On November 16, 1967, Batman and the Joker faced off to decide the big kahuna. They surfed against each other in the season 3 episode “Surf’s Up! Joker’s Under!” Funko recently commemorated this historic battle with Surf’s Up Batman and Joker. As a Batman obsessive, I preordered both.
Adam West’s Batman lived in a different sort of Gotham and he was a different sort of Batman. He fought the bad guys and espoused the virtues of a balanced diet. When I was little, I watched the reruns between episodes of Gilligan’s Island and the Price is Right. The Batman ‘66 comic book captures the spirit and history of the original series while introducing new characters like Harley Quinn and incorporating ideas like 3-D printers.
My newest vinyl figures arrived from Entertainment Earth. They were nicely packaged and their boxes were immaculate. Not that the condition of the boxes matter to me. The didn’t stay in for long. I spent my childhood as an in-the-box collector, when I grew up I learned I like unboxing. One reason I like the Funko vinyl figures is because they display so well out of their boxes.
Pop Vinyls out of the box
On Batman and Joker, the details are beautiful. The Joker features the signature mustache of Cesar Romero’s Clown Prince of Crime (Who is the clown king anyway?). Romero wished to keep his mustache while working on the show so the makeup artists covered it as well as they could but it was always visible. The Batman features details unique to Adam West’s Batman like the ears on the sides of the head and the appropriate batsuit symbol.
Batman and the Joker hold their surfboards. The surfboards are securely glued to their open hands and add to the stability of the figures. The heads turn nicely but the Joker head can’t turn all the way because it hits the board. The paint is clean and the transfers are crisp.
My new guys are a welcome addition to my Funko Batfamily. They’re a nice addition to any batcollection.
Matt Norris