Review - Takara 12" Batman

I've always been a fan of movie-Batman. Although many felt that the original Batman movies could be better and scorn poured on the Batman-with-nipples design, it was always a joy for me to see an actor suited up as the Dark Knight in action!

Having said that, it was a thrill to know that Takara was to release a 12" Batman figure! The initial promo shots sure dehydrated me on several occasions due to too much drooling. Takara is also the makers of the Cool Girl(CG) and I had the joy of owning some of the excellent figures. So I was pretty sure that the quality of this Batman figure would be up to the mark!

On to the review...

Bottomline

Takara's take on the 12" Batman is beautiful figure - it's probably the best Batman 12" figure I've come across.

What's good:

• Headsculpt of Batman with cowl & unmasked version. Both are dead on in terms of accuracy. Batman's scowl is so cool.
• Proportions are just about right.
• Figure is very stable and does not require a stand.

Some Nitpicks:

• 1 glaring loose thread on the cape.

What could be better:

• The rubber material of the suit tends to attract tiny dust particles that can be hard to brush away.
• The chest looks weathered due to it being the same material as the rest of the suit.
• The joint line at the neck is obvious in close-up pics.
• Accessories area in the box could be more collector friendly - easy to open without putting a knife to it!

Review Details

Packaging

Takara's Batman comes in a similar type of box as its CG Jin Roh counterparts. When opened the left flap contains a plastic box to hold the accessories with the figure on the right. One problem with this design is that the plastic holding the accessories will probably need to be cut for the accessories to be reached. Definitely not collector-friendly. Learn from Sideshow!

Artwork on the box is acceptable but not something that will make you go, "Cooooool....!".

Headsculpt/Resemblance

One of the biggest plus point to this figure is the headsculpt for the Batman with cowl as well as the unmasked version included. They are very good! This makes the figure look great however you look at it. Batman's scowl and the stare of the eyes are very cool. I'll let the pics do the talking here.

Quality of Product

Takara's Batman is decked out in a rubber suit. Everything from the chest, torso, legs, arms and the bat insignia are in the same rubbery material. The exception is the gauntlet, cowl and neck piece. The gauntlet looks like plastic but it feels like rubber to the touch. It's darker and more shiny than the rest of the suit. The claws on the gauntlets are bendable and confirm it's rubber nature.

The cowl and the neck piece is again made of a different rubber material. It has a matte surface and not as sticky to the touch than the suit. Before I got the actual product, I had noticed that the rubber suit looked rather weathered largely due to the rubber material used from pictures on the Internet. I was hoping for a more smooth and clean chest armour that will look great in photos. On receiving the actual figure, this aspect was confirmed.

One problem of the material used for the bat suit is that dust particles stick to it easily and these little buggers can't be brushed off with ease. You probably have to pick off the bigger pieces using your fingernails. It would have been better that at least the bat insignia was done using the same material as the cowl. For that matter, I would have preferred the entire chest and torso to have that different material.

Batman's huge cape is a one layer cloth with the front edge sewn about 4mm under the cape. I would say that it's pretty accurate and posing Batman with cape fully hanging down is reminscent of the scene in Batman Begins where Batman was standing on the parapet of a skyscraper at night. In reality, with such a big cape, Batman is going to have a lot of laundry days! Posing Batman with the cape is absolutely beautiful! No complains there.

However, I did have a loose thread on my piece but it may be unique to my figure.

Takara's Batman is a highend piece for its price. The entire body is encased in a rubber suit and the details are good.

Stability

This Batman is very stable. It possesses the CG type of feet which is, to me, heavy duty and designed to handle the many poses a collector can think of. I left Batman on my desk as I am using the computer in a room with a slight wind and it never toppled. Ok, it swayed a little but that's it. It's impressive by my standards considering the many Hasbro Starwars 12" figures I have that topples just because the figure does have have good balance. Stability points to a strong joint build in the figure and a good overall weight distribution. Full marks in this department!

Articulation

Batman has the usual CG articulation. However, the rubber batsuit may hinder movement of the arms above the shoulder level a little which can be expected.

Batman's head is jointed at the neck to the neck piece. This allow Batman to turn the head without the neck piece moving. This is a practical design although the joint-line is obvious in photos.