Preface
Ugh, Mattel. If you're a toy collector you've likely had at least one of their products at some point. Many of us are old enough to have played with their Masters of the Universe figures or Hot Wheels cars. Nowadays Mattel has an arguably fitting reputation as action figure-making rubes. A decade ago they killed the MotU brand at retail with their inability to grasp case packing, their subscription services regularly cause consternation and instills baby-punching rage in customers and most recently they've shown they're just as incompetent at making 4" figures as they are adept at proving just how much they hate collectors (but not your money).
Fortunately I can generally avoid Mattel product, as they rarely have a license that interests me. Unfortunately these assholes got the license to do the 1966 Batman TV series figures. Shit....
First impressions
I'm not gonna lie, I long ago stopped collecting 1:12 figures, and thus my exposure to modern Mattel figures has been mercifully limited. I've eyeballed their DC Universe figures before, and they look to be about average for mass market 6" figures. Not outstanding, but nothing on the level of their 5"-or-smaller lines, either. I figured the '66 TV line would be more of the same, and generally it looks like this is true. There are 7 figures so far, not counting the SDCC Batusi Batman figure, with a Surfs-Up Joker on deck. On today's episode of K-Tiger Reviews we're looking at Catwoman. Because, because...fuck it, on to the review!
Packaging
Catwoman comes in your standard carded bubble packaging. It's nice and colorful, with the iconic image of Batman and Robin climbing up the "side" of a building. The bubble is covered in raised sound effect that flashed across the screen during every fight. The TV logo is prominently displayed, and the back has a spiel about the character as well as a fairly nondescript character illustration. The show closing catchphrase is used, and there are illustrations of the other figures. It's actually pretty cool packaging if you're a MoC collector.
Articulation
Catwoman here is generously, if not exactly well, articulated, with a ball jointed neck, ball and hinge shoulders, bicep swivels, hinged elbows, swivel wrists, a mid-torso swivel, Mattel's weird-ass hips, a mid-thigh swivel, hinged knees and hinged ankles. Whew. Naturally the hair gets in the way of the range of motion, but everything else works okay. I think she really could have used double knees and elbows, maybe even a mid-torso ball.
Accessories
Catwoman comes with a base with a sound effect sticker and a card to slip in it. One side has Catwoman and Batman about to get down to some kinky whoopee-making. What? What the hell else does it look like they about to do?! On the reverse is a section of Bat Cave. I presume that if you get all the figures you can put their cards together and get a backdrop.
Other than that she comes with jack shit. Which is about par for the course with this line, on which I call bullshit. There were PLENTY of props in the show that could have been turned into accessories. One of the twin cat statues that held the key to Captain Manx's treasure? The cat pistols? Egghead build-a-figure? At the price point these are seeing at some retail spots (dangerously close to $20) we should have gotten something aside a base and card. Thanks for nothing, Mattel.
Paint and sculpt
I'm just gonna say it, it's not Julie Newmar. I didn't expect the likeness to be there, but they did pretty fair likenesses of Burgess Meredith and Cesar Romero so maybe I got my hopes up, something you should NEVER do when it comes to Mattel. Come to think of it, it doesn't much look like Lee Merriweather either, but kinda does have Eartha Kitt's cheeks........
She's not as shapely, and no, it doesn't have Julie's ass. Perhaps that's an unfair critcism. This is an action figure, and not a statue or maquette where that particular feature could be accurately executed. Other than that it hits most of the marks. The reasonably well. The necklace is more or less correct, as is the belt and her funky-ass eybrows. She's missing the seam up the back, but that's a small detail.
I'm sure you've noticed that her mask is absent. I'm not holding this against the figure, Catwoman spent about equal amounts of time with and without the mask. I think it would have been better had she been masked, given the nonexistent likeness, and I suspect an SDCC exclusive with a masked head will probably make an appearence, because Mattel, that's why. The flesh tone apps are clean, if a little....peach-colored, and the eyes and lahses are all applied straight and I think they're tampoed on. The body is cast in black plastic, and looks to have a dry-brushed silver coat to replicate the show costume's glittery effect. Her hands bother me a bit, as they're sculpted to either have her arms folded or with her hands on her hips, but the articulation really doesn't allow for it.
Final Analysis
I was familar with the Batman TV series but really became a fan during it's run on The Hub network. It's taken 47 years to get show-based figures, and while she's far from perfect she's good enough to convince me to grab Bats, and she's probably the best mass market 1966 Catwoman action figure we'll get.
Mattel is still the goddamn devil, though.
Ugh, Mattel. If you're a toy collector you've likely had at least one of their products at some point. Many of us are old enough to have played with their Masters of the Universe figures or Hot Wheels cars. Nowadays Mattel has an arguably fitting reputation as action figure-making rubes. A decade ago they killed the MotU brand at retail with their inability to grasp case packing, their subscription services regularly cause consternation and instills baby-punching rage in customers and most recently they've shown they're just as incompetent at making 4" figures as they are adept at proving just how much they hate collectors (but not your money).
Fortunately I can generally avoid Mattel product, as they rarely have a license that interests me. Unfortunately these assholes got the license to do the 1966 Batman TV series figures. Shit....
First impressions
I'm not gonna lie, I long ago stopped collecting 1:12 figures, and thus my exposure to modern Mattel figures has been mercifully limited. I've eyeballed their DC Universe figures before, and they look to be about average for mass market 6" figures. Not outstanding, but nothing on the level of their 5"-or-smaller lines, either. I figured the '66 TV line would be more of the same, and generally it looks like this is true. There are 7 figures so far, not counting the SDCC Batusi Batman figure, with a Surfs-Up Joker on deck. On today's episode of K-Tiger Reviews we're looking at Catwoman. Because, because...fuck it, on to the review!
Packaging
Catwoman comes in your standard carded bubble packaging. It's nice and colorful, with the iconic image of Batman and Robin climbing up the "side" of a building. The bubble is covered in raised sound effect that flashed across the screen during every fight. The TV logo is prominently displayed, and the back has a spiel about the character as well as a fairly nondescript character illustration. The show closing catchphrase is used, and there are illustrations of the other figures. It's actually pretty cool packaging if you're a MoC collector.
Articulation
Catwoman here is generously, if not exactly well, articulated, with a ball jointed neck, ball and hinge shoulders, bicep swivels, hinged elbows, swivel wrists, a mid-torso swivel, Mattel's weird-ass hips, a mid-thigh swivel, hinged knees and hinged ankles. Whew. Naturally the hair gets in the way of the range of motion, but everything else works okay. I think she really could have used double knees and elbows, maybe even a mid-torso ball.
Accessories
Catwoman comes with a base with a sound effect sticker and a card to slip in it. One side has Catwoman and Batman about to get down to some kinky whoopee-making. What? What the hell else does it look like they about to do?! On the reverse is a section of Bat Cave. I presume that if you get all the figures you can put their cards together and get a backdrop.
Other than that she comes with jack shit. Which is about par for the course with this line, on which I call bullshit. There were PLENTY of props in the show that could have been turned into accessories. One of the twin cat statues that held the key to Captain Manx's treasure? The cat pistols? Egghead build-a-figure? At the price point these are seeing at some retail spots (dangerously close to $20) we should have gotten something aside a base and card. Thanks for nothing, Mattel.
Paint and sculpt
I'm just gonna say it, it's not Julie Newmar. I didn't expect the likeness to be there, but they did pretty fair likenesses of Burgess Meredith and Cesar Romero so maybe I got my hopes up, something you should NEVER do when it comes to Mattel. Come to think of it, it doesn't much look like Lee Merriweather either, but kinda does have Eartha Kitt's cheeks........
She's not as shapely, and no, it doesn't have Julie's ass. Perhaps that's an unfair critcism. This is an action figure, and not a statue or maquette where that particular feature could be accurately executed. Other than that it hits most of the marks. The reasonably well. The necklace is more or less correct, as is the belt and her funky-ass eybrows. She's missing the seam up the back, but that's a small detail.
I'm sure you've noticed that her mask is absent. I'm not holding this against the figure, Catwoman spent about equal amounts of time with and without the mask. I think it would have been better had she been masked, given the nonexistent likeness, and I suspect an SDCC exclusive with a masked head will probably make an appearence, because Mattel, that's why. The flesh tone apps are clean, if a little....peach-colored, and the eyes and lahses are all applied straight and I think they're tampoed on. The body is cast in black plastic, and looks to have a dry-brushed silver coat to replicate the show costume's glittery effect. Her hands bother me a bit, as they're sculpted to either have her arms folded or with her hands on her hips, but the articulation really doesn't allow for it.
Final Analysis
I was familar with the Batman TV series but really became a fan during it's run on The Hub network. It's taken 47 years to get show-based figures, and while she's far from perfect she's good enough to convince me to grab Bats, and she's probably the best mass market 1966 Catwoman action figure we'll get.
Mattel is still the goddamn devil, though.
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