Mattel 12in. Batman Missions 1st Appearance & Batwing

The last two of the 12" Batman/DC figures I snagged on the secondary market recently were these Mattel Batman Missions 80th Anniversary figures. Full disclosure, the figures Mattel made, then later Spin Master, are really 11.5". I label them as 1:6 scale here on the blog, but only to clump my larger action figures into one group for ease of perusal. I remember admiring these in 2019 but passing because you can't buy everything you like. I'm a longtime fan of "big dumb action figures" though and think these are top shelf examples.
 

Below, Mattel 12" 1st Appearance Batman with Hasbro's 9" Masterpiece Edition Batman. I'm pretty sure this Hasbro Batman was produced in 2000 and came with a book. Hasbro produced several DC figures in this scale with soft goods outfits in the years around this era, while ToyBiz gave Marvel characters a similar treatment with their Famous Covers line, of which I own several. The 12" Mattel Batman doesn't have a wire cape like the Hasbro Batman but was cleverly cut and stitched to drape over the shoulders. Mattel's inclusion of a batarang seems deluxe as their 12" figures more often included no accessories.

Below, 1st Appearance Batman with an earlier Mattel Batman Unlimited figure, which had not yet adopted the knee joints Mattel would include on the 12" Batman Missions figures. 

It's hard for me to tell if there are subtly different tones of black/gray or merely surface texture variation on this Batwing figure, but he reads all black from afar. While that's a little unfortunate, it doesn't negate the fantastic futuristic sculpt of this figure. Great value for a $10-$12 "boy's toy" category.

Like Mattel's 6" Batwing, the 12" has removeable wings, only split into two separately pegged sections. They look very similar! I've held onto this 6" DC Multiverse Batwing for the last four years for his uniqueness among my 6" Mattel Batman figure collection. I loved Mattel's DCUC line when I started collecting figures as an adult, and have held onto many of them I bought, even circling back to pick some up years later.

Below, Batwing with Mattel Justice League Stealth Batman, and 12" Spin Master Bat-Tech Batman and The Batman figures. While Spin Master is making nice 12" figures of this class, I think Mattel was making some cool Batman figures.

There is a real comic book quality to the aesthetic of these Mattel Batman figures, the 1st Appearance Batman most notably, for which the head sculpt takes a lot of cues from the Justice League Action animated series (2016-2018). I didn't really see any of that show, but Mattel did produce 12" action figures of the characters in that style. Spin Master now has the licensing for this class of DC action figure, but Mattel did produce a few of note.

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4in. DC Spinmaster Figures

 Though I sold most all my 3.75 - 4" figures just a few short years ago, I'd taken to picking up these 4" Spin Master DC figures while out and about this past December. Though I don't typically pick up figures of this class, meant for younger kids, I do like them and feel they will sell easily enough in an eBay lot down the road.  These remind me of Mattel's Infinite Heroes line from the late 2000s, which lasted about three years or so, and I wonder how far Spin Master will take this line, going into its third year in 2022. The pegs have been While they have no wrist, ankle, or waist articulation, the hinge-swivel joints in the shoulders, elbows, hips, and knees in most the figures make them serviceable enough for posing.

Spin Master included "mystery accessories" with these figures, located in three small lockers withing the left side of the packaging. While a lot of them are somewhat clunky, with no paint apps, the play value of these figures is increased by their inclusion, allowing kids to collect and swap them among their other action figures. Both the standard and gold Superman came with armor, a Kryptonite rock, and laser eyes accessories...

Below, 4" gold Spin Master Superman with 2" gold Mighty Minis Superman...

Cyborg:

Shazam! ...complete with Billy Batson figure accessory   ...!

Green Lantern:

Wonder Woman:

Flash and Reverse Flash:

Gorilla Grodd:

Aquaman and King Shark...

I was particularly taken with this Tech-Firefly...

Deathstroke actually came with a couple nice swards in a realistic color,

 pictured below with the 3.75" Funko ReAction Series Deathstroke...

Picked up several Batman figures from this line...

One of the first of these 4" Spin Master figures I picked up was this outstanding 

Batwing figure, pictured below with the Imaginext Batwing I posted about recently...

Was mad for these two Bat Tech Series Batman figures, one is translucent blue plastic:

This black and gun metal/gray Batman, decked out in another figure's accessories, is the more conventional. He reminded me of my Mattel EXP Series Ultimate Defender Batman, pictured with below for comparison...

Man-Bat came with a pair of claws, as did a couple other Batman figures...

I also managed to find four different variations on Robin, a couple hooded, and a couple molded in translucent plastic- one an almost completely red translucent mold. I liked some of the accessories, particularly the gun metal finished

Like the Robins I found, this Nightwing has the Bat Tech lines on his outfit and has a translucent black buck. Spin Master went all-in across its DC toy lines with the Bat Tech branding. For whatever reason, Spinmaster gave Nightwing his signature escrima sticks molded into giant gauntlets, mine in sparkle-translucent blue nonetheless ridiculous. 

Like Nightwing, Batwoman has the Bat Tech lines

 on her outfit, and has a translucent black buck:

Catwoman and Harley Quinn were in their standard issue looks, both great little figures...

And last but not least, the Clown Prince of Crime himself. This may be the third or fourth Joker of the series, this one with utility belt and dynamite strapped to his thigh. I like the metallic paint on this version, which came with a fish and chattering teeth, accessories appropriate to the character, even if molded in translucent/sparkly plastic. The left pantleg hiked up over the boot on this mold is a small detail I enjoy on this... glad I found this variant.

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