DC Collectibles Batman vs Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Figures Review
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Cross overs are a staple of comics. And the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have seen more than their fair share of cross overs in their
time. That includes cross overs in comics, cartoons and the toy aisle. And in 2016, they got what may be their biggest cross over yet
with the release of Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. That was followed up with three more cross overs in the books of DC Comics and
IDW's Animated Adventures books. And in 2019 the pairing gave us the amazing animated movie cross over. And with them came toys, produced
not by Playmates but by DC Collectibles. The line started with a San Diego Comic Con Exclusive of Mikey as Batman followed by five
two packs of figures, each matching one of the Turtles with a member of the Batman family or pairing the two villains together. And it's
high time for me to dig these toys off the 'to review' pile and check them out.
Packaging - Mikey as Batman 5/10 Others 2/10The packaging for both the SDCC Mikey as Batman figure and the various two packs is a very simple design. The packaging for Mikey as Batman has just a single image of the figure from the torso up on the front of the box along with the Batman vs TMNT logo and the figure's name. The back has a full body photo of the figure as well as photos of the first four two packs. It's a surprisingly minimalist design with no description or reference to the movie. They didn't even get all of the figures pictured on the back, though that was probably to avoid spoilers about who was in the movie. The same design was used for the two packs, only they opted for a window box for the two packs. It does show off the figures better as well as the accessories included. But the minimalist design doesn't play as premium with the two pack in my opinion the way it can with the comic con exclusive. That's particularly true since most of them are literally falling apart! Evidently the glue used to seal the seam of the boxes was either defective or poorly applied, because every one of the boxes is on the verge of falling apart. It is easy enough to repair, but that shouldn't be necessary.
Sculpting - 9/10The sculpting work across this entire line is quite impressive. The style used for the movie, much like the Simpsons, is one that works very well in two dimensions but is difficult to translate to the third dimension. They did a very admirable job of trying here. There are little issues such as Shredder and Ra's Al Ghul both coming out a bit too barrel chested and the lower legs of the Turtles being too thick. But in the end, the complete set looks great together.
Paint - 10/10The paint work for the figures is equally as well done as the sculpting. If I go looking for it, I can find spots where the line work is not perfect. But that is going to be true of anything painted by human hands. When you're not trying to find something with which to find fault, you have figures which are have all of the details painted. It helps that the figures are based on an animated style of course. And these figures replicate that style nearly perfectly.
Articulation - Shredder & Ra's Al Ghul 3/10, others 5/10All of the Batman vs. TMNT figures share similar articulation. That includes double jointed ankles, knees, hips, wrists and elbows as well as ball jointed shoulders, rotating waists, torso joints and ball jointed neck. So the figures certainly don't lack in articulation. But in playing with the figures is also becomes clear that between the sculpting and the articulation, they favored the sculpting every time. With the villains, the long shirts render the hip joints unusable. The Turtles' feet are all sculpted so that they can tilt the feet down, but not up. So they can stand straight up, or extend their legs forward and still keep their feet flat on the ground, but not if they want to bend their knees. Only giving the figures single jointed elbows means the range of motion for the arms is quite limited for all of the figures.
Accessories - Mikey as Batman 4/10, Michelangelo & Alfred 5/10, others 6/10DC Collectibles did their best to pack these sets with accessories. But often it seems like when they didn't have anything to include, particularly with the Turtles, they just packed the sets with extra hands. Mikey as Batman is definitely the weakest set with a slice of pizza, a manhole cover and two extra pairs of hands. I don't know why they didn't bother to include his nunchuks. The Michelangelo and Alfred set is easily the weakest of the two packs, mostly because there weren't that many accessories that would make sense to include with Alfred. So in addition to a coffee mug, he gets six extra hands. And more disappointing, they didn't include the blue Superman mug that was actually seen in the movie and instead we get a blank white mug. Michelangelo comes with his skateboard, two pairs of hands, his nunchuks and two slices of pizza. The skateboard looks great. But I'm a bit disappointed that it doesn't have working wheels. Batman, Batgirl and Robin all come with a wide assortment of bat gear. And Robin comes with a second, hooded head. One highlight for the Turtles is that both Raphael and Donatello come with an alternative head from the final battle. They're a great extra and provide some extra options in a display. The villain two pack is the one set where the extra hands make sense. Ra's Al Ghul has a sword, vial of ooze and a pair of hands. Shredder has a throwing star and two additional sets of hands giving you three options for the length of Shredder's hand blades.
Value - 6/10The original price for Mikey as Batman was $30 while the two packs sold for $50 each. And in the time since their release in 2019, the Mikey as Batman set has climbed in price to around $60. The two packs on the other hand, didn't sell well initially and most were available at clearance prices. But they have climbed back up since then. But a quick eBay search showed that they have only gotten back up to their original price thus far. But in the end, it really depends on how big of a fan of the crossover you are. The Mikey as Batman figure works perfectly as a representation of the movie in a single figure. If you are a fan of the designs of from the crossover, then you're probably going to want either all four of the Turtles, the entire Bat family or both. And from there, you might as well get the villains as well.
Happy Hunting:Mikey as Batman was a 2019 San Diego Comic Con exclusive while the two packs were Gamestop exclusives that fall. Of course, three years later, you aren't likely to still find them on store shelves. But they are readily available on the secondary market. A quick eBay search turned up plenty of all six sets.
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(Yes I bought a Colossal T-Rex just for this photo. Money well spent.)
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