Brave & The Bold Happy Meal Premiums

I have many of the Batman: The Brave and The Bold line, styled after the animated show that aired on Cartoon Network from 2008 -2011. It had been awhile since I posted on my collection of these, but I had started picking up loose figures recently, including some of these McDonald's Happy Meal premiums. There were smaller figures without articulation offered, and larger figures with action features released in another, separate wave. I've posted on two other Brave and The Bold fast-food premiums in the past, Blue Beetle and Plastic Man- both of which were super fun!

 

I loved how the show stylized Green Arrow in his Silver-Age outfit, with red boots and gloves- in April I posted on the 9" Green Arrow that Hasbro produced in 1999 wearing that outfit, circle back and check him out:

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Brave & The Bold Batman Figures

 Batman: The Brave and The Bold was a line styled after the animated show that aired on Cartoon Network from 2008 -2011. I was late to the party when I started collecting them in 2013, but could easily find the continued line on retail pegs ten years ago. It had been awhile since I posted on my collection of these, but I had started picking up loose figures recently, eventually finding this Attack Blade Batman.

I love the deco of this Batman, including his vac-metal chest- the attack blade accessory is mildly cumbersome, but I love the ported limbs concept, interchangeable with the other figures accessories. While I have several figures from this line still on card, it had been a decade since I opened one of these...

I'd been buying loose variants of Batman from this line, including the blue/light gray below, holding an unrelated sword accessory that I also picked up on eBay just for fun. I'm not sure how this variant was sold, but the darker variant nest to him was sold as Aqua Jet Batman with a nautical backpack accessory that fires a missile.

At first glance, the Aqua-Jet Batman accessory is clunky and useless, but the ports on the limbs of these figures opens a lot of modular possibilities. I still feel this was the genius of the Brave and The Bold toy line...

All these blue/gray Batman variants reminded me of my chunky Mattel DC Super Friends Batman, below/center. Flanking this lineup are my Stealth Strike Gear-Up Batman and Battle Axe Batman ...

The Chainsaw Attack Batman below/right was new to my collection- he included a more clunky "deluxe" accessory at retail, but I picked up a Battle-Saw accessory for this loose sample on eBay. He pairs well with the Super Saber Batman I also found loose on eBay...

My Smashing Axe Batman also had a shoulder pauldron ....

I have a Super Saber Batman still on card, as well as a Medieval Batman- a repaint of the former with updated "Snap Attack" branding. The Brave & the Bold line morphed throughout it's run, also labeled "Total Armor" and "Stealth Strike" before Mattel removed the B&TB branding entirely, abandoning the accessory ports entirely and releasing "Justice League" figures in the same scale/styling in spring of 2013.

All of these were great additions to my Batman: The Brave and The Bold collection- it's fun to dig back in the collection and see what I've kept over the years, and this was one of those lines I really loved! While Batman: The Animated Series was roundly lauded by fans and critics, Batman: The Brave and The Bold may have been my favorite animated Batman show- it dug deep into the DC character roster and was super fun! Recommended! 

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Hot Wheels 75th Anniversary Batmobiles

I was surprised upon finding a Hot Wheels Batman 75th Anniversary dump bin at the local Wal-Mart after work on Friday for $0.84 each! I picked two of the eight available that were favorite portrayals of the Dark Knight Detective, the '89 Batman film and Batman: The Brave and the Bold animated series Batmobiles. Head over to the Super Fun Hot Wheels blog to see more ...!

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Stealth Jet Batmobile

I got this Stealth Jet Batmobile on clearance with an April Amazon haul of several Batman Stealth Strike toys. The Stealth Strike series morphed out of the Batman: The Brave & The Bold line after the animated feature upon which it was based had been cancelled in 2011.  It was a great show featuring team-ups of Batman & other DC heroes taking on the villains, the merchandising for which was highly successful for Mattel.

Unusual in color for the Batmobile, the body is cast in dark silver, highlighted in gold. The "stealth jet" accessories are molded in translucent yellow, plugging into the car's body via the hexagonal accessory plugs throughout, the play feature this line of 5" action figures and vehicles are known for. There was a similar "Battle Armor" Batmobile released in the B&TB Total Armor line prior to the Stealth Jet, in blue with black highlights- I had my eye on it for a long time, but never got around to picking one up.

The missile launcher that attaches to the car's hood fires a single, three-pronged projectile, engaged by pressing the gold button on top. The missiles beneath the vehicles wings can be "dropped" with a flick of the finger...

The cockpit holds a single figure, and has a steering wheel that can be gripped by the the figures in this line, unlike the Blast Lane Batmobile I reviewed back in March. I think it's important that Batman be able to "drive" his car...

When the vehicle's canopy is closed, you can clearly see the figure inside through the translucent yellow windshield-  I love that about this Batmobile...

The Stealth Jet Batmobile makes a great car for my Bow Shot Batman, whose translucent yellow body and silver highlights match this car's deco perfectly. I was fortunate to get them both for under twenty bucks, and truth be told would not have paid full retail for them as I already have a B&TB Batmobile I love and several Batmen from this line. But they sure do look cool together, and at that price I couldn't resist!

Bow Shot Batman's crossbow accessory plugs into the car's hood perfectly, customizing the vehicle specifically for this figure...

Radioactive Armor Batman looks great next to the Stealth Jet Batmobile with his grey and yellow highlights and colorful translucent parts...

This is exactly the same body/chassis as my Brave & The Bold Batmobile, with the addition of the hexagonal accessory plugs and a new paint scheme. It's an unconventional color scheme for the Batmobile, and while I'm really into the black and red, I like the variant quite a bit.

I have over twenty Batmen from the Brave & The Bold toy line, a few of which go really well with the Stealth Jet Batmobile. My armored Total Destruction Batman has a great Gatling cannon that fits right on the nose of this vehicle, the missiles for which happen to be yellow...

...and my Stealth Wing Batman has the perfect yellow and metallic grey to match the vehicle's deco.

So yes, this is a fun toy, made even more fun by it's comparability with my other B&TB figures and accessories. As I've said before, while some found the hexagonal accessory plugs unattractive, I enjoyed the added play value in this recently discontinued toy line. It was a great idea that had a pretty good run, giving us many great action figures and vehicles of which I'm a big fan.

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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!

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