Instead of “it’s Malibu Stacy with a new hat”…it’s Malibu Stacy with a new head.  It’s nine Malibu Stacies, with ten new heads, and it still doesn’t feel worth the cover price.

Believe me, I don’t want to railroad the point of the repeated uses of the B.A.T., I do wish the Collectors Club hadn’t done it, especially now with only one more opportunity for a convention set before losing the license, but it’s said and done, I suppose I should move on.

Plus I pretty much said everything I needed or wanted to say with the B.A.T. Squad Leader Review.  I was kind of a dick.

Like the regular B.A.T. releases we’ve received over the years, this figure is good from an aesthetic and functional perspective, with some great accessories, fantastic sculpting and very impressive articulation.  They managed to capture the essence and energy of the original Battle Android Trooper and make all the right improvements to it, offering dual replaceable limbs and maintaining the backpack storage unit (though with only room for two attachments).  Later on in the line they came up with a battle damaged head sculpt and chest plate which added some fantastic variety to the figure, and the chest plate is carried forward here, though not the head, because they’ve evolved to the second generation B.A.T. head for this release.

I might have appreciated this update a bit more if the Club had taken some steps to make it feel like more of an evolution, rather than just repainting it from the neck down and slapping a v2 head on top.  If you remember, the version 2 of the B.A.T. was pretty structurally different than its predecessor, more streamlined, a more rounded shape, and overall a pretty different look.  Calling this B.A.T. an “upgrade” when it’s basically just a new head feels kinda hollow.

Even with the limitations on the sculpt, though, they did a good job trying to mirror the v2 paint deco at least.  The black, orange, and hints of florescent  green all call back to the vintage version and work surprisingly well even on this older body.  That being said, though, it’s still exceptionally difficult to view this as a proper version 2 B.A.T.

Accessories

Like the Squad Leader, this B.A.T. includes a bunch of accessories.  All of the same attachments you’re accustomed to (as well as the newly tooled sword that came with the Inferno B.A.T.) and the busted chest plate.  He’s equipped for just about anything.

Yes the B.A.T. is a good figure.  No I can’t rationalize including nine of them in this set, or the idea that simply dropping a new head on the existing body is a suitable upgrade.  This one ranks high on my list of Convention Set disappointments, hopefully next year the Club can go out on a high note.