NIGHTWING

DC: THE NEW 52 (DC COLLECTIBLES)

Fun FiQ Fact #0070: Though he had an early lead on the Fun FiQ Facts, Nightwing’s been stuck on two since January.  Now he’s up to three!

When the New 52 launched, everybody got a new costume design.  For his part, Nightwing, who has classically been very blue-skewed for coloring, was swapped to red accenting, calling more to mind his days as Robin, especially his Batman & Robin design from 1997.  His initial costume was one of the more short-lived ones, but his initial redesign still stuck to the red…for better or for worse.  I’m not big on the red for Nightwing myself, and I never really have been, but that doesn’t stop me from being on board for a good enough Nightwing figure.  So, here we are.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Nightwing was released as part of DC Collectibles’ The New 52 line.  He was initially slated to arrive in September of 2014, alongside Supergirl and Batgirl, but he was delayed until February of 2015 (and Supergirl and Batgirl got second runs to accompany him).  The figure stands about 6 3/4 inches tall and he has 19 points of articulation.  The articulation showcases DCC’s odd back and forth approach to movement on these figures.  When The New 52 line launched, they were using a very basic set-up for articulation, but they attempted to improve it pretty quickly.  That said, there’s an odd path of advancement for different lines.  So, while the Greg Capullo artist version of Nightwing was released first, he has a much better articulation scheme when compared to this one.  Ultimately, the biggest downfall is how restricted the torso is, since there’s no waist or mid-torso movement.  But, for a DC Direct/Collectibles figure, he’s not terrible overall.  The figure got a brand new sculpt.  He’s based on the character’s second New 52 era design, which wasn’t *drastically* different from the first.  That said, it feels more New 52-y than the first, since got more of the tech lines and ridges that were signature to the whole redesign.  Honestly, I don’t hate it for the most part.  I don’t like the red “belt” because I just think it breaks things up too much, but the extra smaller lines and ridges aren’t as offensive on a figure that’s predominantly darker colors.  The sculpts for the New 52 line weren’t designed to be as artist-specific as other lines, so Nightwing’s a bit more “house style” here.  He’s pretty skinny for Nightwing, though I don’t actually mind the build.  I like the head sculpt overall, but it does honestly give me more of a Tim Drake vibe than a Dick Grayson one.  I’m not entirely sure why.  The color work on this figure is accurate to the source, so I can’t knock it in that regard.  I still don’t really vibe on the red, but I’ve made my piece with it.  The application’s a little sloppier on my figure, especially on the belt piece.  Nightwing is packed with his eskrima sticks, which are very tiny for this release, and go more for the nightstick design.  They can also be stored in the holsters on his thighs.

THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION

I remember this figure’s release, but at the time I had just gotten the Capullo version, and I was still very much not a New 52 guy.  One red Nightwing was enough for me.  But was it really?  It turns out not so much.  This figure actually rattled around the back room at All Time for a good while before I finally snagged him, which I did mostly on the basis that he was cheap and he was a Nightwing I didn’t have.  He’s okay.  Nothing amazing, but certainly far from terrible.  He’d be better if he was blue, though.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.