“We’re criminals, Alfred. We’ve always been criminals. Nothing’s changed.”
“Oh, yes it has, sir. Everything’s changed.”
Indeed it has. Mezco has, unofficially of course, entered what you might consider the second phase of their One:12 Collective line. The first phase would likely be considered Dark Knight Returns Batman, the Mutant Leader, and Judge Dredd. Following those, this spring introduced a transition of sorts with the Star Trek subline. Compared to the three comic character that preceded them, they were obviously different: more realistic in terms of size and sculpt and used new articulation. There was a refinement to these figures that wasn’t always apparent at first glance — Mezco was honing their style from the already impressive first figures.
Captain America is really where the change happens, and it was subtle enough that I didn’t really notice just how extensive it was. Cap was smaller, sleeker, more realistically proportioned, and his base body has some changes in articulation and style. But in his bright comic colors, it was hard to see just how much had changed. Armored Batman was definitely raising some eyebrows, but, again, this was concealed under a lot of armor and accessories. Even the head sculpt, while very good, only gave a peek into the likeness they had pulled off. And Mezco was hardly alone there — all of the armored figures done so far have a somewhat generic Batman look to them.
But once Batman started shipping, it was clear that this was much more than just another Batman. This Batman has changed.
Gone were the hulking proportions of the Dark Knight Returns. While this Batman is still suitably thick, he is much more in tune with the idea of a 1:12 scale, therefore he feels inevitably sleeker than his predecessor at his 6.5 inch height. There is, of course, a new base body in use here; I suspect it is same that Cap and Punisher are using. There is a complete change in construction of these bodies, one that I’m hoping to get into in an article of its own. But for the sake of brevity here, this body has excellent range of motion and the joints move more fluidly than the older figures, and that extends to the ankle joints as well — these are much better than Cap’s. The only range that seems diminished might be the stomach, but I’ve found these flex more with movement. If you’re not convinced that there’s been some significant changes made here, run your fingers along the outside of the elbow and knee joints. You may notice there are no peg holes …
The head sculpt … well, it’s amazing. Simple as that. The texture and paintwork is just stunning — this truly looks like a man wearing a mask, and that man is clearly Affleck. There is a crisp transition from his face to the mask and a very well-realized transition from his eyes to the eye-holes. And both heads are stellar. Normally I’m somewhat mixed on open-mouthed sculpts, but this one is excellent. I honestly don’t have a favorite.
The uniform has rapidly become my favorite Batman suit to date, with it’s excellent fusion of New 52, Dark Knight Returns, and some realistic elements. Snyder talks a lot in the movie’s Tech Manual about how he wanted the suit to still look fabric, even if it was really some type of space-age carbonfiber weave. You can say what you will about the story, but you cannot deny that Snyder put a lot of effort into these visuals, especially for Batman. Basically, as long as it evoked the movie suit, it was going to work for me.
And that definitely is the case here, with the unique textured fabric and the added piping. The chest logo is similar to Cap’s in that it’s attached directly to the figure. What makes this interesting is that the fit is so clean, with the tolerances so tight, it’s difficult to determine whether it’s actually attached to the fabric as well, though I don’t think it is. The paint work on these plastic elements, like the symbol, as well as the other costume elements, is superb.
The dry-brushed bronze on the belt, buckles, and gauntlets bring a surprising amount of color to the figure. The cape is a thin pleather material that’s quite different than the previous ones. It doesn’t have the weighted tips, but still works pretty well. I think those would still have been beneficial, but it works well enough. And the color and weathering are perfect.
In addition to the extra portrait (I’m starting to like calling them that), Batman comes with his grapple gun and three different attachments (roped, open-claw and closed), a smoke grenade, six pairs of posing hands, five Batarangs, and the Batbrand.
Two of these Batarangs are affixed to left and right throwing hands, but you can remove them if desired. In some ways, these accessories are so damn good, they’re a victim of their success, because I want more. I need an Affleck “Bruce” head badly. I would have loved that RemMag 700 Batman used when chasing the convoy. As it is, he looks great with the FN Mk13 from Armored Batman, and I wouldn’t have turned down an extra. Even at the expense of the stand and armature I don’t use.
I am struggling to try not to just gush and ramble about this figure, but I think I may be failing at that, so I’m going to try and summarize this and drive it home so I can get back to playing.
This is going to be the best damn movie Batman you’re going to find in this scale. This may be the best Batman figure period, scale and style irrelevant.
It has sold me on Superman. And Suicide Squad. And I may be going back for some Star Trek figures. Where Mezco has long had a good reputation for stylized figures, and even taken that style into their movie figures, this new phase of One:12 is crushing it in the movieverse. Get one. Hell, get two. Just hurry.
And Knightmare Batman can’t join them soon enough.
