When it comes to all-time favorite heroes, it’s safe to say Batman ranks in a whole lotta top five lists. He’s just that gosh-darned awesome. If he doesn’t make your top five, you at least know who he is. And so does your Grandma, which means the Bat has some serious staying power! Oh, and I’m pretty sure the Mafex Batman will also make your top five.
Fun fact: I have a friend who, in college, used to get drunk and disappear into the night. Obviously, his nickname was Batman. Though he wasn’t quite as good at a roundhouse.
My Batman Action Figure History
Yours truly’s first nerd franchise was Star Wars. My first toy love was Transformers. The first time I decided I was going to complete a toy collection was with Batman: The Dark Knight Collection. Man, what a ridiculous collection that was. Don’t get me wrong, I loved the Super Powers Batman mold (and even recognized it as such back then), and dug the black color scheme of the movie, as well as the blue and gray Batman like the comics one I grew up with, but there was a whole lotta ridiculousness in that line. Gold Batmans, purple Batmans, camo Batmans; some overkill definitely existed, and as far as I knew, there wasn’t any comic correlation to any of them.
I loved that collection, but it made me detest useless repaints.
The years went on and DC Direct showed up, Total Justice came and went, then Mattel popped in with their comprehensive DC Superheroes line. None of those scratched that Batman (or any other DC action figure) itch. I’d become a six-inch figure collector and continued to hope Mattel would right the ship, but they never pulled it off to my satisfaction.
Last year, McFarlane Toys (who are making very cool DC figures, by the way) got the DC license. Oh man, with the success of their Fortnite figures, I was chomping at the bit to finally get some decent six-inch DC figures! That hope was dashed when it was announced his figures would be seven inch. Would I ever get a Batman, or any other great 1/12-scale figure for my collection?
Hush Batman, by Mafex, was announced last year. And I was in plastic love.
Note to self: Don’t make “Plastic Love” the title of your fake upcoming album.
Mafex Batman Hush May Just Be THE Batman for My Collection
After years of waiting for the perfect Batman, MY Batman, it looks like he’s finally arrived. He was far too expensive, but after decades of waiting and wishing for a great 1/12-scale Batman, I had to jump on this one.
Bats can go toe to toe with your Marvel Legends, which was a huge selling point for me. He’s also ridiculously articulated (even more than your Legends), and can get into a killer punching pose. And those accessories, man, those accessories. The Mafex Batman Hush figure comes with three heads (including one Bruce Wayne head), four batarangs, one grapnel gun attachment, and a veritable guano ton of hands! So yeah, this Batman’s definitely expensive, but considering import fees, the articulation, all those accessories, and his status as the perfect Batman – at least for yours truly – he’s hugely worth it.
Mafex Batman Hush: Bam! Pow! Zowee! Final Thoughts!
Let’s face it: ya gotta be a little nuts to spend $100 on an action figure. But if you’re like me, and have been waiting for the perfect Batman to pit against your Marvel Legends figures, or even to lead your old DC Superheroes / DC Multiverse figures into battle, then this is the Batman you’ve been waiting for.
I got my Mafex Batman Hush action figure from Big Bad Toy Store, at this link. And I think you probably should, too, because if the past few decades are any indication, he’ll be the best 1/12-scale Batman figure for a long time to come.
Unless you like him in black instead of blue.
Have fun, and happy snapping!
Photo Dave
