Justice League may not have generated the revenue or fan reaction that Warner Brothers wanted, but it did generate a ton of excellent merchandise. Lots of toys, clothing and collectibles have been steadily trickling out for a year or so now, and the fine folks at Kotobukiya recently entered the field with a line of ARTFX+ 1/10 scale statues featuring the entire team. I had lots of fun in Koto’s booth at Toy Fair last week, and they sent me away with a Justice League Batman for review.
An outstanding likeness
I had an up-close look at all of the Justice League statues in Koto’s booth, and the character likenesses range from decent to excellent. This Batman statue definitely falls into the latter camp, featuring a strikingly accurate representation of Ben Affleck and his updated Batsuit from the film. His facial features, build, and even his posture seem dead-on, and it’s amazing when you consider that this statue is made from painted plastic.
This sort of statue is usually manufactured in several parts, and then those parts are painted and assembled. Often, you can see the seams (as you can on several of Koto’s pieces that I’ve reviewed in the past). This was especially true of the (otherwise excellent) All-Star Batman and Robin two-pack. But this Batman here was either manufactured differently or its parts fit more snugly, because I’m unable to see those distracting seems.
In pretty much every setting that I’ve tried, the color of Batman’s suit looks noticeably darker than it does in Koto’s own product photography, which has a contrast between the black and gray elements of the suit that is more reminiscent of the original version used in Batman v. Superman. This seems more accurate, though, as the JL suit is definitely darker. The paint work on the utility belt—and other metal suit accents—looks very realistic, as does the texture of the suit’s various components. Some of the photographs I took for this review (particularly the one directly above) look like a real-life, costumed person, which is an amazing feat in any statue, but particularly one at this size and price point.
Like all of Koto’s ARTFX+ statues, Batman has magnets in his feet that keep him fastened to an included magnetic base, so you can avoid that horrifying sensation of watching one of your beloved collectibles falling on its face when your kids come stomping through the house like a stampeding herd of rhinos after an espresso tasting. If that’s a problem for you. The base isn’t all that interesting—to the point that it’s not worth picturing here—but it gets the job done. My wife asked me if it was a coaster, and it does indeed look like one—so if you don’t have a troop of caffeine-infused rhino-children storming through your house, you may find an alternate use for the base.
Overall
Kotobukiya’s line of DC ARTFX+ statues has always featured quality interpretations of characters from comics, animation, games, and film, but I feel like this Justice League Batman sets a new bar for what they can achieve. The resemblance to Affleck is excellent, and it as at times eerily similar to the real thing. At eighty dollars retail, it comes at a premium compared to some of their other statues at this scale, but the difference in quality is disproportionately large, and you get a lot of bang for that increased buck. This is a great addition to any Bat-fan’s collection.
The Justice League Batman ARTFX+ statue is available for purchase on the Kotobukiya US site and retails for $79.99. You can follow Kotobukiya on Facebook for news on upcoming products.
