Is this a review I really need to do? Probably not, but I’m doing it anyway. Queen Studios wasn’t a shop that was on my radar going into 2025. I’m guessing that’s true for a lot of folks and that’s probably why they had a media blitz when it came time to promote their brand INART and its new 1:12 scale Batman action figure from the movie The Dark Knight Rises. Now, when I say “media blitz” I mean that relatively speaking in the action figure collector universe. I kept seeing video reviews for this thing pop up everywhere a few months back and I definitely ended up watching my fair share as I had no idea who this company was. I’m not on YouTube nor is my blog big enough to get that sort of attention so if I wanted to review this figure I was going to have to buy it. And buy it I have so here’s another review of this thing many talked about months ago.
One of the most expensive action figure purchases I’ve made in my life was a Hot Toys Batman based on his look in The Dark Knight. I loved that movie when it came out and I really wanted to own a piece of it. There really wasn’t much in the 1:12 scale at the time, but Hot Toys had the film covered. The price was way more than I was used to spending, but looking back on it, I’d guess it was far less than what I’ve been shelling out of late for sixth scale Mondo figures. I loved that figure when I got it, but I was also terrified to touch it. If you’ve never owned a Hot Toys figure, it’s basically a big action figure with a rubber suit. The kind of thing that could split or warp and the figure itself was pretty stiff. I had a hard time with the optional parts and one of my cats even ate a Batarang on me (seriously, what the hell, Izzy?!). Still, I loved the actual look so I kept it on display for years, but when I moved into my current house I boxed it up and then never took it out. After a few years of the thing just sitting in my bedroom, I decided to part with it. I wasn’t getting any enjoyment out of it so it no longer made sense to hang onto it.
When I parted with that Batman I never intended to replace it with a similar figure at any scale. Since getting that, the Nolan Batman trilogy concluded with The Dark Knight Rises, a movie that was just okay. My enthusiasm for the trilogy waned and at the end of the day I just love other versions of Batman a lot more than the Nolan take. I still think elements from those films are cool, but do I need to own them as toys? The reviews I watched for the INART Batman made me question that. And then when I heard the MSRP was only around $69 it really got my attention. Since it’s for the Asian market only, that $69 quickly became more like $100 for folks in the US, but considering what other figures in this scale cost these days, it still wasn’t a terrible value. I reluctantly passed, but then Mezco had to go and unveil their Joker from The Dark Knight. He looked awesome, way better than their The Dark Knight Batman who is more like a mini Hot Toys in construction. I wanted the Joker, but I’d need a Batman to pair him with which got me back to this INART Batman. To ebay I went, as that was the only place I could seem to find one I was confident wasn’t a bootleg, and more money was spent than what it would have cost me over the summer. Oh well.
The INART Batman comes in two versions: standard and deluxe. I got the deluxe which basically just includes a stand and an unmasked portrait. The difference in price seemed small, so why not? I love a good stand. This Batman is based on The Dark Knight Rises, but the costume is basically unchanged from The Dark Knight. Someone more obsessed with those pictures could probably point out some detail that was changed, but I’m not interested. It looks the part to me. The packaging is pretty robust as INART ships the main box in a shipper box which is also in a brown shipper itself. The actual product box is just black with the logo on it. There’s no window, but I guess that’s fine for something primarily sold online. Inside the box is a tiered tray system with some instructions and a cardboard envelope in between the trays which contains the soft goods cape. I will say, as far as instructions go these are the most robust I’ve seen with a modern toy. They tell you what each item is and what each hand is intended for. It even has diagrams for the articulation and informs you how much range each joint should have. I could probably save myself some time and just post a pic of that in place of the articulation rundown, but I’m not going to take such shortcuts.
The Batman figure comes without the cape applied. It stands just a tick over 6″, and considering that Christian Bale is listed as an even 6′ I’d say that’s some pretty damn good scaling if you figure the boots would have bumped him up an inch or two. What attracted me to this release is that the body construction is all plastic. It’s a mix of PVC and ABS and there’s no rubber overlays in use. It has a very light feel in hand, similar to a MAFEX figure, and the quality is very nice. The finish is matte and per the instructions it is painted, though I’m guessing this is all black plastic. There are different textures at play as there’s some parts that feel like Kevlar and some parts that are smooth. The torso is all segmented, but the pieces are fit together very well. The proportions look great and the copper colored belt looks pretty screen accurate to me.
The cape is in a cardboard envelope and the way it attaches is pretty interesting. The chest where the Batman logo is sculpted in is actually removable and what holds it in place are a pair of small magnets. The cape is connected to a pair of plastic tabs which slot into two gaps of the chest. The magnetic piece is then supposed to be reapplied and that will hold it in place. Getting the tabs to actually stay put is a little cumbersome. I had to try it a couple of times to really get the magnetic piece to sit properly on the figure. I wish they had made slots for the tabs to actually slide into, but it’s a minor inconvenience. The cape itself is not wired, but it is pleated and it hangs really nice. For the price though, it would have been cool to get a drape cape and a wired one especially considering we get a flight stand.
Batman is outfitted with a bunch of accessories, most of which are good. What’s not good are the optional faceplates. There are three included and there is barely any difference between them. They’re fairly neutral, but I’ll post pictures and maybe you can spot the difference. For hands, we have sets of fists, open, sticky bomb gun holding hands, relaxed, EMP rile supporting left hand, EMP rifle trigger right hand, Batarang holding right hand, Grapple Gun holding right hand. As you could have probably guessed based on those descriptions, we also have a grapple gun, EMP rifle, sticky bomb gun, and four Batarangs: two large, two small. The guns all look pretty damn good. I think the sticky bomb gun was featured in The Dark Knight, and it may have reappeared in The Dark Knight Rises. There’s nice detail on all of the guns and the finish is really nice on the matte parts and the copper parts. The hands are as advertised and work very well for their intended purpose. The figure does have some difficulty in looking down the barrel of the guns, but it can be fudged. There’s also the unmasked portrait which features a neutral expression and a terrific likeness to Christian Bale. It connects at the lower neck peg and doesn’t feature any articulation where the neck meets the head, which is a little odd. It was a bit tricky getting the standard neck part off and I did resort to hot water to do it. The peg inside is pretty sturdy though so I probably could have bent back and pulled. The display stand is pretty hefty and has a shiny plate on the front featuring the film’s logo. The armature included is pretty standard and works well.
As this Batman is an import figure, it articulates like one would expect an import figure to. For the most part. We get the typical setup with a ball jointed head and joint at the base of the neck which works very well for whatever you need. The shoulders are ball peg joints with a shoulder pad over them on a double hinge. There’s no butterfly joint which may disappoint some, but it is a ball peg so you get some up, down, in, and out range. The shoulder pad should be moved out of the way when you articulate the shoulder and bicep swivel, but it feels pretty sturdy. The elbows are double-jointed and bend past 90 degrees and the wrists are ball pegs. The torso is somewhat complex as it’s segmented throughout the diaphragm with a ball joint at the waist. It works more for twisting and shifting side-to-side than bending forward and back. Range there is pretty basic, but there’s some nice nuance afforded by this setup. It does get gappy at the waist, but the belt is floating and can be manipulated to hide it. The hips can kick out 60 degrees, per INART, and kick forward a full 90. There is a thigh swivel and the knees bend past 90 degrees. The ankles are ball pegs that swivel, will kick forward and back and rock side-to-side. There’s a toe hinge as well which is nice and stiff.
The articulation range isn’t super impressive, but what does work really well are the aesthetics of the joints. These are the best looking elbows and knees I’ve ever seen on a figure. INART sculpted the pieces all the way and there are no gaps or unfinished parts. The texture is so nice I thought it was silicon or something. The toe joint is also really well done and I love how effortless it is to line-up the seems of the costume with all of the articulation points such as the thigh swivels, biceps, and toes. I think Queen Studios did a really good job balancing articulation and aesthetics with this one. Yeah, they may have sacrificed a little on the articulation end, but not on the aesthetics. Considering this is based on a real world costume that also limited movement for the actor in it, I think it’s the way to go. The only shortcoming for me is the lack of a true butterfly joint. I do wish he could hold some of the weapons just a little better, but for the most part I’m pretty damn happy.
And that pretty much is also how I feel about this release in general – pretty damn happy. This Batman looks fantastic and the quality is apparent in the sculpt and construction. I’ve never interacted with a release from Queen Studios before, but I definitely wouldn’t mind handling a few more. They are apparently doing their own version of Heath Ledger’s Joker and I’m not ruling it out. I liked the Mezco one so I got my preorder in, but I didn’t have to pay a deposit. Given how the ’89 Batman from Mezco is not true 1:12 scale, I am a little nervous their Joker will be too big. If the one from INART comes around and looks better then I can easily pivot to it. I’m just curious how they’ll approach the character. It’s definitely on my radar and I look forward to paring this Batman up with a Joker, whoever ends up supplying it.
We’ve got more Batman figure reviews, and if you want to check out something from the early days of this blog, here’s a review of the film this figure hails from:
Mezco One:12 Collective Batman (1989)
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