Mars Toys 1/6 Prank Villain (Three versions of Cesar Romero's Joker)

[Asta]

I don't think the head sculpts work with this figure. The hair has to be more disheveled and the white makeup less bright. He came across as more maniacal. I think that's what scared us.
I think you are right that it's a figure to stand with a group. Not a center piece, but a "remember Joker in the prison episode? I have him. He's back there."

I was thinking the exact same thing watching the scene again earlier.

 

[Cocoboloboy]

@Asta, you did wonders for that figure. Much better looking.

I agree with JtR about the sculpt. It just doesn’t work. Had they given him a closed mouth expression with a bit more serious look it would have really elevated it.

 

[BACON!]

The effort was clearly put into the standard set. The other two feel like afterthoughts. It would have been better if the B and C sets were accessory packs rather than full figures.

good point, given what we have seen of the Riddler so far. He could easily have been 2 figures

I think it is weird that the "flagship" Joker gets 3 heads (I know the 3rd head was a preorder exclusive), but did they ever ship just 2 heads with this figure? And the other 2 Joker figures only come with one head each? A hierarchy has not been established by Mars, and that seems to me why so many people on this board are acting like an angry mob

 

[Mondragon]

It's a figure that needs to be buried in amongst others, ...

If you have them, he'll fit right in with these guys...

 

[mediame]

I wonder if the prototype photo was manipulated in Photoshop. If you look at the photo almost everything seems desaturated vs. the production photo; the hair is less vibrant green, the white makeup is almost a grey, the shirt is less vibrant blue, and the trousers are so desaturated that they appear brownish instead of the saturated red. The only thing that does not seem desaturated is the skin tone on the hand...

 

[Asta]

Subtitles aren't available but you get the picture, so to speak...

 

[Asta]

I wonder if the prototype photo was manipulated in Photoshop. If you look at the photo almost everything seems desaturated vs. the production photo; the hair is less vibrant green, the white makeup is almost a grey, the shirt is less vibrant blue, and the trousers are so desaturated that they appear brownish instead of the saturated red. The only thing that does not seem desaturated is the skin tone on the hand...View attachment 645167View attachment 645168

BigBreda's video is quite saturated. The reality is something in between that and Mars' promo photos, more like the video I just posted. The trousers are chestnut. Either way, there's no rational explanation for Mars' choice of trouser colour.

 

[Wor-Gar]

I hope the reissued Joker suit doesn't come out literally pink.

 

[Asta]

The Pagliacci is here.

First thing noticeable is the apricot colour of the silky costume, which is probably pretty accurate. However, the same colour should carry through to the ruff, which is actually white.

Next thing was that one ankle peg had dislocated in the box, which isn't an issue, of course.

Next was the big bubble in the middle of the stand sticker. There were bubbles in the Softball Joker's, but they pressed out and became invisible. Part of the one in the Pagliacci pressed out, but the remainder won't budge.

Unlike Prison Softball Joker, this one's wearing a proper fat suit, and it's pretty substantial all round. It's a vest style that extends down to the top of the knees.

The magnetic closure for the top was a good idea.

The gloves have a subtle shading that's quite effective.

Lastly, the mask isn't rubber as I expected, but a hard yet flexible plastic.

Keeping the mask on the face while putting the hat on is fiddly. I also just realised that Mars' hat is completely wrong.

They gave him something akin to a garden gnome's headwear, whereas the original looked more like shorter, rigid felt hat (with a much bigger pom pom):

I can't get the point to stay bent over the way Mars showed it in their promo photos. Maybe they used double sided tape?

Nevertheless, he looks a lot more interesting, plus creepier, than the Prison Softball version.

 

[Asta]

I had a go at trying to shape the hat by pushing the top inside itself, and holding it in place with small pieces of double sided tape. To add some shape I pushed cotton wool up into the crown. This keeps it from folding in on itself.

Nowhere near perfect, but with work on the cotton wool it might get closer to intended.

 

[Asta]

 

[warlock664]

Woof.
I’m glad I never considered getting those variants. Mars definitely put all their effort into the main offering.

 

[Asta]

I wanted to have him wearing the hat and holding the mask. But unless he's wearing the mask the shape of the hair shows too much through the hat.

I spent over an hour trying to make it work, then gave up. The hat is a steaming turd that bears no resemblance to that worn by Cesar Romero.

I think Mars brought in the team that works for Present Toys to work on the variants, because they display the same lack of concern with the source material.

And lets not forget that Mars also got the colour wrong on their hot pink 'Figure of the Year' Joker, but we gave them a pass because he looks pretty and we were starved of '66 figures.

 

[GhostBeard]

The other two were never a consideration for me knowing they'd pale on the shelf compared to the classic Joker look. I suppose the "less than" feel for these is more in line with these smaller companies, and makes the original release all the more an outlier, surprise and win that it is.

 

[Asta]

"Alas, poor Bozo! I knew him, Batman."

I think this is the only way to go with this figure.

 

[Cocoboloboy]

Pagliacci Joker definitely looks the better of the two but still not accurate for sure. At the price point though both will be a fun little project to mess with. Had they been $50+ more then it would have been a lot more frustrating.

 

[Asta]

Pagliacci Joker definitely looks the better of the two but still not accurate for sure. At the price point though both will be a fun little project to mess with. Had they been $50+ more then it would have been a lot more frustrating.

I'm glad I have the Pagliacci as I like the way I ended up having him displayed.

He's quite striking, and very different.

But it's frustrating that Mars took so little notice of the source material - completely wrong hat that's not fit for purpose; wrong ruff colour; pom poms that are too small, and wrong shoe style and colour.

With the Prison Softball it was the shirt tailoring, clumsy popper placement and wrong trouser colour.

Lack of attention to even basic details doesn't speak of any genuine love for the '66 series. We'll likely have better luck with JazzInc, though Joost said he'd be filling in the gaps that Mars leave.

 

[sj2106]

Having put so much effort into the first release I'm genuinely surprised they made such basic errors with these variants. No excuse getting the colour of the pants so wrong.

I wonder if some washes on the face might tone down the stark white of the makeup enough. Worked well for the regular but much less so when he's supposed to be in a dusty prison yard.

They should really have just offered a deluxe package with the extra outfits and another body.

 

[Wor-Gar]

I hope Mars doesn't drop the ball and get sloppy on this reissue of Joker.

 

[Wor-Gar]

It feels like they put in the bare amount of effort.

They are very uneven. I had hoped things changed there. Maybe they had grand plans to become the next HT. But its not looking that way.

We got lucky with main Joker. Now... I'm very nervous about my array of POs with Kit from Mars.