When I first heard that Funko would be tackling the 1966 Batman license with a new set of 3.75″ action figures, I’d imagined an approach on-par with the Reaction line that they’d worked on with Super7 for awhile. Having only glanced at the pictures in passing, the packaging artwork registered, and again I was thinking that these were going to be in the vintage Kenner style – “5POA” as some call it, with toys designed as they would’ve been in decades past. I would’ve dug that on its own, but shame on me for not noticing how detailed the line really is, with super-articulated figures that you have to see for yourself (like me) to truly appreciate. We have a few of these, and I can tell you that this is one cool line.
The first wave of figures includes Batman (Adam West), Batgirl (Yvonne Craig), Catwoman (Julie Newmar), Mr. Freeze (Otto Preminger), King Tut (Victor Buono) and Bookworm (Roddy McDowell). The Funko take on the George Barris Batmobile is also available, and thus far that’s the only way to get Robin (Burt Ward), who’s included alongside Batman. The character selection is interesting as they’ve gone for some fan-favorite, yet b-list villains that hadn’t been approached in other ’66 Batman lines (such as Mattel’sfrom a few years back). They also mixed things up with two “Chase” variants, including a version of Eli Wallach’s Mr. Freeze (which we have) and a pilot episode costume version of Batman (very akin to the 1940s Serials look).
While the packaging says “Ages 3+” there’s no doubt that collectors are going to be a primary audience here. After all, the series is 50+ years old, but new generations are discovering it on Blu-ray, in addition to some really cool animated features, the last of which comes out this fall.
Overall, the detailing on these is fantastic, and in addition to the fact that I love them – my girls love them, too! One of The Rock Daughters did manage to “misplace” Catwoman’s blaster, so I figure that will either pop-up when we least expect it, or fall victim to the vacuum (it happens). We did find one quality control issue with Batgirl’s legs, which were a bit bowed at the hip joints straight from the package. Fortunately, I was able to pop them off and put them back on properly.
While I don’t know what the future of this line holds, NYCC is set to bring a variant of the Batmobile, so fingers-crossed that we’ll see some icons like The Joker (Cesar Romero), The Riddler (variants with both Frank Gorshin and John Astin?), The Penguin (Burgess Meredith) and others pop up in the next wave and beyond.
Being that these are done in what I consider the best scale for action figures at 3.75″, they play well with Star Wars, GI Joe, and even (gasp!) Marvel heroes as well!
