Dark Knight Batman 1/4 scale bust - Another Pop Culture Collectible Review by Michael Crawford, Captain Toy

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Hot Toys 1/4 scale Dark Knight Batman Bust

"The following is a guest review. The review and photos do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Michael Crawford or Michael's Review of the Week, and are the opinion and work of the guest author."

Jeff Parker and Hot Toys is like spaghetti and meatballs. He checks in tonight with a look at one of their new Dark Knight busts, the Batman. Take it away Jeff!

The Dark Knight (TDK) merchandising machine is showing no signs of slowing up yet, it’s a licence that is proving a cash cow for many manufacturers, from the mainstream likes of Mattel with it’s cheap ‘n’ cheerful plastic figure range, DC Direct with its mid-range quality collectables, right through to the high end, Asian collectables on offer from the likes of Medicom, Kotobukiya and Hot Toys, and it’s with the later we are dealing tonight.

Although the Hot Toys (HT) Batman busts were announced well before the 1/6 figures, they still managed to get a release after them. I’m still waiting for my Joker bust to arrive, but couldn’t wait any longer to review his nemesis, so here is the Batman in his original costume first seen in Batman Begins and rapidly superseded in The Dark Knight.

This is my second bust review for Hot Toys (HT), the first was the excellent Rambo III sculpted by Yulli, this time around, like on the cowled head with the HT 1/6 figure, Kim Jung Mi is on sculpting duties… does he cut the mustard, or is it ‘no cigar!’

Packaging: ***
This is a relatively simple box designed primarily to protect its contents, and it’s certainly strong enough to do that. So you get an oblong box constructed of a strong mid-thickness corrugated card, this is printed in a silk finish baring the movie logo and Gotham skyline on the front. All the other panels have images of the bust and repeats of the logo.

Inside the box is a Styrofoam clamshell holder, this is formed to hold the bust snugly and has a window for the face, so as to make it visible through the front of the box. So, as I said, simple but effective and my bust arrived in A1 perfecto condition.

Sculpt: ****
Well, Kim Jung Mi has 100% nailed this guy, there’s not a lot of Christian Bale on show here, but what there is, is phenomenal. The shape of the mouth and chin are faultless, likewise the eye’s, minimal but perfect! Then where the line between face and mask butt-up, the subtle skin texture ends and the matte texture of the cowl takes over. But the quality doesn’t stop, this is a near perfect representation of the mask, cape, upper torso and shoulders with some beautiful work on the fine tooling around the ‘Bat’ logo on the chest and the clasps holding the cape in place. The cape is designed to sweep around at the front and works well in concealing some of the post that supports it. This thing looks good from any angle… can you tell I like this?
Just beautiful, I can’t wait to get my mitts on the Joker. Unlike the Rambo bust this one has no articulation at the neck joint, but the design of the Batsuit put paid to that, so as Michael said in his 1/6 review, we can blame Lucius for this, not HT.

Paint: ****
As I said above, not a lot to paint here, but what is painted is sublime. The eyes are up there with HT lofty standards and again utilise their ultra crisp detailing, letting the gloss finish do the work of an ‘inferior’ doll dot. But the apps on the chin area are just so sweet; it’s a reasonably flat job, letting the texture sculpted below do all the hard work. But the lips are picked out perfectly and the line between the skin and the mask is absolutely perfect… at least it is on mine, so full marks. I noticed the finish on the skin is slightly glossier on the bust than the 1/6 figure, I think I prefer the matte finish but this certainly helps distinguish between the textures. It’s also worth giving your hand a quick scrub with soapy water before handling, as any grease will show up as shiny patches on the matte textured ‘Batsuit’.

Articulation: N/A
Not a bean… well it can twist on its podium to face in different directions, but its hardly ‘articulated’!

Accessories: N/A
Well, he comes with some serious attitude!

Outfit- N/A
All sculpted.

Fun factor- **1/2
Not one to play with, this is obviously a display piece, but it’s a very nice one!

Now the wait for the Joker begins… c’mon already!

Value: ***
If you normally get your HT goodness from Sideshow, you’ll have to look elsewhere. This is a DC licensed item, so if you’re in need of a Batbust you can check out some of Michael’s sponsors, and it looks like you’ll be paying $63.99 pretty much universally, unless you go direct to DC Direct, where you’ll pay the full RRP.

I managed to score my Rambo bust for a whole $19 less than Bats, and I know the licence for Rambo III isn’t ‘quite’ the hot property that TDK is, but I still feel this could do with being at least $10 less than its going for, (in fact the RRP is $80, and if you pay that you can knock another star off). It’s also worth noting this is entirely plastic and not poly-stone, it doesn’t bother me at all, but I know some people prefer the weight of a stone bust, however, it is still quite a heavy piece.

Overall: ***1/2
If you’re a serious collector of all things Batman, then this is a must and is perfect for sitting on your desk… that’s where mine is!

It was the Rambo bust that got me into these, and I’m so glad it did. This is a great piece of work, and with the Joker soon to follow, and the original Giger ALIEN not far behind, this is shaping up to be a great series!

So, why not full marks, the only sticking point is price, had it been nearer a $50 price tag it’d be an easy four stars.

Score Recap:
Packaging - ***
Sculpt - ****
Paint - ****
Articulation - N/A
Accessories - N/A
Outfit - N/A
Fun Factor - **1/2
Value - ***
Overall - ***1/2

Where to Buy -
You can use the links on the homepage to check out some of Michael’s sponsors below-

Urban Collector
$63.99 - PRE ORDER

Cornerstore
$ 63.99 - PRE ORDER

Amazing Toyz
$63.99 - PRE ORDER

Or if you’re in the UK:

Forbiddenplanet
Ł 52.99 - PRE ORDER

Or you can use Michaels sponsor www.MyAuctionLinks.com to find a good deal as well

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Figure from the collection of Jeff Parker.