Knight Shadow Batman and the Cape Law

Knight Shadow Batman from Series 7 of DC Superheroes is badass. Just have a look at the photo on the right: pitch black. Ultra-articulated. Full Batman Beyond-esque face mask. The cape is the standard issue for a DC Superheroes Batman, but the way in which it accents the black and gray uniform is sharp. This is the Batman I believe the citizens of Gotham normally would imagine: dark, imposing, almost evil.

This figure illustrates one of my Laws of Batman Figures: the cape will make or break the figure. Like I mentioned, the cape on Knight Shadow Batman is a perfect accent to the dark image of the figure. I'll direct your attention to these two DC Direct figures: Justice League of America Series 2 Batman and Superman/Batman Series 6 Batman:

The cape belonging to the former gives this figure a stately, artificial look, whereas the cape of the latter looks almost like it's alive. Both create very unique figures and imbue unusual characteristics to them. The Superman/Batman figure, were he wearing a standard cape (or even a cloth cape) would look much less impressive. The same can be said for the JLA figure.

Anyway, for some unknown reason, Mattel then re-released this figure as a 2008 New York Comic Convention exclusive. I'm not sure why; he was not particularly rare, and I would imagine Mattel would want to exhibit something extra-special and not normally released (for example: DC Universe Classics SDCC exclusive Lobo). So oddly, the demand for this figure has driven the price up significantly (except in random pockets of the internet, where the price is still low. Weird Internet).

All in all, Knight Shadow Batman is cool. Badass. And sitting atop my shelf.