Released in October 2013 this statue depicts a ferocious battle between the murderous Killer Croc — who is shown bursting up through a man-hole cover — and a grim and determined Batman. The battle has clearly been raging for some time: Batman’s armour is scored along his legs and Croc’s scaly hide has been pierced by several batarangs, while another is wrapped around his top jaw. The overall effect is electrifying and extremely dramatic. This cold-cast porcelain statue was designed by Walter O’Neal and sculptured by fan-favourite Ray Villafane. Villafane did a great job on the piece and the level of detail is wonderful, from the scales on Croc’s skin to the bones at the base of the statue. There’s even texture on Croc’s tongue — it’s easy to see why Villafane is held in such high regard amongst collectors. Complementing the sculpture is the fantastic paint work of Eddie Wires, who imbues the piece with some wonderfully shaded and nuanced colour work (the bandages around Croc’s wrists and hands, for example, feature multiple shades of yellow and orange). This is the second edition of the Batman & Killer Croc statue, and there are significant difference between this version and the one originally released in 2010. The big change is the colour scheme — the first edition featured a blue and grey Batman, not the black and grey as featured in this version (I much prefer the classic black and grey edition). Adding to the statue’s impact is its size — it measures an impressive 15 inches tall and 13 inches wide (it’s satisfyingly heavy too). The piece ships in a suitably large box (22 x 16.5 inches) and comes encased in two thick pieces of polystyrene. Everything about this statue is big. It comes in original packaging.