Monday, May 6, 2013

Stealth Strike Bow Shot & Radioactive Armor Batman


I got these in an Amazon haul about a month ago, and while I passed them up in retail quite awhile ago, for under thirteen bucks together shipped, I went ahead & picked them up. My fascination with the 5" Mattel Brave and The Bold series goes way back to March of 2011, when JBoy sent me the Bwana Beast. My obsession was more recently aroused when finding the new 5" Justice League figures, though I missed the interchangeable accessories the line was originally known for. Re-branded under the Stealth Strike banner following the animated TV show's cancellation, the line had faded away after a couple waves, which featured several Batmen, including these two bizarre incarnations.


Radioactive Batman is a must-have from this line, with a wild color scheme and cool plug-in accessories. I love the big bat symbol on his chest, and helmet with it's clear green visor. I'm a big fan of translucent action figures, and the blue looks great on the wide buck of this armored Batman.

Radioactive Batman's helmet snaps securely onto his armor, as does his back-loading "atomic extractor", the pincer end of which can be removed and plugged into the hexagonal slots throughout the figure's body. One can engage the pincers manually, but no spring loaded mechanism is present. He's big, chunky, and fun to play with. with an exciting color scheme.    


Total Destruction Batman has a larger body like Radioactive Batman, and Covert Attack Batman has a similar back-loading launcher, both non-functioning. I'm not against a static accessory, but a firing projectile in my preference. 



Bow Shot Batman is a nice compliment to Radioactive Batman, with his bright, contrasting color and translucent buck. I knew they'd photograph well together, and while I have about twenty Batmen from the line, these together were irresistible to me. 



At first I was less than enthusiastic about the plastic cape on this Bow Shot Batman, but it's silver color made  the photography fun. There are a few of these with different plastic capes, notably the Knight Battle Batman from this series, whose cape was cut from a translucent red material. In fact, my initial impression of the figure when released into retail was underwhelming in general, but at such a great price I had to get him for the Batmobile I also picked up from this series, which sports the similarly odd color scheme of yellow and silver. It's not everyone's cup of tea, but among my extensive collection of these, he'll be unique. Like the Batman the Animated line, the Brave & The Bold/Stealth Strike line, the collection is full of absurdly variant Batmen- that used to make me cringe, but now I'm somehow fascinated with it. But I'm like that about collecting, gathering several versions and differently scaled action figures of one character.

Bow Shot Batman shares a lot of parts with Green Arrow, like many of these Mattel B&TB figures do, including his crossbow projectile accessory. Mattel even gave us a quiver to plug in his back. It crumbles his plastic cape unfortunately, and has a "G" stamped on the back, the latter quibble just a reminder that Mattel sold something you already had, but I guess he needs a quiver. I like the color scheme of the figure, though its choice seem dubious, unless Mattel intended us to want him with the yellow & silver Stealth Jet Batmobile (which I did).


I enjoy the action feature accessory on this one a great deal, the arrow projectile engaged by pressing a small button atop the crossbow. The peg on the underside fits plugs into the hexagonal accessory holes throughout the body, but the crossbow can also be assembled as freestanding missile launcher. Fun!























I like both of these, but together they are most attractive for their color, translucence, and variant buck. Their parts interchangeable, Bow Shot Batman's hazmat-looking mask fits well into Radioactive Batman's atomic aesthetic, both the figures sharing grey and yellow. And Bow Shot Batman could easily double as Radioactive Batman with an accessory switch for that matter. I'm partial to the Radioactive Batman, but Bow Shot Batman has the functioning accessory- they make a great pair!

More Later- Make It FUN!

4 comments:

  1. I admit I love those translucent plastic colors. I want to put then in the kitchen window sill.

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  2. Definitley some of the more unique Batman action figures. I'm with Cal with the translucent colors.

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  3. Both of these are great! And that Bow Shot Batman all geared up reminds me of the Metal Men's foe Chemo.

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  4. This translucent blue Batman is great!

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