Revenge is a dish best served...cold

And apparently so is acquiring the original Batman Animated Mr. Freeze action figure - it only took me nineteen years to finally get around to owning this one!

I'll crack him open and blog about him all proper like real soon, but I just couldn't wait to show him off!

Beware the Creeper!

I added this Creeper action figure to my collection a few months back and am just now finally posting about it! Yay procrastination!

I remember when this figure came out, he was pretty much a shelf warmer and an aberration in the Batman Animated mythos. His inclusion in the show and toyline just seemed odd to me.

I read somewhere at the time that the Creeper was going to be a regularly occurring character as the show evolved into The New Batman Adventures, but that idea was scrapped and Creeper was just given one episode (or maybe it was a two parter?)

Regardless, The New Batman Adventures made the character of The Creeper out to be a sort of 'good guy' version of the Joker, with a similar origin etc., and even a crush on Harley Quinn.

I was none too impressed by his appearance on the cartoon, so I never felt the need to buy the action figure. I specifically recall a lone Creeper action figure hanging on the K-Mart clearance aisle for what seemed like (and probably was) years.

Then a few months back I was watching the BBC documentary 'In search of Steve Ditko' about the the odd and elusive creator of The Creeper as well as The Question, Hawk and Dove and many others (most notably the co-creator of Spider-Man.) I became fascinated and read a bit more about Ditko and his creations and discovered that the real origin of The Creeper is far more interesting and fun than falling into a vat of acid and coming out with discolored skin and a perma-grin. I decided to add him to my collection in one form or another, and of the few Creeper action figures available the New Batman Adventures version just looked the most, well, fun!

So I tracked him down for a great price on eBay (what, there's not a huge secondary Creeper market? No way!) and he's now mine!

Creeper came with a pretty nicely designed accessory. It may be a bit odd and cumbersome, but it's both action oriented and relevant to the character. As Jack Ryder, the Creeper is actually a hard hitting no nonsense reporter, and so he comes with a TV camera and boom mic.

The camera has a slide that can be positioned to show Ryder...

...or Creeper. Silly but fun if you imagine playing out an interview with one or the other.

The camera shifts into a cumbersome 'gun' and the mic can be shot like a rocket. Again, silly, but at least the Creeper didn't come with a day-glo jet pack or street luge. The designers tried and succeeded in making the toy's accessories relevant and for that they deserve our applause.

Sadly, Creeper did not come with an 'Applause' sign.

Lame.

Happy Harleynukkah and Merry Quinnsmas

I tend to forget that even though a toy isn't an action figure, it's still 'Batman the Animated Toys' relevant, and therefore should be blogged about here.

Case in point: this Harley Quinn 'beanie' dolly.

I got this Harley Quinn for my daughter for Christmas. This beanie doll was originally sold at WB Stores in 1999, so sufficed to say I had to do some 'secondary market' (aka eBay) searching to get it. My daughter also has Poison Ivy and her sister has Batgirl...maybe I'll get those on the blog someday as well.

I've been patient and wise in my search for these BTAS beanies, so I have been able to procure all three that we currently own here for around what they retailed for when new. But I do see them appear for pretty high prices on eBay quite often. The fact that they were made so long ago for a now defunct specialty store does tend to give them the air of rarity, but be patient and you too could probably find most if not all of them for less than ten bucks each.

Here's another shot of Harley with some more of my daughter's Christmas loot!

The Batman & Robin Adventures #3

I've managed to find some more Batman & Robin Adventures in the dollar comics bins, including this well worn copy of issue #3, A Christmas Riddle! Just in time for the holidays!  In addition to the fun art, I'm pleased that all of these I've found were well read: some kid read this two dozen times, loaned it to a friend, who loaned it to a friend... it was really enjoyed, then enjoyed again by me  :D

During the yearly holiday festivities at Gotham City's exclusive Peregrinator Club, an appearance by Father Christmas turns out to be one Edward Nygma in disguise, who literally holds his wealthy audience captive! Insisting that Batman must be wealthy to afford his war on crime, the Riddler begins to call out names of Gotham's patriarchs, listing aloud the reasons why each might be the one which wields the gauntlet of the Dark Knight. Television reporter Summer Gleeson gets caught in the fray, Nygma now given a live media platform on which to expose & humiliate his arch enemy & his teen sidekick!

Picking up the news in the Batmobile, Batman quickly realizes that while a couple good guesses were made, Nygma doesn't really know the identity of the caped crusaders, and that his very public stunt is merely cover for the real crime- stealing the club's treasured pair of gold Mayan statues!

The Dynamic Duo nab Riddler's henchmen robbing priceless statues, and confront the Riddler in the club's ballroom, where cornered, he detonates a bomb planted in the giant Christmas tree! Batman & Robin are forced to let Riddler escape with one of the statues in order to save the trapped patrons.

Slipping through Commissioner Gordon's line of officers surrounding the Peregrinator Club dressed in swat gear, Nygma commandeers a paddy wagon for his getaway. But the Dynamic Duo hitch a ride atop the stolen vehicle, and Nygma runs it off a bridge in the struggle, crashing into the icy lake with Batman while the Boy Wonder leaps onto shore. "It's not fair", the defeated villain coughs as Batman pulls him and one of the gold Mayan statues to the surface.

In the epilogue, Bruce Wayne & his young ward survey the club's damage, and the young billionaire is asked if he will finally accept the invitation to join in light of his generous donation toward the building's repair. Straightening an oil painting on the wall of his father & former member Thomas Wayne, Bruce declines, adding that while his father wanted him to become a Peregrinator, he never was the club-joining type   :)

***Merry Christmas to my partners in blogging BubbaShelby & ChunkyB, and to all of our readers here at Batman the Animated Toys!***

-Colin, the Boyish Wonder

The Batman & Robin Aventures #9

The Batman & Robin Adventures was a DC Comics title that ran from 1995-1997, set in the continuity & style of the popular animated series. From 1992-1995 it had been The Batman Adventures until the television series Batman: The Animated Series was re-branded The Adventures of Batman and Robin. There were twenty-five issues, two annuals, and two specials. I picked up this ragged issue in the dollar bin at a local comics retailer, having never read one of these upbeat, kid-friendly little books. I mean, who could resist that cover with Batgirl flying into action?? Any of you kids ever have any of these?

Taking courses in criminal toxicology, Barbara Gordon returns from her locker to find the nightwatchmen tranquilized on the lobby floor. With the police five minutes away, she decides Batgirl may be needed before it's too late!

As it turns out, Barbara's professor, Dr. Fazil (now Mr. Siddiq), was formerly employed/enslaved by Ra's Al Ghul, and Talia was sent to retrieve the renowned disease & immunity expert after his sudden disappearance.

Talia proceeds to give the younger, less experienced Babs a scathing beat down, and while laying in the closet floor of the laboratory she spots a can of bromide powder. Remembering a childhood chemistry lesson, she also grabs a container of denzenel on the way downstairs, in pursuit of Talia & her hostage. Her confidence is regained in the knowledge that together these are the ingredients to a form of tear gas, which puts Talia down as the Gotham police arrive onto the scene.

Pulling Mr. Siddiq to safety, Babs loses his kidnapper- never having learned Talia's name nor her intent. Writing in her journal that night, Barbara recalls what Talia said during their confrontation, about it taking more than a costume to make a warrior. Talia was right about that, Barbara noted, adding that "it takes courage & brains, too."   :)

*Writer: Ty Templeton

*Pencils: Brandon Kruse

See my post on the New 52 Bagirl #1 at The Super-DuperToyBox!

Incoming!

I have been a busy little Gotham Ghoul this October. Cleaning house at my other blog, busting butt at work, and taking care of business at the house. So this is more of a heads up for the fine citizens of BTATs and my partners in crime... I just gots me some goodies I am dying to crack open and shoot some pictures of. So, please be patient, enjoy some of the other offerings at BTATs and I will be back in the swing of things hopefully in a week or two.



This fine little kitty joined my packaged collection about a week or two ago, Pretty decent package, some flaws but for 99¢ I couldn't beat it.



This one was almost handed to me, not so much of a great deal, but better than what I have seen these go for. He arrived in the most impressive packing job I have ever seen, and that says a lot because I used to work for the old brown shipping company in college and I know a few people that ship stuff for the eagle now, Anyway I have full plans to add this guy to my loose Batman collection so I will be opening Batsy here. Hey bubba I know it's not to your usual toy liking being a he man doll hater, but you have to admit this is one minty looking Bat Dolly!

I now return you to the further adventures of BTATs!

Kenner Turbo Glider Robin

There are several words I could use to describe this Kenner Turbo Glider Robin from the Batman Animated series, and they are all synonymous with AWESOME! I couldn't think of a better action figure for my inaugural post on this blog than Robin. He's one of my favorite characters from the Batman mythos:  a symbol of my boyish pluck and youthful enthusiasm. They don't call me Boy Wonder for nothin', Kids  :D

I got this one for south of ten clams on account of his mangled backing card- I'm gonna open him anyway, so I didn't care. Robin has a cloth cape, which is right up my alley, and check out that yellow glider! Really cool!

This figure is a Series 1, released in 1992. The head is a new sculpt, but the body is a repaint of the Batman Returns Robin released by Kenner only a year earlier. Later on Robin would receive a body stylized more like the animated character- The "Crimefighter Robin" figure, styled after Tim Drake, would be released after the show was rebooted as Batman: The New Adventures.

The yellow glider with Robin's trademark "R" on top has so much eye appeal- I had to have it when I discovered it existed! The insignia is a factory applied decal, mine relatively well placed in the molded oval depression atop the wing. A red chest plate clips onto Robin's torso, and to my surprise, he can stand uptight with the entire apparatus attached.

The packaging advertises that the missiles can be "dropped"- in reality a manual affair, released by pressing the exposed pegs down from atop the glider. It works  :)  Robin can hold the two hand controls while flying his glider over Gotham City.

And now for your viewing pleasure, from my own Super-DuperToyBox YouTube channel:  A Moment of Zen with The Boy Wonder  :D

Big Thanks to Chunky B and BubbaShelby for appointing me membership to Batman the Animated Toys Blog!

*Visit Batman the Animated Figure Archive!
*Come play with me at The Super-DuperToyBox!