Nano B.A.T. - Figure Subscription Service (Wave 1)

As I sometimes tend to do with these reviews, I need to make a confession. I need to come clean. I have a dirty little secret that I need to let out there.

I really, really could have cared less if we ever got the Nano B.A.T.

I know in pre-production circles the Nano B.A.T. was something of a holy grail, and I have the fullest respect for guys like Gyre Viper and NotPicard who spent lots of time and hard earned money tracking down those pre-production pieces, and essentially creating the interest and market for the Nano B.A.T. figure. But purely from the angle of being a toy fan and toy collector, the figure did absolutely nothing for me. Maybe it was because the pre-production version didn't have the translucent plastic, but the color scheme seemed bland, the purpose behind the character wasn't all that exciting. It was just another B.A.T. repaint, and in my mind not a very good one.

But then the Club throws this curve ball. They take the original production Nano B.A.T. concept (which included the translucent green plastic and light piping) and they release it as it was meant to be... and I'll be damned if the thing isn't pretty freaking cool. I'm not normally a sucker for translucent plastic, and it doesn't always thrill me, but I'll tell you it looks absolutely spectacular on this figure. The green is really bright and really eye-catching and totally gives you the feeling of the nanomite phenomenon from the Rise of Cobra film.

The sculpting of the figure comes from the 25th Anniversary line, but considering the original B.A.T. was one of the most nicely built 25th Anniversary figures that is hardly a complaint. The detail work throughout the figure itself, and especially in the arm attachments is nearly flawless and with this green color it really pops. I love the fact that the head and arms are all done in this awesome translucent plastic with the gray paint applied over it. Some exceedingly cool effects can be obtained that way. Unfortunately the "light piping" functionality doesn't work with the regular head, only with the battle damaged head (since the paint is removed from the top of the head, allowing light to pass more effectively through the translucent plastic). I am totally floored at how well the design of the battle damaged head works and how nicely the Club was able to get the paint applied around the caved in robot skull.

The gray uniform color isn't the most exciting, but it compliments the bright green nicely, and the whole package ends up a lot more successful and appealing than I initially thought it would.

ACCESSORIES

As one might suspect, the Nano B.A.T. comes with the normal compliment of B.A.T.-like accessories, such as the removable chest plate, the two heads, the three attachments, backpack, and battle stand. The figure also comes with Zartan's laser rifle from the Rise of Cobra, and the big grabber claw for... well, I'm not entirely sure what for. I can only assume it's to hold the B.A.T. still while they nano-tize it.

Yes, I just made up that word.

I anticipated not liking this figure a whole lot, but to my surprise, once the effect of the translucent plastic and light piping was realized, found myself really enjoying it. A nice addition to the FSS, and I'm glad the Club took the plunge on it, and did it right.

GRADE: