ROBIN

SUPER POWERS (McFARLANE)

“Growing up in Gotham City can be…complicated. Especially when you’re a kid who’s obsessed with Batman and Robin. For Tim Drake, learning everything about his favorite superheroes eventually led him down the path of becoming one himself, after he deduced the identities of Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson.”

My last few McFarlane Super Powers reviews have all been re-hashes of characters that got covered in the original run.  But, the line’s actually got a solid run of new characters.  Today’s focus is *sort of* a mixed bag, since the name was in the vintage line, but it was actually a different guy.  That guy is Tim Drake, the third Robin.  Though his creation’s outside the window of Super Powers‘ vintage run, his first figure was a vaguely Super Powers-esque one, as part of Kenner’s Batman Returns line (which was largely built on re-worked SP molds).  But, now he’s got one (well, technically two) under the actual Super Powers banner, so let’s check that out!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Robin was released in Series 4 of McFarlane’s Super Powers line, alongside the updated classic Batman.  Since this assortment wound up being rather under-ordered, he’s gotten a subsequent re-release with a slightly changed up color palette, but the one seen here is the initial release.  The figure stands a little under 4 1/2 inches tall and he has 7 points of articulation.  He’s more or less the same height and build as the vintage Robin, which is a pretty good set-up.  The sculpt is totally unique, and it’s…fine.  The body sculpt is decent enough, matching the style of the line, and also capturing his costume design pretty well.  I’m not super crazy about the head.  It seems a little wide, and the hair is…I don’t really know what’s going on there.  It’s certainly not the worst thing, though, and it does still feel more like authentic Super Powers than the earlier McF stuff.  Robin’s color work is rather on the bright side.  It’s not strictly speaking a match for Tim’s costume (which was usually a little darker), but it works well within the context of the line.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

One of the things I’ve been looking for in my Super Powers collecting is characters that feel authentic for a continuation of the original line.  It’s what kept me off the earlier stuff, but I’m willing to make something of an exception for Tim.  Of course, neither of his releases was *super* easy to find, so I kind of had to wait.  Thankfully, I was able to snag this one when he got traded in at All Time.  He’s not one of the stronger entries in the line, but he’s a respectable enough entry.

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.