Mattel Batman Unlimited Vampire Batman 2013

I don't do a very good job of my loving bizarre figures. When Amazon offered a lot of action figures for dirt cheap, I happily snapped many of them up. This figure, for example, I managed to get for five dollars. When prices get down that low, I become far less picky and far more willing to take a risk. Granted, sometimes it doesn't work out, but sometimes I am thrilled with the end result.

Batman as a vampire isn't the most unique concept. It really doesn't take a lot of creativity to come up with it. That doesn't mean, however, that it can't work. In fact, the story Batman and Dracula: Red Rain is a classic example of a fun Batman story. It's over-the-top, ridiculous, and just entertaining as all get out. That Mattel took that idea and turned it into a toy is absolutely shocking. Not as shocking as their making a figure out of Batzarro, a character that has appeared about five times ever, but still shocking.

Because this is Mattel, much of this figure is reuse. The body was used for their figure, Deadman, but it works pretty well here. Sure, he was thicker in Red Rain, but by the end of the trilogy in Crimson Mist, he really did look pretty decayed and dessicated. If you just assume this is actually from later in the trilogy, the look works.

The wings are an interesting bit of engineering. The plug into ball sockets in the shoulders, all of which is hidden under the cape. It allows for a fair bit of movement, and it stays in there very well. Between the wings and the grasping hands (which I believe are unique to this figure), you can get some very menacing poses.

All of that, however, is just icing on the cake of that magnificent head sculpt. The giant bat ears, the open and well-painted mouth, the sharp teeth, and the bright red eyes all come together to make him look pretty darned terrifying. Additionally, the paint on the cowl is a dark wash that really manages to age it and make it look dirty. Finally, this is one of the rare Mattel figures that has a fully functional ball-joint under the head. When you are going for menacing looks, the value of a ball-joint just can not be overstated.

If you like non-mainstream Batmen or just odd figures, this is definitely one worth picking up. Still, I recognize that this isn't really for everyone and there are a few issues to it that keep it from being absolutely perfect. Me? I just like having him to terrorize all my other figures, but I'm weird like that.