Play Arts Kai Batman - Arkham Asylum Review

Ok, let's make it simple, when you come across a Play Arts Kai Batman from Arkham Asylum...

Yes, this one indeed.

...selling at lower than SRP (i.e. 3.7- 4K), GET HIM! If you are a fan of the Arkham Asylum game, GET HIM! If you are a Batman collector, GET...oh well...i don't think i need to tell you that. There is a good reason he's selling like hot cakes right now, most shops who got their first shipment of Batman sold him out pretty quickly. Aside from being a really famous character with a large fan-base that transcends toy lines, the Play Arts Kai Batman is really good. He's not perfect, but, well...we'll get to that in time. 

For the second consecutive major release Square-Enix has proven my initial judgment dead wrong. The Play Arts Batman figure is simply one of the best releases in the past few months and it's a tough call coming behind the heels of the Super Street Fighter 4 figures Ryu and Chun-Li.

The packaging is different from the earlier Play Arts Kai releases with the box adding more width and bulk while reducing its overall size. If you are a long-time Play Arts Kai collector you can easily miss him the first time since his box looks very different from the standard PA Kai box. Opening the box, you'll get these:

His arsenal is not exactly what you would expect from Batman: his Grappling gun, Batarang, a couple of extra hands and an extra cape extension - still sealed behind the inner tray. I like how it looks like when displayed inside the box so i won't be using it for this review. 

This is my "NO-I-AM-TOTALLY-NOT-BRUCE-WAYNE" look.

The head sculpt is really, really good. It's good to know that Batman did not lose any details from the prototype launched last year. His head can also tilt up and down, useful if he's firing his grappling gun on a tall establishment. His cape comes in two separate pieces attached beneath the folds, they are also articulated for action poses.

 Square-Enix provided his body sculpt with impressive details, his trademark spiked bracers (which is made up of soft PVC to avoid breakage), his trademark utility belt (which, sadly, cannot be removed or played with) and his Bat insignia. The details are a lot more realistic, with a bit of wear and tear here and there and the feel of a rubber body armor instead of a metallic one (which doesn't really make sense outside the movies).

And no silly George Clooney-esque nipples for you.

One of the concerns about Batman is that his cape may hinder his arm articulation but i'm happy to find out that the part of his cape covering his shoulders is made from a softer material than his main cape thus enabling his shoulders and arms good movement.

Take that! imaginary enemy...

"To infinity and ...errr..."

Playability is top notch on this particular figure, i had a high time posing him last night. Check out some action moves below:

Which brings us again to the age-old riddle: "Why do most superheroes wear their underwear over their pants?"

"You know, it's not polite to look down on a guy when he's trying to take a piss"

Fetch!

Like i said earlier though, Batman isn't perfect at all and aside from the small arsenal which can be forgiven actually. He's small, smaller than the Street Fighter figures and more in line with the Play Arts Kai Dissidia Final Fantasy figures. Looks like Square-Enix threw another wrench on our display plans.

It's no big deal if you are a Batman collector though since you won't be expecting to get any Cloud or Ryu figures, at least, not anytime soon. I just can't help but wonder how good Batman will be if he's in the scale of, say, Metal Gear Solid's Big Boss, Assassin's Creed Ezio or Devil May Cry 4 Dante. That would be truly awesome.

His SRP is pretty expensive for a small figure, 3.7K @ GreatToys Online, and some shops sell him as high as 4K. For an 8.5 incher (barely), that's a bit too AAaaarrgghhh! IMHO.

Before we wrap up, here are some more action pics:

Hey, wait a minute! What the?! you're not The Joker...

...well, it doesn't matter, for the purpose of this pictorial, i'm still gonna kick your @$$!

POW!

ZONK!

KAPOW!

CRACK!

 You're Welcome.