Review 1: Hot Toys The Dark Knight Rises: 1/6 Selina Kyle/Catwoman Female Collectible Figure

The Dark Knight Rises is the third and final installment in director Christopher Nolan's trilogy of Batman films. The 2012 sequel finds Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale), now a recluse, contemplating a return to his role as Batman when a mercenary leader named Bane (Tom Hardy) threatens the citizens of Gotham City. Selina Kyle (Anne Hathaway) is a cat burglar described as "an associate" of Bane. In the entire movie, she is never referred to as "Catwoman" but everybody in comic-dom knows who Selina Kyle is.

This is Hot Toys recently released MMS188 (Movie Masterpiece Series) The Dark Knight Rises: 1/6th scale Selina Kyle / Catwoman 12-inch Female Collectible Figure. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the mask is removable as this was not shown in the earlier preview pictures. Kudos to Hot Toys for making it possible because it is really quite a challenge to produce a 1/6 scale removable mask, especially for Selina Kyle because her mask comes with the special goggles she wears in the movie which would make it seem rather fragile and delicate, therefore prone to damage / breakage easily.

Anne Hathaway auditioned not knowing what role she was being considered for, admitting that she had one character in mind, but only learned that the role was Selina Kyle after talking with Christopher Nolan for an hour. As with the current disapproval by many regarding Ben Affleck being the next Batman in the Superman sequel coming out in 2015, there was much talk then as well when Anne Hathaway was chosen. Many compared her to Michelle Pfeiffer's Catwoman in the 1992 Batman Returns and were very worried she'll turn out like the Halle Berry Catwoman of 2004 which was a disaster. Well, no one's complaining now.

The box packaging is nice. The movie title takes up quite a lot of space and the font for Selina Kyle is very prominent whereas Catwoman is in a much smaller print. I guess it's because Selina is never referred to as "Catwoman" in the film, although she does receive the moniker in related The Dark Knight Rises collectibles and books. Instead, emphasis is made upon her profession as a "cat" burglar in headlines shown in the film.

"There’s a storm coming, Mr. Wayne. You and your friends better batten down the hatches, because when it hits, you’re all gonna wonder how you ever thought you could live so large and leave so little for the rest of us.” Throughout the movie, Selina Kyle seems to act as a voice for the average Gotham citizen whose problems persist in the corrupt city. She tells Bruce, “I started off doing what I had to. Once you’ve done what you had to, they’ll never let you do what you want to.”

Hot Toys - MMS188 (Movie Masterpiece Series) - The Dark Knight Rises: 1/6th scale Selina Kyle / Catwoman 12-inch Collectible Figure comes with: Authentic and detailed fully realized likeness of Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle / Catwoman in The Dark Knight Rises movie with newly developed head sculpt with eye mask and movie-accurate make-up, Real fabric hair implantation in long brown straight hair. The female figure is approximately 28 cm tall, TrueType body with over 28 points of articulations. Seven (7) pieces of interchangeable gloved palms including: One (1) pair of relaxed palms, One (1) pair of fists, One (1) pair for riding Bat-pod, One (1) right palm for holding pistol. Each piece of head sculpt is specially hand-painted. Her Costume consists of: One (1) set of one-piece black patterned jumpsuit with belt, One (1) pair of black high-heel boots. There's a pair of safecracking googles, Figure stand with patterns of water drops, with Selina Kyle / Catwoman nameplate and the movie logo

There's also the all important Selina Kyle 1/6th scale Collectible Figure Instruction Sheet. A lot emphasis is placed on putting on the goggles and rotating the glasses of the googles because it is FRAGILE so be very careful when handling it ;p It's quite nicely done and very movie-accurate and I LOVE it. Selina Kyle is also given a pair of gloved hands for use in riding the Bat-pod. Instructions as to how much you can rotate the legs are also given. Take heed and pay attention. Click on the picture for a bigger and better view.

Click on the picture for a bigger and better view :)

Here's the Hot Toys - MMS188 (Movie Masterpiece Series) - The Dark Knight Rises: 1/6th scale Selina Kyle / Catwoman 12-inch Collectible Figure straight out of the box, wearing her one-piece black patterned jumpsuit with belt and a pair of black high-heel boots.

The Catwoman costume / suit itself was described as "Julie Newmar 2.0" by Hathaway. Julie Newmar portrayed Catwoman in the first and second season of the 1966 live-action Batman television series. The costume created for the series was similar to the green catsuit appearing in the comics at the time, though it was constructed by Newmar from black Lurex fabric.

Selina Kyle (Anne Hathaway) wears stiletto heels that double as serrated knives (seemingly referencing Cooke's design where switch blades release from her combat boots), in lieu of the claws she's donned in nearly every other iteration.

The real fabric hair implantation ("rooted") is most appropriate in this instance and the long brown straight hair are not all of one color. Rooted hair versus sculpted hair - one of those topics that always comes out when discussing 1/6 scale figures. Hot Toys has done a very good job with rooted hair of late and many other manufacturers of female figures are following suit. Male hair has mostly remained sculpted.

The belt is one piece molded and the pouches cannot be opened

I did not attempt to remove her outfit / costume (not that kinky haha) and the instructions did say that the outfit may be damaged if excessive force is used to remove it or if it is removed "inappropriately" (whatever that means)

Here are some close-up pictures / shots taken of the "authentic and detailed fully realized likeness of Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle / Catwoman in The Dark Knight Rises movie with newly developed head sculpt with eye mask and movie-accurate make-up"

Once again, TOP marks to Hot Toys for a sculpt well done :) The likeness and resemblance is so real, life-like and uncanny. If you cannot tell that this is Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle, then I don't know what to say, except maybe "Are you blind?"

Notice how the sculpt is painted where the rubber forehead meets the rooted hair so as to ease you in to accept the look. It is not so obvious when viewed from far but only visible when examined closely. Can't be helped I guess. It's meant to blend the two different materials used nicely and I cannot complain when I see the overall look. I'm liking it :)

Hot Toys does one of the best 1/6 scale female head sculpts in the industry / market and have set the yardstick that others might follow. Some companies are certainly taking up the challenge and following closely behind with female head sculpts that are just as good.

The Selina Kyle / Catwoman costume of a one-piece black patterned jumpsuit (looks like it is made of rubber material) with belt is beautifully made / stitched or tailored. It is figure hugging but does not restrict the figure's movements

Closer look at the stiletto heels that double as serrated knives

Hot Toys - MMS188 (Movie Masterpiece Series) - The Dark Knight Rises: 1/6th scale Selina Kyle / Catwoman 12-inch Collectible Figure accessories include one (1) pair of safecracking night vision googles; Figure stand with patterns of water drops, with Selina Kyle / Catwoman nameplate and the movie logo; Five (5) additional pieces of interchangeable gloved palms including: One (1) pair of fists, One (1) pair for riding Bat-pod, One (1) right palm for holding pistol.

A closer look at the Figure stand with patterns of water drops, with Selina Kyle / Catwoman nameplate and the movie logo

The pistol that Hot Toys Catwoman Selina Kyle comes with is a SIG-Sauer P250 Compact. It is essentially SIG-Sauer's attempt at a Glock pistol. It isn't actually what she uses in the movie. Selina Kyle (Anne Hathaway) seizes a ČZ 75 pistol used by Stryver (Burn Gorman), the right hand man of Daggett (Ben Mendelsohn) in the bar shootout. She later pulls the same pistol during a confrontation with Daggett and during the rooftop fight.

The coolest thing that Catwoman / Selina Kyle (Anne Hathaway) has in "The Dark Knight Rises" are her safecracking night vision googles which are attached to her mask. MORE of that in the NEXT POST :)