The Dark Knight Rises: QuickTek Venom Menace Bane

Presenting the QuickTek Venom Menace Bane from the Batman Dark Knight Rises toy series.

I have to admit that I had no intention of buying this particular toy as it's what I consider "cannon fodder" promotional items for the movie that wouldn't reflect the essence of the movie nor provide sufficient "nourishment" for collectors. In fact a part of me kept wondering if this was a re-released toy from the 2nd movie or - worse - from all the way back from the disastrous nipple suit Clooney movie "Batman and Robin".

But I was entertained by the packaging - I'm easily entertained - you could actually move the figure up and down and execute the "QuickTek" transformation. It was cool. You can even make it appear that there's no figure inside by moving the figure into the "QuickTek" chamber - which I have to admit I did to some of the figures on display. It was fun.

But I truly appreciated this packaging because it gives buyers a complete idiot's guide explanation as to what "QuickTek" is without buyers having to resort to reading the back - else it just looks like a toy with a Batman prison poised above his head. Simply grasp the "Try Me" buttons and move the figure up to his holding cell. Pull him down, and the "Venom Menace" cannons are gone. Repeat the process and the cannons reappear on Bane's shoulders.



The Batman Dark Knight Rises QuickTek Venom Menace's blister card reads "When Commissioner Gordon stumbles upon a plot to destroy the city from within, Bruce Wayne gets back into action as the Batman. Waiting for him is Bane, a lethal adversary on a crusade to tear apart Batman's legacy piece by piece." It goes on to describe QuickTek as "Scientifically engineered by Wayne Tech Indutries, Quicktek offers the most advanced arsenal with instantly transforming technology."


What's NOT to like about the Batman Dark Knight Rises QuickTek Venom Menace Bane?

Yes, what's not to like. There's a lot not to like, but I bought it anyway and you'll see why in a bit. In a nutshell though, Bane sucks. It's a horrible figure that has poor articulation, poor detailing and is reminiscent of a knock-off figure that you can buy cheap from China - though this is real.

By now you've noticed the hideously long arms which is unfortunately a necessity for this figure as will become clear later. Here's the extent of his poor articulation:

As previously mentioned, Quicktek instantly provides Bane with his Venom Menace guns and armor simply by literally slamming the "holding cell" on top of him, and pushing the button on top while pulling the "holding cell" off. 

Here's a video of Quicktek in action:

Bane doesn't have arm nor wrist joints. As such, when you pull down the spring-loaded guns, Bane cannot hold the triggers as the "Shoulder pads" of the armor bring the triggers of the guns to roughly Bane's forearm level.

But when the guns are raised - which is their natural position by the way thanks to the springs, Bane needs to reach further to hold the guns - hence the weird, long arms.

So in summary, it's a crappy, poorly detailed, poorly articulated figure whose only redeeming value is nice packaging. So why did I buy it?

I saw potential.


What's to like about the Batman Dark Knight Rises QuickTek Venom Menace Bane?


In a nutshell:

And it does look good:

Note that while Duke can't hold the Venom guns straight forward because his arms aren't long enough, he can hold them down. There is some difficulty though with the armor because of the inflexibility of the "cable" attaching the backpack armor to the Venom Guns. I'm honestly thinking of heating them to bring the Venom Menace guns a little closer, or replacing them with less rigid material.

The Dark Knight Rises QuickTek Venom Menace Bane is available on Amazon for only US$ 8.54 (Roughly PhP 367 plus shipping). It's overpriced in Toys R' Us here in Robinson's Galleria where it's tagged at PhP 999.75 (Roughly US$23.25) but actually sold for PhP 799.75 (US$ 18.60). Wait for it to go on sale if you want the modification is what I say if you want it for the Joes.