Batman: Brave & The Bold Action League
Chemo vs Batman
2 Inch Scale
By: Mattel
$9.99
From the vault of crap I bought a year and a half ago but haven't reviewed yet, comes these Batman: Brave & The Bold Action League guys! I've reviewed a few Action Leaguers, but never this set. I think I got this on Christmas clearance a year ago, but don't quote me on that. Needless to say it's been collecting dust for months now and it's time I crack her open!


I love big translucent figures, so I originally wanted the DCUC Chemo. Of course, as per the norm for DCUC, I could never track down half the figures in the wave. So I settled for this little guy, who cost a fraction of the price and has that cool Scooby Doo vibe about him. Plus that Batman reminds me of one of the old Kenner Batman color variants, which I have a soft spot for.

Packaging:
The package is your standard window box, which was pretty typical for the vehicles and larger villains of this line. It's bright, colorful and continues that 60's Batman vibe that the show itself had. I also like that the inner cardboard is the streets of Gotham, to help seem like they're battling it out in the package.


The back shows off a bunch of other figures in the series, which I think was the last of this series before the line transformed over into a generic DC line and not Brave & The Bold. Honestly I don't think these figures ever saw a true release and if they did, it was brief. I never saw any of them on the shelf. Too bad, I would have picked up a few.

Sculpt/Paint:
You have to like the design to like these figures. I know I've went round and round with collectors on these. Personally, I loved the aesthetic here. It fit the Brave & the Bold show, yet it also did it's own thing. Your mileage may vary, but I think they're four kinds of awesome.


Chemo is the star and he looks fantastic. I love translucent figures and Chemo really pops in this small scale. He's a very basic design, but is also quite faithful to his origins as well. He's top notch. As mentioned up top, something about him just screams Scooby Doo.


Batman has all the spunk and personality of his previous incarnations, but now in bright orange colors. Some folks hate multi-colored Batman, but to me it's a big part of Batman's history. When he encounters a unique villain, he pulls out one of his 900 rainbow colored suits and adapts to the situation... Or at least that's what he did when I was kid.


Up until I opened this guy today, I assumed he was a repaint of the basic Batman, but in fact I just found out that he's a rocket pack Batman. Don't respond telling me his official name, I don't care. The point is, this guy has a rocket pack on his back, to help him fight Chemo. Groovy.


Mattel deserves some credit here too, as they didn't just slap some orange paint on him (or perhaps more accurately, mold him in orange) but they actually gave some black throughout to make the costume look unique. He's also got some cool circles o his gloves, which I imagine heat up with radiation and send plasma pulses when he punches people.


Together these two guys are a TON of fun. Perfect for the desktop or long rides in the car to your Aunt's house. These sure as heck beat some Hot Wheels in my book and I can't imagine any kid or grown ass manchild not enjoying them on some level.


While the sculpting and paint is minimal for both, where it's at is quite well done. It's not something that they just glossed over, the put some time and attention into the parts, particularly Chemo. There isn't a lot of paint throughout, but the paint that's there has pretty clean lines and such.


Chemo is quite big too, perhaps the biggest figure in this line? He pretty much dwarfs Grodd and friends.


I actually think you could use him pretty seamlessly with the Imaginext bad guys.

Articulation:
The articulation is pretty standard for the line, but Chemo has a few more points than you might expect.


Chemo has cuts at the top of his head, the shoulders, his waist, both wrists and both feet. It's not a Revoltech or anything, but you can get a lot of different little smashing poses out of this dude.


Batman is the same as previous Batman figures with a cut at the neck, shoulders and waist. Less you can do with him, but he stands up well... So that's a plus!


They're limited, but the cuts actually work well with the style. As I said before, great desktop toys!

Accessories:
Nothing. Neither figure is sculpted to hold any weapons, so they don't come with any.

Value:
This set ran from $10 to about $15, with most stores coming down around the side of $12. I picked them up for $10 or less which I think is a fantastic value all things considered. Unfortunately, I sort of lost interest with this line as the switch over to regular DC came with a price hike. The regular size two packs now run about $8-$9 which is just rich for my blood. Plus I can rarely ever find the things. Imagine that, a Mattel toy that's hard to find and costs too much. At $6 I'd buy these all day long.


Score Recap:
Packaging - 8
Sculpting - 8
Paint - 6
Articulation - 6
Accessories - N/A
Value - 7
Overall - 8 out of 10

I was torn on the score here, because for what they are they're pretty wicked, but in comparison to other toys on the market, they're hardly amazing. Ultimately I think these fall enough into a catagory of their own that they can't be put up against a GI Joe or a DCUC figure, so I'm going with a pretty solid 8 on the pair.


This hasn't been on store shelves in over a year, so if you want to track one down Ebay is probably your best bet. Get them before they get you! Coming soon, more crap I should have reviewed years ago!