B is also for Batman: Brave and the Bold / Stealth Strike "Covert Attack" Batman figure

In a land that is devoid of anything to do with Mattel DC Batman toy action figures, these Batman: Brave and the Bold / Stealth Strike figures were a welcome sight indeed when they appeared in the aisles of Toys R Us. Like I mentioned in my earlier post HERE, you will not find Mattel DC action figures in Singapore. Plenty of Ben 10, Marvel Avengers, Disney Cars and Toy Story plus Power Rangers and most recently Thundercats but Brave and the Bold? Justice League? Nada, zilch, not a one, nil, uh-uh... you get me.

Coming off the successful BATMAN Total Armor series (it was named thus because the original Batman: Brave and the Bold series was canned when the animated TV series of the same name ended its run), this was an all-new segment that was released in the US last year but only arrived in Singapore stores just recently.

While the Mattel Stealth Strike "Gear Up" BATMAN (see pictures in my post HERE) wears a slightly modified version of the blue and gray suit worn during the Silver Age comics (1960s–70s) which was also what Batman wore in the animated Batman: Brave and the Bold TV series, this Covert Attack Batman looks more like the Dark Knight version where Batman worked alone (no Robin, the Boy Wonder and no dynamic duo) and everything was grimmer and darker, which suits me just fine.

Mattel Year 2011 DC Batman "The Brave and The Bold" / Stealth Strike Series COVERT ATTACK BATMAN 5-Inch Tall Action Figure comes with Removable Mask and Detachable Missile Launcher with Missile (X1254) for some snap-on action.

In the four-issue comic book mini-series published in 1996 by DC Comics called "Kingdom Come", set some twenty years into the future of the then-current DC Universe, an aged Batman requires an exoskeleton to move and uses robots and a battle suit to continue his war on crime. This particular snap-on gear / armor does have the look of the robots which Bruce Wayne / Batman created to watch over the city of Gotham in "Kingdom Come". Think IRON batMAN ;p

This is the basic Batman: Brave and the Bold / Stealth Strike "Covert Attack" Batman 5-Inch Tall Action Figure out of the packaging, without his Removable Mask and Detachable Missile Launcher with Missile.

As mentioned before, the only thing I'm not comfortable with are hexagonal holes on his shoulders, elbows and lower legs. It makes the figures look more like robots than humans especially since the attachments can be fixed onto the body. Great for play value as a toy but not as authentic as an action figure / superhero.

I do like the fact that Mattel went with the fabric cloth cape rather than the plastic ones :) this has a more authentic feel to it when the cape is more flowing as opposed to plastic which can be rather stiff.

As you can see from the pictures, the Batman: Brave and the Bold / Stealth Strike "Covert Attack" Batman 5-Inch Tall Action Figure is not a solid black figure but more translucent, something you could associate better with Fantastic Four's Invisible Girl rather than Batman. I suppose Mattel took the name STEALTH rather literally ;p

Still a rather unique BATMAN figure. I usually don't go for the variants but this particular Batman strikes me more as a Dark Knight version as opposed to the earlier posted Gear-Up Batman which took on the blue and gray look of the Silver Age Batman - pictures HERE

A close-up view of the MATTEL DC Batman: Brave and the Bold / Stealth Strike "Covert Attack" Batman 5-inch figure. Another thing I like about this design is the bulkiness of the figure. The new 3 3/4 inch tall action figures are rather tiny and scrawny by comparison. It's like they are hardly there at all. This figure is much more noticeable on the display shelf.

Here's the Batman "The Brave and The Bold" / Stealth Strike Series COVERT ATTACK BATMAN with Removable Mask. It's a mask over his existing mask / Bat cowl. I prefer to treat it more as a helmet rather than a mask. The helmet makes this Batman figure look more like IRON batMAN

With the missile launcher and missile attached, it's even more believable as a BAT robot in the same vein as Marvel's Iron Man or War Machine. Another Bat Bot we have seen was the one that Bruce Wayne built to defeat Bane in "The Batman" TV animated series - posted HERE

These close-up shots of the Mattel Batman: Brave and the Bold / Stealth Strike "Covert Attack" Batman figure with Removable Mask (helmet) and Detachable Missile Launcher with Missile really shows how Batman the man has been transformed into a Bat Bot, built to enforce justice and deter crime in Gotham City.

Finally, here's another look at the translucent nature of the Stealth Strike "Covert Attack" Batman 5-inch figure. His fingers almost appears invisible when held up against the light. I guess STEALTH was the keyword here.