I wanted to hear you guys' opinions/comparisons of the old and new Batman villain minifigs. Here are mine: (mind you, these are all opinions!)

I will say whether they are better in their redesigns, worse, or about the same quality.

Bane: The first Bane was well designed, but it looked like he had a large snout, and in all of the pictures of him I have seen, the print on the mouth area looks badly done. Only thing I have going for him is the reasonably sized belt. The new one has a better face, color scheme, and back printing. The belt is too large. New= about same quality (sorry, not much commentary on TDKR Bane, but it's a good representation)

Catwoman: One of the 3 on my "most improved" list, the new Catwoman is much better. The old one's torso printing looked awkward (though not as much as Black Widow ) and the cowl did not match well with the head. The new one is much better, and you can turn around the head and put it on a black-dressed minifig and you have a cool Selina Kyle! The pictures of her make the new cowl look weird, but it is very nice in real life. New= Better!

Harley Quinn: Both minifigures retain the same costume and hat, but the new Harley does look more realistic. The old one had ridiculous blue eyes which made her look overly cartoony. In an interesting reversal, the mask design has been made less angular, and the collar more so.

New= About same

Mr. Freeze: This is the only Batman villain where I prefer the old minifigure.

The old one had a more favorable appearance to me, depicting the emotionless Freeze with classic goggles. His torso didn't need printing, because the 'fig looked really good already. The new one is in no way bad, in fact, it's a faithful representation of Mr. Freeze from Batman: Arkham City. The only problem is that I don't like that is based off of Arkham City! I wish they had done a redesign of the old appearance. I don't like the source material they went with for the new one. Not worse, but certainly not better! New= Not better

Poison Ivy: One of the other "Most Improved" minifigures. The old one had Dumbledore's hair in dark red, rare but not creative. Her face is simple, depicting a sly grin in about the same quality as other '06 minifigures. Her torso is well done with a plant cover on her chest. One annoying thing was THAT ONE LEAF. The one to the side of her costume, taunting us all! Her legs are simple enough. Sand green with a bright green hip joint. Not very interesting. The new Ivy is SO much better! Her hair is one of 4 I know in Brick Red (the others being the first hairpiece ever, Dyna-Mite, and the Circus Clown). It has a few stray leaves printed on it, making it the 3rd time the hairpiece has been printed (Hula Dancer, Narcissa Malfoy). Her grin is a little too cheeky for me, but it works. She also has an angry face. Her body is printed with a lime green bodysuit and vines! New= So much better!

The Joker: Surprisingly little to say here! His newer torso is far better detailed, but besides that, both styles are accurate to Joker!

New= About Same

The Penguin: The older one had a more definitive fat belly and slightly more menacing face, but the new one is great, too! Neither face has a crooked nose, though it would take some printing ingenuity to manage that on a small head! I do like that the new Penguin is wearing light lilac; it seems just like the ridiculous "rich" color he would wear! New= About Same

The Riddler: I like the new one better, but it is not on my "Most Improved" list. The old one's hair didn't seem very accurate, and his face just looked weird. Pained/Constipated, not insane. The old one is good because it has a "wimpy" torso. What's up with the new Riddler?!? He's not supposed to be muscular! What I would like to see is a third version wearing a green suit (not Spandex), a green bowler hat, and a new mold for his cane!

New= Better for the most part

The Scarecrow: The final on my "Most Improved" for a number of reasons! The old one was flawed in that its head was glow-in-the-dark. In '06, they hadn't mastered concealing the GitD aspect, so Scarecrow's face, when not glowing, looked like snot. NOT the building style! His face also strikes me as a little TOO dark and creepy for LEGO. The new one has superb detailing on front and back, and a new brown wizard hat. There is the one macabre element on both Scarecrows: The rope around their necks securing the mask..... New= Better!

Two-Face: Both share the same hairpiece, and the old one has a frown on both sides. He wears an split black-and-white suit, closer dictating his schizophrenia. The new one's face uses the newer color of light lilac and has no pupil on the scarred eye. The "Harvey Dent" side is now smirking. For a more comic-styled iteration, the new Two-Face's suit is orange and purple, and brings more color to the theme. Because it is comic-y and colorful, I actually don't mind the color scheme, like many people do. New= Almost/Slightly better

I'd like to hear your replies!

Edited April 20, 201410 yr by 8BrickMario

I've gotten some reports saying that this thread doesn't need to exist. I'm going to leave it for now. If it sparks a nice discussion about the Batman villains, great! If not, it'll die out naturally.

Okay! I hope people reply, though...

I don't have any of the original minifigs but even though the new Mr. Freeze's face has grown on me,I like the goggles version better.

Hi BrickMario,

It would have been nice if you included the pictures of the old vs new figs in order to support the debate.

I agree somewhat on freeze. I think his body is a vast improvement, as is the gun, but he needs goggles for certain and the old head doesn't really look right on the new body

I havent seen the old Poison Ivy in person. On pictures, I never noticed the 'one leaf,' but now I can't stop seeing it when I look at the pics. Argh.

I agree with most of what you said. I like the new Freeze except for the head. Everyone else gets double sided heads. Why did LEGO miss this opportunity? I don't like the helmet on the old one. I think the Atlantis helmet works very well.

Much prefer the clasdic feel of the new Two-Face.

Speaking of classic looks, I wish they had made Catwoman purple or even green. :)

I think Mr. Freeze's new gun is a mess,I just gave him a black "megaphone" like the basic black gun he had in BTAS/TNBA animated series.

Really? You think the new Penguin is good? It looks a bit like a baby.

Well, he's a pretty messed-up baby! But seriously, he doesn't look threatening, but I like the eccentric look of him!

I agree with most of what you said. I like the new Freeze except for the head. Everyone else gets double sided heads. Why did LEGO miss this opportunity? I don't like the helmet on the old one. I think the Atlantis helmet works very well.

Well, they'll do anything not to give him a dome-shaped helmet...

Since I was in my DA during the initial Batman run, I missed out on all of those. However, after having purchased all of the new versions (except for Bane and Ivy) I would say I much prefer the newest incarnations of each of the characters. The detail and coloring are vastly improved I think.

Catwoman - The torso printing to show her curves helps a lot instead of having her belt go across the entire mold. Plus the new cowl fits her face better.

Poison Ivy - The only thing the previous had going for it was the fact that she had a "nude" top on with some leaves. They should have done that with Wonder Woman personally. But the new hair and head look better. Although I like the old head too. The new torso is miles ahead of the old though.

Harley - I don't know what to put here. Overall better printing for sure.

Joker - The new hairpiece and face printing helped tons. The body print is more whimsical in nature with the larger flower too.

Mr. Freeze - I think I may be one of the few that prefers the new head to the old. I don't care about goggles for him at all. I think the new helmet works a lot better. It seems to incorporate a cooling system much more readily than the previous.

Two-Face - I like the new color scheme. It adds some whimsy to the series, plus I heard it was more comic accurate?? I don't know about all of that, but the new face looks much better. Having no pupil in the affected side makes more sense to me personally. And I really like that grin on the good side. I wish they made that all the way across for a Harvey Dent figure. I'd prefer a new hair mold though.

Riddler - I'm like many others, why is he so muscular? But it's just like Magneto being ripped also. Not every superhero and villain is covered in muscles. It actually takes away some of the character portrayal when they give everyone a six-pack. But I like the new face print and bowler hat. I'm glad they made that mold.

Bane - I don't have the newest version, other than the Nolan one. The Nolan one is pretty spot on for the movies. As far as comparing the other two, I like the older chest. It looks more menacing, more muscular, which for him makes sense. But I prefer the new head. Something about the mouthpiece...

Penguin - I prefer the older face and the older torso does look more rotund, but I like the printing/color better in the new version. I think the new face does look too young. I actually picture that face being used for the Mad Hatter other than the monocle. But I still like that I can get an updated version of him.

Scarecrow - I don't mind GITD value, but I don't play with my figures, so it is lost on me. My daughter loves it though. So I'm glad the new version doesn't have the GITD version. I think the new printing looks scarier, so that helps bring it home. I think I will put that head on one of my business suits to make Jonathon Crane-style.

Two-Face - I like the new color scheme. It adds some whimsy to the series, plus I heard it was more comic accurate??

Yes, the orange and purple colors are from comic appearances:

Another example being:

Bruce Wayne's hair+ Superman's "cocky" face+ suit= a good approximation of Harvey Dent.

Hope that helped!

Edited March 5, 201311 yr by 8BrickMario

I think Mr. Freeze's new gun is a mess,I just gave him a black "megaphone" like the basic black gun he had in BTAS/TNBA animated series.

Well I don't like the lightsaber piece, that looks messy, but I really like the cryo-canister on the side, that's pretty cool.

Riddler - I'm like many others, why is he so muscular? But it's just like Magneto being ripped also. Not every superhero and villain is covered in muscles. It actually takes away some of the character portrayal when they give everyone a six-pack. But I like the new face print and bowler hat. I'm glad they made that mold.

While I agree regarding Riddler, Magneto in the comics is actually super-buff, weird as it is. Seriously, just google image search and the first few comics pics will be of a pectacular Magneto (it's all to do with the time someone turned him into a baby and then he later got re-aged to the prime of his life with basically just grey hair as a holdover or something... comics are weird :P). While I do think Riddler should have had a suit, the most heinous crime is the grey bowler. Maybe that's accurate to the early comics, but I think it looks bad on the minifig, it really should be green =/

I wouldn't call the grey bowler a "heinous crime", but I would have liked it to be green. I like the Super Heroes Riddler preliminary body and hat better!

I havent seen the old Poison Ivy in person. On pictures, I never noticed the 'one leaf,' but now I can't stop seeing it when I look at the pics. Argh.

It was all part of my plan....

I didn't notice it either, until Berrybrick from Brickipedia pointed it out! Can't....unsee....!

Edited March 6, 201311 yr by 8BrickMario

I don't understand the comments about the old Catwoman's cowl not working correctly. I have that figure, and the cowl is perfect with the printing. Since I'm not a huge fan of the 'shapely body' printing that LEGO has been using for the last few years, I actually prefer the old Catwoman.

I wouldn't call the grey bowler a "heinous crime", but I would have liked it to be green. I like the Super Heroes Riddler preliminary body and hat better!

I would. :P I was speaking hyperbolically though.

I don't understand the comments about the old Catwoman's cowl not working correctly. I have that figure, and the cowl is perfect with the printing. Since I'm not a huge fan of the 'shapely body' printing that LEGO has been using for the last few years, I actually prefer the old Catwoman.

What I don't get is the amount of people who use that cowl with the un-goggled face. It looks odd to me with the large eye holes and so little eye to fill 'em :P I mean I ain't judgin', it just looks a little awkward to me.

I don't understand the comments about the old Catwoman's cowl not working correctly. I have that figure, and the cowl is perfect with the printing. Since I'm not a huge fan of the 'shapely body' printing that LEGO has been using for the last few years, I actually prefer the old Catwoman.

Well, Cloney, maybe yours is better! I don't actually have the old Catwoman, so I got the theory from this:

And while the "feminine curves" printing is annoying, I think it has gotten better (excepting the aforementioned Black Widow ), so at least it looks OK. My mind naturally ignores the curves, anyway.

Well, Cloney, maybe yours is better! I don't actually have the old Catwoman, so I got the theory from this:

That picture is misleading: the figure has the exact same reversible head deal as the new one, with lovely silvery printing to match up with the cowl. Here's a better picture:

The eye-holes are farther apart, so perhaps the new one is better in that respect, but still the old one is a very nice figure (and I prefer the expression on the old one's face).

.... (and I prefer the expression on the old one's face).

Do you mean on both sides or just one? But the "gritted teeth" expression on the new, goggled side is odd without the cowl on... (and I don't mean the goggles!)

Poison Ivy - The only thing the previous had going for it was the fact that she had a "nude" top on with some leaves. They should have done that with Wonder Woman personally. But the new hair and head look better. Although I like the old head too. The new torso is miles ahead of the old though.

Now I realize what's odd about Wonder Woman... she's overdressed!

Just a question: Would you like me to diverge from the villains and compare the other minifigs of the Batman 2 theme? (Killer Croc, Alfred, and Harleen Quinzel won't be discussed, as they only have one variation.) There aren't many, but maybe I could go on to the corresponding sets, too. Shall I diverge, or let the thread die? (This is my first thread, so I want to know if it should continue or not.)

Okay, I give up! This thread was probably destined to be cut off. Not too bad for a first try!