NYCC 2012: On the Floor with Square Enix/Play Arts Kai

Square Enix/Play Arts Kai were at this year’s New York Comic Con in full force, showing off a great mix of previously released figures, newly painted prototypes, and a few great surprises.  They even trumped their lackluster SDCC Arkham Asylum exclusives with a sick metallic red version of Metal Gear Solid’s Cybernetic Ninja, available only at the con.  Check out a rundown of their new reveals and photo gallery.

Okay, first and foremost, fully painted versions of both Agent 47 (Hitman: Absolution) and Lara Croft (Tomb Raider) were displayed in all their glory.  These upcoming figures look incredible and I cannot own them soon enough.  Both look 100% accurate to their in-game counterparts and, like all the Play Arts Kai figures, feature an outrageous amount of articulation and fine detail in their sculpts.

The next big surprise were the unpainted builds of figures pulled from Christopher Nolan’s cinematic Batman universe — Heath Ledger’s Joker and Anne Hathaway’s portrayal of Catwoman were present, as were the film versions of Bats and Bane.  Regardless of how you feel about the films (and I was a pretty harsh critic of Rises), these pieces look incredible and I absolutely can’t wait to see the Joker painted up.  In addition to the film-based figures, Robin’s hooded visage from the Arkham City video game was present, as was an astounding sculpt of Frank Miller’s take from The Dark Knight Returns graphic novel.

Spike Spiegel and Vicious from Cowboy Bebop fame were painted and available for advance purchase at the show and were posed to show off their incredible range of motion.  Kazuya and Jun from Tekken were shown off as well — the paint work and detail on Kazuya in particular are jaw-dropping.  Speaking of gaming franchises, pieces from Devil May Cry and the upcoming Halo 4 were on display and had fans clamoring to check them out.  Dante and Vergil (from DMC) are available for advance sale, while the new Halo 4 Master Chief and Spartan Soldier won’t be available until early 2013.  Fully painted versions of Mass Effect 3’s stunning Femshep and Tali’Zorah even made an appearance.

I was totally not expecting to see awesome new figures based on Starship Troopers: Invasion or Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance (wow, check out those keyblades) but they were nice additions to Square Enix/Play Arts Kai’s growing catalogue.  Incredible showing overall, and I couldn’t be happier with my purchases at the event (they include a free stand with every figure you buy!)

Check out the gallery below to see what will be draining your wallet in the near future.