In 1989 Tim Burton’s Batman was a phenomenon. Early previews drummed up an incredible amount of interest and hype, and by the time of its summer release, the country was deep in “Batman fever.” Batman t-shirts were selling like crazy at the mall, Prince’s soundtrack for the movie sold like crazy thanks to the “Batdance” video, and DC’s Batman comics saw a spike in sales that actually lifted the entire comics industry up with it. Anything associated with Batman was a white-hot commodity on the mainstream level, and for those who had been reading the comics for years, this served as validation for what we knew all along.
The movie proved to be a massive hit, but what was perplexing at the time was there were barely any toys on the shelves that were tied to the movie. Toy Biz released Batman, Joker, and Goon figures (if I remember correctly) that did coincide with the movie’s release, but they weren’t based on what we saw on screen. While they were nice to have, they really didn’t slake the craving we had for true Michael Keaton and Jack Nicholson figures.
Well, after 25 years, we’re finally getting a true-blue Michael Keaton Batman in a 6-inch scale, and to say this figure has sent collectors into a frenzy would be the understatement of the year. This has been a long wait, but what NECA has achieved with this figure may be one of the most satisfying figures released in 2014.
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NECA did a lot of things right here, even the packaging. The card is a nod to that Toy Biz Batman that was released around the time of the movie. It’s bare-bones, as basic a blister-card design as possible — and it’s awesome. A lot of people bought that Batman figure in 1989 because we needed something tangible that was tied to the movie, and now, finally, after 25 years, we actually have the figure we wanted 25 years ago.
Even though the figure and the Blu-ray aren’t physically packaged together, NECA took whatever steps they could to ensure the figure was presented as part of a bundle — evidently that was the only way this figure’s availability was going to happen due to license complications.
This Batman is a fully articulated figure, but he is pre-posed to a certain extent. He cannot be posed in a 100 percent “vanilla” pose, at least mine can’t. I actually like this because it gives the figure a necessary dynamism I normally wouldn’t look for. The soft-goods cape is awesome too. When soft goods are done right, it works wonderfully, and the cape is definitely done well here. Even the choice of fabric plays to the figure’s strengths. It fits nicely under the cowl, and the cowl actually aids in the cape’s positioning. You can choose to keep it back behind his shoulders like in the pics above, or…
… you can keep them draped over his shoulders like in the previous two pics. Soft-goods capes can often look kinda chincy, but not here. Even when viewing him from the back, the cape looks completely awesome. In the movie, the cowl and cape were all one piece, if I’m remembering correctly, so this is not completely accurate to the source, but I’m happy NECA went this route with the figure because I am definitely a fan.
The head sculpt is where NECA knocked this project right out of the park. That is Michael Keaton through and through. Next to perhaps Adam West, Keaton has one of the most recognizable Batman visages to ever be caught on film, and I don’t think you could ask for a more faithful plastic rendering. OK, maybe Hot Toys did as well or better, but this is a 6-inch retail offering, and it is fantastic, right down to the paint on his eyes and mouth. The cowl even has the texture from the movie cowl sculpted on, which substantially adds to the realism this figure is going for.
The only spot where the paint is a little iffy is on his sigil. I’ve heard reports that people have been having a difficult time finding a sigil with yellow paint apps that are clean, so it may be best to shoot for one you can live with, if you even have a choice, that is. The one here is decent. It’s not perfect, but I can live with it.
In terms of articulation, he has an articulation scheme that allows the figure to be as dynamic as Keaton was on screen. Keaton famously couldn’t move all that well, particularly when it came to the cowl, so the figure fares at least a little better than that. His full breakdown is:
- Ball-jointed head (hindered a bit by the cowl)
- Hinge-and-swivel shoulders, elbows, hips, and knees
- Swivel wrists
- Ball-jointed waist/torso (at least it feels like a ball joint)
- Rocker ankles
The sigil is part of the cowl piece, so if you move his head at all, the sigil moves with it, so it can look awkward. He wasn’t able to even turn his head in the movie, so any head movement is going to be more than even Keaton himself was capable of.
Batman comes with four accessories: a right fist, his grappling gun, a Batarang, and a left hand designed to hold the Batarang. The hands can be swapped out by simply tugging on them. They go on with a little bit of a struggle, so heating them up first may be advised. The sculpts of his two tools are excellent, and even the paint apps are nice and clean. They look as authentic as the rest of the figure does.
His height falls somewhere in between 6 and 7 inches. DC Universe Classics figures are famously a bit on the larger end of the 6-inch scale, and this figure comes in at just slightly larger than that. His proportions are much more realistic than the comic-based figures in the DC Universe Classics line, and posing him with a Batman from that line highlights the differences in each figure’s execution. Basically, it’s a pretty unfair comparison. This NECA Batman is singularly awesome.
Unfortunately, this figure is not readily available online outside of eBay. You may still have a shot at your local Toys R Us, but that may be your only bet. He’s worth the trouble to hunt down, though.
