For the last three years during the holiday season, NECA Toys has surprised its fan base and toy collectors in general with new figures showing up unannounced in Toys R’ Us stores. NECA’s director of production, Randy Falk, said that they wanted to recreate that feeling you had as a kid when you would go into a toy store and find new items that you didn’t know were coming.

And they definitely pulled it off.

Two years ago, this showed up unannounced in stores.

A 7 inch version of the previously released NECA 18 inch Michael Keaton Batman from the 1989 Tim Burton film Batman.

Fans were shocked to see this. As soon as NECA announced they were making figures from DC Comics in 18 inch scale, they were inundated with the question of whether they would also make them in 7 inch size. But, unfortunately, they couldn’t because another company owns the rights to make figures at that size.

However, due to an old home video promotion held by Warner Brothers, if a copy of a Warner Brothers DC based film was sold alongside the figure, then the toy could be produced at 7 inches. So, for the last three years, that’s what NECA has done. Surprised fans with small scale versions of that years previously released 1/4 scale DC figures. Other than that, all the details of just how this is legally accomplished is kept secret.

Last year, the number of figures jumped from one to three! Collectors walked into Toys R’ Us to see figures of Adam West’s Batman from the 1966 Batman television series…

Heath Ledger’s Joker from 2008’s The Dark Knight…

and Christopher Reeve’s Superman from the 1978 film of the same name waiting for them!

The fan reaction was even bigger than the previous year. West is an icon, Ledger took audiences to places they had never been before and Reeve starred in the first huge, superhero film. I remember collectors from all over Europe and Asia posting on US based toy message boards looking for these figures, in particular Reeve.

Well, we’re now in the holiday season and just before Thanksgiving of this year, NECA surprised fans again with these…

7 inch versions of Christian Bale’s Batman from 2005’s Batman Begins and Harley Quinn as she appeared in the 2011 video game “Batman: Arkham City”. Again, like the years before, these are smaller versions of 18 inch DC figures NECA has released during the past year.

We’ll start with Batman.

Batman Begins was the start of a new trilogy of Batman films and would reintroduce audiences around the world to the character and his villains in ways they couldn’t have imagined.

The armor details on the Batsuit are great. All the lines and creases from when it was a tactical body armor suit are clear on the chest, arms and back.

The facial sculpt and logo on the chest are dead on as well.

Batman comes with two alternate hands…

a pair of Batarangs in different sizes…

a grapple gun…

and a clip to holster the grapple gun to the back of Batman’s utility belt.

The cloth cape can wrap around the arms or tucked behind the shoulders.

This figure is an awesome addition to the NECA DC line and goes well next to the Joker.

Harley Quinn is the second addition to the DC line this year and she is unique among the lineup.

She is not only the first female addition to the DC line, but the first character to be chosen from a video game, not a feature film.

Harley comes with two alternate hands…

a pair of machine guns…

and a baseball bat.

Harley is a highly detailed figure. The tooling on the leather creases, buckles, studs, lace on her bra, corset and underwear, tattoos and a real metal chain all stand out very well.

The machine guns can be wielded as either a pair or individuals.

The blast effect that came with Vasquez from the Aliens series plugs in easily to Harley’s machine gun for added action and detail.

Again, this effect does not come with Harley, but goes well with her. In fact, this blast effect has been used by NECA fans with Terminator, Rambo and Dutch from Predator figures since its release with Vasquez.

Harley even has articulation in her ponytails.

This allows for some great touches of realism and gravity to an action photo.

These ponytails and weapons allow you to create some great battles between her and Batman.

Harley also poses very well with her beloved Mr. J.

Batman Begins’ Batman and “Arkham City” Harley Quinn are exclusive to Toys R’ Us stores in the US only and available now for $19.99 each. Go grab them now to add them to the NECA DC lineup!

For all the latest NECA Toys news and information, follow them on Twitter @NECA_TOYS and you can follow me @Ode2Ash.

Thanks very much for reading!