Released in conjunction with the Play Arts Kai Batman figure, Bane here is the second release from Play Arts’ “Dark Knight Trilogy” line. By most accounts, Bane is just as good a figure as Batman, and if this were 2006, I would say without hesitation that Bane is a great figure because he reminds me a lot of Toy Biz Marvel Legends figures that were coming out around that time… but times have certainly changed since then and our hopes and expectations for figures have changed a bit in that time. While he does share many of the qualities that made those old Toy Biz figures great — like paint, sculpt, and articulation — he also shares many of their shortcomings. Let’s take a look at him and see where he measures up and where he falls short.
Once again, as was the case with Batman, the packaging is beautiful. The figure featured on the back of he box? Yeah — that’s the figure I wanted and thought I was getting. If that had been the case, then it would have been the greatest figure ever because, heck, just look at it. Sadly, that’s not the figure we got.
When I first opened the box and set eyes on him, that familiar feeling of buyer’s remorse kicked in like a son of a gun. The little head, the neck, the shoulders, the hips, and the ankles were the only aspects of him that grabbed my attention because they all looked so… off. These things made it hard to appreciate the sculpt, paint, articulation, etc. because I kept trying to convince myself that these things weren’t really “issues” and that I was just overreacting. Unfortunately a few days have passed and I’m still fixated on these areas, so yeah — they’re definitely “issues.”
It’s a shame, too, because the sculpt and paint are really good, but he’s put together in such a weird, gangly way that it basically doesn’t matter. From the back his problems aren’t as glaring, and even from the front it’s possible to pose him is such a way as to mask many of the issues, but then you look at him from the side and you’re reminded of everything that isn’t quite right all over again.
It’s ain’t pretty and what stings the most is that it almost is. If a couple key areas had been tweaked just a little differently, then I’d be praising the heck out of this figure, but there’s just no getting around it. So let’s start with the boots and ankles.
The sculpt of the actual boots is beautiful, but the way they’re cut to allow for the ball joint is just plain ugly and it doesn’t work. It makes it look like he’s wearing some kind of low-cut loafers with some weird straps around his ankles, like they’re two different parts and not connected. What might have helped is a ball joint that was at least the same color as the rest of the boot because even the basic black creates too much of a disruption. Some other kind of articulation design, one that’s more “invisible,” would have been an even better idea because the articulation cut here just ruins it.
Then there’s his neck. Oof, that neck. It’s the thing that disappoints me the most about this guy. Look at how beautiful the head sculpt is and how nice the paint job is on his mask and on his skin — it almost looks real. And then lower your eyes just a bit to take in that neck. As I recall, Bane never had a long, skinny neck, but this figure sure does. And the long, skinny neck looks completely incongruous with the rest of the figure.
When his head is moved, the barbell joint that connects his head to his neck becomes way too visible and just looks bad.
It does allow for a great range of motion, however. So while it may look terrible, at least it’s functional. At least there’s that.
His shoulders look like these two huge, muscly balls that stick out way too far from his torso, kind of like Toy Biz’s Daredevil from the Face Off 2-pack. In certain light and from certain angles it can look OK, but it really feels like a huge step backward since we haven’t seen this kind of thing in a long time.
For accessories he comes with two swappable hands and a shattered Batman mask like the one from the movie. He also comes with a stand, but like Batman’s stand, I haven’t put it together because I’m not sure I’m ever going to use it. He really doesn’t come with much. The one thing I do wish he had come with is his coat — I could use it to cover up those shoulders. Oh well.
Batman may very well share many of the same issues, but the sculpt of his armor helps hide most of his flaws. With Bane, however, there is nothing masking his flaws so they just feel that much more prominent. And since this is a rather expensive figure ($65 at most stores), the flaws seem to sting all the more. Batman felt worth the cost to me, but Bane… I definitely felt some buyer’s remorse when I opened him, as I mentioned before. It’s a nice sculpt ruined by some weird articulation choices. I keep trying to convince myself that I like him, and if I pose him the right way on my shelf, then he really doesn’t look too bad, but I still wish I had saved my money. So file this guy under “taking one for the team!”
If you really need this guy to have a bad guy to face off against your PAK Batman and don’t want to wait for the Joker, then, by all means, get him. If you can wait, though, then I’d recommend just holding out for the Joker. I can’t recommend a figure I really wish I hadn’t bought myself.
