DC Collectibles has released it’s fourth series of 6” Batman Arkham City figures. With this wave, we get a new Batman figure touting super articulation - well super for a DC Collectibles figure anyway. Is this added articulation enough to make it worth adding another Batman to your figure line-up? Read on and find out.
Check out hi-res images for this figure in our
GALLERY below.
Packaging - The figure comes in a standard blister packaging that clearly displays the figure on the front and shows an image of all the figures in the wave on the back. The plastic bubble is shaped like Batman’s head and their is a paper insert used as the background showing the Gotham cityscape. Once opened you can take the insert out and open it up to other DC Collectibles Arkham City based collectibles they offer. In this particular case they show the Deluxe Titan Joker figure and Harley Quinn Statue. The back of the insert also has a brief bio about Arkham City. The only thing I don’t like about this kind of plastic packaging is that it is very difficult to open unless you have something sharp like a pair of scissors to cut it open.
Sculpt - Detail-wise, the sculpting on this figure is very similar to the Batman figure released in series 3. The Bat symbol on his chest is sculpted on the new figure instead of painted like the series 3 one. The head sculpt is the same as are the details on the boots, gloves and belt. The cape on this figure is shorter, and the seams on the armor protrude outward opposed to inward as on the series 3 figure. The grays on the armor are also more textured.
Paint - The color scheme on this figure is exactly the same as the series 3 figure using grays and blacks with gold paint on the belt. On the face, they painted his lips a darker, almost brownish color. On the series 3 figure, they just left the lips the same color as the rest of his skin. The lips on this figure definitely stand out more but when you really look at it, it almost looks like he is wearing lipstick.
Another difference between the two figures, as mentioned before, is more textured look and feel on the gray areas of the costume for the new series 4 figure. The costume looks a bit more realistic with this new figure.
Articulation - So this is where the new figure really stands out over its predecessor. The head is still connected to the body via a ball joint. He can look side-to-side plus some up and down movement. This figure has hinged-swivel shoulders, swivel biceps, hinged elbows, swivel wrists, swivel torso and an ab-crunch joint allowing him to bend over some. The legs are connected at the waist with ball joints, and the figure has double-jointed knees and hinged ankles. The ab-crunch joint is held together with what appears to be pegs on the side of his waist, which are not noticeable because the utility belt covers them for the most part. Overall, I really like the articulation on this figure and hope we see this design incorporated with more DC Collectible figures. One thing I have noticed is that the joints are a bit on the loose side. I haven’t had any issues so far, but I could see this becoming a problem with a lot of long-term use.
Accessories - He comes with a batarang which he can hold in either hand. You can put it in the actual hands but it actually works better if you have the figure hold it between its fingers.
Overall - I am really glad to see more articulation added to DC Collectible figures which usually look nice but can sometimes be disappointing due to lack of pose-ability. The articulation isn’t quite up to the standards of certain other 6” scale figure lines, but it is definitely a drastic improvement over what DC Collectibles delivered in the past. My biggest question with this figure is why they didn’t release this in series 3 instead of the less articulated one. Having to buy a second Batman figure so soon is somewhat hard on the ole pocketbook and this figure certainly makes the series 3 one obsolete.
Score: 4 our of 5
