On Friday I talked about my
secret collection of un-reviewed Arkham Asylum/City action
figures. I feel like it is a superior line with few disappointments
(wildly leaning Joker aside) and I’m happy to be collecting.
When Mattel announced their own line of
Arkham figures I was a little irritated, as I would usually
prefer to collect Mattel’s products over DC Direct/Collectibles’.
They’re sturdier and typically articulated a bit better. But it is
now apparent that the DC offerings are where it’s at. They are much
more committed to the property and are offering a much wider array of
characters. They’re also keeping them all in scale with one another
(midget Bane aside), something Mattel can’t be bothered to do.
Until now.
You see, I ordered the first two boxed,
oversized figures from my Favorite Local Comic Shop when they were
offered in Previews. I wanted Freeze and Croc badly, but I didn’t
want to pay full price for them. Forty-five bucks seemed awfully
steep for Croc and downright ludicrous for the smaller Mr. Freeze.
But a comic shop discount made them more reasonable.
So I wrote down the page numbers on my
order form and took it up to the shop and waited patiently for them
to arrive. I don’t make it to the comic shop every Wednesday, but I
do try to go at least every other week. And even if I didn’t show
up the day the dastardly duo arrived, I had ordered them and the shop
would hold them in my box.
Or so I thought.
Somehow or other I knew what day they
were coming in – maybe from Diamond’s website – and dropped by
the next day. I was told that they had gotten one of each figure in
but that the store owner had sold them to somebody that had happened
to be in the store and had asked about them. They were long gone.
To say I was pissed off would be an
understatement.
I get a very good discount at that
store, being that it’s the one Mrs. Troublemaker worked at for
fifteen years. Regardless of that I was seriously considering taking
my business elsewhere. This isn’t the first time something along
those lines has happened. But my very good discount kept em there and
I just asked the staff to please reorder them.
Months went by. I actually saw Freeze
and Croc at another shop, but I didn’t buy them because I had
(misplaced) faith that my store would get them in for me. More time
went by and I finally decided that if I saw them again I would just
buy them. That was right around the time that they disappeared from
the market.
But then a few weeks ago, my favorite
online store – BigBadToyStore.com – reopened preorders for Croc,
Freeze, and a few other older Arkham figures. I don’t know
why and I don’t; know where they came from. I also don’t care. I
put my order in and was shocked when I received an e-mail the very
next day telling me they were in stock and ready to be shipped. I
checked my Pile of Loot, saw there was enough stuff there to be
worthwhile, and clicked the “Ship My Loot!” button.
Mr. Freeze might be my favorite
character from Arkham City. The game uses him better than
anything that isn’t Batman: The Animated Series and he looks
fucking rad. This version of his armor makes more sense than any
other, but still manages to remind me just a little bit of Arnie’s.
All that being said, I did not
understand why this figure that seemed to be about half the size of
Killer Croc and smaller even than Bane (who was sold as a
regular-size character) was forty-five bucks. Did he end up being
worth it?
First Glance: Freeze’s
box is the same size as Croc’s, so he looks a bit diminutive in
there. Not unimpressive, but small. Still, all of the detail on that
armor looks amazing.
Articulation: With all
of that armor and the detail on it I felt like DCC probably worked in
a ton of clever articulation. Not so much.
Head – ball joint
Shoulders – ball joint
Elbows – pivot
Hips – pivot
Thighs - swivel
Ankles - swivel
Knees –pivot
Yep. That’s it. Kind of
disappointing.
His head actually has a very good range
of movement inside that helmet. You have to do your moving before you
put the faceplate on, but I am glad it’s an option.
The shoulder movement is very limited,
almost to the point where it might as well be a swivel. Add that to
the lack of any arm joint beyond the elbow pivot and Freeze doesn’t
have a whole lot of posing options.
The legs aren’t a whole heck of a lot
better. The hips don’t have a great range because of the crotch
piece, and there honestly just isn’t much reason to even have the
thigh swivels or even knee pivots. Both of the latter are good joints
with a full range of motion, though. And while this Freeze doesn’t
have a whole lot of joints, the ones that are here are blended into
the sculpt well.
Sculpt: Mr. Freeze looks
outstanding. The level of detail in his armor is amazing – he’s
like Killer Croc in that you can just sit and stare at him for a
while. Freeze is taller than the standard Arkham figures, but
not so much that a box is called for.
The helmet piece is large, with lots of
gadgets and doo-dads on the top and back. I like that the torso
and helmet are all one piece, as it creates a great shape and flow
for the sculpting. The rest of the figure’s torso has some armor
plating and tubes that look cool.
I love the hexagonal pattern on the
bodysuit, as well as the texture. It has the look of some sort of
heavily insulated material. The detailing and plating on the arms and
gauntlets is cool, as is the stuff on the legs. It all looks like a
heavy exoskeleton and makes it easy to believe that Freeze would be a
physical match for Batman. I’ve always liked the idea that Victor
was like, “Well I have to wear this stupid freeze suit anyway, why
not build in some super-strength?”
Overall the look of this figure
perfectly captures what we see in Arkham City. Which, by the
way, delivered on the promise of Mr. Freeze made back in Arkham
Asylum BIG TIME. It was so exciting seeing that huge, frozen cell
in the first game and then finally getting to see Victor Freeze in
the second game. That was some effective setup.
Coloring: At first
glance Freeze seems fairly basic – all blues, greys, and blacks.
But a combination of several different shades and glosses along with
some yellow detailing and those glossy red goggles make this guy more
impactful and real.
Freeze’s head is the only exposed
skin and it is a light, icy blue with a slightly darker wash to bring
out the sculpted details. I guess those black lines going out of the
goggles are supposed to be straps. Whatever the case, they are well
done and don’t bleed out anywhere. The goggles are nice and shiny
and the red is solid.
Freeze’s armor pieces are a glossier
black than the bodysuit. The contrast with the tightly decorated blue
portions is nice, especially with the yellow bits. Ideally the blue
portions would light up, but this figure isn’t ideal.
The honeycombed bodysuit is a flat
black with grey detailing and looks really cool.
All of the paint on my figure is placed
well. I didn’t notice any blotches or bits of colors in the wrong
places. The paint is all solid, as well. There aren’t any areas
where it looks like not enough was applied.
Flair: Freeze’s
backpack (I guess) is just crazy. There is so much detail. All kinds
of pistons and pumps and whatevers jutting out and looking cool. Of
course, they also look like things that Batman could easily kick or
punch and potentially disable Mr. Freeze; but they look cool.
The faceplate is a little tricky to get
into place, but it is sturdier than it seems and will tolerate a
little bending and wiggling. I had to slide it into one side of the
helmet opening and then use just a bit of force to push it into
place. I got it, but it was an odd enough procedure that instructions
wouldn’t have been unwelcome. There are some ridges on the edge of
the opening that I wasn’t sure if they were supposed to be inside
or outside of the faceplate. I’m still not sure.
The piece is made out of a plastic with a slight blue tint. It is very glossy and looks great on the figure.
The piece is made out of a plastic with a slight blue tint. It is very glossy and looks great on the figure.
The gun is made out of a sturdy
plastic. The sculpt looks exactly like Freeze’s blaster from the
game. All of the detailing is very sharp and the touches of color are
tight and applied well. It fits in Freeze’s hand okay but
not great, which continues the trend of DC’s Mr. Freeze figures.
This is three that I’ve owned that don’t quite hold their weapons
securely.
The stand is a circle with a peg on it. It bugs me because I don't like stands, but some of the figures from this line require them. Mr. Freeze is not one. However, not all of the figures in this line come with stands, so regardless of whether or not you want to use them you simply can't have uniformity in your collection. That sucks. But it isn't Victor's fault.
The stand is a circle with a peg on it. It bugs me because I don't like stands, but some of the figures from this line require them. Mr. Freeze is not one. However, not all of the figures in this line come with stands, so regardless of whether or not you want to use them you simply can't have uniformity in your collection. That sucks. But it isn't Victor's fault.
Packaging: Freeze comes
in a very large window box. I like the design of the window and the
graphics are quite slick as well. The different glosses of print and
the quality of the cardboard mark this as a collector’s item.
There’s also a brief character
description:
This is a classy box that I was
hesitant to throw out even though I don’t have anywhere to put it
or anything to do with it.
I usually have no qualms about tossing packaging for figures less than 1/6th scale, but these Arkham boxes are great-looking.
I usually have no qualms about tossing packaging for figures less than 1/6th scale, but these Arkham boxes are great-looking.
Value: I am utterly
confounded as to why this figure costs $44.99. I could see it if he
lit up. Or maybe even if he had four times as much articulation. But
for a barely above-average-sized figure with twelve points of
articulation (only five of which are meaningful) I just don’t get
it. There’s no way this guy should cost so much.
Overall: I was extremely
concerned about whether or not I’d be able to get one, and now I
know that concern was warranted. This is a damned fine action figure.
It’s not so stylized that it wouldn’t fit in with your regular DC
figures. I would go so far as to say that this is one of those pieces
that collectors that aren’t buying this line or maybe even don’t
have an interest in Batman should own. Croc is another one of those
figures that is a step above and deserves recognition.
3
out of 5
I feel kind of bad for rating such a
beautiful figure so low, but even putting aside how hideously
expensive he is he just isn’t executed that well. There is exactly
one pose he can achieve while holding his gun that doesn’t look
stupid thanks to the limited articulation.
BigBad still has him in stock as
of this writing. If you’re collecting this line or just love this
design for Mr. Freeze you should just bite the bullet and order
because he’ll never get any cheaper. The Bane from the Arkham
line is selling for over $250 now.
Yes, seriously.
-Phantom
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