NECA's 1/4 Scale Adam West Batman Action Figure

Batman is ready for action!

I think I've got a new FAVORITE TOY in my toy collection.  I just received NECA's 1/4 Scale Adam West Batman action figure in the mail yesterday, and it is a thing of beauty.  It's 18 inches of pure Adam West, and it just looks amazing, and it's super fun to play with, too.

Bat-Punch!

CRITICISMS:  Is it absolutely, 100% perfect?  No.  I did have a couple of issues with it.  I'll get those out of the way, so I can get back to talking about how awesome it is.

The biggest problem I had with it is that some of the joints are really stiff.  For the most part, they got better after I worked them for a bit.  It was really hard to get the double jointed elbows to move on both joints, but I kept messing with it, and now it works.  This is important if you want Batman to dance the Batusi, or hold his Bat-Walkie-Talkie close to his mouth.  Then there were his knees.  No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get his knees to bend.  After a while I gave up, because I was afraid I would break them if I put any more force on them.  Normally this problem can be solved by dipping the action figure in heated water for a bit, but this guy's pretty big, making that difficult.  But, I'll give it a shot again, later.  I'll probably get them working, eventually.

The second problem was a gray smudge on the back of his utility belt.  I couldn't tell if it was gray paint that had rubbed on to the belt, or if the belt was made out of gray plastic, and some of the yellow paint had rubbed off.  But it's on the back of his figure, and covered by his cape.  If you're going to have a paint defect, that's the place to do it.

Those were the only problems I had with this toy.

Bat-Package

AWESOMEISMS:  Okay, now that I got the criticisms out of the way, I can get on to the awesomeisms.  "Awesomeism."   Is that even a word?  It is now!

"Can you read me Robin?  Over."

 First of all, this thing is just beautiful!  They've really captured Adam West's likeness, and all the little details of his costume.  Both the sculpt and the paint are just about perfect.

Flapping the Bat Cape

It's got a ton of articulation, so you can pose him practically any way you can think of.  NECA's figure feels solid and sturdy, like a big action figure you can play with, not something delicate like a Hot Toys doll that you're afraid you'll break if you're not gentle with it.  He stands fairly well on his own, but you will probably want to get some kind of stand for him if you want to display him on a shelf, because he is fairly heavy, so if he tips over and falls, he will fall hard.

Bat-Accessories

He also comes with three sets of hands in different poses, so you can make him punching his fist, throwing his batarang, or doing the Batusi. 

In addition to his extra hands, he comes with a few neat accessories.  He's got his Bat-Walkie-Talkie (with retractable antennae), and a batarang holster (containing a folding batarang that attaches to his belt), and a second, non-folding batarang with a rope that attaches to it.

Eat your heart out, John Travolta

I really, really love this toy.  It's far and away my favorite of all the new 1966 Batman Classic TV toys to come out this year.  NECA hasn't officially announced it, but they are probably going to make a Burt Ward Robin in this scale as well (they posted a photo of the prototype on twitter).  I can't wait until that comes out!  Until then, I guess Adam West will be making a lone vigil looking out for all of my toys when I sleep at night.

I'll have more 1966 Batman toy reviews coming in the next few weeks.  While photographing this NECA Batman, I also took photos of Mattel's Joker, Surf's Up Batman, and Batusi TV Batman, as well as a die-cast version of the 1966 Batcycle.  Look for all of those soon.




MORE BATMAN PICS:

Box Interior

A Profile in Courage

Portrait of a Bat (Man)

Batman gets a call on the Bat-Walkie-Talkie

Preparing to throw the batarang.

Belt-buckle Communicator

Bat Insignia

Bat Belt