I'm a self confessed Daredevil junkie. I may have given up all my toys, but I've kept my love for good ol' hornhead. So much so that I decided that maybe owning a few pieces of merch wouldn't be too bad so I went online and purchased a Marvel Legends Daredevil. I hadn't planned on getting more Daredevil action figures after that.
On a recent trip to Osaka, Japan, my wife and I stumbled upon the Kotobukiya store in Nippombashi, which is essentially Osaka's answer to Tokyo's Akihabara.
There, in the display cabinets, we found the most perfect Daredevil mini-statue. My wife bought it for me as a keepsake of the trip, which I super appreciated. But yes, I've still quit collecting toys. This doesn't count because it isn't an action figure, it's a statue. So there. That said, let's go ahead and talk about the Kotobukiya Defenders Series Daredevil.
Scale
Kotobukiya Daredevil stands at about 7", a full inch taller than Marvel Legends Daredevil. With the base stand, it's at 7.2" tall. The entire Defenders series is in that scale. It's big enough to display on its own but it won't take up a massive amount of space on your desk or display case, which is one of the things i liked about it.
Sculpt
This statue is probably the best looking Daredevil I've ever had the pleasure of owning. That said, I've never really owned any of the bigger or more expensive Daredevil statues and toys, so take that with a grain of salt. But even then, I do believe it looks amazing, especially at this price point. Sculptor Junnosuke Abe did a magnificent job.
The musculature makes DD seem more athletic and lean, instead of the muscle-bound portrayal of most comic book heroes sometimes get. Details on the costume weren't insane, which I appreciated. It looks a lot like the way Daredevil was drawn for years in classic comics - no extra elements or superfluous additions. It's just the red suit, the gloves, the boots, the holster, the cowl, and the belt, all the classic elements. I would've liked some seams on his costume, though, the way Marco Checchetto draws it. That would've looked great.
One of the things some statues and especially toys get wrong is the size of the billy clubs. They usually end up too thick, mostly to be able to accommodate the size of the rope inside. Thankfully, the Kotobukiya billy clubs look just right.
Build Quality
This being my first Kotobukiya, I thought the material would be some kind of resin, but instead, the entire thing is made out of a very sturdy plastic. It's quite rigid but still soft to the touch, unlike the base where the magnets are. The base feels like hard plastic. I'm actually quite relieved it isn't made of any breakable material. Being as clumsy as I am, I'm pretty sure I would destroy a resin statue in like a week.
In the packaging, the product comes in 4 pieces - the arms, the upper body, and the legs. The billy club fits in his hands. It all fits perfectly.
Daredevil's billy club's wires are actually wires, not strings, which means you can pose them in any way you'd like. You can't change the length but you can bend it and it stays in place, for the most part. I find this freedom both enjoyable and frustrating because I feel like whatever pose I put the wires in, there'll always be something better so I keep changing it up. But the good news is that you can totally do that if you wanted to.
Paint
One of the best things I love about the Daredevil statue is the paint. The bright-ish red suit looks fantastic, especially in contrast to the maroon-ish gloves and boots. I'm glad they added the maroon touches to the figure so it wouldn't be too monochromatic. The shadow work and wash are equally amazing, making all the details on the sculpt really pop.
Overall
Yeah, so all in all, I think the entire Defenders series line is a must-have if you're a collector. They all look amazing. I personally don't think I'd buy the entire set but that's simply because I'm cheap.
9.3Overall9Sculpt10Paint9Value