The Dark Knight - Direct From Japan

I was rereading my old high school journals. The entries for the summer of 1989 went mostly like this:

"I can't believe it, she used to like me and now she says she doesn't know he liked her and they seemed so happy and why did she say that to me I hate school she should call me back I wish she would just tell me I like her so much and...

"OH MY GOD BATMAN IS OUT!!!!!!!!!!"

That pretty much sums up my life. I've loved Batman since I was old enough to watch the Adam West show. It's a love that never wanes. I've been there for the camp, the Neal Adams run, the death of Robin, the Tim Burton movies, the animated series, the Superfriends, the Schumacher movies, everything. So when The Dark Knight was called the best film of the year, I was very interested. And when these outrageously expensive 12" action figures were released in Japan I was also very interested. Enough to sell some stuff to get them.

Here's the Batman Begins version. It counts in the Dark Knight line as he wore the suit for the first few scenes. This was an Asian exclusive I had shipped from Hong Kong.



And this is the Dark Knight version. Before I got them in hand I hadn't noticed how different the suits are. They're completely different costumes. I have to hand it to Christopher Nolan. Whereas marketing pushed teh directors to redesign the suit every time, he was the only one to come up with a valid reason in the story for one.



I made this Bruce Wayne from spare parts. The Christian Bale head came as an extra with the Batman figure. The body was my left over Indiana Jones and the suit came from my review copy of Mr.White. The whole thing cost me nothing.



And now the Joker. This figure manages to reach the creep level Heath Ledger achieved in the film. Which means Renee doesn't want to look at it.



Since I bought two Batmans, Hot Toys felt they could sell me two Jokers. They were right. Here's the Bank Robber version from the beginning of the film. I may be the only person who loves the line, "No no, I kill the bus driver."




Hot Toys had better reference for this figure so they resculpted Joker's likeness and added it as an extra with the Bank Robber. It's adaptable to the first figure so you can actually improve him. Perfectionism or money grubbing? I refuse to answer.

Before:


After:


I'm not even finished. Two-Face is coming in the summer. And if I manage to sell anything else, there's a Batpod and Batmobile in scale. When it comes to Batman, there's no depth of crazy I won't sink.