Saturn Toys 1/6 '66 Batman and Robin

[Wor-Gar]

View attachment 646696

This is a job for... magnets!

 

[JacktheRipper]

Robin's cape does not drape well either. It flares out. Bat's is a little more forgiving. I'll still enjoy these, but some missed opportunities.
I purchased these with the main hope that I would be able to pose these without the fear of snags. Hopefully, I'll find out some time next week.

 

[Gipetto0812]

Weren't the capes on the HT figures the same though? I don't know first hand, but from pics, they didn't drape well either. Hopefully Jaxon or Unreal can make some new capes

 

[Gowithasmile!]

Both capes look a little stiff and awkward. Robin's far too short. Maybe one of the customizer will offer an alternative.

Was the HT bomb lacking in detail as much as the Saturn Toys one? Would have been nice to see a fuse and spark effect in there.

Yeah it was. It's just a shiny plastic bomb

 

[JacktheRipper]

Weren't the capes on the HT figures the same though? I don't know first hand, but from pics, they didn't drape well either. Hopefully Jaxon or Unreal can make some new capes

They look exactly the same.

 

[Asta]

Haven't done much with them apart from compare them to the originals.

Out of the box Robin looks closer to Hot Toys'.

The biggest difference is the colour of the tights. Mars/Saturn went more pink than the pale HT, though the flash eliminates most of the effect. The body and sculpt paint are also less tanned than HT.

The Mars/Saturn costume may even be a little better tailored to the body than the HT.

Hot Toys' is on left:

Batman's trunks were obviously the first thing to sort out. I padded the back and front with some cotton wool to help take up the slack in the material.

Pulling them up tighter, and keeping them in place isn't so simple because the belt is so tight fitting. It took a combination of pulling and pushing with tweezers.

The suit appears to be pretty robust, and not as prone to snagging or laddering as the HT.

The cape feels twice as thick as Hot Toys', and therefore doesn't drape very well because it's more like thin card than material. With Robin the cape is almost identical to Hot Toys' silky fabric.

Hot Toys's wearing Tony Mei's suit and cape is on the left:

Most surprising of all is that the face sculpts aren't identical.

Are they recasts or actually new sculpts? They didn't simply recast the HT because the Mars/Saturn versions have longer noses.

HT on the left:

The next surprising thing is the HT faces fit the Saturn, so you can make can immediately upgrade. However, the Saturn sculpts are so well painted that the only real noticeable difference is that a bit less of the nose shows.

Placed back to back the HT and Saturn sculpts are the identical width. i.e., no shrinkage as there would normally be from recasting.

This is a HT face plate in the Saturn head:

 

[Gowithasmile!]

Man I've held commenting on these but as someone who recently bought the originals and was sceptical of doing so because these might be as good, I'm more than happy with my decision. These don't look all that great imo. And maybe some bias for sure, but when i saw the pictures without knowing they were knockoffs i knew instantly. They look off

 

[Asta]

Saturn Batman with a Hot Toys' face plate and cape, and Saturn stock Robin:

 

[Asta]

Strangely enough I prefer Saturn Robin to HT Robin, because he looks a more cohesive figure. Saturn's costume fits better, particularly the trunks.

With Batman the trunks are a lot worse since they're so baggy on a less padded figure. With padding and futzing they can be trained to be less obtrusive.

Hot Toys' Batman is a bulkier, more heroic looking figure. Saturn's is slimmer and makes me think of a Victorian circus strongman or wrestler, whose costumes were the inspiration for super heroes and villains.

I pulled his belt up a little higher after taking the photos because they accentuated the appearance of a long torso and short legs - even though the HT is the same.

 

[GhostBeard]

Great pics and info, especially about the Saturn Batman outfit which I've read horror stories about snagging. In fact there's one for sale on eBay now that mentions pulled threads on Batman's torso. For the money and how I'll be displaying these were the best option for me, other people's mileage may vary. Glad I didn't bail on this set. Looking forward to getting these this week.

 

[Asta]

Great pics and info, especially about the Saturn Batman outfit which I've read horror stories about snagging. In fact there's one for sale on eBay now that mentions pulled threads on Batman's torso. For the money and how I'll be displaying these were the best option for me, other people's mileage may vary. Glad I didn't bail on this set. Looking forward to getting these this week.

I was afraid to touch the suit too much at first, but as I was adjusting the trunks the fear evaporated to the point where I even used flat nosed tweezers to pull and push them into place.

Maybe if you had long or rough fingernails it'd cause snags, but my confidence in its robustness grew so much that I wasn't concerned about handling him.

There's certainly good value in the set, though I'd be less happy if I hadn't had the HT cape to use. Being able to use the HT face plates was a nice, and very unexpected surprise. I think the pinched look was being created by seeing too much of the nose, thereby lengthening the visible part of the face.

I haven't worked out the mechanics of the Saturn sculpt vs. the HT sculpt; why they decided to sculpt more nose, or why the HT fits so much more perfectly in spite of whatever they were thinking.

 

[sj2106]

Really appreciate all the info and pics @Asta

Based on that I prefer the Saturn Toys Robin to the Hot Toys version. The set looks good value even if it's just for Robin and some spare Batman parts.

Batman is a clear win for Hot Toys. The Saturn figure isn't a complete loss but I'm almost resigned to a body swap and custom cape as a minimum.

Hoping my set arrives sometime this week.

 

[Asta]

Really appreciate all the info and pics @Asta

Based on that I prefer the Saturn Toys Robin to the Hot Toys version. The set looks good value even if it's just for Robin and some spare Batman parts.

Batman is a clear win for Hot Toys. The Saturn figure isn't a complete loss but I'm almost resigned to a body swap and custom cape as a minimum.

Hoping my set arrives sometime this week.

It's the baggy trunks/thinner abdomen that's throwing Batman's proportions off.

Looking at bulking him up I just found how the belt opens. The pouch to the left of the buckle (as you look at him) has two pegs that plug into holes. It opens and refastens easily, though adding too much bulk is going to prevent it closing.

 

[Asta]

This is what lies beneath the surface of Saturn...

A thin black suit:

And a thick padded leotard that extends to the groin:

 

[Asta]

The padding also looks to have more padding underneath it:

 

[FlyAndFight]

Great review and comparison, Asta.

For the money, the Saturn Toys set is a viable solution. The differences are minimal, to me and the Saturn Toys set can be improved with just some tweaks.

If you've got the JazzInc batmobile, the Saturn set would be perfect for putting inside the car.

 

[Asta]

"We can rebuild him. We have the technology. We have the capability to build a less baggy trunked Batman. Better than he was before. Better, stronger, but probably not as fast."

I've used the under suit from one of the faulty Sideshow X-Wing Luke's I had to destroy, because the fully padded Hot Toys Boba Fett suit I originally had in mind would be too thick:

With the gap at the hips filled and slightly thicker thighs, the trunks aren't so loose:

Putting cotton wool into the butt of the trunks absorbed the last of the excess material:

The belt fastens, but is at its comfortable limit. Any more padding and it'd probably spring open.

 

[darth dennis]

"We can rebuild him. We have the technology. We have the capability to build a less baggy trunked Batman. Better than he was before. Better, stronger, but probably not as fast."

I've used the under suit from one of the faulty Sideshow X-Wing Luke's I had to destroy, because the fully padded Hot Toys Boba Fett suit I originally had in mind would be too thick:

View attachment 646832View attachment 646833

With the gap at the hips filled and slightly thicker thighs, the trunks aren't so loose:

View attachment 646834

Putting cotton wool into the butt of the trunks absorbed the last of the excess material:

View attachment 646836

The belt fastens, but is at its comfortable limit. Any more padding and it'd probably spring open.

I am sympathetic to the Caped Crusader's plight...

 

[Asta]

All together again...

 

[FlyAndFight]

Great job, Asta! Big difference there.