Bandai’s Sprukits Let You Build Batman In Your Own Home, Just As You’ve Always Dreamed

When I was a kid, there was about a year where I got really into building models, mainly because I didn't have many friends and that was the easiest way that you could get a giant Darth Vader with a glow-in-the-dark lightsaber. It didn't last too long since the enjoyment that I got from putting things together moved back into LEGO sets, but it was enough that I get a little twinge of nostalgia from it -- especially when I see something like Bandai's new line of Sprükits Action Figure Model Kits.

The deal with them is that they're not just models, they're kits for building fully poseable action figures with accessories that require no scissors, glue or paint. You just snap it all together, and judging by the Arkham City Batman figure that I just put together, they're actually pretty cool.

The Sprukits sets are divided up into three different levels, with each higher level offering up larger figures with a little more detail and articulation, along with more pieces and a longer estimated time of putting them all together. The Arkham City Batman figure that I got -- which is available now for $20 -- was a Level 2, and true to the estimate, it took about 45 minutes to put it all together.

The nice thing about it is that everything in the package is very clearly labeled, with clear instructions that take you through each piece of the final figure and let you know where you can find the right pieces and how they need to go together:

One of the neat things about this figure in particular is that the pieces are all divided by color, which means that the bat symbol on Batman's chest is actually a separate piece that you can plug in. Not gonna lie, I saved that one for the last.

In terms of articulation and posability, the finished figure is actually pretty on-par with Bandai's Tamashii Nations SH Figuarts line, of which I'm a really big fan. It's certainly more fragile, and the plastic is a lot lighter and they're obviously banking on the appeal of building it to go for a slightly different audience than the high-end figures. That said the appeal for me was that there's a lot you can do with it, swapping out hands and giving him a Batarang or a grappling hook to finish things off.

The only real problem is the cape. Everything else is molded plastic, but the cape is just straight up a piece of paper with folds printed onto it. That's really disappointing, and ends up making the whole thing look way shoddier than it would with a plastic piece. I imagine that's not really an issue with the Sprükits sets forHalo, but since they've got so much from the world of superheroes, including multiple versions of Batman and Superman, it's not a great look.

Aside from that, though, it's pretty neat, and if you're the kind of person who wants to spend 45 minutes assembling Batman's thighs (which apparently I am), then it's worth checking out.