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Mission Masters 3 Virus Attack Mr. Freeze
Posted 02/26/01
Overall score - **
1/2 out of ****

(Originally posted at the Comic Book Galaxy)

The rumors are flying about the Batman license.  Word has it that Hasbro is giving it up after this year, and that DC Direct will finally get their chance, at least for a short period.

Therefore, Mission Masters 3 is perhaps Hasbro's last gasp.  They seem to be going all out, producing quite a few new figures - if you count repaints as new figures.  There is only one villain so far - the Virus Attack Mr. Freeze.

I picked this one up at Walmarts, for six bucks.  They should eventually show up at Target and Meijers as well, but I don't know if Toys R Us has ordered them.

Packaging - **
The Mission Masters stuff has been some of the duller card art in the Batman line in quite awhile.  Nothing particularly exciting here, but at least you get pictures of the rest of the assortment on the back.

Sculpt - ***1/2
This is beautiful work on the head sculpt.  It's an excellent rendition of the animated Freeze, and the head is extremely large for the line.  This is actually quite an advantage for the customizers out there - it screams to be transplanted to a 9" body.  It's a little large, but not bad, and would probably look great on a FC Type 2 body.

Also, the red, fleshy extensions coming down from his head into the lower compartment look terrific!

Value - **1/2
At six bucks, these figures are a decent value.  Mr. Freeze is a fairly complex figure, and comes with a couple missiles as well.

Paint - ***
Nice work on the paint ops, particularly around the goggles.  Hasbro usually does well with their paint operations though.

Articulation - **
Each of the spider legs has a ball joint.  Unfortunately, there's only one.  On top of that, the plastic used in the legs is extremely soft.  This figure will stand on it's own for about an hour before he fades.  I have no idea what Hasbro was thinking when they used such cheap material.

Accessories - *1/2
The only real accessories here are the two small missiles, and they are the el cheapo style.  These fit into two barrels, but 'fire' by just pressing them out from behind.  Weak.

However, both the helmet is removable, and the head comes out from the leg assembly.  These two touches are extremely nice.

Overall - **1/2
I suspect we aren't going to see too many more Hasbro Batman figures.  Without a movie or TV show tie-in, Hasbro probably doesn't see much point in paying a premium for the Batman/Superman license.  Maybe we'll get something exciting from another company...then again, we could be in for a long drought.


Figure from the collection of Michael Crawford.

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