The design of this sculpt captures the look of a more modern Batman style quite well. There aren't a lot of molded details in the costume on his body, instead he relies on paint to denote his boots, shorts, and symbol, although gloves do have a carved line at the top. His gauntlets also feature the appropriate spikes that are a nice length, but are a hair too rounded off to look great. I'm sure this has something to do with it being a child's toy, as his "ears" suffer from the same bluntness problem. A long black cape hangs off his shoulders stylishly, full of deep wrinkles and creases that rest naturally on his body. It also has the pointed tails that are so characteristic of Batman, One problem with it is a strange sculpting choice to have the cape folded in on each side, in a perfect fold, which I can't really imagine an actual cape doing at all and it just looks funky.

     His proportions all look great except for the monstrous, caricature-like hands that also plague the rest of the line. The musculature is big enough to look convincingly strong, but no so bulky that he couldn't be considered athletic, so that's a nice balance. One odd detail that bothers me is the shape of his boots at the heel, which extend too far backward. This might be a slight effort to improve his ability to stand, but it definitely didn't help (he topples so easily that is if you can get him to stand in the first place because of the weight of his cape). His face sculpt comes off a little soft without any distinguishing features and a very funky rounded nose. His face comes off a lot more cartoonish than many other figures in the line with crisper facial features. 

Sculpt Score: 5 / 10

It seems like Mattel got something almost right with Batman's paint, only a few smaller problems bringing him down. The colors are just about perfect, although considering they are primarily just black and gray, that's not too surprising. The gray, which is just the plastic color, isn't too dark or light, and achieving that balance can be difficult, so I'm offering out some respect there. I think most of the black is just the right amount of matteness too; nothing comes off as too shiny to me. His skin and belt are also almost exactly right when it comes to color. The applications are generally quite clean, with tight eyes, a clean decal, and crisp lines at the boot and glove tops. His skin goes a little outside the lines, and the bottom of his nose is fuzzy but it's a forgivable offense considering the small scale. There are a couple spots with stray marks and residue, although they're thankfully well hidden. I'm glad they made the design choice to paint the rest of his trunks in,, the diagonal from the bottom of the crotch to the outside hips, because Spectre looked pretty funky without his doing the same. This comes across a lot better. There's no amazing detail work, texture, or gradient effects at use here, but they made the most out of a simple toy with simple paint by doing a pretty okay job of it.  

Paint Score: 6 / 10

Batman must finally be getting older (I refuse to accept his passing), because this figure just can't move like he used to. With only 9 points of articulation, posing this figure on your shelf in a dynamic stance or playing with him as anything other than canon fodder. He has ball-style shoulders, hinged elbows and knees, and swivels at the waist, neck, and hips. There is a total of 10 different joints, which is really a pretty small number these days. None of the joints are broken or fused, but the knees and waist came out considerably loose, making him nearly impossible to stand with bending him way forward to compensate for the weight of his cape. His head has a full range of intended movement along with every other point except his shoulders. All of the joints look okay in combination with the sculpt, although no efforts were taken to hide any points. It's hard to get any personality out of this toy, and some better hip and neck articulation would go a long way towards improving him. 

Articulation Score: 4 / 10

   

This toy benefits from one thing in particular in regards to fun--it's based on Batman. As an immensely popular character for every generation in which he has existed, a lot of buyers are going to enjoy this figure despite all of its shortcomings, just because it's Bruce Wayne. That said, the toy itself isn't much fun. It has a seriously limited articulation model that restricts your ability to pose him, and it's especially frustrating that he can't stand on his own without a lot of patience and careful balancing. He's a feeble old man! He doesn't include an accessory of any kind for those giant gorilla hands, nor is there any type of action feature to add to the playability. The packaging does have a short biography and statistics breakdown which can add some interest through comparison and characterization. In the end, if you can hide this toy in a display of other Batman toys, or is a massive DCIH army that obscures the details, then you might be provided with an ounce or two of fun, otherwise he's just a slightly enjoyable lump of plastic.

Fun Score: 4 / 10

This figure cost me $6.99 at Wal-Mart, which seems to be about the average price. Target may have some at $4.99, but in my experience, the same 3 figures from the original wave never move, so good luck finding Batman there. The situation online is probably even worse in regards to price. At that average price of $7, this is a terrible value. It's a very small toy to begin with, it has little to offer on articulation, and the sculpt and paint standards aren't anything above and beyond either. There are no accessories or pack-ins, and the packaging itself doesn't add much to the value pile either. As a matter of comparison, I consider this a much weaker value than GI Joe and even Marvel Universe figures (I'm not a Hasbro fanboy, so no hate-comments (I actually think I'm more inclined to Mattel (especially considering their DC license))), all of which are in the same scale, mainly because DCIH seems to offer a lower quality and a lack of accessories that both other lines have at a similar or slightly higher price range. I also think DCUC figures are a much stronger value at only $5-6 more. It doesn't seem like any piece of Batman is suddenly going to break or fall off as long as he's not plummeting from 40 foot falls, but given his light weight, he might even be able to survive that. There don't seem to be any consistent quality control problems either. While those are some definite positives, the real measure of value is how much you'll use or enjoy the toy and I can't imagine that it is a lot in either case.

Value Score: 4 / 10 

Summary

5 - His hands are huge, muscles look almost perfect, some good details while others are soft, face lacks distinction, cape looks good but has weird elements too.

6 - Mostly clean applications, great color choices, good design work on trunks, eyes are clean, some messy spots and hidden residue, simple but effective.  

4 - Nothing much to work with, some points are too loose, shoulders are a bit limited, hard to pose or play, but looks okay. 

4 - Well he is Batman, not much articulation, frustrating inability to stand on his own, no accessories or cool packaging.

4 - Retails too high, a small toy without much weight, seems durable enough I guess, no accessories, BAF, or pack-ins, quality just doesn't earn the price tag.

This Batman figure is just another poor entry into an already massive pile of action figures due to being overpriced, poorly articulated, and not much fun. 

P.S. This could be the figure I'm giving away this month, just leave a comment for a chance to win (if it's the one).

-The Articulated One