I was very hesitant buying this costume based on the previous reviews, but after trying the Deluxe Batman Muscle Chest (Large) and discovering it was too small for my 5'11" frame (lets just say it very tight in the crotch area), I decided to give this a try given Amazon's excellent return policy and the price drop from the Hundred twenty dollars it used to be. I think my reaction was pleasant surprise when I opened and put on the costume. I ordered the Standard "Medium" size for my 5'11" frame, my waist is 33"-34" and everything fit snug. Bodysuit is nice material, easily nicest part of the costume. It stretches where it needs to, is not see-through, nice zipper 3/4 zipper on the back, nice snug turtle-neck collar. Bat logo is sewn on, mine was slightly crooked as indicated in previous reviews, it is a bit higher than I'd like, but is still visible with the cape on which is what all that matters to me, I suppose you could rip the stitches out and move it down a tad more, but I'm not that picky. Cape is nice, maybe a tad smaller than the pic, but does have double material stitched together, it velcros in the front above the bat logo. Gloves are okay, I have smaller hands so they don't fit as well and I can see how the fit per finger could use a bit of work/refinement. The briefs I don't like as much, but they fit okay for my waist. they stretch enough for me and are still baggy which I don't mind too much. Belt is nice, has riveted pouches and the bat buckle had plastic protector wrap on it, belt has velcro on both ends as is meant to be velcro-ed in the back on itself. The boot covers were very snug on thighs with not much stretch, but I think it works with the costume. Now to the cowl, not as bad as I was led to believe, but not great which is why I mainly deducted 1 star. The "front" is the plastic found in many halloween costumes, the plastic that has that distinctive smell to it. It was thankfully not creased in any horrible way. The back cowl fabric does not stretch at all which was a problem for my big head (I'm a XL ski helmet size). Thus the cowl does not fit well, in the current state, I cannot comfortably fit it over my eyes as intended. It did seem to fit my Fiancées' smaller head quite well, so obviously its a fit issue for some people and not for others. I'm not sure if the XL size costume has a larger head. You can use a stitch ripper and strategically remove some of the stitches to let out the fabric a bit more. The bat ears are molded in the plastic and is just okay. I actually prefer the cowl in the "Deluxe Batman Muscle Chest" a bit more because the foam gives a bit more for my face, but it doesn't match the color of this costume. In all, it its current price range, I think its a good value for the price I paid (Eighty-Five Dollars) considering how elaborate you can get with this classic 1966 costume, I was tallying up the potential cost of doing this all DIY from scratch, but once you add up the body suit and cowl in particular, you are easily above $100-150. I was looking at buying custom tights online and then having to dye it! So is this an 100% authentic costume, of course not, but I think its reasonable now in this price range and it seems they have fixed the major issues. So if you were initially scared away by all the other reviews, I would give it a second look and buy from Amazon (not sure if other sellers have cleared out old stock or not) given the prime shipping and easier returns, should you need to.
