Batman: Injustice (S.H.Figuarts)

S.H.Figuarts Batman (Injustice)

Finally joining the S.H.Figuarts lineup of action figures is Batman from Injustice: Gods Among Us, a superhero fighting game that has actually been well-received by critics. We can only imagine how excited both Bat-fans and fans of the video game (including myself, actually) were with Bandai's first announcement of a Batman figure having a dozen of accessories and moving parts as what this Japanese toymaker is notable for. But the question is- will Bandai, a company who has been creating a lot of Sentai Rangers and Kamen Riders pull off a well-engineered figure of a DC character such as Batman? That we'll have to find out as we crack him out of the box.














But before we set him loose, let's have time to take a quick look at the box. With its reusable feature, S.H.Figuarts' standard windowed-box is always beneficial to collectors who always have trouble finding some space in their rooms. You can use it as a storage case as well as a display item because of its simple yet elegant design.

When it comes to accessories, you can always count on S.H.Figuarts bringing loads of them. To begin with, you got two interchangeable heads and three pairs of interchangeable hands plus a "special hand" for holding his grappling gun. Batman's grappling gun has two types of hooks- one is retracted while the other one is "spreaded" with a 6-inch bendy wire at the backend. And last but definitely important accessories are his two batarangs, which are a bit oversized yet considerable.

What's really bothersome is the size of his grappling gun- the handle is too wide for his "special gripping-hand" to hold. It is as big as his shoulders that forcing his small grip around it could break his fingers.

The measurements on his cape is 5 inches tall and almost 9 inches wide, and it's articulated. There are 3 "cape-pieces" to assemble this mind-blowing cape which can be attached all together to a peg hole at his back. To me, the only ugly part with it is this big bad fissure that separates the cape's uppermost portion from the rest of it. Bandai has engineered it very poorly.

The articulation however is good but not all that perfect. Batman cannot aim his head up high to do a flying pose which is crucial to the poseability of this character. His torso got rotation at the diaphragm and waist. Both elbows and knees are double-jointed. He has double-ball pegs at the hips and a couple of fabulous ankle rockers. The toes have articulations as well.

Appreciatively, the sculpt and paint job are not as silly as the playability of this figure. We have different shades of gray seen here together with this blemish-free sculpting. I'm glad they added a decent amount of blue shadings over and under his cape. Although the details are not as impressive as with the ones from McFarlane Toys but this is the best we ever got from Bandai.

Now here's a question that a lot of people are asking- is the S.H.Figuarts Batman in-scale with any of our 6-inch scale action figures? For those collectors who love mashing up DC and Marvel, this figure is pretty much in good scale specifically with Marvel Legends. Some people may be very particular with this Batman not being a "Legends-scale" because of the small head, and lean arms and legs but he doesn't seem weird as I pose him next to a ML Spider-Man. But of course, this is not a figure meant to be in-scale with Marvel Legends.