DC Direct, formerly DC Collectibles, and formerly before that DC Direct, have been producing 6 Inch Batman Animated universe figures since 2014. They’ve run through the eras including Batman The Animated Series (BTAS) and The New Adventures of Batman (TNBA). They also snuck in some figures from the Superman and Justice League cartoons, since they used the same animation DNA. They are firing things back up and producing new figures under the title Batman The Adventures Continue (BTAC). This is an extension of the Batman Animated universe in storyline and toy form, featuring new characters and looks that never appeared in the original series. There is an ongoing digital comic that is also getting compiled into book form featuring the story.
DC Direct doesn’t do traditional waves per say, but today we are looking at “Round 2” of figures. This includes new repaints of BTAS Joker and Robin, along with newcomers Deathstroke and Super Armor Batman. They are due to drop soon, with more coming later this year and next. Read on to check out some quick thoughts and our in-hand pics courtesy of DC Direct!
Batman The Adventures Continue Joker, Robin, Super Armor Batman and Deathstroke
Overall Thoughts
So I’m back in the saddle with these guys. I did the Animated figures when they first dropped and went with it for a while, but I did fade out near the end so I am not complete. I dig the Animated universe, but it’s not my first choice for DC representations so I’m a little less completionist there.  These new Adventures Continue figures are sharp though. Joker and Robin are repaints, allowing folks to jump back in with besties. Joker is very clean, rich colors and sharp paint, this time getting a yellow tint in the eyes and teeth. Robin is about the same, little richer colors. Both however feature paint blocking to mimic animation cells. You barely notice it on quick glance but there are darker hues painted on under arms and inner legs, around some other areas that give off that cell shaded look. So that’s a good way to differentiate from previous releases. Of note – none of these figures have the stands with them that many early releases did, and I’m ok with that as I never used them.
The two all new figures are Deathstroke and Super Armor Batman. Deathstroke pretty much nails what you’d imagine an Animated version of him would be. He comes packed with a knife, gun and sword, an alternate unmasked head, and multiple hands. Paint is well done and applied cleanly throughout. He can stand on his own even with the heavy upper body. Slight ankle rock, torso cut and double jointed knees are present. Watch those knife/sword handles – they will snap with some pressure.
The star of the wave however is Super Armor Batman. A big chunky figure, it pulls from the Dark Knight / Batman Vs. Superman armor. He’s got 2 sets of hands, fist and gun style, plus an additional one for an energy blast from the palm. Additional parts include a kryptonite Batarang, gun, energy effect and alternate unmasked head.  He’s got articulation and swivels at the shoulder, upper arm, elbow, wrists with joints, waist swivel, hips, knees and ankles. Due to his bulky nature, most of these points are limited in range but it doesn’t take away from the figure overall. It does what it’s supposed to do and feels great in hand.
Overall was happy with them all, and I really dig that they are continuing things in toy and book form. There is a lot of potential here and it can go on for a very long time. As of now, known figures include:
- Azrael (dropped in June)
- Red Hood (dropped in June)
- Thomas Wayne Batman
- The Talon
- The Batman Who Laughs
- Vampire Batman
And we are getting repaints of the following, all with the cell shading:
- BTAS Batman with new legs (dropped in June)
- Harley Quinn (dropped in June)
- TNBA Batman
- Tim Drake Robin
- Batgirl
- Catwoman
- Christmas With The Joker
I look forward to it all!
Check out our shots for Wave/Round 2 below.
BTAC Super Armor Batman 24
BTAC Super Armor Batman 17
BTAC Deathstroke 10
BTAC Joker 09
BTAC Robin 09
x Batman The Adventures Continue 02
x Batman The Adventures Continue 03
x Batman The Adventures Continue 06
x Batman The Adventures Continue 09
x Batman The Adventures Continue 11
x Batman The Adventures Continue 16
x Batman The Adventures Continue 17
x Batman The Adventures Continue 18
DC Direct Batman The Adventures Continue Toys In-Hand Gallery
Really hate those hips
I'm really excited for Super Armor Batman.
Red Hood was a disappointment due to single jointed knees. The absence of the ab crunch on the BTAS re-release isn't too bad considering the lower have being a significant improvement, but Joker, Robin, Catwoman, and TNBA Batman having the old legs is atrocious. That could be said of all the larger figures, too, that have the potential for dynamic posing, but are held back by either a lack of dynamic stand or the horrendous hips and knees.
Azrael has been the best I've been able to get a hold of from the new line, but the other recent standouts are Gray Ghost, Hardac, and Two-Face. I don't have BTAS Scarecrow, but it looks to be pretty good for a slim character.
Yeah I'm all turned around. These are review copies, but missed that wave 1 dropped in some places. Most places I checked have an August release for them online.
Also, that BTAS Batman, some have the ab crunch shown, others don't.
Also, that BTAS Batman, some have the ab crunch shown, others don't.
The New Batman Adventures Batman hasn't been released yet. He's coming out along with BTAS Catwoman. The BTAS Batman was released in wave 1.
I love the look of this line. I think they’re better than the McFarlane stuff. It’s also the right size 6 inch instead of 7 inch so it will scale better with most peoples collections.
Deathstroke's design looks like it's missing paint apps.
I hate the paint apps. This new iteration will get no money from me.
Looks like they aren't applying that to the first in line figures, so the new ones will fit in with the old figures like normal.
I think it looks great except right at the crotch, and that's more due to the engineering making it look like a striped speedo.
I ordered these figures when they first were available for pre-order. However, One of the figures has just up and disappeared off the list. I had pre-ordered Thomas Wayne along with the others, but for some reason several months back, he just up and disappeared. Quite a few people commented saying they didn’t even know this was a figure that was being made. Did the figure get canceled? Because this happened way before the shut down at DC. I pre-ordered the figures from BBTS, and the other ones are still there for pre-order. However the Thomas Wayne figure is not. Does anyone have an idea what happened?
So, DC Direct / Collectibles always shared out images and prototypes of things VERY early compared to other manufacturers, sometimes more than a year in advance.
That pic, and it's debut, was at Toy Fair 2020. Even then, it said "Date TBD". Some retailers however put up listings whenever there is a new item shown even if it's not officially offered by the company to retailers.
On top of all that, in between Toy Fair and now, DC Comics split from Diamond Comic Distributors which was the primary way to access DC Direct product.
I don't have a definitive answer, but I'm guessing some retailers jumped the gun on offering the new product announced at Toy Fair with no dates, and then multiple things happened after that, maybe a wink/nod somewhere, and it lead them to remove the later figures.
Again, that's speculation.
Here are the original reveal stories:
https://news.toyark.com/2020/02/23/t...figures-382568
https://news.toyark.com/2020/02/20/d...reveals-379247
Original plans were tentatively:
October 2020
Vampire Batman
Catwoman
Batman Who Laughs,
Batman V2
Spring 2021 or TBD
Thomas Wayne Batman
Robin
Batgirl
Talon
I'd love to collect these new figs but DC they seem impossible to get here in the UK!
The Armored Batman is the coolest
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