Well.... If I'm being totally honest, I'm a bit disappointed. I'm torn. There's things I absolutely love about this figure, and some things I really hate.
Let's start with the good. As I'm sure many of you can tell, this guy looks amazing. The head sculpt is pretty bang on, and the golds look awesome. The cape is also movie accurate (it's a felt), and looks pretty good. Of course it's going to be a major dust collector, but what are ya gonna do?
I also love the abundance of accessories, but he does have trouble holding half of them. The grapple gun came out clean, and looks very nice. The 2 Batarangs are also pretty basic but accurate; you get a big one that folds and a small solid one. However, he definitely holds the big one better; the small one is a little loose and doesn't look as good IMO. Bats also comes with some of those bombs he used (one is active, one isn't) and while they look nice, his weird open hand can hold them but it doesn't look the best in his hand. It's more of a nitpick, but it's worth noting. Finally we have the surprise Joker card, which is a nice touch but Bats also can't hold it very well. I'd also like to point out the size of the hands. Again, more of a nitpick, but they may be a bit small. They look alright on Bale, but comparing them to Affleck's hands, they are significantly smaller (I have included a comparison picture). Not necessarily a complaint, but I'm just pointing it out.
Ok, now sadly onto the bad. I really, really wanted this to be their best 1/4 Batman yet. Looks wise, you could make an argument for it. But damn, for me personally this guy really falls flat when it comes to articulation and stability. Let's start with plastic quality and stability. The plastic feels more fragile and cheap in comparison to Affleck or some of the other 1/4 figures. When I was posing him, certain limbs feel like they could snap off fairly easy if you aren't super careful. The noise isn't very reassuring either. In terms of stability, this is a bit of a step back. I found Batfleck, Iron Man Mark 43, Penguin, and Arkham Knight Batman to all stand very well. Bale here isn't falling over every 5 seconds, but I would be much more worried about bumping him than say the Batfleck. EDIT: Just as I was typing this, Bale just fell flat on his face. Don't worry, we didn't lose paint and nothing's damaged. This is the third time he's fallen already though, and I'm fairly careful in posing him.
Now onto the articulation. Yikes. The thing is, all his articulation looks good on paper, but it wasn't executed very well. I don't know if it's just mine, but the arms can't come forward without forcing them. There's this bit of the torso hanging off the top onto the shoulder, and it seriously restricts movement. Again, you can get the arms past, but serious rubbing occurs. When the arms go out to the side, it is much easier to move but again, there is rubbing and you still have to put more pressure on it than you should have to. It also appears that his gauntlets do not rotate. This is fairly annoying for some poses. The torso articulation is fine, and the head cannot move the best but if they were to do it as they originally intended, the neck definitely wouldn't look as good. So they made the right call. Now here's the part that probably bothers me most in the entire figure. The hips/crotch area. Argh. First off, the legs can't kick forward and back very easily. This is where it feels and sounds especially fragile, and where I am most scared of breakage. It just doesn't sound right. Anyways, he can kick forward a couple clicks, but it's not as good as other 1/4 figures. Bats can do the splits quite well, and the rotation at the thigh works ok. But man, that crotch area. He had this little rubber flap coming down, and when you push the legs in, it can push in weirdly and ruin the look. You can get it to look good, but you have to mess with it a bit. Maybe it won't be that big of a deal for some, but it can be an annoyance. Finally, the double jointed knees are good and the ankles are tight but have a solid range of motion for a figure in this scale. No rotation at the top of the boot.
To top it all off, this may just be my figure but all over the suit there's tiny little nicks and marks. They aren't super noticeable unless you look up close, and it may be unavoidable, but it does bother me. The torso pieces also aren't lined up the best; I can adjust them to look normal so not a big deal. Just yet another tiny annoyance though.
So yea, I don't know guys. Maybe I was expecting too much of NECA. This was in like my top 3 most anticipated figures of the year, so that may be part of the reason I feel so disappointed. I'm not sure if my figure is just defective and wasn't assembled right or what, but I have lots of little problems. The only truly glaring thing is the articulation at the shoulders and hips/legs. But all the little things add up too. As I said before, I LOVE the sculpt and paint. In a museum pose, it's mighty fine. But once you start posing and moving the figures joints, things get frustrating. In comparison to Batfleck, this is easily the better looking figure. But OVERALL? It's tough, but I may give the edge to Batfleck. That figures articulation, stability, plastic quality, and fun in posing is much better. It's enjoyable. Bale on the other hand feels like he will become more of a chore to pose, if you get what I'm saying. He'll probably stay in one pose much longer. I still recommend picking up this 1/4 Batman Begins figure, but keep in mind that he does have some major flaws.
I just realized how long I've been typing. Too long?
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