Six Scale Sickness

You’d have to be as blind as a bat to think there is a better 1/6 scale interpretation of Batman Begins suit Batman on the market. This is it. Released around summer this year, this is Hot Toys second attempt at a Batman Begins Batman, and they’ve certainly progressed in the two years since their first. It is a breathtaking work of art in the sixth scale medium. I got mine from HK for about £100, which was shipped with the V1 Joker.

He comes in a standard HT box design, which works a treat. There is an outer slip cover covered with pics of the figure itself, (in this case early promo pics with the elongated neck), and inside a flap cover, sealed with Velcro, hiding a window box display of the figure. There are a multitude of twisty ties and plastic wrap coverings in this case, something which I am actually glad of, as they secure Bats extrememely well.

Hot Toys have really been on fire with their releases of late, (no pun intended), and their accessories are where they really come to the fore. The shear number and detail of each included is great. Bats comes with the pneumatic mangler, (with moveable mangling action), two batarangs, an activated mini-mine, alternate Bruce Wayne sculpt and 5 hands, two right and three left. The weapons are very accurately scaled and, as mentioned, the ‘mangler’ is great – pre-mounting it to an extra gauntlet was a great idea by Hot Toys, as it could have ended up fiddly to attach otherwise.

The Batman suit from Batman Begins is 100% accurately recreated at this scale in my honest opinion, and looks tremendous. The rubber has a nice matte finish and the proportions are spot on. If you’re familiar with the slender Takara version, you’ll be pleased to see the authentic ‘Bat Bulk’ on this version, making him big and intimidating, as he should be. Once again, Hot Toys’ details go from strength to strength and the utility belt has all number of gizmos and doodahs on it and is a great shade of gold in colour. It is also worth noting that it is removable, should you want to, and has a clip for the batarangs, although they oft refuse to stay put. The cape is a relatively thick material, but does hang and flow well. It cannot fall forwards over the shoulders that naturally, (due to the restrictive cape clips), but with a suit that looks this good, you want to show it off, and the cape hangs back over the shoulders really nicely.

Hot Toys must have tried a number of different materials for the suit, before settling on this rubber, as it is a great medium. It feels relatively thick and durable, yet remains flexible and the poseability is not hampered. Bats will have no trouble holding all manner of dynamic poses on your shelf, however, it is worth noting, (as with all rubber suits), that over time the suit may perish, so is well advised to keep a less extreme pose for display in long periods. The only real issue with this figure is that the wrist connector pegs have a nasty habit of popping out whenever you switch the hands. It is a minor nitpick, however can be quite frustrating. I recommend using the stand at all times also, as the ankle joints have a tendency to be a little weak and you wouldn’t want him base jumping off of your display!

It is incredible how spot on the cowl sculpt is as this scale. The ‘ear’ length, the mouth opening, the nose…it is all just superb. The sculpt really looks like a miniature Bale in the suit, with Hot Toys managing to replicate his mouth expression amazingly well. The minimal paint is clean and crisp and there is real life hidden in the eyes. This quality is also apparent on the Bruce Wayne sculpt, however it is a tad too textured for my liking and I wish the hair had been ‘fuller’ and not quite so slick.

Overall, I give this figure a 9.5/10.0, marking it down ever so slightly for the hand and ankle issues. It is however, THE 1/6 Batman to own, even better than the TDK Suit version from Hot Toys in my opinion, which doesn’t work quite so well at this scale.