Review of Play Arts Kai Arkham Asylum Batman Figure Part 2: Accessories, Articulation, and Overall Score

AND NOW FOR THE GRAND FINALE!!

Articulation:
This guy comes loaded to the brim with articulation:
He has a ball jointed head and neck
A ball jointed shoulder
Hinge shoulders
 hinge elbow blades
swivel forearms
swivel-hinge elbows
swivel-hinge wrists
ball jointed upper torso
 ball-swivel thighs
double hinge/ratchet knees
swivel-hinge ankels
swivel hinge cape attatchments

Accessories:Batman comes with his signature batarang, sculpted in complete game -accurate detail, and painted perfectly, his ultra bat-claw, which has three grapling attatchments, again painted perfectly, he comes with an extra set of hands, one open palm and one trigger hand. His final accessory is the extra cape piece. He comes packaged with the piece that drapes over his foot. The second piece is the straight flowing one.

OVERALL:

This figure is nothing short of perfection. If you have been waiting for THE PERFECT BATMAN Figure, here it is. Perfect sculpt, perfect paint, perfect articulation, and perfect accessories. If you have the money, get him. He is selling out everywhere in days, act fast!! I cannot reccomend this enough. Now, that said, check back this week for a picture gallery of this figure in all  different  poses, with other figures, to show off exactly what you can do with this figure.

10 OUT OF 10!!!!!!!!

............oh boy...............

"I'm the goddamn Bat-"
"Don't even try it little man."



Just waiting for the death letters from hardcore Marvel and DC fans.....



A silent guardian, a watchful protector, a Dark Knight.

Review of Play Arts Kai Arkham Asylum Batman Figure Part 1: Sculpt and Paint

The Basics:
Scale: 9"
Price: $59.99 - $80.99

Character Bio:
The son of Dr. Thomas Wayne and his wife Martha,  Bruce Wayne was a boy born into a life of luxury, money, the family butler Alfred Pennyworth, and all the love his parents could give him. That all changed in the blink of an eye. As young Bruce left a theater production of The Mask of Zorro with his parents, they walked through Park Row, later re-named Crime Alley, a gunman, masked in the shadows gunned down his parents right in front of him, traumatizing young Bruce. Now an orphan Bruce remained in his parents mansion Wayne Manor, watched over by the trusty Alfred. He began to travel the world, master different types of martial arts and hone his skills as a fighter and tactician. Upon his return he regained control of Wayne enterprises, and used his playboy persona to cover up his "true" identity. That night Bruce Wayne died and something new was born. Bruce utilized his newfound skills and that dark feeling within himself to become Batman, The Dark Knight and use the same shadows that the gunman covered himself in, to seek out crime and spread Justice throughout the corrupt Gotham City.

Sculpt:
Now this is a high end figure, so you expect to get your money's worth and this figure does not dissapoint in any way. It is truly an amazing piece of art. Every single detail is there. Even if you can't see it at first glance. I feel like everytime I look at this I find more details. Let's work our way down shall we? The head sculpt is phenomenal. It screams Batman and is just downright amazing. When sculpting Batman's face it has to be perfect because all of his emotion is in his facial expression. If even one detail is off, it completely changes the figure. The face here is just downright menacing. Its dark, gritty, and battle-hardened. The cowl is sculpted so that its snug on his face. The chest/ torso is so game-accurate its crazy. Every line, every scratch, every single piece of kevlar lining is there and the Bat-symbol was wonderfully done. The texture of it even feels like real kevlar, and knocks the Mattel version out of the water. This kevlar affect and detailing is continued into the arms and legs. Speaking of the arms, from the shoulders to the forearms, there is wonderful kevalr design but when you get to the forearms, we go into the gauntlets. The gauntlets are actually two seperate pieces. The first is the forearm itself which consists of the belts that hold the brace in place on his forearm. They are given a wrinkled- leather look and they, like the kevlar feel real. The second piece is the brace and spikes. This piece is made from a soft plastic so that the spikes can be sculpted perfectly, and there is no chance of them breaking. His hands also have a nice ammount of detail. The belt and his bat-underoos as I like to call them are also a seperate piece made from soft plastic. The only drawback to this is that they flop all over the place  when you pose the figure and if they are moved it reveals that underneath you can see a hollow area connecting the legs to the torso. Its not the biggest deal because once in a pose it will adjust itself but I personally am going to invest in some krazy glue and stick it down. The upper legs again have that nice kevlar  finish and now we reach the bottom of ol' Bats, his boots. The boot are done similair to the gauntlets with the lealthery straps connecting the brace to the leg but unlike the gauntlets, the brace is made of a hard plastic. The feet are also nicely detailed and look (to me) like hi-tech sneakers. Now for the last aspect of the sculpt, the cape. I cannt put into words just how much I love this cape. It is sculpted as a flowing cape but thanks to its articulation (yes you read that right) it cn be posed as though its stading still. It's one of the best Batman capes ever made.

Paint:The paint is another amazing attribute of this figure. You would think that because everything is grey save for the gauntlets, boots, cape, bat-underoos and head, they would use grey plastic. They did, but they went the extra mile and painted grey OVER it, and proceeded to give it a black wash for shadow and dirt effect. Absolutely stunning work. Everything else is painted in the colors you see and there is no slop anywhere on the figure.  The most stunning paint job I have ever seen on a figure in quite some time.

Review of Batman Legacy Arkham City Nightwing figure!

The Basics:
Price: $14.99-$20.99
Scale: 6"

Character Bio:
High-Flying Dick Grayson was born into show business, The son of  world-famous aerialists, The Flying Graysons. But Dick's life  changed forever when his parents were killed by the mob, sabotaged during their circus act. Ultimately, Dick became the ward of billionare Bruce Wayne, under whose tutelage Grayson would combine his aerialist skills with martial arts training, enabling the young man to become Batman's agile sidekick Robin. Now an adult, Grayson has stepped out of his mentor's shadow to become Nightwing, protector of Bludhaven, a town as plagued by corruption and crime as Gotham City.

Sculpt:
To those unfamiliar with DC Universe Classics, Batman Legacy, and Green Lantern Classics, Mattel owns them all and the sculptors are The Four Horseman who produce some of the best Mass-Market sculpts imagineable. Most figures are usually the same body jsut repainted for a new costume but every now and then you get a brand new mold, with brand new sculpt which reminds us fans why we have such a love/hate relationship with Mattel....this figure is a shining example of that. The sculpt is top notch and no detail is spared. Every single piece of armor is individually sculpted delivering an unbelievable look overall. The head sculpt is fantastic and the mask just looks plain awesome. People have complained that the head is too long but after a while it grew on me and doesnt bother me at all. I really can't find any flaws with the sculpt of this figure except that there is no holster on his back for the escrima sticks but even that doesnt bother me. It just looks absolutely stunning and pictures don't do it justice. This is a figure that you need to have in hand to admire just how beautiful of a job The Four Horseman have done.

Paint:
Paint is an area where Mattel has had some issues in the past. Not on this figure. The paint is perfect and it would be pretty hard for it not to be considering the only painted areas are the blue on his costume and his hair, mask, and eyes. The Blue looks amazing and stands out perfectly, yet not too much to throw off the look of the suit. What I love about it is that it has the appearance of getting darker as it leaves the center. The mask is fantastic and the eyes are perfect. They pop out when looking at it close up but blend into the shadows from far away, something crucial to characters from the Batman Universe.

Articulation:
Ball-Jointed Head
Swivel-Hinge Shoulders
Swivel Biceps
Hinge Elbows
Swivel Wrists
Ab Crunch
Swivel Waist
T- Joint Hips
Swivel Thighs
Hinge Knees
Hinge Ankles

Accessories:

Another area that Mattel DC figures usually suffer in, but not this guy. He comes with his signature Escrima Sticks, an awesome display stand, and an Arkham City 8"x11" poster.

                                                                                   

                                         

Overall:

 I was estatic when I found this guy on the pegs for $14.99 and snatched him up. Thank God I did otherwise I would have missed out on a truly amazing figure. I wish I could have gotten Harley but again, not my favorite character so it wont emotionally destroy me. This figure is a truly great one that you should not pass up! Without a doubt get this guy if you see him. I will go so far as to say that this is the best 6" Nightwing figure to date!

10 OUT OF 10!