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Meat and Potatoes; 5.0
Perks; 5..0
Homer Factor; 5.0
This version of the Dark Knight is approximately 3” tall and is based upon the latest costume/body-armor look from the Nolan/Goyer film ‘Batman Begins’. The sculpting of the suit is made to look like sections and plates of body armor with the bat-shield engraved into the chest plate. The figure sports 30 points of articulation for every fighting pose you could want.
Batman comes with 12 interchangeable hands, a MASSIVE, REMOVABLE cape with a wire-frame so it can be posed as well, a tiny batarang, two grenades, a folded batarang, and cellphone. The items accept the batarang can be attached to the utility belt!
Well, Takara came VERY close with their surprising Micro Man version of Batman. (link) Not huge by any means, but it came with a host of extras and was so articulated even Marvel Legend fans had to look in awe. So what next? What can you do to top this? Well, if you have a license that generates this much money, YOU MADE ANOTHER VERSION. What better way then with the ‘Batman Begins’ film? Oy! Another re-paint, some dorky accessories... whatever. So did Takara cave in and create just a crappy piece of plastic? Oh ye of little faith. Like the film ‘Batman Begins’, everything is the same, but everything is DIFFERENT.
The meant and potatoes on this hunk o’ plastic are sweet, as always, but there are MANY differences between this piece and the other Takara piece. First and most important is the sculpting. Rather then simply slap on panel lines to the old mold, this is an entirely new sculpt that is a beautiful recreation of the ‘Batman Begins’ suit. The funky feet, the lines along the ribs, and especially the ‘scallops’ on the forearms (Ya know, those funky finger/claw things on his forearms) are all recreated very well. In the end this isn’t just a rehash of the old piece this is entirely new. However, like the other Microman figure, this has a LOT of articulation. Bruce Lee would be envious of the number of fighting positions this thing could take. Ok, ok, so this thing is only 3” tall... come on, it’s called MICROMAN for a reason!
The perks are also awesome. Batman comes with many of the accessories seen in the movie; cellphone, mini bombs, batarang. And they fit on the belt! Ok, ok, they don’t ALL fit on the belt, but there are two TINY holes on the utility belt designed to hold the VERY tiny pegs on the cellphone, folded batarang, and the two bombs. Granted, not as well packed as Combat Belt Batman (link) from the ‘Batman – TAS’ line, but still a massive improvement over the usual.
And the cape! That’s always been a problem with Batman figures. The cape isn’t just an accessory, it’s part of the mystique. Sometimes it drapes around him. Sometimes it flies out and flows like giant wings. Other times it’s just this little hunk o’ cloth that he wraps around himself when it’s cold. For this piece, Takara made the cape HUGE so you can recreate those amazing Kelly Jones cape positions. Ok, so you don’t WANT a cape the size of Nebraska? Fine. There’s a wire-frame built into the perimeter of the cap so you can MOLD it into any form you want, as well as FOLD THE CAPE so it’s SMALLER! Sweet!
Homer factor? Hey, it’s a Batman figure! What more do you need to ask?
So what’s the last word on this? This piece is pretty close to being a must-have. Fine, so it’s not as tall as the DC Direct figures. Just the same, everything else this figure has easily over-shadows it’s lack of height. Now if only there were some more villains to go with this...