Sculpting - ***1/2
The basic design of this statue is based on the cover of Batman and Robin #20. There's no Robin of course, but you get the idea.

Bats is stoic and determined, with one fist pressing the palm of the other like something from a 40's film noir. The stance says you're about to get an ass whoopin', and you ain't gonna like it.

The physique is a bit bulkier than some of the other renditions in the line, but it's not too far out of scale. He stands 7 inches tall without the base.

I only have two complaints about the sculpt overall, and both are more aesthetic than not. The first involves the cowl nose - it's wrinkled and crinkled in a way that just doesn't look accurate to Gleason's style, at least not to me. I would have preferred a smooth cowl over the nose.

The second issue is his huge - and I mean huge - feet. The ladies are going to love this guy. The boots are large and chunky, and do not look like something that would help with stealth or agility.

But as I said, both of these points are more personal taste, so your mileage may vary.

It's also worth noting that this is one of the two piece statues - body and base. The metal posts are in the feet, so you won't be able to stand him without the base, but the posts fit cleanly.

Paint - **1/2
I wish I could say my only issues were personal taste when it comes to the paint. Here there are some actual quality issues, a bummer for sure.

The worst offense, at least on my statue, is the buckle of the belt, where the paint is clumpy and looks as though dirt got into the mix. There's a couple spots like this on the costume and face as well, but they aren't as obvious as the buckle.

Not as noticeable are some of the sloppy cut lines, but at $70 this isn't quite up to par.

I do like the use of different finishes on the all black areas like the boots and gloves. The switch from matte to gloss in these areas adds some visual appeal, but they wisely went with an all matte look to the one piece cape and cowl.

Value - **1/2
At around $60 - $65, I'd go three stars here, but the price has started to creep up, often over $70. I'm still giving that an average rating, but I'm not quite as happy about the current going rate as I was even with the last release.

Things to Watch Out For -
Just remember that the metal posts on the feet can scratch the paint on top of the base. Insert with care!

Overall - ***
The big pluses here is that this is a newer variation on Batman, and the stance is somewhat different than most so far. It's not a particularly dynamic look, but it will stand out.

Unfortunately, the weak paint ops are what held it back from a higher score for me. Hopefully that's not an issue we'll see with the next release.

Score Recap:
Packaging - ***
Sculpting - ***1/2
Paint - **1/2
Value - **1/2
Overall - ***

Where to Buy -
Online options include these site sponsors:

- Super Power Collectibles has him at $63.

- Urban Collector has him listed at $63 as well.

- Big Bad Toy Store has it at $70.

- Things From Another World has him at $72.

- Capstone Comics has it at $72.

- Entertainment Earth has it at $70.

- or you can search ebay for a deal.

Related Links -
I've covered my fair share of Black and White statues:

- most recent was the Chiang version.

- before that, I covered the Finch version, which I liked quite a bit and was a very nice surprise.

- there's also the Bermejo Joker, the Tony Daniel Batman, and the Arkham Asylum version.

- further back I looked at the cool Man-bat, and don't forget the other black and white Joker by a Lee - Jim Lee.

- before that, we had the Quitely version of Batman, the Bermejo, the McGuinness version, the Dave Mazzucchelli version, the Penguin, Gotham Knight 2 version, the Bruce Timm version, the Ethan Van Sciver version, the Aparo, the Neal Adams and George Perez versions, the Gotham Knight, Bob Kane, Frank Miller, Jim Lee, Matt Wagner, Mike Mignola, and Kelley Jones. *whew*

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