“Swear to me!”
NECA is pretty much the undisputed king of realistic mass-market movie figures, but, up until recently, I always thought that comic book heroes were a long shot for inclusion in their 7-inch line. Then seemingly all of a sudden — BAM! Christopher Reeve Superman. Michael Keaton Batman. Adam West Batman. It was like someone was actually paying attention to our wishlists! NECA have added the Christian Bale Batman from Batman Begins to their small but impressive superhero lineup. This guy has been available for a couple months now, but he just began trickling in to my small city last week. So let’s see if he has what it takes to stand with the big boys!
Packaging
It’s a nice window box with some interesting graphics and text on the back. He’s vacuum packed in there pretty well, so you will probably smash up the inner tray a bit taking him out, but other than that, it’s pretty collector-friendly.
Sculpt
NECA very rarely disappoints when it comes to sculpt, and they certainly haven’t with this offering. It’s a beautifully done figure that is Bale’s Batman through and through. Like all great NECA figures, this Bats has tons of sculpted details. The cowl and exposed face sculpt look spot-on to me and the utility belt is a thing of beauty. My one biggest nit is that the fisted hands seem to be a bit on the small side.
Although not technically a sculpting issue, we may as well go ahead and get my biggest gripe about this figure out of the way — that horrible gap between the cowl and his suit. You could park the Batmobile in that space it’s so big. I imagine it was designed that way in order to accommodate the soft-goods cape as well as provide some articulation for the head, but to me, it looks pretty terrible.
Paint
The suit is nice and clean with a black matte finish, which is contrasted nicely by the shiny finish on his forearm armor and boots, and the paint work on the belt (along with attachable grapple gun) is very clean and precise. I’m also very happy with the skin tone as it definitely adds to the realism of the figure, but man — did they drop the ball with those eyes. I looked through about 10 figures and picked the straightest pair I could find, but they’re still pretty off. It’s a shame as it distracts from an otherwise perfectly painted figure.
Articulation
It’s pretty standard NECA articulation, so there is really no need for a full run-down, but there are some points worth mentioning. There is no waist cut and the ab joint is pretty limited. The portion of the suit below the belt is a thin overlay, so you still get plenty of movement in the hips. As mentioned before, the head sits up a bit high (on a ball joint), so you do get some range of motion, but due to the sculpt, it’s not all that much. As always, take care when moving any joints that seem stuck — especially on NECA figures, where breakage can occur. Bats here had some incredibly tight shoulders that had to be freed up with some heat.
Accessories
Batman comes with a pair of fisted hands, two gripping hands, two Batarangs, a grapple gun, and a gun holster that clips onto his belt. All are perfectly painted and sculpted, and I had no trouble swapping out the hands. While not an accessory, the cape is made from a thin material of very nice quality that both blocks out the light well and lays fairly realistically. A little bit of fidgeting with it might be a good idea, but I’m very happy with it and it looks great on the shelf.
Overall
Overall, I’m pretty happy with this guy and am glad to have him in my collection. He has a great sculpt with decent articulation, and I’m always a fan of quality soft goods (especially capes), but that neck gap and poorly painted eyes definitely mar an otherwise A+ figure.
I know many other collectors have had a chance to pick this figure up, so sound off below and let’s hear what you think!
Thanks for reading!
