It is starting to look like the steady storm of delays is starting to let up, and Mezco’s One:12 Collective line is hopefully hitting its stride. After an excruciating three months behind schedule, the Armored Batman is making his way to mailboxes this past week.
Obviously based on his appearance in Batman v Superman, Armored Batman gets to be the first of what looks to be the Affleck trifecta, beating the regular suited version and the Knightmare version to release. That makes this Batman a strange way to begin a movie collection, being the most expensive and complicated figure of not just the movie lines, but the entire line itself.
To put it another way, it just makes me excited and nervous for what they’ll do for an encore.
The packaging is a continuation of some of the nicest work in the game, with the same magnetic enclosure and slip-case design that debuted with Batman. It does have an interesting effect: every time I open one of the boxes, it’s almost hard to believe the figure is in person when I first see them. And Armored Batman is definitely one of those.
So it’s difficult to describe exactly, though you’ve heard it many times before — these figures cannot be completely appreciated in photo. Better men than me have tried, but until you’re looking at it in person, you really can see just how meticulously crafted this figure is.
The armor plating consists of a metal chest and back piece, a belt and codpiece, and hinged sleeves that go over the arms and legs. The armor has phenomenal paint and sculpt detail, with no two pieces matching in weathering or scarring. The suit is over a fabric bodysuit that presumably mirrors the standard Batman, minus the chest emblem. This suit has all of the texture and piping of that suit, even though little of it is exposed without moving the figure around. There’s just no other way of saying it — the combined effect is just awesome.
The head is a slightly different style than the other removable types from the line, and that is to accommodate his light-up feature. Simply pull the head and the connected ball joint from the neck, insert the batteries or flip the switch, and you’re good to go. Again, there’s just not enough shown in picture to emulate how great this head looks in person, but one thing I truly appreciate is just how good it looks without the light on. Of course, the money is with those eyes lit, but the figure defies a lot of other LED-featured ones by still looking very vibrant, without the usual “dead-eyes” the effect leaves when off.
The articulation scheme is an interesting one because I almost consider this a case of art imitating life. The base body underneath appears to have the same level of articulation as the slightly larger Dark Knight Returns Batman, which is to say it’s very good. The armor, while having it’s own articulated points, inevitably cuts into the range of motion of the base body, limiting the knees and elbows in particular. The design actually doesn’t impact the shoulders of the hips as much as I would have expected, though. In any case, this is an area some folks have been critical of, but I have a hard time thinking the actual prop suit moves any better. I can’t say I have much experience wearing armor, but it’s safe to say it’s probably not much better than the figure is doing here.
One of the things that does help out in the articulation is that is feels like the armor sort of free floats over the body in most places, which lets you move and re-position somewhat to get a little more range in places. The only part of this I might alter is the codpiece, that due to being unattached, tends to float upward and leave a kind of baggy effect in the crotch of the suit. I think were this attached to the suit, it probably would be mitigated.
The accessories definitely help sell this notion of Batman being a deluxe treatment, with a total of four pairs of hands, a partially die-cast kryptonite spear, a grappling gun with two hooks, and the 40MM Launcher and two projectiles.This is in addition, of course, to the standard base and armature and cape-posing wires. Cool as they are, I never use them. While the individual details on the grapple gun and each hand are damn impressive, I’m going to focus on the weapons.
Heh, no one be disappointed, but I have to start with this launcher. To my knowledge, this is the first FN Mk13 I’ve seen in 1:12 scale and it is a beauty. The sling swivels attach a functioning sling to the left side rail, the buttstock slides out for adjustment, and the breach can be slid open to accommodate those 40MM kryptonite rounds, one at a time. There are a few different 40MikeMikes out there, like the GLM from Terminator and the Expendables, but none are done as nicely as this one.
The kryptonite spear was a surprise for me — I had expected it to be just a nice addition to the figure. But when using the appropriate hands, its heft and detail make it look extremely dynamic in pose. Being comprised of several pieces, the spear really feel like a weapon with the rock attached to the tip, not just a molded piece with some paint slapped on. When he’s holding it, Batman takes on an almost medieval presence.
As multiple viewings and a genuine enjoyment of Suicide Squad have softened a lot of my criticisms of the movie, whatever reasons I might have had for skipping Armored Batman had long evaporated before he got here. And while personally I’m not at all objected to building a cinematic collection, don’t let the lack of interest for yours keep you from this one.
As you can see from my shots, I don’t own any of the other movie figures — obviously, since Mezco’s aren’t out yet — and this Batman is perfectly capable of taking on any number of threats in the meantime. And I mean that. He will take a beating as good as any figure a quarter his price point.
And that might be my favorite part about the figure. Despite a long wait and a big price tag, this Batman reassured me that Mezco can continue to up the ante, but they haven’t lost sight of making these figures fun to play with. And I haven’t put mine down since it got here.
