Ah, 2008. AC/DC made their first new record in eight years. Guns n’ Roses made their first… something since the ’90s. We got Iron Man, Indiana Jones, and some Batman movie… a little number called The Dark Knight.
It also happens to be the last time we got a newly sculpted movie-styled Batman in 6-inch scale.
We’re now waist-deep in 2013, and until just a few weeks ago, that ‘o8 Batman was the only representation we’ve had. This is in spite of that same design returning in yet another giant Batman summer movie, complete with another giant merchandising blitzkrieg. I don’t know, maybe they just felt that their first attempt, now old enough to enter the public school system, was plenty good enough to just run up that pole again and see who saluted.
All was not lost, however; enter Medicom. No stranger to collector figures, Medicom has been doing a respectable job for the last decade churning out 1/6-scaled figures and various other mechs and anime goods in those very competitive markets. Then out of left (East) field, they dropped a ridiculously sculpted and articulated 1/12 Amazing Spider-Man figure. And after that, an even more unexpected Dark Knight Rises Batman followed and started shipping a couple months ago.
Let’s get the details out of the way, first and foremost. If you’re familiar with any import figures, be it Figma or Revoltech or even PAK, you have a pretty good idea what you’re in for here: insanely engineered articulation hidden under very detailed overlays, an EMP gun and grapple gun, and extra hands thrown in. The final tally includes a double-jointed neck, a double-jointed torso, double elbows and knees, sliding ball-jointed hips, and ball-jointed wrists and ankles. I’m just going to say it outright: he moves better than any 6-inch Batman to date, and he looks so good doing it. The domestic offerings don’t just pale, they look obsolete. You’d swear the other movie Batman came out to accompany the 1989 movie, not the 2008 one. His dynamic posing ability makes him come off almost photo-realistic at times.
That said, he’s not perfect. In keeping with import figures, he can (and occasionally does) come apart in places, but that seems to really only affect the shoulders. He can separate at his various other ball joints, but not without intended effort. Had the shoulders been sunken into a real socket, they might’ve lost a little bit of their in-out movement, but that would’ve made for a much more rugged figure.
MAFEX Batman is 6-inch scale, as opposed to the 6 inches tall Movie Masters one. This happens to make him scale surprisingly well with most other “movie -verse” action figures from various other companies, as well as the more “civilian” Movie Masters characters. The downside? Bane and the new Superman don’t really work with him. That came as a bit of a surprise, especially in Superman’s case.
Movie Batmen, especially those based on the Nolan films, occupy a weird space in my Bat-collection. I enjoyed the first two movies immensely, the third not so much, but I never fully warmed to the graphite tactical batsuit, much like Bale’s bat-voice; however, with the advent of the PAK and Hot Toys versions of this Batman, I have slowly thawed to the design. It’s not my favorite, but it is certainly kind of defining in its own right. And when the design is utilized to it’s full extent, such as with MAFEX Batman, it really enters a class all its own. The concept itself should be a figure-maker’s dream: lots of armor plates and seams to hide articulation under, textures and material changes to highlight with paint and sculpt work, and a tie-in to a massive summer blockbuster, which usually brings the budget to make it all sing. After seeing the Movie Masters line, and its successors, I was wondering if I was nuts thinking a toy company would want to take advantage of such things to deliver a high quality “Adult Collector” items. Medicom has proved strongly otherwise.
Here’s the funny thing about it, though: MAFEX Batman is actually more than I need from a Batman figure. I know that sounds bizarre, seeing as I’ve spent most of this review trashing the much more utilitarian mass-market version. The best way I can explain this would be to go back to the MAFEX Spider-Man figure. He’s just as impressive and dynamic as this Batman, certainly, but, to be honest, the Hasbro version was a solid enough figure, particularly as it was cheaper and easier to get, that I wasn’t in a huge hurry to replace it. Sure, it’s not quite as articulated, but it’s damn close, and the same goes for the sculpt work. The Hasbro Spider-Man held his own, even against a far superior offering.
My point is simply that had the mass-market Batman been more in line with the various mass-market Spider-Man movie offerings, I probably wouldn’t have been in a hurry to import this impressive figure. I’m glad that I did, but I almost wish that it was unnecessary. With a little more effort, about two more points of articulation, some paint work, and an accessory or two, Movie Masters Batman could’ve stood a reasonable chance against a fancy import version.
But in order for that to have happened, he would’ve had to leave 2008. And it seems sadly clear, that won’t be happening any time soon.
