A to Z Challenge: Bats!

Obviously Batman is the most popular character in DC Comics.  Why?  Lots of reasons:  he kicks ass but doesn't have powers, he's a loner, he has that costume, he's got tons of gadgets, he's rich, and other stuff.  So naturally they've made tons of action figures of him in all that time.  I can't show them all and I wouldn't even try.  I'm just focusing on ones I have, because I have a few.  But if you don't take my word for it, here are just the first two pages on Amazon searching for "DC Multiverse Batman" and while there are a few villains in the mix, it's still a lot of Batman--and there were several more pages like this.

The first large-scale Batman I got was back in the late 90s as part of the Legends of the Dark Knight series.  It's an old Walmart exclusive in the traditional blue-and-gray with a bulky Spawn-ish cape that makes it a little hard for him to stand.  He's really got that 90s Kelley Jones styling too with the long ears and all the muscles.

After I read Batman RIP by Grant Morrison in 2012, I really wanted a Batman of Zurr-en-Arrh figure but it didn't exist yet.  A year later they made one and a little after that I got it from eBay or Amazon or somewhere:

McFarlane is remaking the figure both with and without a mask.  The without a mask one seems pretty pointless to me, but whatever.

And then I have a couple Batfleck ones.  The first one I got was a BvS movie one in the duster on clearance at Meijer in Wixom:

And later I got a regular Batfleck DC Multiverse one from an Ollie's or Walmart:

I also have the armored Dark Knight Returns Mattel versions:

And the Superfriends version I got from Ollie's in Farmington:

Later I got the Batman 66 McFarlane version from Target.com:

I also got the Three Jokers version from Target.com because I think they had a sale where you buy 2 toys and get 1 free and there wasn't another toy I wanted that was in stock so I got that:

McFarlane made a bunch for The Batman but I didn't get any of those.  I did get this BendyFig that is about the same size but with a little less detail.  Ironically it's really, really hard to bend him:

I think when Target had another sale I got the McFarlane Rebirth Batman.  There was a Mattel one years earlier but I never got it.  I liked the purple on the inside of the cape.  The figure looks a little weird as unlike some others the legs are a lot thicker.  I joked on Facebook that he really overdid "leg day":

And maybe I have others?

Besides BatMAN, I have a lot of BatGIRL too.  Barbara Gordon was pretty much the inspiration for Emma Earl, so I've liked her for a while.  I got this two-pack from Amazon that has crippled Barbara and Batgirl from the Arkham Knight video game.  I had to get it twice because the first time Batgirl's leg was broken off (ironic, I guess) so I sent it back to Amazon. (If you're wondering, no the leg does not use the more typical ball joint, so I could not just "pop it back on;" I probably could have glued it on or something, but why should I?  I'm not the one who broke it.)  I found another one for about the same price on eBay that was intact.  It comes with a bunch of accessories for both characters :

Later I got the Batgirl of Burnside version from Amazon.  It's a DC Direct one not a DC Multiverse one.  They made one for that but it didn't look as good and was more expensive. I have a little version of the Batman 66 one that inspired it too:

And then I got the McFarlane Three Jokers version just because I think it looks pretty neat compared to the shitty other ones they made:

When they make a McFarlane version of the Batman 66 version, I will so want to get it.  McFarlane has at least three other Batgirl figures out, but I don't like them.  Two of them have the kind of head where she's wearing only the tiniest mask instead of a cowl, which is just stupid.  Then they made a Burnside one--but it's from DCeased so it's a zombie. [eye roll]

I also have BatWOMAN.  This is the comics version of Kate Kane from Rebirth a few years ago:

And I have the DC Multiverse BatWING from the New 52:

I was stoked when McFarlane came out with a Batman Beyond figure after I finally watched the show on HBO Max.  The figure's wings are a little weird as you attach them to pegs on his arms, which can make it kind of awkward when you're trying to pose him.  But he does have the neat flight stand and some flame things for his feet and the Batarang:

They also made a BatWOMAN Beyond.  For some reason the Unmasked version was a lot easier to find than a masked version.  I really hate McFarlane puts out two versions instead of just putting alternate heads in the box.  It's such a fucking lame way to make money.  Anyway, she has all the accessories of Batman Beyond, but no flight stand, which doesn't make sense:

And to help all of my Bats, I have Alfred, which I got on Mercari when he was a sort of reasonable price a year or so ago:

Whew, that's a lot of Bats in my Belfry!  They've probably made 20 more variants of Batman since I started writing this entry almost a year ago.  

As an Amazon Exclusive McFarlane repackaged 5 figures into a "Bat Family" set:

It's kind of annoying because Batman and Batgirl are just recolored versions of the "Three Jokers" ones I already have; Batgirl seems to have darker hair and the same dumb sideways-looking eyes.  And I already have that Damian Wayne Robin.  So basically I have 3/5 of it.  And as someone pointed out, why does Nightwing have a growling face?  He's not growly like Batman; he was barely growly AS Batman.  But on Amazon a reviewer mentioned you can pop the Nightwing head off and put the Jason Todd head on it and then put the Red Hood helmet on Jason Todd so they both look better.

Also as someone mentioned, why is there no Tim Drake as Robin or Red Robin?  He was Robin longer than Jason Todd but he gets no love.  And they have at least one figure of him coming out they could have repackaged.  It still wouldn't make me buy this but at least it'd be a slightly better value.

The Batman I'd really want most is a Michael Keaton one from the 1989 movie.  I'm surprised McFarlane hadn't done that before the Flash movie.  There is one coming out for that but unless you luck into finding it in person wherever it might be sold, it'll probably cost way over retail price.