The Dark Knight - Medicom MAFEX Batman Figure Review

At this point, there have been a LOT of Dark Knight versions of Christopher Nolan's Batman released in various scales and price points. The Movie Masters 6" line is what originally brought me back into toy-collecting after a long hiatus, and for a long time those were the best I thought Batman could get. That line has grown, with plenty of groans and glitches, but in the mean-time we've added Hot Toys and Play Arts Kai to the roster. Now, along comes Medicom with a new take on the Dark Knight. How did it turn out? It may well be time to sell off those Movie Masters figures!

I honestly didn't know what to expect with this figure. I pre-ordered him 6 or 7 months ago, sight unseen, from a site that advertised him as highly articulated, and that's about it. I'm a sucker for the Dark Knight, so I went ahead and pre-ordered. Flash forward 6 months, and I get an email that my figure is about to ship. I actually considered cancelling - I had just gotten the Play Arts version (and wasn't all that impressed, but that's a different story), and was pretty doubtful that another version could offer anything new.

Medicom's Dark Knight comes packaged in a window box with some nice artwork of Batman in several action poses on the back. You can see everything nicely, but this isn't a figure you want to keep in-package. The figure and accessories are sandwiched between plastic trays inside, and there's even a small clear plastic baggie-type thing under his head. You get Batman, his grapple gun, the EMP launcher and 3 extra hands. All told, he has 2 fists, 2 splayed hands and 1 gripping (right) hand.

You also get a nifty, clear plastic Robot Spirits style display stand. It's really useful for action poses- not one of those stupid discs with a foot post in it. That said, there's a couple of things that are missing. I personally would have included another hand with splayed fingers and a batarang sculpted between a couple of them, for throwing poses, and one with those little bombs sculpted in the palm. I also might have included a second, vinyl cape that could be switched out for the cloth one for those who don't like cloth, or even added some wire to the edge of this one to allow the cape to be posed a bit more dynamically. Finally, a second head either unmasked or with the infrared goggles would have made this guy complete, and made any other version completely unnecessary.

As advertised, Medicom's Dark Knight has outstanding articulation. There's a ton of joints allowing for great posing options, and it's actually the articulation that really won me over with this guy. The head's balljointed, and is on a balljointed neck. The two work together very well to allow him to look up, which is terrific if you own the Movie Masters Batpod. He's perfect on that. He doesn't have as good a range of motion looking down, though, which is disappointing for those scowling, glaring poses from on up-high. The shoulders are ball-jointed with a swivel embedded inside. They're really loose, though, and fall out very easily. They pop back in pretty easily, as well, but it can be frustrating. Double jointed elbows and knees, ball wrists allowing for easy swapping of the hands, and really tight rocker ankles are all good. The articulated toes don't allow the foot to lie flat, though; they are always pointed upwards (moreso on the right foot than the left). There's a ball waist with lots of tilt and another under the rubberized chest piece, so he can crunch and lean to your heart's content.

The weapons fit well in Batman's hand, but I can't get the EMP posed two-handed like the back of the package advertises. I tend to be horrendous at posing, so I think it can be done, but only with the butt of the rifle propped over Batman's shoulder, not resting against it. One of those in-out shoulder swivels like NECA included with their Gears figures might have accomplished the job, or I need to sit down with a bit more patience to get it to work. The loose shoulders really get annoying, but everything else about the articulation blows the Movie Masters version out of the water. Oh, almost forgot! The hips have a nifty addition: the post actually moves up and down, so you can slide the hip joint up higher, or down lower, depending on the pose you are looking for. This allows for those side kick poses, while reducing the gap in regular standing poses. It took me a bit to notice it, and another little while to get used to it, but it works pretty well once you do so.

The sculpt on Medicom's MAFEX Dark Knight is nothing short of terrific. The details from head to toe are integrated well, and work with a simple paint job and complex tampos to (again) make this guy nearly perfect! I say nearly, because of one thing: there's something "off" to me about his head sculpt. It's too round, and too big for my tastes. The prototype pictures on the package show a grimmer mouth (that can tilt down appropriately), while in-hand this guy's rounded noggin just looks too "soft" to me. Otherwise, he's brilliant, even down to the tiny mesh-tampographing done on his armor to make it look like that "carbon weave whatever" that Lucius Fox mentioned.

I tried to replicate all of the promo pictures from the package back, with varying degrees of success. I could come close with most of them (except the EMP pic), as shown here.

I was initially very disappointed in this guy. The face/head sculpt threw me, and he carries a pretty hefty price-tag, at about $40. That, and the fact that his arm fell off right away didn't get us off on the right foot. But once I started messing around with him, I really began to enjoy myself. I tend to not have enough fun with my toys: they get posed in one way, then find themselves on a shelf forevermore, only occasionally to be noticed again, it seems. Not so with MAFEX Dark Knight. He's tons of fun to pose and mess around with. Yes, the joints are loose, but I think that's intentional, to allow for posing. And the stand really helps. He looks good with the other Movie Masters lineup, and he's probably the last 6" scale Dark Knight Batman I'll ever need. I actually like the cloth cape, as it doesn't weigh him down and it's done well-enough to allow for lots of posing (and it won't get in the way on the Batpod). It's attached pretty tightly, so I don't think I'd try to switch it out with a Movie Masters plastic one, but I suppose it could be done.

Medicom's MAFEX Dark Knight is a really cool figure. You won't find him at Target or Wal-mart. He's a great little import-piece, and has so much to offer, that he's definitely worth a look. If you can get over the price tag (hey, you may be able to sell-off those Movie Masters versions, if Mattel's plastic hasn't deteriorated, leaving a ghostly white film over portions like mine have, to make up some of the costs for this guy), you probably won't regret getting him. I know I don't...