Review of Batman Black and White - Doug Mahnke
Statue

Introduction

There are few lines as long lasting and enduring as the Batman Black and White series of statues. One of these days I'm going to count them all up, but I've reviewed over 50 and if I had to guess I'd say we are well past a hundred at this point.

And somehow, they continue to find great designs. This latest release is based on the artwork of Doug Mahnke, and has just started shipping. Expect to pay around $75 depending on the retailer, and yes, it's a limited edition of 5000.

Packaging - ***
They dumped the annoying weird cut angle on the boxes last year, much to my approval. The box is simple enough, but it does show off the statue well, and the hard Styrofoam eggshell trays hold the parts safely. It's collector friendly too, as you'd expect with a statue or bust box.

There's no Certificate of Authenticity, and the edition number and size aren't on the exterior of the box, but they are printed on the base itself.

Sculpting - ***1/2
I'm a big fan of the dynamic poses, and this is definitely that. Batman is flying through the air, with grappling gun about to fire. His cape flows out behind him neatly, and the position of the arms and head look good with respect to the torso and cape.

I do wish the legs, particularly the one pointed out, were lined up a little more. He's not actually looking in the direction of his foot, but rather a bit forward. It's a minor nit though, with an otherwise great looking design.  You'll also only notice that from certain angles - from straight on, he looks fantastic.

He's the usual 1/12 or so scale, but because of the flying cape and leaping pose, he takes up more room than usual. The overall statue is about 12 1/2" long from the tip of his toes to the trailing edge of the cape.

Paint - **1/2
The overall paint work on the statue is decent, in line with most releases in this series. I would have gone with three stars for the figure itself, but it's the base that drags it down a bit.

The figure has clean edges, but there's a bit of dirt here and there in the gray body suit. The belt is a bit gloppy too, but the work on the cowl, eyes, and face is quite good.

There's actually some surface scratches on my base, deep enough to be noticed in hand.  I haven't had something like this ever before right out of the box, so I'm hoping it's merely a weird one off QA issue.

Value - **1/2
At $75, they are starting to edge up a little, but it's still a good price for a statue of this size and quality. You won't feel like you got a steal, but you won't feel ripped off either.

Things to Watch Out For -
The steel support rod only fits in the base one way, so don't force it. Other than that, you should be good to go.

Overall - ***
This is a series where the overall quantity of statues is the draw, not necessarily each individual piece.  This one gives you a truly unique pose for the shelf, making it sure to stand out among the dozens already there. And hopefully you won't have the weird surface scratches on the base, which pulled mine down a half star overall.

Score Recap (out of ****):
Packaging - ***
Sculpting - ***1/2
Paint - **1/2
Value - **1/2
Overall - ***

Where to Buy 
Online options include these site sponsors:

- Entertainment Earth also has him for $75.

- or you can search ebay for a deal.

Related Links -
Other recent Batman Black and White statues include Joe Madureira and Marc Silvestri, but I've done a lot of others including the Rocafort, the White Knight Joker. the animated Batgirl, the Sean Murphy Batman, the Klaus Johnson, Jiro Kuwata, Gerard Way Joker, the Gerard Way Batman, the Cloonan, the Spy vs Spy release, John Romita Jr's artwork, the Breyfogle, the Jason Fabok version, and the Sprang Joker and Batman. There's lots before that as well - you should also hit the Search Reviews page to find them and in case any other applicable reviews were done after this one was published.

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