Batman Legacy Catman & Mr. Freeze

Catman is the third figure in wave 2 of the Batman Legacy action figures by Mattel. After picking him up with Batman & Batgirl, I felt like Mr. Freeze from the first wave would fit in somehow with the colorful comic book characters of the second wave.

Everyone was pretty excited about Catman! While I knew nothing of this character, he is new to the DC Universe line, and possibly to the world of action figures period. An enemy of Batman, Thomas Blake is an millionaire jungle cat trapper turned antihero burglar after growing bored with big game. First appearing in 1963, Catman was mainly a Silver Age comic book villain, but made a couple appearances in the early 90's, and again after the turn of the century as a member of The Secret Six, along with Deadshot, Scandal Savage, Rag Doll, & Cheshire- a group formed in defiance of Lex Luthor's Secret Society of Super Villains.

Catman does not disappoint- he's a tight action figure with some nice detailing, including some relatively clean gold paint at the tops of his gloves & boots, as well as around the soles of his boots. The head, eyes & cowl are clean, and he enjoys sculpted stubble on his chin. Catman has a clean tampographed chest insignia and nice shading throught his limbs and torso. I'm a big fan of his utility belt styling and shoulder harness attached to his generously sculpted cape. One grievance: like some DC Universe figures, he doesn't hold his accessories very securely. The hand held claws are unique however, and don't fall out of his hands. If you pick up only one from wave two, make it Catman!

When I first saw Mr. Freeze from wave one of the Batman Legacy line online, I actually kinda liked it's crazy color combination, and seeing him in the package was even better. Still Victor Fries was last on my list. On the way home from picked up wave two it occurred to me that he would fit in with their wildly colored costumes, so I picked him up on a whim at the Wal-Mart across the street.

I had not noticed the frost on his suit & weapon until seeing SirDragonBane's post on him over at Chase Variant. Very cool! While SirDragonBane felt as I did about the wacky Super Powers coloring of this figure being a good fit with the unusual roster of Batman villains, I also agree Freeze looks very plastic due to his lack of paint. Still, I like him! What can I say?  :D

I enjoy the size of this guy, how sturdy he is on his huge boots, and his great articulation, the joints disguised well by his textured suit. His head turns inside his domed helmet by turning the waist, which I found really trick! His pack snaps onto his back with a  hexagonal peg, with his oversized gun making him look even bigger. The original DC Superheroes version of him probably had a more tasteful color scheme, but he's still the same great figure.

Cold-hearted mastermind Victor Fries started life as an outcase, tormented by his brutal father, and hungry for companionship.  Ultimately hired by Gothcorp as a cryogenecist, Fries fell in love and tried to use science to save his beloved from a terminal illness.  When Gothcorp ended the funding for his project, thereby writing his love's death certificate, Fries went mad and took revenge as Mr. Freeze, encased in super frigid armor and wielding a Freeze-Gun.  Mr. Freeze made his comic book debut in Batman #121, and went on to become the caped crusader's coolest enemy ever. 

Like Batman & Batgirl, the figures come Batman bases, which hold little interest for me- the peg isn't long enough for a good, solid connection. Annoying! They are silver (Silver Age character renderings), and look better in my photo than in real life.  They also came with 6 3/4 x 10 1/4" mini posters, which were rolled up in the side of the package- now this I liked. I think I will pick up a couple frames I can switch these Legacy posters around in. The Catman poster is particularly striking! 

More Later- Keep It FUN!