Mattel's Four Horsemen Batman,
by Lando da Pimp™

I have been waiting for the new Four Horsemen Batman figures to arrive in stores ever since Stinkhead and I saw them at Toy Fair. They have hit retail and I am impressed and disappointed. I'm disappointed because like every toy line way too many damn variations. If you want just a regular Batman then pick up the new Zip-Line Batman figure. Otherwise your choice is the dumb variations of Hydro Suit Batman and Martial Arts Batman. Can somebody tell me when we have seen Batman use these costumes? Does Batman really need to have a separate costume to do martial arts?

Articulation & Accessories:
The articulation is decent. They both have swivel necks, ball jointed shoulders, cut forearms, waist, hips, and knees. Zipline Batman comes with a firing weapon that snaps to his arm with two different projectiles, one a simple missile, the other a rope attached grappling hook. At the end of the rope is a Batarang.

Sculpt:
The good news is that these are the best sculpts of Batman. Both come with a cloth cape that is hanging off the top part of the cape made of plastic. The transition is clean and it's a technique that works well. Since most figures that have cloth capes look really goofy, this is a good way to handle it. The Robin figure also comes with an outside black cape with yellow interior like the modern age Robin. Robin's hair is frosted with some odd brown highlights. Batman comes in gray and black suit, large black bat emblem, and yellow-pouched utility belt using the modern look of the Dark Knight.

Packaging:
The card-backs have the same old look and feel of any previous Batman figure. It is fairly basic and uninspired. The embossed bubble with the Bat Signal is a nice touch but Mattel missed their chance to give us something new and exciting.

Overall:
The Horsemen (famous for the Masters of the Universe revival) continue to ride with the first of what I hope will be many Mattel Batman figures to come. But please no more variations. Give me a plain standard Batman figure. That's all I ask. This line has generated a lot more collector buzz and interest than any Batman line in years. The figures live up to the expectations. Batman collectors are going to be very pleased with at least half of this first offering.

All figure likenesses, names and properties are copyright Mattel and DC Comics. All photographs are copyrighted 2003 by MillionairePlayboy.com.