There's a new Batman in town, and he's the best to come around in a long time. DC Universe Classics is in the process of re-inventing itself, as is the entire DC Comics universe. Taken together, its a great opportunity for a new version of The Dark Knight.
Having little-to-no nostalgic attachment to any particular look of the character, the idea of new costume designs really doesn't bother me. If the character looks cool, that's really all I care about. So, how cool is this "New 52" version of Batman?
In short, All-Stars "New 52" Batman is now my current all-around favorite. The sculpt is fantastic, and he's got most of the elements I seem to like in a Batman figure: pupil-less eyes, short ears, clenched-mouth grimace, and dark colors. Batman has sculpted lines on his suit and a sculpted, raised Bat-symbol on his chest. The cape is a new design, with the front draping farther over his shoulders and the back sporting a more-symmetrical flow. The armored boots and gauntlets look great, and get a semi-glossy black finish. The paint-work is generally good, with one notable exception: the edges where the flesh meets the cowl can be quite sloppy (and this seems to be a wide-ranging problem). I got 2 figures, one perfect and the other with black paint overspill onto his upper lip, giving him an unseemly "mustache".
I was able to fix it with some flesh colored paint, but you may want to avoid buying "site-unseen" so you can pick the best paint job possible. The figure itself is cast in dark bluish-gray plastic. It's a lot darker than the prototype picture shows on the back, or than the DC Collectibles version, but it works just fine for me. Because the plastic is so dark, there doesn't seem to be any airbrushed highlights like the prototype pic shows, either, with the exception of the underside of the cape, which does sport some blue highlights. This Batman is cast in one color- no briefs- which may take some getting used to for some, but I'm perfectly fine with it.
The articulation is standard DC Universe, and all of the joints work well, even the ball-jointed head, which gives some nice up and down tilt to add personality to any pose. Unfortunately, Batman does not come with any accessories- not even a display stand, which makes the huge size of the card back and bubble oddly disconcerting (Mattel could cut the package in half and still fit the figure just fine).
And that's about it. A new look on a proven design, All-Stars "New 52" Batman is a hit in my book. He looks great, can achieve just about any pose I'd want, and is a very welcome addition to my Batman collection! It would have been nice to get some accessories with him, or even a display stand, and the paint issues around the face can be annoying, but the pros definitely outweigh the cons...
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