The reemergence of Mattel’s Dark Knight Movie Masters line has been met with greater enthusiasm than some expected, myself included. The latest addition to the line is the Gotham DA Harvey Dent. It probably seems a little odd to see pre-trauma Harvey before Harvey Two-Face, but it was no doubt a smart move and one that will keep collectors interest in the line high for at least an extra month.

Packaging – 5/10

A lot of companies are going the less-wasteful route with their figures, creating small and more efficient packaging to help reduce excess garbage and costs. Not the case with this line. That haven’t been any real changes to the packaging since the first three figures were released nearly two years ago. The box for this 6″ figure is roughly 11″ tall and full of excess space. It’s an attractive enough display and at the very least the package is not very deep, but for the size of the figure there’s just too much of it there. I’ve never been a big fan of the Dark Knight logo recessed within the broken purple design – to me it looks more like cracks in the plastic and isn’t very appealing. The package would also benefit a bit from having some artwork or photography of the character on the front to help carded collectors get a little variety in their display and bring more attention to the individual characters. The positive side of the display is that the figure is right out there for you to see, fully exposed and displayed in a dynamic but not-too-ridiculous pose.

Sculpt – 7/10

I kind of figured this sculpt would be a little more unoriginal than it is, and while there are plenty of reused parts that are at least some subtle differences. First and foremost worth mentioning is the head sculpt. We get a pretty close resemblance to the actor, Aaron Eckhart – not spot on but certainly on par with the rest of the line and what you’d expect from a $15 figure. The chin could probably be a bit more square and it’s missing the signature “butt chin”, a prominent feature on Eckhart’s face, but Dent’s facial features are well-defined. The hair and hands both have a sufficient amount of detail and help give the character a little more character. The rest of the body is a retooling of the Gotham Thug figure, and if you weren’t looking closely you’d think it was *exactly* the same. The jacket is a bit different, with buttons on the opposite side. One big surprise for me was the inclusion of a “loose” tie. It’s not removable (and would probably look silly if it was) but it can be moved around slightly without much worry of detaching it from the collar. The legs are also the same as the Thug, with the unattractive, chunky, unnatural “folds” in the pants. Mattel handled the creases in The Joker’s outfit well – not sure it was so much harder to make these legs look right.

Paint – 7/10

Once again, Harv’s tie stands out as the high point in this category. (That probably makes the figure sound worse than it is, huh?) The tie is actually pretty slick, with a blue and gray stripe scheme as well as thin, well-detailed “silky” stripes outlining the blue. Good cut lines on the tie and no run-over. The hair is done in a sandy blond color, and while it’s overall a pretty solid paint scheme there is some missed area around his right temple. Thankfully it’s not overly noticeable due to the blond and his skin color being so closely colored, but it’s enough to turn off the picky collector. What I really can’t stand about this figure is the gloss on his face. I much, much prefer the duller skin tones found in the likes of the DC Universe and Masters of the Universe Classics. The gloss on Dent’s face make him look sweaty or lathered up in crazy lotion if he’s put in the right (wrong?) light. You might notice some spots on his face in my images – thankfully this was just some sort of residue that came right off and was *not* paint slop. While it’s not technically “paint”, I knocked a point off of this score due to the inaccuracy of his shirt color. If I recall correctly, Dent was only shown wearing white shirts, never gray. (Maybe blue though…I’ll have to go back and watch the movie again). Yeah, white is boring, but given the dark paint scheme on this figure I think the white would actually make it stand out a little more.

Articulation – 7/10

Dent has 23 points of articulation – ball jointed head, swivel-hinge shoulders, swivel biceps, hinged elbows, swivel wrists, hinged torso, swivel waist, swivel-hinge hips, swivel thighs, hinged knees and hinged ankles. The wrists and ankles are very limited, though, due to the shirt and pant cuffs hanging down over the respective parts. Dent is able to hold a few poses outside of the realm of standing straight up, but the lack of movement in his ankles doesn’t help him much. His jacket doesn’t restrict the range of motion in his waist but does limit the torso hinge. The head has a full range of motion and doesn’t suffer from the limited movement that some Mattel ball-jointed necks have had lately.

Accessories – 2/10

Pre-Two-Face Harvey really doesn’t need much – just his father’s lucky coin. He has it alright, but boy…it’s a big’un. The coin measures a good 1 1/4″ wide, making it nothing more than an unnecessary pack-in and not a useful accessory. The inclusion of a scaled coin or even a gun (he did hold a gun to Thomas Schiff) would have helped add a little value to this figure.

Play/Pose – 8/10

At $15 Mattel’s getting a little closer to a price point that some parents might feel comfortable spending on their kids. But let’s face it…it’s just a guy in a suit, and not something exciting enough that it would get a lot of play time by the average kid. Hell, this could be an action figure of any number of people I work with. Fans of The Dark Knight will enjoy the likeness and having another new character to add to the somewhat small but quality Movie Masters line, and at $15 you could do a lot worse in terms of both display and posability.

Closing Thoughts

So this Dark Knight line sure has been hit and miss, huh? First it’s HOT as can be, then it cools, then it’s dips down to three for the price of one at TRU. Now Mattel brings the line back, the new Joker sits in stock at $20, but the new Batman and now Harvey Dent have sold out at $15. I guess it’s a pretty good sign that $20 is a bit of a stretch for this line, and fans are *much* more willing to pay $15. (hint to Matty: lower the Gotham Thug Joker to $15 and you’ll sell out) Being sold out it might cost you a bit more to grab Harvey on the secondary market, but if you can get him in the $15 range you’re getting a pretty decent, not to mention limited, figure.

MY RATING:

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Where to buy:
Mattycollector.com – $15.00