Monday, August 23, 2010

Arkham Asylum Batarang: now THAT is what I am talking about, sir!

They say the third time is the charm. Who says that anyway? And who uses the term "Charm" colloquially nowadays anyhow? Wouldn't "Third time for the win" be more appropriate these days?

These, and other philosophical questions will not be adressed on this blog. Mainly because I find blogs about people's inner musings to be self-serving and inept. And yet here I sit, being self-serving and inept. The internal contradictions are both amusing and perplexing, and yet I persist.

This may go down in history as my most obtuse blog post to date, but the good news is that it is intentionally so, and on-purpose ironical. (yes, I am aware that this is not a word)

With that beastly preamble out of the way, please allow me to introduce the latest additions to my prop collection, two BEAUTIFULLY made batarangs from the Batman video game, "Arkham Asylum":



Ignoring the low-hanging fruit of an opportunity for a sloppy homage to the 1960's Batman show by saying something like "Holy machined metal, Batman", I will simply say that these are stunningly gorgeous, and bring to an official close my search for the perfect Arkham Batarang.

It's funny, because one of the recurring themes on my blog goes something like this: I am used to disappointment when it comes to fan made props I purchase on line, but this piece really breaks that cycle. I've been saying that A LOT lately, which probably means it's time to re-assess that position, and perhaps reverse it. In the past year and a half, I have acquired some really nice pieces. Perhaps it is because my maturity as a collector has grown. Or perhaps, and possibly more likely, I have just had a run of good luck, and only tend to deal with trusted dealers who post detailed pictures.

No matter what the cause, please let me go on record as saying that these pieces are just stunning. They are made of machined aluminum, from a cad model drawn up by a fellow prop enthusiast. These were machined by an online pal of mine in the UK, who goes by the name Russrep. Very talented guy with access to some amazing equipment.

I think my only negative comment about this piece is that there is some TINY wear to the otherwise flawless anodizing. No doubt caused during shipping, which is odd seeing as how well they were packed. No worries. I shall consider it battle damage, and not let it detract from the overall quality of the piece.

If you'd like to check out my other Arkham Asylum batarangs, here you go:

Comparison of Two Batarangs
Metal Batarang
Plastic Batarang

As you can probably tell from the pics, each has its own merits. Though overall bang for buck goes to the two new ones featured in this post. Thanks Russ!

2 comments:

zachary said...

How much did u pay for each of them and can you post a link?

MattMunson said...

Hey Zachary!

I'm sad to say I don't remember how much I paid for each of them. If I kept track of that type of stuff, it would only lead to tears.

However, they can typically be found on ebay. Also, if you don't have any luck there, I recommend you do a little digging through a forum called "The Brotherhood of the Bat". It's a discussion board focused on all things Batman.