Review - The Penguin

Figure: The Penguin
Line: The Batman
Manufacturer: Mattel
Release Date: Winter, 2004

Articulation:7 Points, Mace Swinging Action Feature
1) Neck - Cut Neck, Side to side movement
2) Right wrist (on action feature arm)
3) Right elbow (on action feature arm)
4) Right arm (on action feature arm)
5) Left arm
6) Left Elbow
7) Hip/Legs Cut - Combo

Sculpt:
The sculpt of this figure is very close to how you will remember it from the show. The expression on his face is well done, except his nose which is sculpted out of a different, softer material and placed into his face, it is pointy, so I guess it had to be made kid-safe. On this note, I have something to say about his accessories below. The cattails at the end of his tux was also a nice touch.

Penguin is around 3 1/2 inches tall, so he fits in with the rest of the line very accurately. His accessories are very nicely sculpted as well. He has a mace swinging action feature, so there is a lever that sticks out of his back. Im not too fond of action features, especially levers that are stuck out and not well hidden (although the action works fine, except I believe it is making Penguin swing his mace the wrong way... With one push of the lever, you get 2 full revolution swings - backwards!

Paint:
The paint on this figure is quite good. There is some bleeding on his hair at the top of his head. His face is well done for its price, so there really isn't much to complain about. However, it is fairly noticable even by looking at the figure from far away that parts of the figure was made of a different, softer plastic, but this too is excusable (these are meant to be played by kids anyway!)

Accessories:
Penguin comes with 3 accessories: his infamous top hat, umbrella and a mace. They are all well sculpted, detailed and well painted. The umbrella has a nicely painted handle resembling a penguin, and his mace also has sculpted penguin eyes (nice touch! it took a little looking for me to realize that!) His hat on the other hand takes some time to get on to his head properly. Coming back to my point of safe, soft plastic material, his umbrella, which has a sharp end isn't made out of that soft material, which I find awkward. If you would ask me, I would think that a kid would more likely stick the umbrella into his/her eye rather than sticking Penguin's nose into his/her eye. - In other words, his nose really bothers me.

Overall:
I give Penguin a fair 7 out of 10. He is a solid figure and a good addition to this cool line. I just hope that the case ratios will improve over the waves as he seems to be a 1 or 2 per case figure packed admidst 6 - 8 Batman variants (but there are a few good ones though I have to say!) The paint is good (minor bleed), and the sculpt is nice (with a few issues of articulation notibly his legs, which can't separate because they are attached directly to his hips, and shoulders that don't really give too much movement). I think the figure would have been better if it didn't have an action feature but that is just not my cup of tea, so you may like that though. The sculpt would have earned more points if it didn't have the hideous lever sticking out of his back. Nice touch on the cattail and accessory designs like the rest of this line. If you are a "The Batman" fan, you wouldn't miss this figure anyway, especially with the $7.91(CDN) price tag! But if your not a fan of the new series, you may not like this figure because it is a lot different than what the Penguin you have in your head is like (along with the other villian surprizes in this line that you may already know about)

-- Skips

Thanks to Skipperbecks for the review!

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