Toy
name: B.A.T. v4 Assortment: Valor vs. Venom
Wave 3 Price: MSRP $7.99 Availability: May/June 2004
From
reading posts online over the past few months, I am very firmly convinced that
I am the only person on the planet that doesn't mind the last B.A.T's purple
shorts. Besides the figure's height, I actually thought the mold for the last
B.A.T. was fantastic and quite possibly the best mold for the character ever
made. It retained a nice robotic look...had a completely nasty head sculpt (and
no, I didn't mind the antennas either!) and for the first time ever had TWO
removable hands that could be swapped for weapons. His legs had a great streamlined
android look, and even though he lacked a swivel arm, it was one of my favorite
figures from the last wave, and really made an impact.
How does this
new one compare? Well, I've seen a lot of people praising it as heads and shoulders
better than the last one simply because he doesn't have purple shorts. I, however,
cannot join that praise.
Figure Mold
The figure mold
is, quite simply, terrific. Pretty much all of the praise I can heap on this
streamlined, but strong looking mold, I heaped on it in my last
review of this figure. Yeah, unlike the last B.A.T. mold, this figure is
short and squat, but for this mold I think it works.
The mold itself
looks like a quick moving attack droid, which is what these are in my Joeverse,
and I see no problems with them. I like the exposed metal componants on the
torso and the legs and think they integrate very well with the cloth uniform.
All in all, everything nice I said about the last B.A.T. obviously applies here
as well.
Paint Applications/Color Choices
So what changed?
Well, the colors, of course. Is it a change for the better, though, that is
the real question...
The answer?
Not in the least.
I cannot express
how utterly boring this figure is. It is quite amazing what some simply color
swaps and changes will do. They take a great mold that was once striking and
menacing in black, purple and silver, and turn the whole thing rust brown. Bleh.
I'm not sure if it was Hasbro's intention to make a new sculpt "Inferno
B.A.T.", but there is nothing to this mold that makes me think "inferno".
"Rustoleum" maybe, but not "inferno".
Basically every
part of this figure is a different shade of reddish/brown, from the uniform
to the metallic "flesh" of the robot. While the rust drybrushing over
the metal does look nice in it's execution, it just makes everything blend together
and nothing stands out as cool or interesting.
Everything that
was neat about the mold holds true, but in this bland, monochromatic color scheme,
you can't even look at the mold without seeing brown...and brown, my friends,
is boring.
Accessories
Like the last
version, this B.A.T. comes with an assortment of arm-swappage to help build
up his armory. Also like the last version, he doesn't come with a single way
to carry any of them. :/
Hasbro thought
to actually include a backpack with this B.A.T., but unfortunately it's merely
Torch's fuel-tank backpack and offers no way to carry any of these attachments.
It is this backpack, though, that leads me to think that perhaps these are meant
to be a new "Inferno B.A.T., where they fight their way into enemy hands,
and then ignite.
Even though
the premise is cool, the figure is still brown... :(
Final Comments
I know, I know...I'm
a freak of nature. I'm a G.I. Joe fan that actually LIKES bright, vibrant colors
and would prefer figures not be bland, dull, and monochromatic. It's quite amazing
what these color choices do to an otherwise terrific figure, but they definitely
have an impact, and as such, I think this version is a step back from the original.
I'll take my
purple jogging shorts and go home, thanks very much.
From
reading posts online over the past few months, I am very firmly convinced that
I am the only person on the planet that doesn't mind the last B.A.T's purple
shorts. Besides the figure's height, I actually thought the mold for the last
B.A.T. was fantastic and quite possibly the best mold for the character ever
made. It retained a nice robotic look...had a completely nasty head sculpt (and
no, I didn't mind the antennas either!) and for the first time ever had TWO
removable hands that could be swapped for weapons. His legs had a great streamlined
android look, and even though he lacked a swivel arm, it was one of my favorite
figures from the last wave, and really made an impact.
