Got mine today, but can't say I'm all that impressed with it unfortunately.
The suit has a major crease in it, and a couple of dents and worn bits around the collar, but I could live with those I guess, especially as most were in largely 'hidden' areas. The cape on mine was an absolute nightmare to attach too, but I got there eventually. Took a lot of work though because the inside holes were clearly drilled too small for the pegs on the cape to even remotely fasten into.
Worse still, I couldn't attach the damn Batman head, as the socket connector was far too small and slightly warped, and whenever I tried to force it on it didn't have any give at all, despite a hell of a lot of force being used, and there was a real danger that it was going to end up damaging the collar of the suit (which already had dents and wear spots right out of the box). Kinda disappointing given that I purchased it primarily to display as Batman as well.
I Finally got the Bat head on the damn thing, but I have to say, if this is indicitive of the quality of Hot Toys Batman pieces, then I'm seriously considering cancelling the Keaton Batman now. And that's my favourite version of the character, so that's pretty telling of just how disappointed in this piece I am. Regardless, I'll still keep the Nicholson Joker, because I've never had any real issues with any of Hot Toys 'standard' figures, but this Batman, gotta say, very disappointing experience so far.
First up, I hate the rubber suit. Not just because mine has a major crease down the right hand side, and assorted dents in it, but it basically makes the figure useless from a posing point of view, as anything other than Batman standing in a 'waiting for the bus' pose puts clear pressure on the rubber, and risks creases and tears if kept in such a pose for any length of time. Plus it 'bunches' pretty ugly anyway when most articulation is used. So no dynamic or accessory using poses for this guy.
The build quality on mine was absolutely terrible too. As already mentioned, the pin holes for the cape were barely drilled, and had to be forcibly made larger just to be able to then get the cape on at all, and even then it was a major struggle and still had to be forced, hard. The Batman head connector was too small, and had to be 'worn' bigger before I could even get close to attaching the head, and even then, again, it took tremendous force to do so.
The cape is slightly uneven, so looks noticably crooked when attached. It, just like the rubber suit, is an absolute dust and particle magnet to a degree to which I have almost never seen before as well, and because I don't have any enclosed cabinets I think he's going to have to go back in the box soon for that very reason.
The magnetic switch out face plates? Nice idea, only mine don't seem to switch out, because the standard one in the head will not come out under any circumstance, almost as if it has been glued in there. Oh, and even though that would have been my faceplate of choice anyway, mine has a scratch on the chin, and a tiny black dot on one side to boot. You know, just in case I didn't already have enough issues with the piece I got already...
Hell, even the bat-grapple gun has sloppy paint apps on mine, one of the batarangs is poorly shaped, and there's a huge paint chip missing on the metal prongs on the stand. Oh, and did I mention that the Bruce head, one of the gauntlets, and a couple bits of the suit have visible 'shiny' spots on them? Or that he has weak ankles, so it is a risk trying to leave him standing without use of the stand, a stand that will dent the rubber over time if used anyway, so there seems to be no real safe choice as far as displaying him goes...
So yeah, I'm actually pretty disappointed in this piece. None of the issues with mine, taken individually, are likely to be seen as being quite bad enough to warrant replacement, nor very easy to show in photos to boot, so Sideshow isn't going to give me the time of day either, so I think I'm pretty much stuck with it as is.
And here's the thing, believe it or not, I'm not even all that picky compared to a lot of collectors I know. I don't expect absolute perfection, but nor do I expect myriad issues either. The rub spots on the suit, or the dents, or the worn areas around the rubber collar, I can live with them. A couple of minor issues I could have shrugged off. But all these issues added together, along with all the others I had right off the bat, and this piece just bums me out really. It just does not feel like money well spent. First buyers regret I have had in a long, long time in fact.
Ordinarily I'm a big Hot Toys fan, and while I never much liked the idea of rubber suits, I was willing to give it a chance, but now I have this one in hand, I like it even less, and it pretty much guaranteed that I wouldn't bother getting Hot Toys next TDK/TDKR Batman release. And with all the issues that mine has, it just magnifies any disatisfaction by a factor of ten. Yes, there's clearly some great sculpt work going on with this piece, yes, it still looks prety good on the shelf now I've actually got the head and cape attached (something that took me more than two hours to do!), but it doesn't wow me as much as I'd hoped, and for me, with all the issues mine had/still has, I just don't know if 'looks pretty cool still' is enough at the end of the day. I certainly don't feel like it is right now, that's for sure.
Anyway, just had to rant, as I was really looking forward to this piece, but the reality of the final product just did not meet expectations, not in my case at least.
