Abnormal's TNBA Batman (Patreon)

Abnormal made a Bruce Timm Batman?! Yes please!

Technically it was released before Superman, but got delayed for what…? Abnormal  forgot to include some batarangs in the initial clamshells shipped to resellers and then later tried to spin it as though it was actually a second add on expansion pack?

…and they wanted to charge folks even more?!

Well… more on that drama later! For now, let’s talk about the stuff I actually have in hand!

I love this fig and I hate this fig! Mostly because it opens a can of worms for collecting customs based on The New Batman Adventures art style during the show’s soft “relaunch”. So now I’ll have to collect even MORE figs! I want Tim Drake and Mr Freeze and Scarecrow asap!

First World Problems 🤣

But despite the idea of collecting New Adventures Bat-Figs, this is a well made fig (even if it did arrive dusty and covered in fingerprints)! Abnormal captured the likeness of this streamlined suit pretty well as well! And yet I find myself a bit... underwhelmed.

For one thing, it’s an Abnormal fig… do the custom parts fit?

*drumroll please* 🥁

Yeah they fit okay! Nothing is too snug or difficult to work with (thank god!) Other than all the dust and particles on this fig, the molding work is relatively clean inside and out!

The cape is really neat! Very well sculpted and proportioned to a minifig! The pressed pleating on the back is really slick, right down to the cape tails! Although it would have been nice if they were a little sharper. As it is now, you can't really see that shaping without the proper lighting...

*editors note, this GIF keeps getting compressed by Patreon, but you get the idea (it's wasn't made this choppy, honest!)

I really enjoy the over-the-shoulder look as well, but it really hinders the poseability of the fig unfortunately. Would have been cool to have had another cape made in more of an action shot or something of that nature. Kinda like how LifeBrick did their recent Snyder-Supes cape...

But instead, this is what we're working with...

I mean at the very least, it would've been nice if we were able to put the arms down at his sides (instead of this little T-Rex pose Abnormal opted for...)

Abnormal could have designed the gauntlets to be a little smaller. Abnormal could've even designed a space for the large gauntlets to inset further back into the cape at the very least, but nope. If one of those changes were made, I think it could have been perfect. Still, it’s not the worst… but it could be better.

The cowl may be the weakest part of the fig for me though...

The eyes feel too small for one thing. The mouth of the cowl is super wide. And I really wish the ears were longer. The cowl here just isn’t super screen accurate compared to the art style of the show. Like it’s really rreeeaaaallly close, but not quite right...

Genuinely I think it's the fact that minifig's do not have chin's, and this design is alllll chin!

After the cowl, my next leat favorite thing is the belt... Don't get me worng, the custom belt is nice! On one side… 😑

A one sided belt is a real bummer for color blocking, especially if you wanted to swap out the cape to get those action poses we were craving earlier...

Part of me wonders why it wasn’t just printed directly onto the fig rather than it being yet another custom element... 🤔

Unlike Abnormal's recent Animated Superman that had a printed belt going all the way around the torso (which looks all the better for it if you ask me) this custom one just feels a little bulky, while also skipping one of the core concepts of what makes a belt a belt.

The color is also interesting… while that yellowy white is neat, it’s not very screen accurate either. I would have preferred something more flat golden bronze sort of shade. But yet again like most of this fig, it's close to perfect... but just not quite right.

It’s around this point in the review where I had some other thoughts written down about the “expansion pack” Abnormal put together. For context (I kinda talked about it earlier), Abnormal had some production issues with certain pieces of the expansion pack and something to do with Batarangs and additional colors and stuff that aren’t even in this photo because of Abnormal's fumble.

The kicker here is that, from what I gathered from other community members, Abnormal essentially goofed up and didn’t make enough of these expansion packs (despite the preorder quantities)

Now I couldn’t get any comment from Abnormal directly. When I contacted the reseller I purchased the fig + the expansion pack from, the response was something along the lines of “we’re waiting on Abnormal to send them”

I never did get a clear answer as to why I didn’t receive my copy of the expansion pack, but I paid the extra $40 for it, and never got it. As did a hand full of other folks as well. Now sure, this hobby is all made by humans, and human error can happen. But I can’t help but feel a little left in the dark about this one.

Most of the time I can get a little more info from folks, but I genuinely think my reseller just made a mistake given the tornado of issues that followed this fig.

It’s a bummer, but life moves on.

So instead, the final bit of this fig to talk about is the grapnel gun that can’t be held very high because of the cape...

It’s a nice piece, but compared to BatBrick’s exact same tool, this one isn’t nearly as detailed or accurate either. I mean technically it's not even the right gadget design! It should've been the newer design anyway; solid black with two sharp "ears" pointing forward (like the one included with this recent MacFarlaneToys figure!) 🤷🏻‍♂️

So... at the end of this particular review, I paid $120 ($80 for the fig + a $40 loss). That price, coupled with some minor gripes, my opinion is unfortunately jaded.

I hear folks still liked this fig, but me… I’m on the fence...