I somehow missed this figure the first time around. I was deep into collecting all of the various aliens from Green Lantern when someone on one of the forums pointed out there was already a movie Batman in scale. I think it took a long three days for my first eBay order to come in.

Batman from The Dark Knight (2008) and The Dark Knight Rises (2012). What this figure lacks in articulation, it more than makes up for in it’s attention to detail, likeness to the source material, and impeccable scale.

Since I’m going to go on a bit of a rave here, I’ll get the negative out of the way up front. This figure is light on articulation, featuring a neck pin, swivel shoulders, T’ed hips, and hinged knees. The cape is cloth and so adds to pose-ability. Elbow hinges in particular would have greatly improved the articulation on this figure.

With that said, the detail on this figure is amazing, and it’s adherence to the source material is meticulous. Every panel of armor I can discern from movie stills is accounted for. The black on black (on black) design lends itself well to this sculpt, as there is no paint to obscure any of the fine details. (Paint is limited to the face and eyes and is well done.)  The lack of articulation limits posing, but also limits the breaks in the figures design.

Working hand in hand with the detail and likeness is the closeness in scale. The figure is exactly 4″ at the top of the helm (4 1/8″ at the peaks).  A quick Google search shows Christian Bale happens to be 6′ tall which puts this figure exactly at 1:18 scale, making it an ideal benchmark for comparison to other figures in this scale.

I haven’t touched on accessories, in part because this figure is so widely available now (it’s still on the shelves in re-release) that some have come with no accessories, some with somewhat over-sized kid friendly accessories, and some with in-scale grapple guns and batarangs.  Your mileage may very.  I’m partial to the batarang, though I’ve chosen a pose with no accessories to match the movie poster that features the costume prominently. You can also find movie style vehicles for this figure…but that is the topic for another entry.

There are also a TON of variants for this figure and another similar “armored” figure using the same head piece. Some are slight washes that look excellent and might fit certain collections better than the straight movie version while others are very colorful and are, I’m guessing, aimed more at kids.

The Verdict:

Add this one to your permanent collection. If you like the scale and you like the movies, you need this figure in your collection.