Release Date: January 2026 RRP: 10,000 yen There are many collectors (myself included) who would count Kaiyodo’s Revoltech line among their first foray into Japanese collector-grade action figures, and whilst many competitors have appeared in the years since it began the line has continued strong – its flagship Amazing Yamaguchi (named after sculptor Katsuhisa Yamaguchi ) range covering the likes of Marvel and DC comics , My Hero Academia , Attack on Titan , Evangelion and more. As such a figure like Revoltech Amazing Yamaguchi Harley Quinn Suicide Squad ISEKAI Ver. feels like an obvious choice for the line, but the series getting so little merchandise elsewhere it feels like quite a pleasant surprise. As the name suggests, this version of Harley is based on her appearance in the Suicide Squad ISEKAI anime series – where Task Force X are transported to a fantasy realm of magic and monsters.

Release Date: July 2022 RRP: 8800 yen The 1990s were a strange time for comics, particularly as it seemed like everyone's favourite superheroes were suddenly getting replaced with new versions. Over in Gotham City the Knightfall storyline saw Bruce Wayne crippled at the hands of Bane , with the antihero Azrael (real identity Jean-Paul Valley ) taking the mantle in his absence. As Batman, Valley decided that Bruce's tactics were obsolete – donning enhanced battle armour and dealing with criminals in a far more merciless manner. As his Azrael conditioning continued to make him more and more erratic, Bruce is forced to engage him in battle to reclaim the mantle of the Bat. Now Medicom pay tribute to this pivotal Batman story with the release of MAFEX Knightfall Batman , showing off Valley's armour in all its 90s glory.

Release Date: July 2020 RRP: 7800 yen If there’s one toy line that feels unrivalled when it comes to high-end comic-style superhero figures right now, it’s Medicom’s MAFEX line. Sure they don’t come cheap and long delays are often common, but when it comes to those perfect comic sculpts there’s no one quite like them. But as nice as they are, my previous experience with the MAFEX line has been mixed to say the least. Poor QC is something often on the tip of everyone’s tongues, and after having one figure have both wrist joints completely disintegrate 30 seconds out of the box (followed by months of exchanging emails with Medicom customer service in order to get replacement parts) certainly soured me on them somewhat. However so many of these figures just look so good it’s hard to say no, and MAFEX Batman ( Batman: Hush ) was just one I couldn’t pass up. Based on the caped crusader in the acclaimed 2002 story by Jeph Loeb (which was turned into an animated film in 2019), this is the...

Release Date: January 2016  RRP: £39.99/$39.99 If there’s one thing DC Collectibles ’ range of Batman: The Animated Series and The New Batman Adventures figures can’t be faulted for, it’s scope. Although the line has suffered severely from QC issues, delays and most recently an insistence on releasing over-priced sets, the line has done a good job of covering these two landmark series – not only featuring the obvious characters but also welcome surprises like Commissioner Gordon, Harvey Bullock, Firefly or Talia Al Ghul. In 1993 Batman: The Animated Series spawned The Mask of the Phantasm – a feature-length film that’s not only earned cult status but widely considered among the best animated films ever. So of course DC Collectibles were going to mark this entry in the line somewhere, releasing a special two-pack including both Batman and Phantasm figures.

Release Date: January 2017 RRP: £14.99/$14.99 The LEGO Batman Movie has just been released in cinemas worldwide and it comes highly recommended, whether you're a LEGO fan, a Batman fan or someone with just a passing interest in either (or someone who's just into really good films). Of course being a LEGO movie there's also plenty of kits coming out to go with it, making 2017 truly the year of the bat. With the whole minifigure wave  under my belt, I'm now turning my attention towards some of the larger construction kits - starting with set 70900 The Joker Balloon Escape . Like most of the sets released so far this appears at the very beginning of the film, and has featured rather heavily in the trailers and promotional material so even if you haven't had a chance to catch it yet.

As was probably the case with many collectors reading this, my first real introduction into the world of toy buying and more importantly collecting was with LEGO. From age seven to about 14 I was truly LEGO obsessed, and counted the UFO, Aquanauts, Insectoids and original Bionicle  ranges among my favourites. While my LEGO buying has slowed down with age, the love for the brand never left. However the sheer variety of LEGO on offer these days - from the various movie and comic licenses to the LEGO Ideas sets and the wonderful LEGO Movie, have really ignited that dormant flame. With The LEGO Batman Movie 's release imminent, it was finally time to jump back on the LEGO wagon. The various sets from the movie are also accompanied by a new wave of blind-bagged minifigures , with a total of 20 different figures (including villains scoured from the history of DC Comics ) on offer.

In some respects DC Collectibles ’ range of Batman: The Animated Series and The New Batman Adventures figures are the Batman toys fans have always dreamed of. Articulated and accessory-laden cartoon-accurate depictions of one of the most renowned pieces of Batman media – what’s not to love? However at the same time this line has proved to be an absolute nightmare, with multiple figures subject to delays, quality control problems or both. But thanks to the draw of these characters, fans keep coming back for more. Here we look at one of the earliest releases in the line – fan-favourite Mr Freeze , as he appeared in The New Batman Adventures episode “Cold Comfort” .

My Shiny Toy Robots may be a website dedicated to toys, toku, anime and of course robots, but every so often something particularly cool comes along that's a little bit different. This feature is one of those times, as UK music distributor Access All Areas gave us the opportunity to take a look at two pieces in their various comic/cartoon-inspired instrument line. These are the Batman Rooftops Ukulele as well as the Adventure Time Oookulele . Both instruments are officially licensed and real musical instruments, retailing for around £34.99 each. Since I'm not much of ukulele player myself I've also teamed up with my partner in crime Bethanwi and her Youtube account for some additional video content, which can be found embedded just below.

When Batman: The Animated Series made its transition to The New Batman Adventures , it brought about a lot of changes. The most obvious of these was the somewhat simplified art style, but also a time skip that changed the character dynamics of the Bat Family. Batgirl became a regular, Tim Drake joined the team as the new Robin , and Dick Grayson broke away from Batman’s shadow to establish himself as Nightwing . Despite playing a more limited role in the series, Nightwing was still a big part of it – appearing in the series logo while the more frequent Batgirl was inexplicably absent. Now DC Collectibles have added Nightwing to their new range of figures covering Batman’s main entries into the DC Animated Universe , completing the Bat Family in action figure form.

Although my relationship with DC Collectibles ’ animated Batman figures has been rocky to say the least, there were always some characters I was going to by without question. And perhaps the biggest of those was Batgirl . Whether it’s her tenure as Batgirl (particularly in her utterly fantastic current ongoing) or assisting the Bat family and the Birds of Prey as Oracle , Barbara Gordon is undoubtedly one of my favourite DC Comics characters. So there was some considerable excitement when Batgirl was revealed to be joining the line, with a figure based on her black-costumed appearance in The New Batman Adventures – where she was promoted to main character and full-time member of the Bat family. As well as a new costume, Batgirl received a new voice actress in the form of Tara Strong – taking over from Melissa Gilbert and the late Mary Kay Bergman (who voiced the character in Batman: The Animated Series and Batman & Mr Freeze: Sub Zero respectively).

When DC Collectibles first announced their range of screen accurate Batman: The Animated Series and The New Batman Adventures figures, it seems to fair to say that Harley Quinn was one of the most anticipated. Not only is she arguably the DC Animated Universe’s biggest export, but thanks to the likes of the recent Arkham series video games, the forthcoming Suicide Squad movie and her own ongoing comic series her popularity is at an even bigger high right now. But right now we’re looking back at where it all began – the 1992 B:TAS episode J oker’s Favor and the iconic red and black jester costume that still remains her definitive look even to this day.

DC Collectibles line of animated Batman figures had a rather interesting year in 2015. After the hotly anticipated figures burst onto the scene at the end of 2014, they quickly received criticism for their fragility – leading the designers to take a step back and look at the how they could improve the builds for future figures. This led to delay after delay for the majority of the line planned throughout 2015, until they all seemed to hit in rapid succession towards the years’ end. Among these delayed figures was the subject of this review – The New Batman Adventures ’ iteration of the boy wonder himself, Robin . Taking place after Dick Grayson had moved on to take up the mantle of Nightwing, this version of Robin is instead Tim Drake – considerably younger looking than his predecessor and sporting a rather different origin to his comics counterpart.

Joining the Joker as part of wave two of DC Collectibles new range of figures based on Batman: The Animated Series and The New Batman Adventures is the Boy Wonder himself, Robin ! More specifically, the original Dick Grayson variety. Although Robin made regular appearances in the first half of B:TAS , he really came into his own in the later half - at which point the show became titled The Adventures of Batman & Robin . Just how much of the show falls under this banner is up for debate - production wise there are only two seasons (with the second using this name) but the DVD releases split it up into three, with only the third using that name. Either way it doesn't really make a whole lot of difference, because this line isn't acknowledging the name or logo change anyway. I can kind of understand since it isn't a major difference like the huge change between Batman: The Animated Series and The New Batman Adventures, but it would have been nice to get it acknowledg...

There have been many different popular interpretations of the Joker in television and film over the years - Caesar Romero in the Adam West Batman series, Jack Nicholson in Tim Burton's 1989 movie, Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight , and a variety of different animated versions voiced by different actors. But when asked which of all of these versions is the best, it's fair to say that most fans will agree on the DC Animated Universe version voiced by Mark Hamill. Appearing in Batman: The Animated Series and The New Batman Adventures all the way up into Batman Beyond and  Justice League , Hamill's Joker has even reached a new audience in the form of the Arkham series video games. So when DC Collectibles revealed they would be doing a new line of animated series figures based on Bruce Timm's iconic designs, it's unsurprising that the Joker was quickly among the planned lineup. However not being in the first wave of figures seems to have worked to the Joker's...

It's not an area of discussion that comes up on this blog very often, but I like to consider myself a pretty big Western comics fan. I've got love and time for both Marvel and DC, but if I had to pick a side it'd most likely be with DC Comics - they're the ones with my favourite heroes and the company I regularly buy comics from. With the advent of the New 52 a few years back I've bought a select few titles every month - one of which was World's Finest starring Huntress and Power Girl - the Robin and Supergirl of Earth 2 trapped on a parallel world (which also happens to be the "main" DC universe). The comic ended its run starring those characters in August 2014, with the title itself facing cancellation in May. Elsewhere, DC Collectibles have produced a rather spiffy  two-pack figure set of Huntress and Power Girl which I just couldn't say no to.

As a massive Birds of Prey comics fan, it was only a matter of time before I investigated this short lived TV series out of interest, despite its almost universal hate among the fandom. The Birds of Prey series aired in 2002 on The WB channel. Despite initially high viewing ratings, these declined sharply in following weeks and the series was cancelled after its first season. There were 13 episodes in total. The series is set in the city of New Gotham, several years after Batman seemingly abandoned protecting it after his final battle with the Joker. As revenge against the Dark Knight, the Joker murdered Selina Kyle (formerly Catwoman), whom Bruce Wayne had a child with - Helena (played by Ashley Scott). The Joker also attacked Barbara Gordon/Batgirl (Dina Meyer), leaving her crippled and wheelchair-bound. In Batman's absence, Barbara raised Helena Kyle, the two taking over his war on crime as Oracle and Huntress respectively. The two are soon joined by Dinah Redmond (Rach...