Lock-Up

Damn, who would have thought DC Comics invented loser cops who'd use Marvel's Punisher logo? When Arkham Asylum was in dire need of a new Head of Security, Bruce Wayne felt Lyle Bolton, a security expert at Wayne Enterprises, was the perfect man for the job. What Bruce and the doctors at Arkham did not know was that Bolton pushed the boundaries of the law and used unnecessary means to keep his prisoners in line. So malicious that the Scarecrow, the "Master of Fear" himself, escaped Arkham just to get away from the vicious security guard. After an inquiry is ordered to address Bolton's behavior, his true colors are shown. He breaks out in a violent rage and is abruptly fired. Bolton blames the bureaucrats, doctors and media for protecting the villains of Gotham City from true justice and vows to instill his own law and order upon them. He becomes Lock Up, and uses his vast knowledge of security, crime, and punishment to instill his "justice" upon those who do him wrong. Thanks, World's Finest. It seems Condiment King was a success, because McFarlane Toys has decided to do another Batman the Animated Series Build-A-Figure. And while Condiment King had at least had a Lego minifigure before, Lock-Up has never had any toys of any sort before! Love to see toy companies breaking new ground when they can. Especially since, to build the figure, you have to buy four figures that are basically re-releases. After proving Batman's Gotham City is a fantasy world (by dint of being a ragingly violent law enforcement officer who was fired for being ragingly violent instead of being protected, coddled, and possibly promoted), Lyle got himself a disguise to conceal his identity. The first time it shows up, the mask isn't animated with a mouth, but the entire rest of the episode there is one, so McToys made the choice to sculpt it on this toy. There's also a slight point on the back of the head, to make this look more like a real mask than just a black head. "Brick Hardfall, Dynamic Action Turnkey" is a huge chunk of man-meat, bigger and broader than even Bane was at this point in the show's design evolution. His costume still has "police" undertones, even it doesn't directly reference either his Arkham Asylum guard uniform or the GCPD. It's a mostly blue suit with yellow stripes up the legs, big black boots, and black sleeves leading into white gloves. There's a raised collar all the way around his neck, and he wears a giant pair of shoulder pads joined by massive chain links. It looks like slightly more intimidating SWAT gear, which is probably what it was supposed to be. To set his re-releases apart from the original DC Direct figures, Todd is giving them "cel shaded" colors - basically, painting on highlights and shadows. It works pretty badly on some figures, but isn't too obtrusive on Lock-Up singe he's so dark to begin with. The grey stripes on his boots? Sure, it makes them look like leather (though that doesn't explain his sleeves or mask). The glaucous areas on his ribs and left leg? You can barely see them unless you're looking for them. There's no shading on his gloves or shoulders, but what we get on the belt does help the shapes stand out. Despite all the pieces the four figures in the series come with, Lock-Up doesn't have any alternate hands or anything. He does at least get an accessory, a simple black nightstick. Technically his shoulder pads are removable, too, but those wouldn't really count as an accessory, would they? The articulation is no better or worse than the other BtAS figures he's meant to blend in with. Like them, he has a balljointed head, balljoint/hinge shoulders (for ease of assembly, not any extra range of motion), swivel/hinge elbows, swivel/hinge wrists, a swivel waist, balljointed hips, double-hinge knees, and swivel/hinge ankles. You can tell this is a McFarlane product because the pelvis is that "rubber underwear" style he always uses, instead of H-hips like DCD favored. The shoulder pads plug into place, but not in any permanent or secure way, so if you have the figure lift its arms very far, that piece is just going to get knocked out of place. Lock-Up was one of the Animated-original characters who made the jump to the comics - in fact, he did it even before Harley Quinn, which is quite the accomplishment! He obviously hasn't had as stellar a career as she has (his big moment was Batman briefly allowing him to remain in charge of Blackgate Prison during "No Man's Land," simply because there was no other way to incarcerate criminals at the time), but getting a toy of him will really add some unexpected character to a BtAS display. Batman (Blind as a Bat) | James Gordon | Joker (Trenchcoat) | Riddler -- 07/17/24