbrella Weapons. This Penguin came with a Hypno-Spin Umbrella Launcher to shoot at Batman and his friends. It works pretty well meaning it will shoot off and knock things down, or even function as a spinning top.

The only draw back is the size of the launcher. You can't see in the picture, but you pretty much have to hold him up when it's snapped on his arm. The figure will not stand with all the weight of the luncher. I am sure you could get him to stand in a sort of un-natural looking pose if you were patient enough.




There is a feature I pretty much just discovered when shooting pictures, once you remove the coat, Penguin has a hole in his back that the peg on top of the launcher can fit, making a pretty nifty little (or large) Umbrella Jet Pack. look out Joker, you might have some competition flying around for the Batman's attention.




Back when these were released I had only seen one Penguin on the pegs, they must have just stocked him, because I never saw another one. Back then I realized he was sort of a rare figure, but I opened him anyway. The loose Penguin is that same figure. I was pretty proud that I had one. When I was preparing for this post, I cracked open my tote of carded BTAS figures only to discover I did have a carded version too. I remember buying a lot of carded figures years ago, just could not remember if I had a Penguin or not. At one time I was trying to put together a carded collection of the first few series of BTAS figures, so it was a nice surprise to find him to shoot a group photo.

Hope you enjoyed this look at the Penguin, he's slowly becoming one of my favorites of the BTAS figure collection. 

What's up next from me? Here's a little sneak peek, I cannot make any promises that this will be my next post, but it will be a future post...




8 comments:

Dr. Theda said...

I really liked the coat on this figure... I have been a fan of the Penguin and the Joker since early childhood... and have collected Penguin items since the 70's...
Nice post .. (as always)...
Have a Great day...

Bubbashelby said...

I have this one, but mine has remained carded to this day. Nice to see him out and about!

chunky B said...

Thanks Dr. Theda, and yep the coat on this figure is really nice, has some weight and not too light.

Eric, ha ha I think I bought this back in the day tore it open and then found out it was sort of hard to get, oh well.

Brian A said...

I remember these clogging the pegs at Target and TRU. I heard somewhere that that's how these ended up being rare. Stores were overstocked with "unsellable" Penguins and they ended up sending a ton back to Kenner, who subsequently, filtered them into other markets in the world.

Mine's still carded. He really looks great loose. I didn't realize how much character the coat added.

Super-Duper ToyBox said...

the coat, the COAT! So great... Listen young man, I want to see that Command Center asap ;D

chunky B said...

Ha ha, now that had to be a sight to see, Penguins clogging the pegs! Not to worry Super D that cave was purchased to open!

EmperorDinobot said...

The coat is the best thing about this figure. It's an excellent figure all around. Mine's all sticky for some reason though, as is Riddler and Two Face and Freeze. Like they are covered with grime. I have no idea where they would have gotten that from, but they were for several years in storage, though they have been out for most of their plastic life.

chunky B said...

EmperorDinobot sounds like the plastics are breaking down a bit, older figures do this. I have taken my Mr. Freeze and washed in a light solution of liquid dish soap and water, then dried and let sit out and dry more, and it helps some.