JAKKS Pacific looks to have stumbled across a couple of real winners over the past two years. Their World of Nintendo line seems to be going strong, judging by the empty pegs at my local Toys R Us (4 inch line, I mean). And then there are the Big Figs. These started out as Star Wars staples, which then branched into several varying sizes (though all relatively "big"). Now we've got Link from Legend of Zelda, giant electronic Star Wars troopers and Vaders, Godzilla and lately DC superheroes. I've mentioned the large scale 31" Darth Vader before on this site - I really like the figure - and after seeing Batman v Superman this past weekend I just couldn't pass up having a Big Fig Batman. I went with the 19" version, though there's an even bigger version out there...
One of my favorite toys as a kid was a Shogun Warrior Great Mazinger. Man, I played with that thing. It was hollow, made of hard plastic, had missiles that shot out of its fingers and could be stored on its legs, a removable Pilder glider atop its head, and wheels under the feet to roll it over the kitchen floor. But what I loved most about it was its size. For me, as a little boy, it was HUGE - way bigger than my Star Wars or He-Man figures. In fact, I remember going toe-to-toe directly with Great Mazinger, Jimmy Snuka-style on more than one occasion. JAKKS has done a great job of translating that feeling of awesome size to today's toy shelves. These figures consistently sport really strong sculpts (my Vader and this Batman both look great) and adequate paint work to mostly justify their price tags.
Batman here has a better sculpt than any of the Mattel products. He does stand just over 19" tall, and is made of really hard, lightweight plastic. He feels hollow, and he sports a cheap cloth cape. There are 7 points of articulation, useful only for fine tuning his vanilla pose: swivels at the shoulders, wrists, hips and head. Besides the grey and black, there are some gold/bronze highlights on the knuckles, gauntlets, toes and belt. Oh, and fifteen screw holes holding him together, clearly visible on his back. The details are pretty good, actually, and I've seen some customizers add a dark wash to the outfit to bring out the detailing even further; there are raised seam lines sculpted in addition to some wrinkles across the outfit. I suppose an air brushed five-o'clock shadow would add a lot, as well - the paint work here is almost too clean for this particular version of the character.
And that's about it. You've probably seen this guy on a shelf somewhere - they are everywhere right now - and if you are reading this, you might be wondering if it's worth getting? Well, you see everything you're getting right there in the store. The packaging has nothing to hide. There are no accessories, and minimal articulation to be had. He'd be great for a kid, no doubt, and will probably look terrific alongside his Armored version, Superman and Wonder Woman on a collector's shelf. So, for the price (I paid about $20), he's worth it. I'll get $20 of enjoyment out of having him in my collection. I don't know that I need to run out and find ALL of the others, but that Armored Batman was looking pretty cool the last time I was at Target...
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