Review – Legends of the Dark Knight Assault Gauntlet Batman
I blame the DC Comics Action Figure Archive* for this review. You see, earlier this year I wrote a post — “Ten Awesome Kenner Batman Action Figures of the Nineties” — that ended up with me on eBay looking through auctions. Well, after several months I’ve finally ripped open the 1996 Assault Gauntlet Batman action figure. Get ready to go with me back to the mid-1990s . . . we just won’t think about how that was almost two decades ago.
In the 1990s, Kenner produced both the Legends of Batman and Legends of the Dark Knight action figure lines (Amazon.com search*) that drew inspiration from the comics . . . and from the insane minds of the Kenner designers. These two lines catch some grumbling from fans for the unusual designs, but as time has gone by I’ve found myself more attracted to the toys today than I ever was. The designs may be odd at times, but the toys look far neater to me today than they did a decade or so ago.
Articulation
We’ll just go ahead and get this out of the way so that no one is confused. The Assault Gauntlet Batman uses the standard Kenner five points of articulation . . . and nothing more. Swivels at the shoulders, hips, and neck limit your poseability options, but the articulation doesn’t prevent kids from enjoying the figure and doesn’t keep me from loving the sculpt. If you’re a fan of highly-articulated action figures then this toy — and the entire Legends of Batman and Legends of the Dark Knight action figure lines (Amazon.com search*) are not for you.
Sculpt
The Assault Gauntles Batman has some sort of strange techno-organic costume design going on that looks like a blend of a superhero and Giger Aliens. Don’t believe me? Just take a look at the back of the cape and check out the “Neural Pumped Power” which the toy’s back describes as:
. . . Neural Suit technology that acts as an integral part of his being, tapping into his thoughts and impulses and automatically reacting to danger without hesitation.
The sculpt is perfect for a nineties-era Batman badass, with mechanical details in the chest, legs, and arms of the suit. It’s actually a fairly simple and overall smooth sculpt with hyper-exaggerated muscles and all of the nineties goodness we need. The only thing that could have made this a bit more insane would have been some neon colors. But I guess this Batman is more from the “dark” era of the nineties than it is the Transformers Generation Two era. Wait, I’m talking about paint now? Sorry.
Missiles!
Take a look at the above photos and on the left you can see the missile loaded while on the right is the arm with the missile launched. A button under each arm fires the missiles and the springs are strong and powerful. The arms always in those “I’m shooting missiles” look are a little weird, but as long as the missiles are loaded in place I have no complaints at all; those blades look pretty nasty.
Paint
Now we can talk paint, not that the Assault Gauntlet Batman has all that much going on in the way of paint apps. Black plastic with a red spray fading to black, flesh for the face, and yellow and red details here and there pretty much cover it. The paint is a little rough and ragged here and there. but the color scheme looks great and while paint apps are (usually) better on toys today what is on this one works fairly well. Not perfect, but cool enough to make me smile.
Closing Thoughts
If I had one complaint with the Assault Gauntlet Batman it would be that it is just neat enough to make me want to find more of the Legends of Batman and Legends of the Dark Knight series action figures (Amazon.com search*) . . . but not awesome enough for me to start paying some of the prices I’ve seen for a few of the figures.
A fun sculpt, simple articulation, and cool colors all fit together to bring us a Batman that feels like it could only have been produced in the 1990s. Kenner’s designers of the nineties did some amazing work, and I think we can all look at this series and really appreciate it now that almost two decades have passed since the toys were on shelves.
Two decades? Let’s not think about that.
Very cool review, Philip. I’ve been trying to casually complete Legends of Batman since June and it’s been quite fun. I’ve picked up a few of these guys as well (Bane, Scarecrow, ad Joker) and was surprised by how much easier the villains from both lines are to find versus the Batman figures. It seems that back when the villains were shortpacked and bought by every collector, they just never sold and have left a surplus in the market while Batman figures probably went to kids and Batman fans who weren’t intending on reselling. Legends of Batman figures are definitely less expensive than Legends of the Dark Knight most of the time, however.
I’ve been watching your reviews and have to admit that they’re part of what has been driving me to search out these toys.
reminds me a lot of the Azreal Batman after Bane broke Bruce’s back, though red instead of blue.
Yeah, a lot of these figures fit right in with that nineties armored Batman vibe. It’s part of the fun to look back at that era through these figures.