An unforgettable movie deserves equally impressive merchandise. When you think of The Dark Knight, the first character that screams to be celebrated is Heath Ledger’s magnificent Joker. Can Hot Toys outshine their first Joker figure release with the new Joker Bank Robber Edition? Let’s have a look.
I’ve loved Batman comics for as long as I can remember. In 1989 it was a delight to experience that Tim Burton had succeeded in translating Batman’s dark world to the silver screen, but it was a shame that Joel Schumacher screwed it up with some pretty trashy Hollywood cash cow sequels (Schwarzenegger as Mr. Freeze, I’m still trying to erase that from my memory). Luckily this disappointment was quickly forgotten when the visionary director Christopher Nolan unleashed his view upon the world of Batman. Nolan’s Batman Begins was a delight, but then I was blown away by The Dark Knight.
Nearly every movie critic agrees that The Dark Knight’s undeniable superstar is Heath Ledger, recreating Batman’s arch-nemesis The Joker as a perfectly charismatic anarchist and leaving an unforgettable impression. To much regret the talented young actor died not long after The Dark Knight was finished, leaving behind an immortal movie legend for the world to enjoy.
Heath Ledger’s intense Joker character in The Dark Knight.
Since the mid-Nineties the internet revolution has helped a lot of interesting subcultures to flourish. The increasing popularity of designer toys has bridged a former gap between art and toys. Like computer games, toys can be roughly divided in two major categories: cute toys and realistic toys. The rise of realistic toys was stimulated by McFarlane Toys, founded in 1994 by the celebrated comic artist Todd McFarlane. Usually, modern realistic toys are so well-executed and relatively high-priced that they’re more suitable for mature collectors than for children.
One of today’s most popular toy producers is the Hong Kong based Hot Toys, mainly known for their realistic toys derived from well-known movie, game and comic characters. Hot Toys has licensed a number of characters from The Dark Knight, including The Joker. Their initial Joker release featured the figure in his most characteristic appearance, with a purple coat and the rest of the outfit he wore in The Dark Knight. The talented sculptor Yulli, a charming South Korean lady, is responsible for the detailed Joker head and the figure is a fine piece of work.
The first Joker figure by Hot Toys.
After the release of the first Joker figure Hot Toys released a second Joker variation in December 2008. The new Joker figure is inspired by the scenes from The Dark Knight featuring the Joker as a bank robber, wearing a relatively inconspicuous suit and a clown mask. If you happen to be among the few who haven’t seen the movie yet then I guess the fact that the Joker is one of the bank robbers in The Dark Knight was already spoiled for you the moment you heard about the Joker Bank Robber Edition toy figure.
Movie scenes featuring the Joker as a bank robber.
The Joker Bank Robber Edition figure is my personal favorite when it comes to comparing the two Hot Toys Joker figures. First of all the two creatives who were responsible for the first Joker head sculpt, art director JC Hong and sculptor Yulli, have created not one but two all-new head sculpts, which both bear more resemblance to Heath Ledger’s facial characteristics than the first edition’s head. On top of the sculpt the paint job is also very impressive, recreating the smeary blend between skin tones and white paint tones of the actual movie character.
The two new Hot Toys Joker head sculpts by Yulli, art directed by JC Hong (photos by Sevensheaven).
The second reason why I prefer the Joker Bank Robber Edition is that the first Joker edition has a less realistic appearance than the new one, because of the cartoon-like saturated colors used in the first edition. Although the first Joker figure is more iconic with his purple coat and green hair, that also makes him more of a comic figure in stead of a realistic human wearing face paint as a twisted scar disguise.
The Joker Bank Robber Edition features a more realistic Joker appearance (photo by Sevensheaven).
The Joker Bank Robber Edition comes in a beautiful box featuring classy Dark Knight artwork. The Joker is wearing an impressively detailed miniature remake of Heath Ledger’s bank robber outfit. Even the pattern on his shirt is accurately recreated. Furthermore the box is packed with the following accessories: the Joker’s luggage bag, his clown mask, a handgun with removable clip, an MK760 automatic rifle with removable clip, four hand grenades, three smoke grenades, a figure display featuring a Joker name plate, a small stack of dollar bills, a deck of Joker cards, the two removable Joker heads mentioned earlier, and two extra hands with different gestures.
The Joker Bank Robber Edition with the clown mask in his hand (photo by Sevensheaven).
The base of the Joker figure is an 1/6th scale mannequin that is about 11.8 inch (30 centimeters) high. The figure’s pose can be manipulated with over 32 points of articulation. The removable hands (solid gloves, no separate hands) are attached to the arm by a wrist ball with two plugs on opposite sides. During the removal of a hand the wrist ball came along with the hand, and a reasonable amount of force using a pair of pliers was necessary to remove the wrist ball plug from the hand again. No damage occurred to the plug or the hand though.
The Joker figure’s hand-to-arm attachment.
The most remarkable feature of the Joker Bank Robber Edition is its detail. Hot Toys has done an impressive job recreating as much authentic features of the actual movie character as possible in the 1/6th scale figure. Next to the striking likeness of the head, the other items such as the clown mask, the outfit, the weaponry and the bag are also very faithful to the original movie character. The bag even features fully operatable slide fasteners.
Both the Joker’s clothing and accessories are very faithful to the original movie character (photos by Sevensheaven).
By recreating the detailed characteristics of the Joker figure Hot Toys has succeeded in reincarnating the already legendary Dark Knight movie character, paying a stylish tribute to the mourned Heath Ledger. May he rest in peace.
[Review published at the ToysRevil pop culture blog]
P.S.: You can read my Dark Knight movie review over here.
Jan 18
This entry was posted on Sunday, January 18th, 2009 at 6:00 pmand is filed under Toys, Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.
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