SSR

SSR, usually listed by sellers as SSR Toys, makes twelve-inch figures of comic-book heroes and numbers them in an SSC series. The shelf belongs to DC, and most of all to Batman. Like a lot of smaller studios, SSR tends to sell its figures under descriptive titles in place of the character's name: SSC-011 is Knight by Gaslight, the Victorian Batman of Gotham by Gaslight, and SSC-013 went out as Justice Knight.

The Archive's SSR figures are drawn from the comics, not the films. The Justice pieces put Batman beside Superman and add the Joker from the same story. Batman: Hush supplies another Dark Knight, and Dark Nights: Metal brings the Batman Who Laughs, the nightmare Batman with a Joker's grin. It is a catalogue for collectors who picture these characters as painted panels and pencil lines, and who would rather have that version on the shelf than a movie costume.

That choice sets the test. A comic-style figure has no actor's face to copy, so the sculpt has to carry an artist's look in three dimensions: the jaw, the cowl, the proportions of the cape against the body. Put an SSR Batman beside other comic-based sixth scale Batmen and judge the head first.

Because the box titles are descriptive, the SSC number is the surest way to tell one release from another, and it is worth checking a listing's photos against the official contents before you buy a loose one.