Toy Review: Survival Suit Bruce Wayne

Survival Suit Bruce Wayne

I’m not a fan of Mattel’s “Movie Master” line. These are the 5″ figures Philippine collectors could see warming the back shelves of many a toy stall in Greenhills. Their sculpts are okay and they have decent articulation, but the toys themselves lack any impact.

For one, they’re only 5″. While I’m not really one to get stuck on scale, I am a guy who doesn’t want a Gimli-sized Bruce Wayne next to his DCUC Green Arrow. I’d prefer a less diminutive Bale-Batman duking it out with my Marvel Legends Daredevil. I mean, sure, he’s Batman so he’ll still kick DD’s butt, but c’mon. At this size it looks like he squeaks frustratedly instead of growling hoarsely.

It doesn’t help that Mattel gives you no other reasons to buy their product. I bought a few of the Joker’s Thugs because they are very near 6″ and I could use them as a guy in a suit, but if you were to buy it on it’s own merits, the product is just… blah. What is a deliquent criminal without a few guns and a bag of money? The figure comes with neither. The presentation? This line has about the worst packaging I’ve seen on a line. It’s like those generic brands I used to buy at wholesale stores with my mom. We got this huge tub of peanut butter, like a gallon, in a big white plastic bucket that said “1 gallon Peanut Butter” and listed the ingredients. That’s what this card-backed bubble is basically.

The reason I picked up a second figure in the line, the Survival Suit Bruce Wayne, was because I figured I could use some of the parts as custom fodder (when I eventually get around to actually starting to customize figures, that is). The webgear especially caught my eye. It’s molded as a seperate piece, and while not technically removable, it looked very good.

I say “technically” because it can be done if you’re willing to do some cutting. The belts are all attached to a rubber disc shaped piece that is sandwiched between the torso and crotch at the waist joint. You don’t see it because of the molded belt. The rubber’s soft, so it’s a simple matter to carefully slip the blade in and work it around the circumference of the figure’s waist, cutting it away from that disc. You’ll also need to pry open the leg belts and the pieces at his back which are plugged in, but it’s fairly easy (hell, I’ve got barely any experience at this and I did it). I wouldn’t recommend it though if you’re planning on keeping the Bruce figure intact because it makes him all loose.

The following photos may be the best angle to show how short this figure is, but trust me, he’s too short to play with the other DCUC heroes. Since Hasbro hasn’t been too good about keeping its figures in scale, there are a few figures like Daredevil who don’t tower over him, but he’s still the one looking up at them. I’m a slave to my imagination sometimes and I’ve always seen Batman as this big imposing figure who LOOMS.

This figure can’t LOOM.

The second reason I bought the figure was the face sculpt. Having never seen the original unmasked Batman chase figure, I’d never seen this particular sculpt before. for something at this scale, it’s damned close to Christian Bale. The expression on Bruce’s face is probably enough to give Shane Hurlbut some awful Terminator flashbacks.

Survival Suit Bruce Wayne also has some decent articulation going for him. It’s not as much as a Marvel Legends figure (no double joints here), but its acceptable. More along the lines of the DC Universe Classics line with those combination swivels at the hip instead of ball and post joints. He also has hinge elbows, knees, and ankles, and a swivel waist, thighs, arms and wrists. His neck and shoulders are ball joints.

Unfortunately, there is a problem with his wrists which isn’t an isolated case. I got mine at a stall that was selling it loose (likely a factory reject) and I got the chance to go through several examples and they all had the same problem; a locked wrist joint. I don’t know if this is from stuck paint or melted plastic or what, but it’s very annoying. Up till now, I still can’t get one of his hands moving.

Another problem is paint. None of the examples I’ve seen had really good paint applications, but that was to be expected since they were rejects, but I’ve been reading other reviews who have had similar problems. If these defects are finding their way into the ones that have been packaged and shelved, I doubt that’s a good sign.

He did come with one accessory; a ski mask made of thin rubber. I’ll admit, it’s damned fun pulling it off and putting it back on like a proper thug, but it’s like any soft rubber toy. If it’s out for anything over an hour, it’ll collect about a pound of dust that you need to clean off. If you buy the thing at retail in the package, then you’ll get a larger version of the mask, I guess meant for a display or something. It’s a gimmick that the line offers, but the apparent consensus is that these add-ins are completely useless

Is he worth it?

I paid around Php500 the factory reject one, which is about $10.00 give or take, but I hear he retails at $15.00. Even at the price I bought him at, I wouldn’t have bought him except for my need for the web gear. I spent about 10 minutes at the stall, just fiddling with him trying to decide if I wanted to shell out for him.

He’s a great looking figure in my book, but his scale, the lack of accessories, and the awful quality control means that it’s probably not one people should consider buying. If you’ve got mad customizing skills like the guys at Loose Collector he might make for some nice fodder. If not, than give hime a pass.