Review – DC SuperHeroes Batman
I’m not completely clear on how it happened, but for some reason this Saturday has turned into a Batman day here at battlegrip.com. And rather than fight Batman I decided that the answer’s just to dive right in and get this pre-DC Universe Classics Batman action figure up onto the site so that everyone can enjoy him. And since this looks like it’s the basis for the new Batman Legacy action figure (last mentioned here) this review’s almost useful; but we won’t know for sure until my Batman Legacy set arrives.
Sculpt
Generally impressive as hell. From the utility belt (which is a work of art all on its own) to Batman’s gloves and boots I’ve gotta say that this is a truly fantastic sculpt. In fact, I think I prefer this sculpt to the newer DC Universe Classics Batman*. Why? Because everything about this sculpt feels tighter, more detailed, and better-presented than we get in the newer DC Universe Classics action figure.
My only complaint with this Batman’s sculpt is the face; it feels too narrow and the head feels just a little too small for the body. But that’s really easy to overlook when I start playing with the toy; the ripples in the gloves, the leather-like pouches on the utility belt, and even the sculpted bat symbol on the chest all come together to make this a Batman that’s a great addition to my collection.
This review at Michael Crawford’s site also loves this sculpt, even if I don’t agree with the reasons:
Folks, this is the finest Batman sculpt I have seen yet and it looks like he jumped right out of the comics! His facial features are stern and detailed, not soft like the first release. His body is muscular and smooth, but with fabric wrinkles near the waist and joints to remind you he’s wearing a suit. The bat symbol is sculpted on this time around and looks fantastic.
Paint
A mix of well done and sloppy, Batman’s paint apps bring down the fun just a smidge; not so much that I dislike the figure, but enough that we can’t call it a perfect toy. The toy’s mostly just the gray plastic, but the blue drybrush work brings out the gloves, boots, and cowl in a pretty cool way. It’s a bit rough in spots, but the costume — even the strange bright blue highlights on the cape — looks as good as the toy’s sculpt.
The face, though, has problems. Click on one of the photos here and get a look at Batman’s face and you’ll see blue under his lips, sloppy paint where the mask meets skin, and less-than-perfect eyes. It’s not all that noticeable when you’re playing with the toy, but if you stop and start looking closely you’ll be bugged by these sloppy spots.
Articulation
Batman has pretty much exactly the same articulation as the DC SuperHeroes Azrael we looked at last month. The significant difference is that Batman can actually look straight ahead; his ball-jointed neck works great and has an excellent range of movement. Unlike his hips, which kinda get jammed up with the utility belt. But I don’t mind; that utility belt looks so cool that I can live with limited articulation in the hips. It certainly doesn’t cause so much trouble that Batman can’t get into some very cool poses.
Closing Thoughts
This DC SuperHeroes Batman* has me kicking myself that I wasn’t paying closer attention to action figures when it was originally released. It was during a time when I would walk through toy aisles and look at toys, but not at a time when I was actually buying many (if any) toys. And playing with this guy shows me I missed out on a cool series.
Batman has a modern, wonderful costume design and makes me think of something from the last decade more than it does the Batman of the eighties and nineties. And while I won’t recommend that you run out and buy this older toy, I will say that if the new Batman Legacy figure really is based on this toy (pics make me think that it is) then I suggest you take a close look at the new release.
Thank you to Matt Doughty (Onell Design) for this and every other Batman action figure shown in the photo above. I still can’t believe that Matt shipped over so many Batman figures at once, and there’s no way I can thank him enough. This toy’s gonna look really sweet next to the Batman Legacy version of the same character.
Philip Reed should go ahead and post some more Batman toy reviews over the next week. Yeah?
This is my favorite Batman figure. In 2006 I would often walk through toy aisles, but only occasionally bought any (I had started buying Bionicle, but only 3 or 4 action figures a year). One day I saw DCSH Steel, and couldn’t resist how cool he looked. I was so impressed with him that within a week I had Superman, Lex, Batgirl, and Batman. That is pretty much where my collecting of action figures kicked off.
I always loved the details on this figure, from the cracked leather, to the wrinkles in the clothes, to the treads of his boots. Even though the giant utility belt restricts his hips I still think it looks cool. I think it was Poe who first pointed out that the gray is too dark and the blue too light to match a comic book appearance, so I think they could have chosen the colors better. Nevertheless, this is a great and gritty Batman. I’m glad you have him and that you like him. I plan on getting the Batman Legacy figure that reuses this body too.
Also my favorite Batman figure. When I bought him from ebay I was so enamoured that I went and bought another because it was a good price. I just don’t do things like that, but the sculpt is so amazing that I had to. I think the modern Batmans all look like cheap repaints (which I guess they kinda are) compared to this guy. I seriously miss the amount of detail and love that went into DCSH, though it looks like Mattel is starting to relax a bit more regarding newly sculpted pieces of late. Great review!