Hot Toys Batman DX Review

Wow it's been a while since I uploaded some pictures (I am so lazy). Well thought I'd lift Batman out of the cabinet and give him a photo shoot. This is Hot Toys Batman from the movie 'Batman: Dark Knight'. Ok, so I decided to add a one to five star rating system and from now on I'll be reviewing in a category style to give my reviews a bit more structure.

SCULPTING: *****

As you can see in the pictures, he is pretty spot on. Even through the mask you get a feel that its Christian Bale. Very well done. He comes with additional mouths too that are worth a mention in this category. Basically the visable skin/mouth area pops out in full and you can replace it with various alternatives (3 in total - a pouting expression, a closed mouth and a slightly open mouth). It's a neat idea and just adds a little bit of variety when posing him up.

OUTFIT: ****

First the positive then the negative. The Batsuit is made from a very flexible rubber and as you can see just looks spot on, just like the films counterpart. What I love is that there's actually a seperate body under the suit too. Everything is done in great proportion and really is of high quality. He's ever so slightly better than in the first release too.

I really love the cape too, its huge and made from a heavy material, unlike in models from days of old, although it's thin enough to look and hang just like it would in real life. It's held in place by two clips and detaches at the shoulder without any fuss to allow you to attach his backpack/glider pack.

However I had to give it 4 stars due to the fault that he was shipped with, which affected many people so I read. His abdomen panels have a weird fault, the oil that's injected into the rubber leaks out giving it a shiny wet look. You have to keep dabbing (very gently) with a cloth to remove the excess oil. Christ knows what effect that will have in months/years to come.

ARTICULATION: ****

Overall he has very good articulation I'd say, but I guess he was never going to have the greatest articulation due to his rubber suit. His arms can achieve about half that of a normal Hot Toy's body (maybe a little bit more but I wouldn't recommend it in case you damage the suit)

To be fair, you're not going to want him in too many over the top or deep poses anyway, it does at least reflect the full scale suit in that if you were wearing it, I doubt you could touch your toes or reach any high shelves haha. The one thing I will say about it, is that the ankles are really well done. It's on a ball joint which is covered by a soft rubber boot. It allows a great range of movement and supports his weight well. In the past I've seen various Batman's being released with hard plastic boots which basically prevent any open legged poses.

ACCESSORIES: *****

Well firstly as you can see in the pictures, he comes with not one; but two heads! They gave us the "sonar" head sculpt. This of course is what takes place at the end of the film when Batman finally defeats the Joker. The Eyes light up using a very small switch at the base of his neck. It works well and looks great. Other than that he comes with a staggering amount of goodies, he comes with several pairs of hands all in the various poses you need. He also has the following: Grapple gun, Sticky bomb launcher, a sticky grenade, 3 baterangs and his glide pack.

OVERALL: *****

Despite the slight niggles this model has, I couldn't have given him 4 stars. It just wouldn't be fair. It's a great piece and a must have for any Batman fan. The problems were even sorted in later releases (they replaced the abdomen with a hard plastic and offered replacement bodies) The packaging is great (sorry for the lack of pics) and just has an air of "deluxe" about it. At the time of launch these were shipping for around the £120 mark. I'm guessing as time goes by the price for these will shoot up so good luck getting one if you're tempted.

Total Movie Esq promo picture below.

Supposed to be a dramatic pose but kinda comes off as a "hey I'll take your coat" sort of a look.

Couple pictures of his backpack and sticky bomb launcher. The two pieces are held in place by magnets. No fuss or clips required!

The detailing is great on the launcher. It snaps together and all the little parts extend out just like in the film.

Here's the launcher assembled and ready for action.

Batman - "what yee looking at like"