REVIEW: Hot Toys 1/6 Scale Batman Armory with Batman
We’ve posted some pictures of the Hot Toys 1/6 scale replica of the Batman Armory from The Dark Knight before. You can salivate over them here. Based on the armory Batman used while the Batcave was under construction in The Dark Knight, there are three versions of the set — the full version comes with Bruce Wayne and Alfred figures as well as Batman and his armory. There is another that comes with Alfred, Batman, and the Armory, and the other set only has the Batman figure and his astonishingly vast collection of weapons. Well, “only.” After playing with it for a week, I can tell you that the smallest set is still plenty expansive. Hot Toys provided me with a set to review, and honestly, opening the box I felt like a kid on Christmas. And then I opened another box, and then another. The packaging is (understandably) intense, but it makes the unboxing all the more fun/overwhelming. There is a lot to unwrap. (If you plan to play with yours for a little bit and then return it to the box, take notes on how everything fits together, or you will never get it back in.)
When you get through all the layers of cardboard and plastic, the first thing you get to is the Batman figurine and his various faces and hands. The face and body are incredibly detailed, and it is a really good likeness of Christian Bale. The armor is fitted over a cloth bodysuit, and the way in all fits together is perfect. You can take a magnifying glass to it and be hard pressed to find anything wrong or out of place, plus, it is really fun to play with. It is really easy to pop Batman’s head off, and then pull his face (or, really, his mouth) off and replace it with a different, angrier face. You can also cram a tool up his neck to change the direction his eyes are looking. That part is very fun, and really adds to the range of expressions for the figure. The hands are just as easy. There are a variety of tools and weapons that Batman can hold, and you need different hands to fit each of them. There are six hands total. They fit on snuggly enough that you’ll feel a teeny bit queasy the first time you pull one off, but once you get over that, they are a breeze to use.
Eventually, you’ll move on and get to the Armory itself. The level of detail on the case is incredible. It is all hand-painted, and the subtle wear and tear on the handles and hinges is OCD-like. The tools and weapons are packed in three separate cases — one for the things that hang in the back go the armory, one for the batarangs and such that fit into the rotating shelves, and one that holds various tools and larger weapons that hang on the inside of the doors. The batarangs especially are set very deeply in their packaging, and it looks like a chore to remove them, but the set comes with a small plastic lever to use to pry them out. It is surprisingly satisfying to pop them out. The way they are packaged corresponds directly with their placement in the Armory, so there is no puzzlework to figure out where things go. Be sure to play with the remote control for the lights in the Armory.
The one real flaw with the Batman figure, and really, with the whole set, is the utility belt. It comes with three, one on the figure itself, and two in the armory. You might need the extras. They are very delicate. The belt on the figurine is wrapped in protective foam and plastic, and you have to remove it to remove the packaging. There is a warning not to attempt it before you read the instructions, but mine broke with very little handling. A second broke in the exact same spot when I was trying to put it on. The problem is that the belt buckle is weakly glued to the belt, making it very delicate, but the clasps (located on a different part of the belt) require quite a bit of force to fasten or unfasten when they are wrapped around the figure. A magnetic closure on the belt would have been better. Of course, because everything is hand assembled, your belt may be better glued than mine was. Also, any issues with small breakages are covered by Sideshow's return/exchange policy. They are replacing my belts, and even with the belt problems, I still think this set is amazing.
It’ll probably take you about an hour to put everything in its place and then play around with exactly which hand/tool/mouth combination you want to pose him in for your display. (There is also an extra empty cowl so that you can pop the boots off and hang the empty suit in the armory.) And I hope that you will display this. I know different kinds of collectors — some who never ever ever open the box, some who set it up for display and then never touch it again, and some who full on play with their toys. This set is for the last two groups. You could buy this, keep the box sealed for a few years, and then sell it to someone else, but what’s the point? The craftsmanship and detailing are too good to never be seen, and the different hands and faces are too much fun to never touch. Leave it for those of us who want to actually look at it sometimes.
The Hot Toys Sixth Scale Figure Batman Armory with Batman is $384.99 and is currently waitlisted, but The Batman Armory with Alfred Pennyworth is available for pre-order for $524.99.
If you want to see more high quality, professional photos of the set, click here. If you would like to see what the set looks like in my poorly lit dining room, I've included several photos below.
