I've been waiting quite a while for these. When first announced, I had a similar thought to the Dark Knight Trilogy Batman: "Really? Another One?" But then of course the geek impulses took over, and I not only ordered Bats, but all three. As I've stated several times recently, my disenchantment for DC's current regime is strong, so strong that I'm willing to give most other takes on their characters (specifically Batman) more of a chance than I might have in the past. So Ninja Batman? Sure, twist my arm.
Batman
The Good: These are all much, much bigger than Square's Arkham figures. They're more in scale with some of the older, game-centric PAK, like Dante, and allegedly fit in perfect, scale-wise, with their Metal Gear offerings, none of which I own. A Batman who can stare down Dante and Nero and Vergil will make for some fun display ideas, if I let it.
There's a lot of intricate sculpting going on with him, and it's a visually striking look. They've taken the "knight" part of "Dark Knight" a bit literally, albeit with patented semi-futuristic Anime flair. He wears an appropriately stern expression, albeit a very simplified look what with the animated styling and all.
He comes with a rifle, and whether or not it's supposed to be a grappling gun is up for debate. They've already given him a kickass ninjato sword, so I guess a gun isn't too far-fetched, either. The detailing on his costume is fantastic, and they went so far as to make the little capsules on his thighs match not only the handle of his sword (which I naturally assume extends like Sulu's from Star Trek), but the capsule in his rifle. So instead of a utility belt, he has a versatile, capsule-based weapons system, I guess. Interesting.
The cape is pretty magnificent. I like the texturing throughout that makes it seem more like cloth than leather, like their other Bat-releases to date. There are grappling hooks at the end of some of the scallops, but seeing as how this is an Anime-flavored over-the-top take, I don't mind them very much, even though they would be ridiculously impractical. The same could be said, of course, of the gigantic spikes from his gauntlets.
His paint apps, unlike the other two, seem to be very spot on. There are several tiny little flecks out of place or missing in areas, but nothing as bad as what I'll get into with WW below, and none of it detracts from his overall look.
The Bad: His arms have more of a limited range of movement than I would like. There's still tons of poses possible, and just having him stand there looking badass is more than acceptable. But between the arms and the ankles, which also seem to need some heavy play to move forward properly, it's a bit of a bummer. He suffers from the same "floating ball joint" issues as the other PAK Batmen: due to the weight of the cape, the mid-torso joint tends to sag or lean unless the cape is propped up behind him to hold the weight.
I would also have liked to see more extra hands included. He comes with two sets of fist and two sets of relaxed, open hands, and only ONE hand to hold his sword, rifle or batarang. Speaking of the batarang, it's also a bit of a let down. I mean, sure, every Batman figure should at least have a batarang, but this one just seems cheaply made and not completely thought out: one side is indented, like it's hollow, and has a molded stamp with manufacturing info on it. And while his sword and gun also have this, it's hidden for the most part by his grip. The batarang only looks good from the one angle, and that stinks. Also, I don't care for the rifle or whatever you want to call it. It's nothing against Bats using guns, I just don't think you can achieve a lot of good poses with it because of the limited shoulder and bicep articulation. Also, continued use of the rifle will undoubtedly stretch his only accessory-ready hand out of whack and make it harder for him to hold his sword.
Overall: After seeing the pictures online of these, I was pretty geeked out and anticipating these for a while. But after having them in hand, and seeing some of the issues I'll get to momentarily, I gotta say I'm a little disappointed. Having said that, Batman is my favorite of the bunch, something I (surprisingly) did not anticipate. The styling of the figure is fantastic, and I''m curious to see if PAK will come up with a ninja/samurai-themed villain to accompany Bruce on the shelf. A Samurai Ra's al Ghul would be pretty boss. Just sayin', Square. Batman here is an easy A.
Wonder Woman
The Good: Diana here is a great-looking figure, and a great-looking female for sure. Her proportions and stature, while again flavored heavily by Anime, don't look too exagerrated or weird. I dig the costume, for the most part, although the exposed belly is off-putting. Her shield is a great inclusion, and the lasso is a nice detail (even if it's sculpted to her 'belt'), and her hair has that nice, wavy Anime windblown effect and is a soft enough plastic to not impede articulation. There's a lot to love in the sculpting and paintwork... until you get to the issues I have with my figure.
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| Paint issues at their worst... |
The Bad: Did these get rushed into production or something? Because it feels like I've waited most of the year for these to come out. Her upper torso joint was stuck upon removing her from the packaging; fearing I would break her, I carefully worked at it until it came free, only to find that ALL the metallic red paint underneath the lip of the upper torso came free once the joint was unstuck. It seems that she wasn't left to dry before assembling, so there's this ugly, copper-ish tone all around the edge of her lower abdomen joint that is all too apparent if you move her just a tad too far in any direction. Ugh. There are also minor issues with the gold on her chest armor, and while that's not a deal breaker, it pisses me off even more that she has not one, but several paint issues.
And that isn't all. The choker around her neck (the default one) was also stuck thanks to un-dried paint. I got it off, but there's a bunch of silver around her neck post (you have to remove the default choker, meaning pop off the head first, to use the 'shield-holder' choker) that the alternate choker doesn't fully cover. And once you get the shield on the other choker, it doesn't really do any good to have the shield mounted on her back because it always has her looking slightly down.
So I doubt I'll ever mount the shield on her back, for starters. What's more is that her shoulder ball joints are extremely tight, which takes some doing to pose her around. There's a black spot of paint below her eye as well as on her collarbone, again, minor issues, but combined with the huge ones makes me want to like the figure less. I currently have an e-mail in to amazon to see what can be done.
So, bad paint, tough joints, everything else is okay, right? Wrong. She has RIDICULOUS high heels. I mean, even the sluttiest of strippers would have a hard time walking around in these, and the spikes on them are not a hard plastic, meaning they want to bend and buckle as you try and get her to stand. The included stand should alleviate that, but I prefer when my figures can stand on their own, something that can be done, with careful posing. Whether or not she'll stay standing indefinitely is unlikely, as I've found out several times now the hard way.
They've eschewed the usual double-jointed knee construction, meaning her legs don't bend as far as other PAK. Finally, and I think this is only because her crotch piece (the floating 'underwear' most PAK have to cover their hip joints) sits too high on mine, Diana has a weird 'front butt' thing going on. It's not as noticeable in some poses, but it still looks odd. So odd that I thought her legs had been swapped and assembled backwards, but I guess they're going for a 'barely there' feel with her undies. Hurmph.
Overall: I really want to like this figure more than I do. When these were first announced, WW was my favorite of the three designs. But the plague of paint issues takes another victim for Square Enix, and I can't give WW more than a B- and keep a good conscience. I was tempted to make that lower, but I'm taking into account that these paint issues are (hopefully) not present on all the figures, so I'm giving her the benefit of the doubt while I futz around and try to appreciate the figure for what it is. If I do end up getting a replacement from amazon (which I doubt), and it's in better shape, I'd go with a B. As it is, B-, baby.
Green Lantern
The Good: My stepson happens to think that this is the coolest PAK I own, if that counts for anything. But then again, his journey into the geek underworld is just beginning. Hal here (I'm assuming it's Hal, although some have said he could easily be Kyle; but it's Hal, dammit. Kyle needs his crab mask!) is, like the other two, a very visually striking figure. There's a lot of shiny metallic paint going on as well as clear plastic overlays for his chest, boots and arm guards, and the look is pretty wow-ing. His crackling energy effect alternate ring hand is pretty friggin' sweet, too, and unlike some other reviewers have commented, doesn't look too yellow to me. There's a lot of nice paint work, and even though it seems pretty spot on... there's some things going on with him, too.
The Bad: Hal suffers from the same weird high ankle joints as Batman. Again, maybe I need to play with them more to loosen them, but I'm a little surprised that they designed the joint a) Higher up than usual, and b) With a bunch of shit covering the front of the ankle to impede movement. He still stands great with a little coaxing, and again, LOOKS great. However, almost all the metallic paint on his rubbery parts (specifically his crotch piece and shoulder armor) feels kind of sticky to the point I'm kind of afraid to touch him too much. Dammit.
His left top knee joint was stuck. Like Diana, fearing breakage, I very carefully oafed(TM) it free, and whether it was un-dried paint like WW or glue, a bunch of paint came off the bottom of his thigh joint, exposing an unsightly edge of flesh-colored plastic. Not a deal-breaker, and nowhere near as bad as WW's issues, but a bitch nonetheless. I seriously wonder what the fuck is going on at Square Enix. Either I'm having a bad run with these, or their QC is getting bad, almost Mattel-level bad, and for what these fuckers cost, that's unacceptable. There's also a weird red spot on the front of his energy effect, which is baffling, because there is not a SINGLE SHRED OF RED ON HIM. Fucking hell.
Overall: Hal fares better than Diana, but not much. I'll give him a B, but after my disappointment with WW, it's perilously close to a B-.
Batman is the standout of this series, without question. Would my opinion differ if I didn't have QC issues with mine? Maybe. But I shouldn't have issues with these at fucking $80 a pop. If they were to have ANY issues, they should be very, very minor. For this much money, they should be great, not just good. Having said that, I intend to pick up all the DC Variants, seeing as how looks-wise, these are awesome. I just hope they figure out their issues overseas and make sure the next few waves (Flash/Batgirl, Superman/Supergirl, Aquaman/Cyborg) don't suffer the same fate. I don't regret getting these, but I am let down that they could have been far better, specifically WW.
Cheers.
Swift
