DC Collectibles Batman: Arkham Knight

This final form of Batman took the cake for the complexity of his suit design. The lock and load animation montage of his suit is awesome. This is a complete redesign of the previous Arkham suits, with many smaller armored plates, more heavily armored boots and even the cowl features several interlocking parts. Set about 10 years after Arkham Origins Batman is now 35, a bit older, and with a desire to retire! The Joker is dead but is haunting him in his PTSD riddled hallucinations. It seems as if the Joker injected blood from the previous game is still affecting him somewhat...

Now he has to stop the Scarecrow's plan to fear gas the whole city, while also stopping the Arkham Knight's self-driving tank militia and troops. And it wouldn't be an Arkham game if nearly every villain from his rogues' gallery didn't appear in either the DLC or the main game.

In terms of articulation, this Batman is easily the best out of all the Arkham line of 7-inch figures. His body sculpting could be a bit better, and his head is far too small given his body, but it is a great figure. He comes with an alternate Batarang hand, a nice Batarang and his line launcher, which he actually doesn't use much in this game, more so in the other games. I didn't realize this at purchase, but I apparently bought the battle damaged version, which has duller gunmetal, rust or dirt stains painted on the boots and parts of the armor, and mud-spatter on the cape.

DC Collectibles Arkham Knight - Arkham Knight

Arkham Knight was the final installment in the Arkham series of games, and it pulled off a lot of things well. The graphics were amazing. The new batsuit, with its interlocking armored parts, and the return of Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill, among others, was great. I enjoyed being able to double team puzzles and fights with Catwoman, Robin and Nightwing. I have mixed feelings about how the Batmobile worked in the game, but it was fun to use and fight with.

The game had a few main antagonists. Scarecrow was the overarching plot villain while the Arkham Knight was part of that and the main combatant Batman went up against. Suited up in a more militaristic style of armour and gear, the Arkham Knight was Scarecrow's general, to mobilize troops and bring down Gotham and Batman. He had no qualms about killing, employed tons of advanced technology and troop types, and even personally fights with Batman a few times in the game.
I won't spoil the identity of the Arkham Knight in case someone hasn't played it, but this figure was pretty well done.

The paint details are great on all his belt and armoured equipment. He comes with one solid looking sniper/assault type gun that is actually "transforming" dual pistols (in the game, not on the figure). His articulation is pretty solid, though is somewhat limited in some places.

DC Collectibles Batman: Arkham Origins

Arkham Origins did somethings well, and other things just passable. Boss fights? Great. New suit look? I dig it. The city is barren though of normal citizens. In the other two games, it had the excuse that it was either the Asylum (Crazy people, guards, and criminals only) or Arkham city (Dr. Strange created city section of criminals and emergency staff needing to be saved). The title Origins is also misleading, since it doesn't really deal with anyone's origins very well, even within its own universe. 

Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill declined this one, and their voice cast was replaced by Roger Craig Smith as Batman and Troy Baker as Joker. Definitely different, but good performances. 

In this setting, Batman is younger, more impulsive, and is even more prone to solving his problems with punches than any other! He spends most of the game gritting his teeth in anger. 

His suit is big, bulky and imposing. It is more like large plates of armor than it is the traditional batsuit. 

This figure, like the game, does some things well and other things, passable. The pros? He's got the best poseabilty of any Batman figure in the Arkham line with the exception of Arkham Knight Batman (review coming later). It's solid and does a good job of matching the game model suit. The balance is great, and for once, he has punching hands. One thing to note about the Arkham games is that Batman spends a LOT of time punching people. Every other DC Collectible Batman has come with open hands to grasp his accessories. The cons? I don't know if you've noticed the face. The face is...well, it's not perfect. I've seen other examples, and I wasn't fond of those, but this one has a few off-putting QC issues. They just don't paint stubble well. The mouth isn't great, and one of the eyes on mine is almost like it's swelling closed. Odd look. 

**Rating System Update**

So after some thought, I've decided on updating the rating system,à la 1.1.
It seems to me a 10 scale for accessories may be excessive out of 40 total points.
After all, there are some really great figures out there that you could buy, but don't necessarily come with an accessory or very few anyway. Maybe they weren't meant to! It's not like every comic book, video game or cartoon character needs extra things. Some of you may debate this vis-a-vis having extra hands and heads, and I don't argue that.
That said, my rules mates!

So here's the new accessory rating system:

Accessories: 
1 = No accessories, or 1 accessory. It may be lacking in some detail or paint. 
2 = 1-3 Accessories, usually extra weapons. Decent detail and/or paint. 
3 = 2-5 accessories. This may include extra hands or effects/swap-able pieces. 
4 = 5+: Extra hands, maybe a head, weapons and other good pieces.
5 = Nearly everything you could want given the character! All well done. 

So of course, with that, we only have a 35 point system. Who wants to count in scales of 5? Not I! Divisible by an uneven prime number? No thanks! Sorry prime numbers, go whine to Optimus for sympathy. We need to get another 5 points back.

With that, I will introduce the Fun Factor system. This is the most subjective of all rating systems. I mean, basically, this is where I get to skew the system in my favour, simply because I can get a lot of poses and fun out of the figure. I've learned in the course of these reviews that some figures I've had the most positive experiences with get left on the wayside. Some figures have poor articulation, or are pretty much gone off the market forever, but I would tell someone anyway that they have excellent dynamic shelf look and....well, fun!
So here it goes:

Fun Factor:
1 = Figure is poorly balanced, many QC issues, difficult to pose in anything other than the standard standing "vanilla" pose. Likely to break with "over-play"
2 = Figure can balance, has some variety in poses. Solid, and unlikely to break with play. 
3 = Figure can balance in a variety of poses. looks good on the shelf, compares well to other figures in its line or universe. Very good aesthetic look and mix of glossy and matte.  
4 = Lots of fun, the way the sculpt and paint work out create a dynamic, solid figure that balances in tons of poses. May even be able to balance on one foot! 
5 = This is a top 10 figure. Tons of fun, great poseability. You'll probably never get rid of this figure, according to me anyway! 

Disclaimer: This is once again open to change. This part is one I can appreciate more than the past rating system, but we'll see!

DC Collectibles Joker (Red Hood version) Arkham Origins

The funny thing about Arkham Origins is that it doesn't really spend much time with Batman's origin story (unless you buy some DLC), but focuses more on Joker's origin. This makes sense, given most people's familiarity with Batman. There isn't much else to tell there.

Origins uses the 1988 storyline from The Killing Joke to tell Joker's story. There is even a part of the game where you play as Joker and walk through his memories to how he became who he is. 

Jack Napier, the ex-comedian, is forced into a heist at ACE Chemical plant. He dons the red capsule and cape of the Red Hood, the "spokesrobber" if you will, for the group. An encounter with Batman dumps him into the chemical pool which causes the skin and hair dyeing as well as pushing his sanity right over the edge. 

This figure seems like an afterthought. I don't own a ton of Origins figures, but I'd have to say from reviews I've watched and read, this is probably the worst. The articulation is limited, the figure comes with no accessories and there isn't an actual head underneath the hood part. It seems like with both Joker and Deathstroke a second head would have been a good choice. 

DC Collectibles Copperhead: Arkham Origins

Several people have taken up the alias of Copperhead with varying degrees of strange. The other Copperheads that appeared in comics were always contortionists, but were either in possession of a snake suit that protected them and injected venom from a hood, or were actual mutated snake men. 

This take on Copperhead is supposed to be the daughter of the new 52 Copperhead. This helps explain the actual forked tongue and snake-like eyes she seems to possess. Still a master contortionist, she is one of the eight assassins hired to kill Batman for that cool 50 million. Her clawed gauntlets are tipped with a poison that causes blurred, vertigo-like hallucinations until the opponent dies. This version of Copperhead now appears in the DC Rebirth comics, although there seem to be others as well?

I enjoyed the Copperhead fight and the South American take on this villain. It made her unique, and she was very much a force to be reckoned with. This figure pretty much nails down everything about Copperhead. The tattoos, inhuman eyes, gauntlets are well done. The fact that her entire midsection from hips to the chest is a completely soft plastic that actually makes it looks like she has no lower ribs, is amazing. My only gripe about this figure is that her feet are pretty tiny looking given her height and frame. 

DC Collectibles Deathstroke: Arkham Origins

Deathstroke is one of the eight assassins contracted to kill Batman in the third game in the Arkham series, Arkham Origins. They really show off Deathsroke's fighting speed, weapons and resourcefulness in the game. He is easily the toughest boss fight in the game, and he's closer to the beginning. With tons of gadgets to use in the game play portion, and some great cut scenes, he's my favourite of the assassins.

This figure was released with his mask as a single pack, but due to coming with Copperhead, I bought him maskless in the Arkham Origins three pack.  Aside Copperhead, this also included the origin form/memory sequence of Joker as the Red Hood. The figure has everything you could want: awesome paint, fantastic armor sculpt, superior poseability and sweet accessories.

There are some more minor issues. His shoulder pads are solid plastic, so it takes finagling to get his arms up above his head and look natural. His gun holster and other gray soft plastic additions are unpainted but sculpted as if they were meant to be. There isn't a great place to put his retractable staff, which is interesting given they gave him a great gun holster and nice scabbard for the sword.

Mattel Robin: Arkham City Legacy

In the Arkham City game, Tim Drake is Robin, and I have to say his costume is my favourite version of Robin, ever. Seems more modernized, with duller reds that make it seemed both toned down but also gives Robin a less adolescent teen look and more of an adult one. Does he need both a mask AND a hood? I don't know, but it looks great. I also appreciate that on top of his acrobatic fighting in the game, his retractable metal staff with unfolding bullet shield makes him not just a less equipped version of Batman. Robin isn't playable in the main game, but he is a lot of fun in the DLC for Arkham City Harley Quinn's Revenge. 

This figure is like the other Legacy figures. This one has more paint details than Batman and Catwoman. His leg articulation is great, and I loved how they made his cape a soft plastic that rotated with the head. The hood is glued onto the head, so not removable, but it still gives him a good look.
Like other Legacy figures, he came with no accessories. That said, I liked the look of this figure so much, I couldn't help but let him borrow Arkham Knight Robin's staff while also drilling a hole into the punching hand in order for him to hold it.

Mattel Batman and Catwoman: Arkham Legacy City 2-Pack

So after acquiring a few highly detailed, but much less poseable Arkham Asylum and City figures, I tried my hand at getting a more articulated Catwoman. The fact it was a 2-pack sold on eBay for much cheaper than it was originally was just a sweet bonus. The Legacy figures scale back on the detail and are generally smaller than the DC Direct or Collectibles figures. They have the added bonus of tons more poseability and fun though!

The Catwoman does have some nice texture to the suit, and I like having a figure where her goggles are down. She has her classic whip accessory shaped well, but unpainted. The Batman figure doesn't come with any accessories and has mostly decent articulation.

Since the articulation, price and other categories are inextricably linked in these two figures, they will be evaluated as if they were one!