Bandai Tamashii Nations is now offering their S.H.Figuarts Batman 1989, which features the likeness of Actor Michael Keaton from this iconic film. This film was one of the first superhero movies and streamlined a series of sequels with a different actor playing Batman in each one. Batman has been a long awaited release for fans to join this line, and Bandai has made it happen this year. Batman includes two interchangeable heads, hands, a Grapnel Gun, a Batarang, 2 Shurikens and parts to extend the cape.
Thank you to Bluefin for providing their S.H.Figuarts Batman 1989 Michael Keaton Figure for review.
Availability: November 2020
Batman is packaged in a window box with this head showing through on the back, and the box art includes nicely done artwork inspired from the classic figure. This includes the iconic movie logo, images of the figure, and an overall nice execution just like we’ve seen this box art style offered with previous figures. Batman is packaged in a plastic tray along with his accessories for safe keeping, and he includes an instruction sheet that shows you how to swap out the parts.
This Batmanfigure is probably going to be one of your definitive releases of the character ever offered, as it’s offered on a high-end level of quality and overall actor likeness. The suit is cast all in black, and includes a fabric cape that has parts that allows you to extend it upward for his gliding poses as seen in the film. The suit is mostly cast in a matte black, with boots and knee pads in a metallic black finish. The back of his forearms have the spikes, and looks great. His utility belt hangs around his waist and is a separate piece, and is also not removable.
He has two interchange head sculpts with the cowl attached, and the biggest difference is the detail in the mouth with one open, and the other closed. The cowl and head are one piece, and you need to remove the logo on his chest first to remove the head to swap it out. Both facial expressions and dynamic looking, and either one works great for him.
Batman includes an assortment of movie inspired accessories, including a beatarang, a Grapnel Gun, the gauntlet, two shurikens, and cape holding parts. Each of these accessories has a unique hand sculpt that works with them, and there are a total of 11 hands included. The gauntlet has pieces in the front that can swivel along to the sides, as seen in the film.
Batman’s articulation includes ball jointed shoulders, ball hinged elbows, ball jointed wrists, ball jointed torso, swivel waist, ball jointed hips, double-hinged knees, hinged rocker ankles and hinged toes.
The cape, when fully extended, allows for dynamic poses as you remember from the film. There are handles for him to hold that allows the cape to stay up as shown, which is probably what Michael Keaton’s used in the film. The cape is nicely done and the back of it is made of leather, and this works great for him. The fact that you can raise the cape is truly a nice touch to the figure, and this something you don’t get enough of with Batman figures.
Overall, this ’89 Batman figure is one of the best DC figures offered in the S.H. Figuarts line, and is truly one you can’t pass up this year. The likeness, attention to detail, and raising of the cape is truly a winning design, and you definitely need to add this one to your collection. What would have made it better is if they included a Michael Keaton head to this release, but all of the accessories more than makes up for it. You can find this figure, and others at our sponsors below.
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