Review of Ascending Knight Batman - PX Exclusive
One:12 Collective Action Figure

Introduction

Mezco has released the last - for now - in their set of Ascending Knight Batman figures, all part of their highly successful One:12 Collective line. The first came out almost 16 months ago as a Toy Fair exclusive, done up in an all black costume. Their next release was the standard, available everywhere, this time wearing a gray and black suit. Next, they took the all black look and added some gold highlights, releasing a Mezco store exclusive. And now, finishing up the announced versions, we have the Previews Exclusive. This one is available at comic book shops and other stores that are part of the Previews (Diamond) affiliation. Expect to pay around $80 - $85 if you pre-ordered. If you're just now thinking about picking him up, expect to pay a lot more. The One:12 figures are hot right now, and commanding quite a bump on the secondary market.

Packaging - ****
The PX exclusives come in a cool metal box. I love these things - the hinged lid and heavy duty design means you can take the figure and accessories out for display, and use the tin for all sorts of purposes. It's all collector friendly, but there is some of the sorta tape (you know the stuff I'm talking about) used to hold a few of the smaller accessories in place in the tray.

I'm particularly fond of this one, as there's something about the blue and gray color that I really, really like.

Sculpting - ****
These are the same two portraits we received with the other three releases, nothing new here. But yes, you get two portraits, one masked and one unmasked, which is always a huge plus.

The masked Batman portrait hearkens back to the Golden Age look, with the longer, very sharp ears, and a very triangular face. While this is a Mezco design and not directly based on any particular comic artist, I really like the look. It's not pure first appearance stuff, but it also lacks the dated nature of that design. This is a nice compromise between old and new.

The unmasked Bruce Wayne head looks like a 90's style Bruce, very much like an improved version of the old Kenner Bruce Wayne.

The detail work on these is excellent considering the scale. Remember, these are about 1/12, and Batman comes in at around 6 1/2" without his ears. There's even more detail on the sculpted pieces of the costume - belt, boots, gloves, emblem - and it's quite impressive.

Paint - ***1/2
For all the compliments toward the sculpt, let's be honest - this is the same figure we've seen three times before, at least in that category.  But when we get to paint, we get to some variation.

Not in the normal portrait, where the hairline, eyes, and lips look great. But the blue cowl and cape, gray suit, and gold belt make for an interesting and unique combination.

I'm not a fan of the gray suit. I've said that before with the earlier version, and swapping the black for blue doesn't improve my opinion of the gray. The textures and designs on the suit are too obvious for my tastes, but your mileage may vary.

I am more impressed with the blue than I expected. It does remind me of the silver age Bats, and I think sticking with the black bat symbol on his chest helps keep the blue from becoming overpowering.

Articulation - ***1/2
This is the same base body of course, and has all the same articulation. Swapping the heads and hands was easy, and I had no fear of breakage or damage.

The shoulders and elbows are somewhat restricted by the tight costume, but probably not any more so than if a real person were wearing something like this. The torso moves surprisingly well, with some good turn, tilt, and lean action. The hips, knees, and ankles allow for short to deep stances, and with good rocker movement in the ankles, you can keep the feet flat on the ground in any pose.

Of course, the belt tends to ride up the torso when you widen the hips, but that's physics for you.

Accessories - ***1/2
I'm docking them slightly here, simply because there's nothing new. There's plenty of goodies, but we've seen them three times already, making them somewhat less of a great deal.

Of course, there's the two heads, and as you know, two heads are better than one. Easily my favorite aspect of the One:12 series is the multiple portraits, and I hope we see them keep it going consistently with future releases.

There's also a number of extra hands, with a total of seven included. He comes wearing fists, and there's a set of loose grips or gesturing hands, a set of tight grips, and a gun grip right. They swap cleanly, and the scale is very good.

Next up, his grappling gun. This gun can fit in a slot on the back of his belt, or in the properly sculpted right hand. There are three tips for the gun - a closed grappling hook, an open grappling hook, and an open hook with a string line attached. All three look great, and give you a ton of posing possibilities.

He also has an assortment of batarangs. There's ten of the small silver ones, and one huge, honkin' 'bat brick' that folds in the center.

He has the small tranquilizer crossbow as well. It's painted all in black, but they used some gloss and matte finishes to give it a some visual pop.

His final extra is his display base, colored appropriately for this release. You can use this base with a simple foot peg, or you can use the more complex clear support rods to create a dynamic leaping or jumping pose.