The Joker is the fourth villain released as part of the new Power Attack Batman toy line, along with Killer Croc, Mr. Freeze, and Two-Face. I've taken a look at the other baddies in previous reviews, now it's time for The Joker to get his turn...
The first thing you'll notice that's different about Joker is that he's a "Deluxe" figure. What that means, in a nutshell, is that he's carded, but not within a bubble, has an action feature that trumps articulation completely and he costs about $3 more than a standard figure. As you can see, the aesthetics of the packaging are nice- vibrant colors and you can see exactly what you're getting. It may be a little busy for my tastes, but it does the job. Kiddies can even get their hands on the figure's legs to play with the "squeeze" action feature in the store. That said, 40% of the package is complete waste- the bottom 4 inches (everything under the mallet) serve no purpose (no, there's nothing hidden under there, it's just empty space). The Joker comes with a cardboard Batman target for him to knock over. Whatever.
The back of the card foregoes the cartoony artwork of the regular figures, and gives us an in-action shot of The Joker smashing the cardboard Batman target. It's nothing you can't figure out from looking at the front of the package, and the photo Mattel has used actually does nothing more than draw attention to the lack of paint apps on the actual figure as compared to the prototype. The photographed Joker has darker highlights on the eyes, and additional green paint added to a buckle on his left thigh and shoes, which are absent from the final product. The other Deluxe Batman figures are highlighted as well.
The Joker's strength, as with the other figures in this line, lies in his sculpt. He's got a cool, pretty unique look, full of sharp angles and lines. His hair is sculpted into two short horns above his pointed ears, and comes to a giant bubble above his forehead. The eyes sport red pupils with black outlines, and a faint green "dagger-like" line above and below. Joker is baring some seriously pointed fangs for teeth within his wicked grin. The rest of the sculpt isn't too bad- not an overabundance of detail, just enough to give him some highlights in the form of buckles and straps here and there. His coat tails are sculpted to look like they are blowing in the wind behind him. It's an eye-catching sculpt, and fits in well with the other figures from the line.
The paint isn't too bad for a $12 figure. It isn't too sharp, but there isn't a ton of bleed either.
Most of the figure is molded in colored plastic, with the notable exception of the lower torso, which is painted, along with the hands and face. The orange paint has a hard time covering the dark plastic from underneath, but it's nothing too terrible, and the face is very nicely done.
The Joker's downfall is his articulation. The action feature is the predominant characteristic of this figure- when you squeeze his legs together, the torso twists at the waist, and his right arm swings down and forward, allowing his mallet to smash. The feature works very well, and my kids have a blast with it. Unfortunately, it means The Joker is forever holding his mallet up in the same pose, and he looks ridiculous without it in his hand. The Joker sports 2 points of articulation: his head turns from side to side, and his left shoulder has a cut joint. The rest of the lines on the figure are part of the action feature. This Joker is meant to be played-with, not displayed.
The mallet itself is molded in green plastic, and each flat face sports a grinning clown face upon it. Joker's hand clips onto a separate small cylinder which slides up and down the hilt, allowing for...I'm not sure why, exactly.
The other notable quality of The Joker is his size: for some reason, there doesn't seem to be much consistency (for me, at least) across the Power Attack Batman line. Batman and Robin are much smaller than Two-Face and Mr. Freeze. The Joker comes in somewhere in-between. He's bigger than Batman, but not quite as big as Two-Face and Mr. Freeze. He's just a smidge taller than Batman, but his head much bigger. I guess Mattel isn't too concerned about details like consistency in scale for a line geared at kids, but it does create an odd look when the figures are displayed together.
The Joker is a good-looking figure, but he's more of a statue than an action figure. I would have liked to have been able to pose him somewhat, but that probably would have been detrimental to the action feature, which really does work quite well. I'm not a fan of action features: if a company is going to include one, it needs to work- and this one does. Batman's Rogue's Gallery wouldn't be complete without The Joker, so he had to be added to the display, however grudgingly. I'm hoping somewhere down the line that we get an action figure version of The Joker, but for now, this one will have to do. I'm happy that I picked him up- he's a nice addition as long as you know exactly what you're getting, and you keep your expectations appropriately low...
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