Review of Tuxedo Joker - Suicide Squad
Sixth Scale Action Figure

Introduction

The main characters in Suicide Squad, the most recent DC flick to hit theaters, are undeniably Harley and Deadshot. Obviously, thanks to the nature of the movie, there's a number of other key characters, including both 'heroes' and villains, but Deadshot and Harley were the center of attention, and rightly so.

And yet, we've now gotten three Hot Toys figures in our hands from the movie...and they are all of the Joker, with another to come soon. While Leto did a decent enough job, and the character was not the abomination some expected, he's certainly not more worthy of plastic immortalization than the key characters in the film. Of course we'll be getting Deadshot and Harley eventually (unless this turns into another Drax situation), but what about the rest of the Squad? Worse, they've ignored the majority of the team, while putting two Joker Henchmen up for pre-order already. *sigh*

Enough of my whining. I'm checking out this latest Joker tonight, the 'tuxedo' version.  He's available for most retailers in the $200 - $220 range, and is currently shipping.

Packaging - ****
Hot Toys has been a tad lazy when it comes to their packaging lately.  Once upon a time every line had something special, and they matched the style of package to the various licenses with creativity and innovation. We've seen a lot less of that in recent years, with a ton of standard slip covers and shoe box designs.

It's great to see them break out of that monotony with this release. The outer slip cover looks fantastic, with a classic art deco, early gangster style design. Think 'Cotton Club'. Slip it off, and underneath is a box with a set of top flaps, designed like an invitation to a wedding or high end party. These open at the center, again much like an invitation, to reveal the underlying plastic trays with the figure and accessories. It's a gorgeous design, and one that really only works for this character.

It's all very collector friendly of course, which is all the better since it's one you'll likely want to keep just for it's aesthetic quality.

Sculpting - ***1/2
We've seen this portrait before - it's the same one we got with the straight jacket (Arkham Asylum) Joker. It does look like they've shifted the eyes over to the left just slightly to give him a *slightly* different look, but that's a pretty minor change. You'll notice something weird, if you read that earlier review. I've dropped the score in this category a half star...what gives?

Regular readers know there are three aspects to my assessment of a human portrait like this. First, there's realism, and this sculpt crushes that category. The hair is very finely stranded and detailed, with a perfect skin texture on the face. The glassy eyes look wet and alive thanks to the material used, and the light scarring on the face is cut deep enough to mirror the on screen look.

Second, there's accuracy. Is this Leto as the Joker? No doubt about it. At first glance, observers could easily mistake close ups of this figure for photos of the actual actor. It's that good.

But then there's the third area - the emotive aspect. I really like the look of this open mouth, slightly crazed expression on the Arkham body. Put him in a straight jacket, lock him up, and this expression works great. But this same look just isn't working for me in the tuxedo.

In this outfit, you want him to have some swagger, some cocky attitude, with a wry grin or smirk to the eyes and mouth. I get their desire for re-use, but I think in this case they matched the wrong expression with the overall costume. Of course an all new head for this particular figure would have been my preference, but barring that, I think the grinning portrait on the purple coat version is preferable.

But that's my only nit - every other aspect of this sculpt is dead on.  This Joker stands just under 12" tall, fitting in with the other Hot Toys figures just fine, scale-wise. There's not a ton of hands, but what's here are sculpted in appropriate poses, and work great with the various accessories.

Paint - ****
Here's another flip flop from the previous Arkham Asylum Joker review. I gave the paint work a half star *less* that time, although you'd think they'd be identical.

The green hair looks fantastic, and the mottled white skin tone is extremely realistic. As I mentioned earlier, the eyes are off the to left a bit more this time, but they line up with each other properly. The silver grill looks great, and the soft wet lips would drive Harley nuts. Even the tattoos are as clean and realistic as you can get, with just the right amount of fade to the ink. By the way, I'm assuming there's no tattoos on the body itself.

All that was true with the previous figure as well.  There's still some bleed in the eyes, my one nit with the paint work on this release, and something it shares with the earlier release. There's one big improvement though - my earlier figure had a weird little square spot under the left eye, in the area of the skin that should be black. It looked like something had gotten stuck in the way when they masked the eyes and painted the area.  I'm happy to report that it didn't happen this time, and the work on the black is about as perfect as you can get, hence the extra half star.

Articulation - ***1/2
I didn't undress this guy, but the underlying body feels like the less articulated muscle version. It's not one of the huge bodies of course, but it's not a slender either. This effects the articulation, particularly in the arms. I'm not sure why they went that route, but perhaps the slightly larger chest filled out the tux better.

The ball jointed neck works well enough, although some may not like the two piece design. The collar hides the seam along the jawline well, and I'm a fan of the separate head and neck when it looks this clean.

The rotating hinge shoulders are somewhat restricted by the shirt and coat, but not any more than a real human would be.  The elbows are not double pin, however, and the single rotating hinge simply won't have quite the same range of movement.  I did get some deeper, tighter bends, but it was pretty easy to pop the forearm off the bicep too. Popping it back on is no problem - nothing is going to break - but it was a tad annoying.

The rotating hinge wrists work fine, although I do wish the ball itself were hidden a bit better, either by the gloved hands or the sleeves. You can get them covered if you futz with each pose enough, however. The hands swap easily, and while they included some extra pegs, I didn't have any fear of breakage or damage.

The tux pants are pretty tight around the hips, but you can get relatively deep leg stances, and the knees and ankles are tight enough to hold them long term. There's lots of rocker movement in the ankles too, allowing you to pose the feet flat on the ground in even deeper stances.

Accessories - ***
There's not a ton of extras, but there's certainly more here than some of the other recent Hot Toys releases (can you say Black Panther?).

There are five hands in total, the relaxed grip he comes wearing plus a set of gun grips (with the right and left slightly different), and a tighter grip right. These will work nicely with the rest of the accessories, and they swap easily yet stay on tightly.

This is a 'classy gangster' look for the Joker, and like most gangsters that think they have class, there's way too much gold and purple. He has a brightly colored AK rifle with folding stock and removable magazine, and a great looking 1911 with gold and white highlights and purple bluing.

There is also a cane, proper length and scale, with the same purple and gold color scheme.  The sculpted handle looks great, and he can use the accessory in a billion poses.

His final weapon is a small grenade, which can be held perfectly by the tight grip right hand.  Another great sculpt and paint job, with a ton of attention to the tiny details.

He has a display stand of course, but they've redesigned the base to be more appropriate to this character. They've also included a cardboard backdrop, which you can see in the Lifesizer photo above. I'm not a huge fan of these backdrops, mostly because of the cheesy way they've done the side supports.

Outfit - ***1/2
Since you already have this head sculpt (assuming you bought the earlier version), it's really the costume and accessories that are driving you to pick this one up, so they better be outstanding.

The costume is, with some amazing tailoring and detail work. The tux includes the pants, shoes, shirt, bow tie, vest, and jacket, and these multiple layers fit beautifully. Small details, like the design of the shirt collar, the metal buckle on the back of the tie 'belt', and the finely sculpted flower on his lapel, create a tremendously realistic overall visual appearance.

They've include some extra buttons too, both white and black, just in case any fall off.  All mine are present and accounted for, but it's a nice touch to help you maintain the look of the figure long term.

I have two issues, both of them very minor. One is with the tie, which is slightly uneven. I'd expect it to look dead on with a OCD character like the Joker.  The second is with the pants, and their fit over the shoe tops. They don't drape over the tops cleanly, with a tighter opening on the pant leg than on the top of the shoe. That tends to make them bunch up along the calf, and not flow quite as cleanly around the shoe. It's a minor issue though, and merely requires some futzing every time you repose him.

Fun Factor - ***1/2
With a reasonable number of useful accessories, decent articulation, and a sturdy costume, you'll have no worries and plenty of reasons to pose and re-pose this figure on your shelf.

Value - **1/2
Here's a rarity - a Hot Toys figure that's worth about what you're paying.  Too often they've been skimping on the extras lately, and charging $220 or more to do it. While this figure doesn't have a ton of extras and the head sculpt is re-used, you can find it for less than $220 at several retailers.  If you didn't buy the Arkham version, it's all new to you, making this an even better deal.

Things to Watch Out For -
Not much. Both the figure and costume are quite sturdy, and the hands swap cleanly.  The folding stock on the AK can be a little fragile, so take some care when posing him holding the gun, but that's about they only worry.

Overall - ***1/2
I'm not quite sure who I'll be posing this Joker with, since the two Harley's scheduled to hit don't really match. The one in her prison duds will be ideal to put next to the earlier Arkham Asylum Joker, and you can put the regular outfit Harley with this guy...although matching her up with the Purple Coat version is probably the better scenario. That leaves this guy a tad lonely...

Still, they did a beautiful job on the costume and accessories, which is the real reason you're buying this figure. I'm thinking he'll go better with other Jokers on my shelf than other Suicide Squad figures, and partnering him with the Mime Nicholson Joker and Bank Robber Joker sounds like the route I might go.

Score Recap (out of ****):
Packaging - ****
Sculpting - ***1/2
Paint - ****
Articulation - ***1/2
Accessories - ***
Outfit - ***1/2
Fun Factor - ***1/2
Value - **1/2
Overall - ***1/2

Where to Buy 
Online options include these site sponsors:

- Sideshow also has him in stock for #220.

- or you can search ebay for a deal.

Related Links -
I reviewed the Leto Joker in the straight jacket not too long ago. Those are the only two Suicide Squad figures from Hot Toys so far, but I also covered both the Knightmare Batman and Armored Batman from Batman V Superman.

You should also hit the Search Reviews page, in case any other applicable reviews were done after this one was published.

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