Play Arts Kai – Arkham Asylum Armored Batman

At this point in time, I am a little bit ashamed to call myself a fan of Batman as I’ve yet to play the Arkham Asylum game. I do however love the character and all that he stands for, and even more so when he gets an armour upgrade!

Background:

Batman: Arkham Asylum is an action-adventure video game based on DC Comic’s Batman. The game is played in third-person mode, where the player controls Batman as he makes his way around the prison island and facilities of Arkham Asylum.

Name: Armored Batman
Manufacturer: Square Enix
Line: Play Arts Kai
Sculptor: Dice Project
Designer:
Scale: Non-scale
Material: PVC
Release: June 2012
Original Price: ¥5,800 (approx. $71AUD / $73USD)
Height: 230mm / 9.05inches

Packaging:

The box for this toy is nice and solid with a quality gloss finish. The series name has been embossed in silver foil to add to the quality feel of the product. There is a large window display up front as well as a smaller one on the top to allow a sneak peak at the figure inside. Batman is well nested between a couple of formed plastic trays with his weapons and accessories clearly laid out around him.

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Accessories:

Armed with only a Batarang and a grappling hook gun, Armored Batman doesn’t come with much in terms of fire power or weaponry, not that he needs it . He also comes with an extra pair of optional hands. The Batarang looks like it can fold close, however my example was rather tight and I didn’t want to risk breaking it to find out.

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Form/Sculpt:

This is one very beefy and muscular looking Batman in terms of proportions. The sculptural detail on this figure is very nice and quite sharp for a figure made with a lot of soft grade PVC. The one thing I love about this toy is the variety of textured finishes you’ll find throughout which really brings out the realism. Overall I am quite impressed with the design and quality of construction.

Articulation/Action:

Boasting over 26 points of articulation (so the box says), this toy should have pretty good pose-ability right? Damn right it does! This thing is seriously fun to pose and there is almost an infinite number of poses you can pull off with him. He kneels, he kicks, he blocks, he charges but I did find that he wasn’t very good at looking up, especially if he needs to use his grappling gun to get away. All the joints are nice and tight with ratchet joints in the elbows, wrists, double jointed knees and ankles.

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Paint/Print:

As good as the sculpt and articulation is, the paint app on this figure really finished it off nicely. The maker has gone for a gritty and realistic paint style which is executed almost flawlessly and suits this character perfectly. Again there was a variety of finishes from matte to gloss which gives the whole toy some depth. Weathering has been applied to the armor parts showing that Batman has been busy dealing with the baddies.

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Detail/Features:

At first I was worried that the design of the cape would hinder the shoulder articulation, however this was not the case as it is very soft and flexible at the top. The cape itself is made in two halves which overlap, these two pieces are on a ball joint each so they can spin independently.

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At just over 9 inches (23cm) tall, this is a relatively big action figure compared to what I’m used to, but this is a nice size for it. Just to give you an idea here are some comparisons with Bandai’s SIC Batman, DC Arkham Asylum Batman, Mattel’s Movie Masters Batman and my trusty review companion the 3.75″ Stormtrooper.

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Overall:

This is not a size I usually collect for action figures but like I said at the start of the review, I am a fan of Batman so when I see a design I like I tend to pick it up anyway regardless of size. This toy really ticks every box on my list when it comes to a good toy, it has good design, it is well constructed, it has good articulation and is wrapped up nicely in a tidy and great looking paint job. I’d definitely recommend this one to fans of Batman, or anyone looking for a fun and photogenic toy to play with.

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3. » Movie Masters Batman + Batpod
4. » Movie Masters The Joker
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Filed under: Featured, Reviews, Batman, DC Comics, Game, Play Arts Kai, Square Enix, Superhero, US