Batman v Superman Battle Armor Batman :: I AM IRON-BATMAN!

Batman v Superman merchandise is hitting retail now. I found the basic assortment of action figures at Target today and picked up the Battle Armor Batman figure!

No matter what comes of the movie itself, this Batman action figure is a pretty faithful representation of Batman in The Dark Knight Returns, when he armors up to battle (distract) Superman. No matter what you think of Batfleck now or after you see the movie, I think fans of TDKR will still be very pleased with the visual aesthetic of this figure and will find it hard to resist.

This Battle Armor Batman is from the basic 6" line. There is also a Movie Masters line ala DCUC which includes Battle Armor Batman with more articulation and a grapple-gun BAF piece. Figures in that series run around twenty bucks each. I haven't seen them in person yet, but She's Fantastic has Wonder Woman already!

Target is charging $9.99 for this standard series, which seems fair nowadays. Iron Batfleck isn't very articulated (single hinged elbows, knees, hips, shoulders, wrists and a ball-jointed head) but he does come with an accessory - which would be ridiculous since it's a gun...unless it's a sonic blaster like in The Dark Knight Returns!

Or maybe it's a rocket launcher. Or a marital aid. Time will reveal what it does in the movie, but if you are a fan of TDKR all you need is a little imagination to see it as a sonic blaster. Or you can toss it because Batman doesn't use guns. Whatever floats your boat.

Batman's cape is vinyl - I would have preferred cloth, but the cape does remind me of the original Kenner Darth Vader's vinyl cape, so it wins point in the nostalgia category. Just be careful taking Batman out of his packaging; I cut the plastic away from his cape and freed him without pulling on the cape to avoid damaging it.

There is very little by way of paint on this Batman figure. His armor is all cast in metallic plastic. His eyes, face, and belt are the only parts with any paint. basic, but effective.

This wave also includes a standard Batman, a standard Superman, a kryptonite gloved Batman, and not shown on this cardback the wave also includes a Superman variant (which I don't recall the name of) and a standard Wonder Woman and Aquaman.

Sadly Wonder Woman was not there when I found Batman. Aquaman was there, but I wasn't terribly impressed by him. He didn't look like Momoa at all. But seeing him was still better than seeing another Supes or Bat variant!

Batman is covered in sculpted details. this figure really is a thing of beauty, and his appearance as such in the film a testament to Batman v Superman's comic book faithfulness (visually speaking, at least.)

Batman's boots are even spiked like in the comic book, for Superman-face-stompin' fun!

Battle Armor Batman really is a great looking figure. If you are unsure as to how deep you plan to wade into the Batman v Superman pool, I suggest you start with this basic version. He's simple, relatively inexpensive, and doesn't come with some massive neon-tinged movie-inaccurate accessory.

Might I add that it's kind of amazing that this figure does not include a bat-symbol. I mean sure, the comic version of this costume (as well as the film version) do not include a bat-symbol either, but it's pretty rare for a basic line Batman to not include a bat-symbol, regardless of film-accuracy. Someone in Marketing probably jumped out a window when they decided not to add one.

I've got BootLEGO bats in my belfry!

Looking at BootLEGOs on eBay the other day, I stumbled on to a brand new Bat-lot of Batmen with the new style cowl (I had yet to own any LEGO or BootLEGO Batmen with the new cowl style) and not only that, but the set included some great Batman variants. So even though I was as yet unfamiliar with the bootleg company that produces this lot (Duo Le Pin) I figured the pennies-on-the-dollar cost was worth the potential risk, so I ordered them...and man am I glad I did!

First up is Batfleck. I am pretty sure I will end up with an official LEGO set or two for the upcoming Batman v Superman movie, but BootLEGOS are so damn inexpensive and WHO CAN WAIT?!?! Also, thankfully I now know that Duo Le Pin is pretty high quality. These BootLEGOS are even closer to LEGO quality than the Sheng Yuan and Decool I have previous experience with! This set is just incredible. Don't get me wrong, they are still bootlegs and there are a couple flaws (one Batman head had the same no-emotion expression printed twice...ironic for Batman who isn't one to emote...and this Batfleck inexplicably has a scuba mask on the other side of his head) but...damn they are great. And they cost me less than 75 cents each with free shipping from China! And it only took less than a week for them to arrive! GOD BLESS AMERICA!

Up next: at first I wasn't sure if this were an 'official' Batman or not, it actually took me a minute to realize that this is the Batman: Arkham Knight Batman! How cool is that?!?!

This Batman even has printing on his arms and the sides of his legs! QUALITY! Another fun detail is that Arkham Batman has a calm expression without stubble while his angry expression has stubble. Like in the game, Batman gets angrier and less fresh as he battles throughout the night!

Next: Batman Begins. Each Batman minifigure comes with a batarang, a base and a bunch of pieces to make some little Batmobile/Batdrone or something. I left those out of the shoot because they are really just filler.

Next: Batman from The Dark Knight (in grey.) Some of the Batman minifigures came with plastic extended wings, and some came with cloth capes. I actually did a little mixing/matching to suit my desires, this one may have come with the cloth cape that I gave to Batfleck. Whatever, the whole point of these buildable minifigures is mixing and matching!

Batman Beyond. HOLY MOLEY! This guy alone is worth the low low price of admission! Other BootLEGOers have made half-assed attempts at Batman Beyond, but this is the first correct and screen accurate one I've ever seen. He came with a red cloth cape (another irony, THIS is one that should have the solid wings...in red) but Batman Beyond does not have a red cape, he has red retractable wings, so I left it off the minifigure.

Batman of Zur En Arrh! This is now the third BootLEGO Batman of Zur En Arrh I own (each from a different BootLEGO company. Wow!) We do indeed live in incredible times. I will have to do a side by side by side shoot of this version of Batman soon.

All these Batmen have back printing too, BTW. MOAR QUALITY!

Green Lantern Batman! Another wonderful and surprising addition. Now that I think about it, this guy had a cloth cape, so I switched it out with Batfleck. He looks better with solid wings (although they would look better still in green. GL Batman also came with flesh colored hands...weird...so I switched them with some spare black hands (BootLEGOS always seem to come with additional hands.)

Last but...well...least...is Space Batman! I think this Batman appeared in the LEGO Batman 3 video game. He has a normal face and a space face but the 'normal' face is weird because it is printed on the white plastic head. No skin tone. He looks more like Batzarro with the other face. So I'm sticking with space face!

Man, what a set! The quality of Duo Le Pin is incredible, even the cloth capes are better than anything I've experienced from BootLEGOS to date (while still falling short of LEGO quality...but not by much.) The unique characters and the use of the new style cowl makes this set a must have for anyone who likes to dip their toes in the BootLEGO pool from time to time.