We all love original and screen-accurate designs, right? Right! (Most of us). But there are some characters of films that can be manipulated and altered beyond the imaginable when they are brought into art form, specifically for us, action figure form. But there are some variants worth more than others, some intentional and some that have a manufacturers error, and some that just lose all interest and collectability.
The Play Arts Kai Batman figures pictured above are some of the most insane variants we get to see. The blue Batman was the initial “variant” by PAK, yet it did not hit home as a high-demand figure. BUT, the Red variant took off, and with a limited run, it is still in high demand today. (check out my review)
Another very popular and hard-to-find is the Dark Knight variant; Play Arts did not go with their own designs to offset the film, but I would expect all the articulation and details Play Arts gives us is present in the TDK figure as well.
And finally, one of the many variants arriving this year is the Western Batman variant; personally not one of my favorites, but I am sure some westerners and steampunk collectors will enjoy it. Sometimes we get variants, (continuing with PAK) that are not so popular, and others that completely blow our minds away. Coming soon, the PAK Predators were upset a majority of Predator fans; personally I love these figures, and my only major complaint is the hair locked in the “flowing” or “wind” position. Other than that, I would love to add these to my Predator collection
The most recently revealed variants come from PAK again, but this time from their Star Wars license. Boba Fett and an Imperial Stormtrooper! These definitely knocked every collectors socks off! The intensity, sleek yet rugged designs, fierce and forceful templates,make these some badass and hot item figures.
To end this article, I will take it back a few decades, continuing with the Star Wars line of action figures. The vintage Star Wars action figures had dozens of variants, some ranging from country to country, others unreleased or prototype versions, and some with simple differences in the card-back images. The most notorious country-variants were Lily Leddy’s from Mexico, Taiwan and Hong Kong variants. Mostly European nations were given tri-logos, displaying the titles and descriptions in three languages. And of course, one of the most hunted, Boba Fett, with his unreleased rocket-firing version, the more modern holiday and concept versions, and plenty more!
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