Saturday, June 23, 2012

Ice Blast Mr. Freeze

Sometimes my Collector-Sense tingles, compelling me to check local stores even if I was just cruising their aisles the day before. All through work today I felt the itch, so at quitting time I swung on over to the nearby Walmart to have a peek. And my intuition proved correct as they had the entire second wave of Mattel's Power Attack Batman figures!



Though I spent some time debating whether to snag Mutant Assault Batman over Blizzard Buster Batman, I didn't pause for a second at grabbing Ice Blast Mr. Freeze here. The second (or possibly third, Two Face is in the same wave) villain in the Power Attack line, Freeze doesn't represent any specific incarnation of the character, but instead pulls elements from many of his appearances.



He has a dome helmet, goggles and containment suit resembling The Animated Series Freeze, the physique of Schumacher's Ahnold Freeze and a body semi composed of actual ice which is somewhat reminiscent of how The Batman Freeze used his abilities.



Combined with elements like a frozen ribcage visible through his chest armor, quad-lenses on his goggles, and these giant ice spikes erupting from his over-sized right arm, this Freeze is a unique and intimidating version of Batman's frosty foe. I should note that Freeze's entire right arm and the upper half of his left are molded in a really, ridiculously soft plastic. It doesn't hinder the figure in any way, but seems an oddly fragile material to use.



Freeze's only accessory is a giant, translucent blue ice sword that comes packaged in two halves you need to snap together. Once assembled, it's a solid piece that Victor can wield in either hand, though you have to squeeze a bit to get it in his left. Unfortunately, due to the sword's weight and Freeze being unable to assume a wider stance, he tends to fall over if you try to get a dynamic sword swinging pose out of him.



In a nice touch, the circular hole in the sword allows it attach to Freeze's back via a bit of machinery protruding from his armor. Interestingly, the backing card photography shows the sword having a distinct "fork" with two separate blades rising from slightly above the hole for mounting it on his back instead of the single, flat blade the final version has. These kind of tweaks occur all the time with toys, packaging even cites the fact that product may not resemble the photos present, but the Power Attack line seems especially prone to this often if you closely examine the cross sells on a figure's backing card.



Freeze's dome helmet comes off revealing a face that...really amuses me. He looks mean and serious about villainy and all, but at the same time reminds me of a cross between Strong Guy from X-Men and a member of Devo. On a disappointing note, he has no head articulation. I was hoping the head and helmet were a single piece that swiveled together and was ready to accept that, but then was pleasantly surprised when the helmet popped off. Only to be crushed once more when his head refused to budge.



One of my favorite things about this figure that the majority of it is cast in translucent blue plastic which makes for some nice light piping effects, they even left enough of his back unpainted to allow light through and silhouette the ribcage. Articulation is standard of the Power Attack line, besides the aforementioned lack of neck, though the gray vents on his thighs limit the hip joint range a bit.


"What killed the dinosaurs? THE ICE AGE!"

Despite his articulation woes and weird soft arms, I would strongly suggest you grab this figure if you see him. His design is a nice amalgamation of homages to earlier Freezes with his own spin thrown in and the exaggerated proportions and see-through chest reminds me a lot of the aesthetics of the 200X Masters of the Universe toy line. Again, at roughly nine bucks a pop, the Power Attack line is a steal for what the figures are and injects a little spice into the Dark Knight's universe.


Obligatory black light shot!

5 comments:

  1. What a fun looking Freeze! The villains in this line have so far been great - I have Croc and now I probably need to track this one down too.

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    1. I've been waffling on Croc just because he doesn't seem quite as fun, but I'll probably snag him in time. Two Face looks great though, him and Blizzard Buster Bats are next on my list.

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  2. the head will budge just rock it back and forth a little which will break the glue enough to allow the peg to turn, take care.

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  3. Wow, you're absolutely right! Looks like it was stuck in the silver paint of the collar. Adds so much more to this figure!

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  4. i had been eyeing these since i first saw them at my local wal-morte. my 4 year old picked up a couple and when i, rather, he, got them home, i was hooked! i too went to the same store 2 days in a row and it paid off! i only wish i had picked up two face also!!

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