The Joker 1989

The Joker 1989

custom figure

Where does he get those wonderful toys?  Sometimes you have to cobble them together yourself.  Jack Nicholson's likeness rights must be as over the top as his performance, because only the uber-expensive doll company, Hot Toys, has been able to shell out for him.  Of course I had to buy that one!  As a kid, the closest we got was Sky Escape and Knock-out Joker...a very, very loose likeness, if any.  And the Toy Biz Joker?  A nice comic interpretation, but he's no Jack either.  Back to the Hot Toys doll...it's taken a decade or so after it's release, but someone online has finally managed to scale down the excellent head sculpt in the six and seven-inch scales! 

It took some work:  a dremel tool (to fit the head on a peg), some paint (many, many layers of model master acrylic purple), and a couple steady hands (my wife detailed the eyes and lips.)   It also required a suitable body.  Now, I've seen other customizers going all over the map here (Heath Ledger bases, various suit bodies and accessories) but I felt most of the work was already done with Mattel's 1966 Caesar Romero Joker figure (still cheap and readily available on Ebay).  The costume is similar enough and I feel it had a better Jack build to it than the other options.

Even though the pointing and closed fist hands on the Romero would work, I wanted my Jack to be able to hold some accessories.  I took some hands from a Batman Missions Joker figure, as they were already purple and had separated trigger fingers.  Now Jack is ready to do some poppin' and a shoppin'!

I'm by no means a skilled customizer.  Painting the face was a huge undertaking for me.  (I gave it a light blue wash to help some of the lines show better.)  Could it all be better?  Sure, but I am happy with the results.   I encourage all fans of Batman 89 who couldn't bite the bullet on the Hot Toys doll to jump in and give this a shot.  A dream of mine 30 years ago is now a reality.  He looks great with the NECA Michael Keaton Batman and Mattel Danny DeVito Penguin.  And with a Michael Gough Alfred on the way, its time to track down a Star Wars Black Series Lando Calrissian...

The awesome background artwork is part of the cover to Mondo's re-release of the Danny Elfman score...also highly recommended!