Thursday, February 4, 2010

Hot Toys DX02 Batman Review III - Bats in Hong Kong

In the movie "The Dark Knight (2008)", Lau (played by our very own Singaporean actor Ng Chin Han) who is the mob's accountant flees to Hong Kong with the mob's money, believing that he would be safe there as Gotham has no jurisdiction. Little does he know that the Batman would come a-calling.

Christian Bale's Bruce Wayne / Batman goes to Hong Kong SAR with his new batsuit which now has a backpack containing his glider cape and his Sticky Bomb Gun (who comes up with a name like that?), an air-powered charge-firing rifle which allows Batman to fire timed explosive charges from considerable distances and can be folded into two halves into a box-like shape to fit in the back of his utility belt.

When Hot Toys first released the new Batman costume from "The Dark Knight" (full review HERE) in 2008, it was what 1:6 collectors and movie buffs had been craving for and it managed to satisfy somewhat BUT there were a couple of minor issues which Medicom jumped on and released their version of the new batsuit much later in 2009 with a supposedly more superior costume. I'm glad I didn't cave in and bought that as this latest 1:6 incarnation of the Batman costume by Hot Toys is the BEST by far!

What Bruce Wayne brought along for his Hong Kong trip: backpack, utility belt (you can see the silver magnets set against the bronze belt) and Sticky Bomb Gun disassembled in two parts. When Hot Toys release this DX (Deluxe) version of The Dark Knight, they really didn't hold back. The 1:6 scale Sticky Bomb Gun can be assembled and connected with a few twists and turns, then dismantled and stored on Batman's utility belt - very COOL

Here's Hot Toys DX Batman all geared up and ready for his assault on Lau's building







More close-ups of the exceptional 1:6 Batsuit by Hot Toys. The Batsuit is made of hardened kevlar plates on a titanium-dipped fiber and is broken into multiple pieces of armor over a more flexible bodysuit for greater mobility.

The cowl of the Batsuit, which in previous film incarnations has been attached to the shoulder and neck, is now a separate component inspired by the design of motorcycle helmets, allowing the wearer to freely swivel and move his neck without moving the rest of his upper torso. Now why didn't anyone think of that earlier?


In this Batsuit, the iconic blades on the sides of Batman's gauntlets are now retractable and are capable of firing outwards as projectiles.

The 'memory cloth' cape has the ability to fold into a backpack, demonstrated during the base jump in Hong Kong.

More close-up views of the 1:6 backpack, or is that "Bat-pack"?


Close-up pictures of Batman's gauntlets and the assembled Sticky Bomb Gun


Sticky Bomb Gun retracted for disassembly

Separated components of the Sticky Bomb Gun "hangs" on Batman's utility belt via magnets




What can I say? Really outstanding job by Hot Toys EXCEPT for one minor hiccup so far that some readers have shared with me and that is the LEAKING Batsuit. Yup, the batsuit leaks oil at the abdomen region where the diamond shaped abdominal armor is located, specifically the bottom half of the "diamond". You can clean it off but after a while, it shows again. I've only had it since Sunday so I don't know when the oil will stop leaking or if it does :(

Review I - The Package
Review II - Different DX Batman heads
Review IV - More Hong Kong Batman
Review V - Sonar Vision Batman

To see the earlier version, click on this link.

Check out the awesome 1:6 Batpod HERE

Comparison pictures
of the two 1:6 scale Hot Toys TDK Batman and why this one is the BEST!

4 comments:

desmond said...

I saw the actual figure. It's nice and definitely a must have figure for a Batman fan.

Michel VO Takahashi said...

Wow!!
That's exactly what I expecting from HotToys!Nice job!
Still waiting for mine!
Nice pictures :)

Unknown said...

I'm a regular on the Sideshow Freaks collectibles forum and we're trying to figure out the cause for the odd oil leakage. We're methodically trying different things to figure it out and stop it. It is affecting a lot of people, it seems.

We've gone so far as to post the specific problem on the Hot Toys Facebook page (though I doubt we're the first to do so).

So hopefully we'll have an answer soon, one way or another!

Honestly, as good looking as DX Batman is, I think Hot Toys really dropped the ball on this one. The figure turned out great, but it's been a rough road for this release. I'm sure you're aware, but when it was released last December, a lot of HK collectors reported many problems with the figure and there was a lot of anger and frustration. Hot Toys rushed this one out too soon and didn't apply enough Quality Control before releasing it.

Even after delaying the bulk batch shipments, it seems there still are problems (oil leak).

Still, thanks for your review! Mine arrives next week.

alex teo said...

yeah desmond, not just Batman fan but every 1:6 collector should have this Ha! Ha!

hey michel, hope you get yours soon - i know you're going to LURVE it >_<

Hi Jason, thanks for the heads up on the oil leak. I read about the problems with the first batch that was released in Hong Kong and am glad they got that sorted out. At least the oil leak doesn't cause any damage to the figure except that we'll have to clean it daily. I'm glad that there are fellow collectors who appreciate the pictures and reviews I post. When your DX Batman arrives, the figure will blow you away!! Most certainly well worth the wait.