"All adds up to a sinister riddle... Riddle-R. Riddler!" - Chief O'Hara, Batman (1966 movie)
Frank Gorshin used to be a huge deal. It's amazing that to modern folks, he's pretty much forgotten were it not for his Batman role as The Riddler and to a lesser extent, Star Trek's malevolent half-white, half-black Commander Bele. Back in the 1960s, he was known for being an impressionist on The Tonight Show and The Ed Sullivan Show, in addition to an extensive filmography including Terry Gilliam's 12 Monkeys. His credits built until his death in 2005. Like a lot of funny people, he's a real talent. (Fun trivia: John "Gomez Addams" Astin played The Riddler on season 2 of the TV show.)
Measuring about 6 1/3-inches tall, The Riddler is pretty plain - he has closed fists, no accessories, and is really about as plain as they get. I could see this being a great buck for customizers to use as a basis for their future projects due to the not-insane muscular proportions showcasing what may be a believable human body. The figure is molded in green plastic with a flesh plastic face, complete with purple gloves, belt, and mask. It's quite good.
With 21 points of articulation, this is a good figure. It's an amazing recreation of a crappy costume from a TV show that's nearly 50 years old, which seems strange - with extra green shadows, it almost feels as if more work went into this figure than Gorshin's original outfit on the show. The sculpt is basically just a bodysuit which could be adapted to dang near anything, with green slippers, purple gloves, and not a lot else. It bunches up a little around the crotch, and there are question marks tastefully dispersed on his chest, back, the sides of his pants, wrists, and on his inner shins. And yet, it's not remotely overpowering.
With a good head sculpt and no problems to speak of - other than a small chip on the question mark on my sample - it's great. Having recently seen the 1966 movie (but not the TV show in quite some time) it meets the memory test. It lacks the sneer and piercing, lively gaze of the prototype as shown on Amazon but the colors are even more vibrant and that has to count for something. I like it! I'm glad they made it, I'm pleased I bought it, but double-jointed elbows would have been nice to give the figure a little something extra in light of the total lack of accessories, save for a display stand and disposable (but neat) oversized 3x5 trading card.
--Adam Pawlus
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