Along with all the other awards and honors that Batman Begins garnered, it gets the dubious honor of being the film with the most expensive 12″ versions of its lead character, ever.  Yep, no fewer than five different companies have produced figures based on the Christian Bale Batman. 

Of course, Mattel did their version.  The 13″ Action Cape Batman is one of the coolest for the price, but it’s not an expensive version.  Then DC Direct did theirs, and fans started to spend some cash, usually around $70.  Not to be out done, Medicom came in with the most expensive version to date, costing as much as $200.

Two more companies are coming to the party late, hitting the mid-range of the expensive stuff.  Takara has theirs coming out within the next month, and Hot Toys has just released their version, which I’m reviewing tonight.  Both of these can be had in the $125 – $150 range, depending on where (and when) you buy.

Once the Takara is out, I’ll do a full rundown of all five figures together – a huge, mega-comparison of the pros and cons.  Until then, let’s take a look at the Hot Toys version and see where it stacks up.

If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, you can always reach me at mwc@mwctoys.com. If you enjoy this review, take a minute to check out my other site at Michael’s Review of the Week, and let me know what you think. Now on to the review!

“Hot Toys Batman Begins”

 

 

Packaging – ****
It’s not quite Sideshow perfection, but Hot Toys does a pretty nice job with their packaging as well.  Here, they start with an outer slip cover, complete with bright, shiny eye catching bats and an slightly embossed photo of the man himself on the front.  Take that off the main box, and you get more photos on a standard five panel box.

 

 

The packaging is completely collector friendly, with no need to damage anything in taking him out.  There’s no assembly here, unlike some Hot Toys products, and the plastic tray is designed to hold him and all his goodies in place without twisties or bands.

The only downside, is that unlike the recent exceptional Sideshow Star Wars packaging, this box sports zero background information or text.  With all that real estate to work with, something would have been nice.  On the upside, since these are very limited (only 1100), there is a certificate of authenticity included.  If you’re going to do a limited, numbered run though, you should print the edition number on the box, not just on the COA.

 

 

Sculpting – ***1/2
Hot Toys did a very nice job capturing the Bale Batman, making it look enough like him to know they tried, and yet making it enough like a generic person to make the cowl actually work the way it’s supposed to.  Remember, you’re not supposed to recognize who this is – otherwise wearing the mask would be bit foolish.

 

 

The head sculpt has nice, sharp, crisp lines, and is made from a solid material that holds detail well.  He has a neutral expression, befitting a man who shows little emotion.

I’ll get into the sculpt of the armor in the Outfit section, but suffice to say that it looks stupendous.  The main hands that he comes pacaged with are sculpted into fists, a squidge small proportionally speaking, but not too bad.  Better that they are a squidge small, than the oven mitts we’ve seen on some other versions.

And speaking of proportions, the head is just about the right size, considering the mask.  Any normal human wearing a mask over a normally proportioned head is going to end up with one that’s slightly big on his frame, but here the difference is just about right.

My only real issue is that the cowl sits up pretty high on the shoulders, leaving a gap.  This is a problem for the appearance of the figure, BUT is important to the articulation of the neck.  It’s a catch-22, because you want him to look as good as possible, but he can’t look as good as possible without the nifty ball jointed neck and its range of movement.  While the gap hurts his look a little, it makes up for this by giving you much more realistic poses.

 

 

Paint – ***
Most of the figure – including what I can see of the underlying body – is cast in the black plastic, but that doesn’t mean there still aren’t paint ops here.

The most obvious are the eyes and lower face, both of which are extremely clean and well done.  He does lose a little for the lipstick appearance, a common problem for male 12″ figures, but at least it was applied well.

 

 

One of the nice features of the armor is the different finishes used, matte for the rubberized body suit with a semi-gloss appearance on some sections, such as the bat symbol or gauntlets.  These different finishes give the otherwise monotonous color scheme a little more visual punch.

Articulation – ***
Hot Toys base bodies are always highly articulated, and that’s the case here as well.  He’s got joints in his joints – only problem is, the armored suit makes much of that a moot point.  The rubberized outfit, with the tight fitting rubber body suit underneath, makes some of the joints (especially the legs) difficult to move.

 

 

However, you can still get a fair share of poses out of this guy, due in large part to the ball jointed neck, and tight arm joints.  While the rubber suit can restrict movement, the elbow and shoulder joints are tight enough to stay in position, even fighting against the clothes.

This is not a bulky body though, not even as bulky as the chest might imply.  When you handle him, you’ll find out that the chest piece has air between it and the actually body, and depending on what you do with the chest and waist joints, it can cause issues in some poses.

None of the hands are articulated, but that’s absolutely fine by me.  There’s a nice assortment to allow for the basics plus a couple unique poses, and finger articulation tends to be a good idea that executes badly.

Outfit – ***1/2
Clearly the single most important aspect of this figure is the outfit.  Hot Toys has done an excellent job capturing the style and design of the Begins costume, shrunk down in scale.

The armor is made from a soft rubber, but not so soft that it appears unrealistic.  Underneath is a rubberized body suit that fits extremely tight, and meshes well with the outer armor.  There’s some excellent sculpting work, and he certainly matches the source material as well as any version to date.

 

 

Two aspects of his costume really stand out – the cape and the belt.  The cape is HUGE, much like the Medicom version, and drapes out nicely from his body.  It’s made from a very high quality material, and permanently attached to the shoulders.  It does not interfere with the head/neck articulation.

The belt has the most sculpt detail of any piece, and I believe it’s also removable.  The package implies it is, but I couldn’t quite figure out how to get it unhooked, and I wasn’t going to break it just for giggles.  There’s a place on the left side for the batarangs, and various other tubes and gadgets are sculpted and permanently attached to the belt.

The big negative for me with the outfit is the gauntlets.  They are very tight to the forearms, which is good, but they are also sculpted to work with the hands in only one direction.  Getting the spikes to line up on the forearm where you want them, and getting the hands in the pose that looks good, can be quite the puzzle at times.

Is the costume fully removable?  I doubt it.  The inner body suit is probably stitched to the body, and to get this tight of a fit and look usually requires a permanent attachment.

Accessories – ***1/2
Where does he get those wonderful toys?  One of Batman’s assets is all the nifty gadgets, so there’s never any excuse for a Batman toy without toys of his own.  This version comes with his grappling gun, two batarangs, gas bomb, and five additional hands.

 

 

The hands are all well sculpted, and designed to work well with certain accessories.  There’s a left hand to hold the bomb, a right hand to hold the gun, two open ‘knife’ hands, and a right hand in the traditional two fingered point.  The hands attach to relatively short posts in the wrists, quite close to the palm.  The big problem is that they fall off whenever you try to move them, because the hands ride inside the gauntlets quite deeply.  While this is another of those visual pluses, it does mean that the usually useful Hot Toys wrists joints are rendered moot.

The batarangs are identical, and can snap on his utility belt.  In some versions of this character by other companies, the gun can attach to the back of the belt, but not this time around.  And while the bomb is tiny (and easy to lose), it has a terrific sculpt and paint job.

Fun Factor – ***
If you have a kid on your list that needs a sixth scale Batman figure from the movie, then hunt down an Action Cape Batman.  He’ll be happy, your wallet will be happy, and some eight year old kid won’t grab the cape of a Hot Toys version and start swinging it over his head like a dead cat.

But if you’re looking to pick up a very cool version for a slightly older kid, one who is a huge fan and will treat this little guy with moderate respect, then the Hot Toys version might be just what you’re looking for.  And if you’re looking to pick up something for me for Christmas, real estate and cash work equally well.

Value – **
I’m grading this at the original cost of $120.  At this point however, you’re unlikely to find one even at that price.

You are getting excellent quality here, but there are still a few nits. Around $100 is about the right average price for this figure, and below that you’d start seeing real ‘value’.  At the $120, or more likely $140, that you’re actually paying, it’s not a terrific buy.

Still, keep in mind that this is a very limited figure, another factor in driving up the price.  With only 1100 produced, the per unit cost was bound to be expensive, and that passes on to you in the retail price.  Of course, with that few produced, it’s unlikely that you couldn’t sell this figure later if you were unhappy with it, at your cost or higher.

Things to Watch Out For –
Not much.  If you do try taking off that belt, I’d be extra careful, and keep an eye on those batarangs as well.  They can fall out of the belt when you aren’t looking, and the cat would just love to scurry off with one.

 

 

Overall – ***1/2
With all these different versions out there, especially at such high prices, the big question is which is the best.  At this point, if I could only have one, I’d go with the Hot Toys version.  I really like this head sculpt, the costume looks great, and while keeping the hands attached is an issue, he’s still well above either the DC Direct or Medicom offerings.

There’s still the Takara version to be evaluated though, and based on past history, I have a suspicion that their’s will be the one to beat.  Once I have that one in my hands – probably sometime in the next 2 or 3 weeks tops – I’ll do an individual review of it, and a full comparison review of all four.

Where to Buy –
That’s kind of tough right now – with only 1100 produced, he’s in short supply.  Most places did pre-orders on him, and are now out of stock.  Sad to say that Ebay is probably your best bet right now, where you can find a few still around for $140 BINs.  I suspect that won’t last long though!

Related Links –
I have no shortage of Batman reviews, but let’s just stick with the versions particular to this film:

– there’s the under $20 Action Cape version, the $200 Medicom version, and the $70 DC Direct version.

– and if you’re looking for something more in the toy line,  there’s the Microman version, the Collector Edition, and the Battle Gear version.

– oh, and if you prefer your Bats big, there’s always the three foot version.

 

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