Tag Archives: Dick Grayson

#4125: Robin

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , ,

ROBIN

SUPER POWERS (McFARLANE)

“Robin was the sidekick of Batman and a member of the Justice Society Infinity”

In 1961, Flash #123, a story titled “Flash of Two Worlds,” reintroduced the original Flash, Jay Garrick, by showing his exploits as having taken place on a parallel Earth to that of Barry Allen, the then current Flash.  The story’s success led to follow-ups, reviving other Golden Age DC heroes, and placing them on this newly created “Earth 2.”  Since Earth 2 had allowed the characters to age more or less in real time from where they’d been left off in the ‘40s, when the “original” Dick Grayson reappeared six years later in 1967, he wasn’t a teen sidekick anymore, but rather an adult member of the Justice Society.  But, where his Earth 1 counterpart would take up the monicker “Nightwing,” Earth 2 Dick maintained the “Robin” name.  While the Earth 1 Dick gets most of the toy coverage, Earth 2’s version gets a lot of coverage himself, and he’s even joined the Earth 1 version’s four Super Powers figures with one of his own.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Robin is the final figure in Wave 13 of McFarlane’s Super Powers, numbered 66 in the overall line-up.  He’s not specifically denoted “Earth 2” anywhere on the packaging, but the bio on the back indicates it, though the call-out of Justice Society Infinity is a really specific post-Infinite Crisis reference.  When Earth 2 Dick Grayson first reappeared, he was sporting a costume heavily inspired by Batman’s, rather than his own Robin costume.  This figure is based instead on his second, more on brand costume, which, it should be noted, was actually worn by Earth 1 Dick Grayson first, during one of of the JLA/JSA crossovers.  Earth 2 Dick had full possession of it after that, though, and he kept the look until his demise during Crisis on Infinite Earths.  The figure stands 4 5/8 inches tall and he has 7 points of articulation.  He’s using the standard male body that’s based on the Flash mold, a first for any version of Dick in the line.  That said, it’s a far better match than the rather large base body of the first two Nightwings, and means he scales far better next to the various basic Batmen, so I certainly don’t mind it.  He gets a modified version of the Gold Label Nightwing head sculpt, with the hair removed on the sides and the lines of the mask removed, so that his wrap-around mask can be properly displayed.  I like that they keep that bit of consistency between the two.  He also gets a new belt piece, which matches well to his unique belt design as seen in the comics.  It’s all topped off with a cloth cape, which I think is actually a little nicer than a lot of the others from this line.  His color work is very bright and colorful, and the paint application is mostly pretty clean, and without any real slop or bleed over.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

When McFarlane’s Super Powers started, we got a modern Nightwing, and I figured that was the only Dick Grayson we’d get.  Then we got ‘90s Nightwing, and I was like, wow, I guess we’re getting two, but that’s got to be it, right.  Then we got ‘80s Nightwing, and I was really happy, but also 100% sure there was no way there could possibly be another Dick Grayson.  So this guy?  Totally out of left field.  Am I shocked?  A bit.  Am I unhappy?  Not in the slightest.  He turned out really well.  It’s a design that translates really well to the aesthetic, and it just makes for an incredibly fun figure.  And, sure, I’m now thinking it’d be great to *also* have his first costume, but you know what, I’m okay with just this one.

#4101: Robin

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , ,

ROBIN

BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES (KENNER)

While I had a handful of reviews from Hasbro’s running on fumes continuation of the Batman Animated tie-in line in the last few months, it’s been a hot minute since I’ve actually reviewed any of the original Kenner run of Batman: The Animated Series figures.  For today’s review, I’m actually going way back to the very beginning of said tie-ins, for a look at the first animated variant of Batman’s trusty sidekick, Robin!  So, let’s take a look at this early release for the other half of the dynamic duo!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Robin was released in the first series of Kenner’s Batman: The Animated Series line in 1992.  He joined two Batman variants, Penguin, Riddler, and Two-Face for the line’s debut at retail.  At this point, the line was actually sticking to rather faithful costume designs, rather than the wacky variants that followed, so Robin’s wearing Dick’s standard attire from the show.  The figure stands about 4 1/2 inches tall and he has 5 points of articulation.  Robin was pretty notably predominantly parts re-use, which was rare for this line early on.  From the neck down, he was the Batman Returns Robin, topped off with a new head sculpt.  I’ve looked at the whole combo before through one of its re-releases during Hasbro’s run.  It’s sort of a mixed bag, since the original use wasn’t meant to be an animated style figure, so he’s very heavy on details that really shouldn’t be there.  The head’s perfectly serviceable, and a decent match for the show model, especially when filtered through the same lens as the other early run figures from the line.  Like the later release, he gets a cloth cape, similarly two-toned.  The cloth’s a bit thinner on this one, though, so it hangs quite a bit better, making for a much better overall look.  What’s also much better overall is the figure’s coloring; the re-paint from Hasbro was very cold and neon, and that was quite off model, but this one’s colors are much closer to his on-screen colors.  While the core figures of the early Kenner run were fairly standard depictions, there were definitely some wonky accessories going on, and in Robin’s case, that’s a whole hang glider set-up, which also has, like, guns, or something?  That doesn’t seem very Batman-y, now does it?  Honestly, it’s not a terrible piece, though, and it’s unobtrusive, so it really doesn’t bug me.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Like I said when I reviewed the Hasbro repaint, I kind of missed the main runs of these guys, so I didn’t have a chance to pick this guy up new.  What can I say, I was a newborn at the time, and my parents wouldn’t give me any spending money.  I got the Hasbro one, and I’ve honestly always kinda loved that one, so I didn’t *need* this one, but also I’m a sucker for a Dick Grayson figure I don’t own, so I did kind of want one for posterity’s sake.  He’s been on my list, but I wasn’t actively searching.  But, while I was on vacation with my family this summer, I swung by Yesterday’s Fun early in the trip and struck up a conversation with the woman who works the counter, and mentioned I’d probably be stopping in a few times while we were there.  On one of my return trips, she pulled a box of just priced Batman stuff that hadn’t gone out for me to look through, and this guy was there for a very reasonable price, so I really couldn’t refuse.  He’s neat.  I like the differences between the releases, and I won’t deny this one’s a bit better than the later one, even if I don’t have quite the same nostalgic tie to him.

Flashback Friday Figure Addendum #0083: Iceboard Robin

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Flashback Friday Figure Addendum and tagged with , , , , ,

ICEBOARD ROBIN

BATMAN & ROBIN (KENNER)

G’day and welcome to Friday.  Here at the end of the week, it’s always important to note that the week is, in fact, ending, and we’ve all made it through another one.  Yay us!  Rather than just looking back on the week, of course, I like to be a bit more retrospective than that, and today, I’m returning to Robin!

“Gotham City becomes a very cold place when Mr. Freeze, Poison Ivy and Bane triple team to plot the icy demise of Batman and Robin. The crimefighters respond immediately by using the Batcomputer deep within the Batcave to develop an array of cutting-edge weapons that can be used in their battle against this multitude of fiendish foes. Discover the Secrets of the Batcave! – secret technology that gives Batman , Robin and Batgirl the ultimate ability to save Gotham City!”

After the box office success of Batman Forever (I know, I’m surprised, too), Warner Brothers decided to fast track its follow-up, Batman & Robin, with its entire production process coming in at under two years, which, when you’re dealing with a block-buster of this caliber, isn’t a lot of time.  The end result was less than stellar.  Batman & Robin holds the lowest earnings of any Batman film to date, and is still regarded as one of the worst comic book films ever made.  With all that said, it did succeed on one front: it was a pretty excellent toy commercial.  The toyline that accompanied the film was easily the best part of the whole thing.  Amazingly, though I dove into the Batman Forever line, I have as of yet not looked at any Batman & Robin figures.  I’ll be changing that today, with Iceboard Robin!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Iceboard Robin was released in the first basic series of Kenner’s Batman & Robin line, which hit shelves in 1997, alongside the film.  The first series had two Robins included, with this one being the “standard” movie Robin.  The figure stands 4 3/4 inches tall and he has 5 points of articulation.  Robin sported an all-new sculpt.  Robin is actually the most fortunate of the film’s main characters, as he was the only one whose design didn’t change during the production process, meaning his was the only standard figure that was actually film accurate.  Additionally, Robin’s design, which was a pretty nifty merging of more classic Robin characteristics with the then current Nightwing costume from the comics, is really one of the nicest of the film’s designs in general, if you can get past the general Chris O’Donnel-ness of the head.  The sculpt does a nice job of capturing the look from the movie, and is generally a lot sturdier and more sharply detailed than the Forever figures were.  Pre-posing on this figure is at a minimum, but he’s a little better than the straight standing poses of prior figures.  There’s a more natural stance here, and it’s actually pretty darn nice.  The cape is a plastic piece, as were most of the capes on this round of figures, and it plugs into his back fairly securely.  Robin’s paintwork is pretty basic, which the majority of stuff being molded plastic.  However, the red detailing of the uniform is pretty cool, and has a slick metallic finish to it.  Iceboard Robin was, stay with me on this, packed with an iceboard, which is really just a big, goofy stand.  He also included a missile launcher, but mine is missing that piece.  Oh no, whatever will I do?

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I was too young to see Batman Forever in theaters (though I sure got in on those toys), but Batman & Robin hit at the perfect time for me to be all about it.  I was very excited prior to the film’s release (and even after, if I’m honest, because I loved it.  In my defense, I was 5), and this guy was part of the hype.  At the time, Toys R Us was running a promotion where you got reprints of Robin, Batgirl, and Mr. Freeze’s first appearances if you bought one of the toys from the tie-in line, and my mom was awesome enough to take me over one day after work.  Unsurprisingly, given my more recent collecting habits, I opted for Robin to be my qualifying figure purchase.  Quality of the film and of the actor playing Robin aside, this figure holds up well, and is just a genuinely fun offering.

Behold, a shutdown review!  Yep, this was from the middle of April in 2020, as I was starting to worry about how to keep the daily reviews going without a consistent source of new stuff.  Which is, honestly, kind of funny in my current spot, when I’m working from a lot more back catalog offerings than I really ever have been before.  If anything, it’s reviews like this one that got me more comfortable with going back to the stuff already in my collection more frequently.  While my figure had his iceboard at the time of his review, he was missing all his weaponry.  I actually found his missile launcher while going through boxes of parts, and got a second figure for the staff, so he’s all complete again.  I actually quite like the staff; it’s silly, but i like it.

#4073: Robin

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , ,

ROBIN

DC PREMIER (MATTEL)

At last, nature is healing.  Or, something like that.  See, back at the end of 2019, Mattel, who had held the DC license for 17 years at that point, lost said license.  It was a choice on their own part, rather than DC’s, as they felt they needed to regroup.  Given the state of things, that was honestly pretty fair.  But also, I’m not gonna say Mattel giving up the DC license broke the world, but….can I convey a vague gesture around me in the text here?  Anyway, Mattel’s had pretty decent run of years here (helped by coincidentally scaling back their operations *just* before the pandemic that broke every major manufacturer’s supply chains for over a year), and with the DC license up for renewal again last year, they were able to successfully get it back.  We’re just now starting to get the very first of their new product, a basic 6-inch line of heavy hitters.  As there’s neither a Superman nor a Nightwing at the start, I’ve gone for the next best option: Robin!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Robin is part of the first “Core” wave of Mattel’s DC Premier line, alongside a Batman, a Joker, and a Flash.  In stark contrast to most recent Robin figures, this one is Dick Grayson, specifically based on Dan Mora’s update to his classic design from the recent World’s Finest book.  It’s a fun design that keeps a lot of the signatures of Dick’s original look, while also working in some of Tim Drake’s design.  Essentially, it’s Dick’s original look, but now he gets to wear pants.  Good for him?  The figure stands about 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 24 points of articulation.  The pricing on this line puts it more or less in the same range as the recent Masters of the Universe movie line, which was honestly not a bad line, but Robin’s even better, with a really, really good articulation set-up.  There are some slight drawbacks; he lacks any mid-torso movement, and I would love more than just a swivel at the ankles.  But, the good greatly outweighs the bad here.  Robin’s sculpt is all-new, and appears to be shared with the deluxe version with the bike, but is otherwise unique.  It’s clearly inspired by Mora’s art, with a little bit of house styling in place as well.  The head sculpt is definitely the strongest piece; the separate hair is nice and sharp, and the expression feels right for Dick.  Robin’s cape is cloth, and it’s nothing terribly impressive, but neither is it bad looking.  Given Mattel’s earlier attempts at capes, it’s honestly refreshingly simple.  Robin’s coloring relies pretty heavily on molded plastic, but there’s still some paint mixed in.  He’s bright and colorful, as he should be, and the application is all very clean and sharp.  Robin gets quite an impressive array of extras, with two staffs, two pairs of different varieties of throwing weapons, two pairs of handcuffs, a knife, and a weapons rack to store them all on.  Additionally, Robin’s belt has three spots on the back where you can store some of the accessories, actually on the figure.  While I’d maybe like a more proper staff or some batarangs, I do like the variety offered, and the storage for everything is super cool.  You can also link up multiple racks if you have them, for a larger arsenal set-up.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I was hardly a Mattel fanboy during the latter part of their original run with the DC license, but I liked where they were headed right before giving up the license before, and I’ve been impressed by what I’ve picked up of their post-DC stuff.  While McFarlane certainly has grown on me, I was eager to see where Mattel could take things.  I was looking for a good intro figure, and when the first wave started showing up in stock, I liked the look of the Robin pictures enough to order one.  I’m really impressed.  He’s an incredibly good step forward, and shows Mattel really has changed their approach here.  I don’t know if I’m looking to go all-in here, but I’ll certainly pick up the occasional figure as they hit.

#3946: Nightwing – Teen Titans

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , ,

NIGHTWING — TEEN TITANS

DC MULTIVERSE (McFARLANE)

“A youthful version of the Justice League, the Teen Titans featured Robin as leader from the outset. In the 1980s, when the title was relaunched with new characters, Robin grew more independent than ever, living in Titan’s Tower and later changing his codename to Nightwing.”

Remember the last time I reviewed a McFarlane Nightwing here on the site and I discussed George Lucas’s “It’s like poetry; it rhymes” quote?  Well, I feel like it might be appropriate again.  One of my earliest 7-inch McFarlane DC reviews was his first take on Nightwing.  As we wind down on his offerings (….maybe?  Apparently he’s still got some version of the license going into ’26?  It’s all gotten very confusing), I’m looking at another Nightwing, who, much like the Super Powers version before him, is based on the character’s disco-inspired original costume design.  Let’s check him out!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Nightwing — Teen Titans is part of the fifth “Digital” assortment of DC Multiverse, meaning he’s pretty much just a standard figure, but there’s also an extra card that literally no one will ever make any use of.  He’s officially under the “DC Direct” banner, alongside wave-mates Batman and Monarch.  He’s the eighth version of Nightwing under the Multiverse line.  The figure stands 7 inches tall and he has 37 points of articulation.  Nightwing is built on the Beetle/Booster body, which has been a favorite starting points for mid-sized characters.  Nightwing himself has used it once before, for his ‘90s costume.  This time around, it actually gets a few adjustments to make it more accurate.  He adds the collar to the torso, as well as finally re-tooling the shins so as to redo the boot-tops, so that he’s not yet another figure saddled with the weird boot tops.  Instead, he’s got the proper, slightly more unique design for this costume.  He’s also got a brand new head sculpt, clearly patterned on Perez’s illustrations of the character in the early years.  It’s a very nice sculpt, with a lot of really sharp and clean work, and, above all, it’s a happy Nightwing, which I always appreciate seeing, especially in this costume.  It’s certainly the nicest of the Nightwing head sculpts we’ve gotten from McFarlane.  The paint work is generally okay, though it does wind up with some slight oddities.  The mask gets a pattern suggesting shading, which I don’t mind, as it’s effective and doesn’t look weird.  That said, it’s the only instance of painted shading on the figure, which is strange.  The rest of the work is more basic stuff.  Application’s clean and sharp, so that’s good.  The only off spot is the shoulders, which are already kind of off due to the way the assembly works, but then also miss the lighter blue on the top section.  You can kind of hide it with posing around the shoulder “cups”, but it’s odd when you can see it.  Nightwing is packed with a batarang, a display stand, a collector’s card, and the card with the info for the “digital” collectible.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I wasn’t certain I was going to get this one when it was announced.  It seems kind of strange, I suppose, but the Super Powers version was announced around the same time, and I already have the DC Direct one and….yeah, none of it was very solid reasoning, honestly, so when I saw this one in person, I folded pretty quickly.  I’m glad I did, because, apart from some slight oddities to do with the paint, he’s a really nice figure, and definitely McFarlane’s best take on Nightwing, which is actually a pretty noteworthy statement, given how many Nightwing figures he did.

#3938: Nightwing

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , ,

NIGHTWING

BATMAN: ARKHAM CITY (DC COLLECTIBLES)

The Arkham line of games made quite a splash for DC in the ‘10s, which was good, because they found themselves struggling with most of their other media endeavors.  The first game was relatively focused on Batman and his rogues housed at the asylum, and the tie-in figures were likewise more focused.  The sequel expanded things out to a wider Gotham City, allowing for a wider swathe of the Bat-family, and a much larger line in general.  Two of the three Robins were present in City, with Dick Grayson occupying his “Nightwing” role in some of the game’s DLC.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Nightwing was released in Series 4 of the DC Collectibles Batman: Arkham City line.  This was the standard release, and he also figured into a multi-pack, which saw him get a slightly different deco.  The figure stands about 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 17 points of articulation.  DC Direct/Collectibles was still not really up to par on articulation at this point, but I suppose they were trying.  There are elements here that work (mainly the arms) and elements that really don’t (the neck is especially pointless), which feels very true of their general approach to a lot of things.  His sculpt was all-new to this release.  He’s based on the character’s primary design in game, which is essentially Jim Lee’s “Hush” design filtered through the game universe’s “tactical” aesthetic.  It’s an okay look, and I think one that stays a bit truer to the spirit of Nightwing than some of the other characters’ designs did.  The suit in particular feels like it’s got a good flow to it.  I’ve never been *crazy* about the hair, but I think that’s partly linked to how the model has to work within gameplay, so I can’t be too down on it.  The sculpt captures it all pretty well, following closely with the game models, and also putting a lot of really nice work into the figure’s texturing and suit layout.  Paint work is decent as well.  This is the main color scheme, so it’s a little on the darker side (I personally prefer a brighter blue for Nightwing’s logo), but it does what it’s supposed to, the application is all clean, and all of the elements are properly painted.  There’s a little bit of slop around his hairline, but it’s generally minor.  Nightwing is packed with his two batons, which can either be held or stored on his back.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I never played the Arkham games myself (though I did watch my brother play through City and Knight), but I’ve jumped in on the figures every now and again.  I’m always down for a Nightwing figure, and I’ve been sort of loosely looking for his figures from the game for a while.  Nearer the beginning of the year, I got the chance to help process an entire run of the Arkham figures, which also gave me the opportunity to snag this guy for myself.  I can’t say he’s a great figure or anything, but he’s certainly nifty, and I do like a nifty Nightwing figure.

Shoutout to my friends at All Time Toys, from whom I purchased this figure for review!  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#3088: Nightwing

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , ,

NIGHTWING

DC DELUXE COLLECTOR FIGURES (DC DIRECT)

Back in the early 2000s, everybody was starting to really try out the 1/6 scale game.  Hot Toys hadn’t quite overtaken the market, so there was still this sort of fledging “anyone could take this over” kind of vibe.  So, a lot of companies tried just that.  Among them was DC Direct, who decided that the best way to stand above the competition was to literally have their figures be taller than the competition, so they scaled everyone up by about an inch, with the argument that they were still 1/6 scale, the heroes were just supposed to be that much bigger than the average person.  Despite some odd notions right out of the gate, the line was a modest success, running from 2005 up through 2010.  Not a terrible run, all things considered.  They got a pretty decent swath of characters out there, which included a pretty solid focus on the Bat-Family.  Dick Grayson was present in both his Robin and Nightwing identities, the latter of which I’m going to be taking a look at today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Nightwing was the 14th release in DCD’s Deluxe Collector Figure line, hitting retail in the fall of 2007, during the line’s third year.  All of the figures were designed as standalone releases, but he hit right in the midst of a streak of Bat-related characters.  In a line that had certainly had a more classic focus, he was a decidedly more modern figure, sporting the character’s then-current design.  The figure stands about 13 1/4 inches tall (due to DCD’s insistence on that extra large scaling) and he has 30 points of articulation.

The figure’s head sculpt was the most notable new piece included here, as was pretty standard for the line.  The head sculpts for this line up to this point were, to be blunt, kind of ugly.  I mean, not terrible, but they were none of them particularly attractive people.  Nightwing marked a very earnest effort on DCD’s part to fix that issue.  Ultimately, the sculpt winds up looking a heck of a lot like Brad Pitt, with maybe a touch of Tom Cruise thrown in for good measure.  That certainly errs away from kind of ugly, and results in a not so terrible look for Dick Grayson.  The base sculpt is unmasked, with a mask piece that can clip into place, which sits surprisingly well on the face.  They did the same on Green Lantern, and I’ve always liked how well those turned out.  There are actually two masks included, one black and one blue, to cover the two looks he was shifting between so frequently at the time.  I personally really like the blue, but both work well.  In terms of paint work, it’s not as incredibly lifelike as Hot Toys, or anything, but it was about on par with most Sideshow offerings of the time.  It’s a little thickly applied, but other than that, it doesn’t look too bad.

Nightwing’s outfit is, predictably, mixed-media in its nature.  It’s made up of a bodysuit, glove cuffs, and boots.  Not a lot of pieces to this one, though that’s proper for the design.  The bodysuit is actually really nicely tailored, for as simple as it is, and the blue for his symbol really stands out well.  The boots (which are actual boots that slip over the feet) and glove cuffs are pleather pieces, with a plastic sculpted bit at the end, for the whatever they are things that he sometimes has on his costume.  They seem a tad bulky for his usual look, but ultimately work out alright.

The figure was built on what was the only available male base body at the time of his release.  It’s probably a touch bulky for Dick’s usual proportions, but it’s not truly atrocious, and he was certainly better served by this base body than most of the female figures were by the only female base body the line ever had.  It’s generally rather stiff in its movement, and notably can put its arms all the way down by the sides, but it does look pretty damn heroic, so I’ll give them that.

Nightwing got an alright selection of accessories, with two sets of hands (fists and bendy for posing to grip or gesture), his eskrima sticks, three batarangs, and a display stand.  The bendy hands are better than most of this type, but still not ideal for actually holding his weapons; actual gripping hands would have been better.  The display stand is notably really big and bulky and, due to how it’s designed, also kind of a risk for damaging the costume if you aren’t careful, which is kind of a shame.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I had a handful of figures from this line when they were new, and while they were never figures I felt were amazingly high-end, I’ve always had a soft spot for them.  Nightwing was one I always wanted, but it wasn’t until after his release, as he changed quite a bit between prototype and release, and by then I had missed a lot of opportunities to get him.  Thankfully, I got another shot at him when a whole batch of the Bat-themed characters got traded into All Time a few weeks ago.  He’s a figure from a line that’s been abandoned, and with good reason.  DCD made a lot of weird choices with these figures, and they suffered for it.  However, taken in a vacuum, I do really, really like this figure.  He’s honestly a lot of fun, and just feels really true to the character.

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.

#2928: Nightwing

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , , ,

NIGHTWING

BATMAN: THE CAPED CRUSADER (SPIN MASTER)

I think I’m finally hitting an okay pace when it comes to these Spin Master DC figures.  I mean, it’s at least a consistent one.  Sure, that consistent pace is, like, one figure per month, but that’s still something, right?  This year’s theme for their Batman line is Bat-Tech, which is outfitting all of the Caped Crusader’s allies and foes with new variant costumes that are all techy.  Largely, I’m picking up the actually new characters, but there are a few intriguing variants mixed in, and I’m always a sucker for a good Nightwing.  So, you know, here we are.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Nightwing is part of the sixth assortment of Spin Master’s Batman: The Caped Crusader line, which is the second assortment under the “Bat-Tech” banner.  This is the same assortment that included the previously reviewed Batgirl, making Nightwing a logical inclusion.  The figure stands about 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 17 points of articulation.  Structurally, the figure is the same as the prior Spin Master Nightwing.  It’s a reasonable enough sculpt, not perfect, but certainly serviceable, and the consistency isn’t a bad thing.  In order to fit with the “tech-y” nature of the set, Nightwing’s color scheme has been tweaked.  It keeps the same basic Nightwing feel, but he’s molded in a smoky translucent plastic, which is fun, and he’s got a bunch of the tech details like we saw on Batgirl and Batman.  They’re fun little details, and I also enjoy the slight change-ups to his basic suit’s layout of details.  Nightwing is packed with the same baton pieces that the prior release included, but in sparkly blue plastic instead.  He also gets two different guns, one of which has a piece to allow for hooking it up to his back.  Guns feel a bit in contrast to Nightwing’s usual loadout, but I guess they’re not real guns, so that’s better maybe?  I’m only gonna use the batons anyway, so it doesn’t really matter.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

After getting Batgirl, I found myself really liking the Bat-Tech set-up as a whole, and, I am, as noted before, a sucker for a good Nightwing.  Max wound up finding this one during one of his stops, so he was nice enough to enable me pick one up for me.  He’s not drastically different from the last one, but he’s still a lot of fun, and keeps the spirit of Spin Master’s whole set-up really going.

#2659: Nightwing

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , , ,

NIGHTWING

DC C3 CONSTRUCTION (PLAY ALONG)

The DC C3 Construction line was divided into two segments: cartoon-based and comic-based.  In both cases, the products were mostly based on current iterations of the characters.  In the case of the comics stuff, they were largely focused on what was going on at that moment in the Batman side of the DCU, which meant a bat-family that was made up of Tim Drake as Robin, Cassandra Kaine as Batgirl, and Dick Grayson as Nightwing.  It’s that last one that’s going to be my focus today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Like last week’s Batman, Nightwing was released in April of 2005, as part of the “Mini Flyers” assortment of DC C3 Construction, which would prove to be the line’s final assortment.  He was part of the very cleverly named “Nightwing Mini Flyer” set.  Man, how did they come up with those craaaaaazy names?  Nightwing was patterned on his late ’90s/early ’00s costume, which is ultimately his most memorable and lasting design.  The figure is built on the fully upgraded C3-style Minimate body with the shorter style feet *and* the peghole on the head, to allow for better hold on the hair piece.  He makes use of add-ons for his hair, wrist cuffs, and boot pieces.  The wrist cuffs were previously used on Power Man, and would go on to be used on so many other figures, but the hair and boots were new to this guy, and would remain unique to this release.  Like Robin, his hair piece is made of a much softer plastic than usual.  That said, with the peg on the piece, it has a lot less trouble staying in place.  In terms of paint work, Nightwing’s generally pretty decent, but is not without a few missteps.  Notably, on this particular copy, the face is printed a little bit high on the head, which makes him look like he’s got a big chin going on.  The actual face looks pretty good though, as is the detailing on the torso.  The only thing I’d really like to see changed would be how dark the blue is, since it’s easy to miss it on the black plastic.  Of note, that was one thing that the DCD release ended up changing.  Nightwing was packed with his pair of Eskrima sticks, which were their own new mold, albeit one that was very similar to the mold used for the Daredevil billy club pieces.  They were kinda small, but it was nice to get something for him.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

When the Mini Flyers originally hit, Nightwing was the one I was most interested in, due to that whole “being a big Nightwing fan” thing that I’ve got going on.  I wound up getting him at the time, but wound up losing most of his parts over the years.  Thankfully, when the other C3 figures came into All Time, so did he.  He’s pretty decent overall.  There are some issues that the DCD release would fix, but there are also some parts that this guy did a little better, so it winds up as something of a toss-up between the two.

#2373: Iceboard Robin

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , ,

ICEBOARD ROBIN

BATMAN & ROBIN (KENNER)

“Gotham City becomes a very cold place when Mr. Freeze, Poison Ivy and Bane triple team to plot the icy demise of Batman and Robin. The crimefighters respond immediately by using the Batcomputer deep within the Batcave to develop an array of cutting-edge weapons that can be used in their battle against this multitude of fiendish foes. Discover the Secrets of the Batcave! – secret technology that gives Batman , Robin and Batgirl the ultimate ability to save Gotham City!”

After the box office success of Batman Forever (I know, I’m surprised, too), Warner Brothers decided to fast track its follow-up, Batman & Robin, with its entire production process coming in at under two years, which, when you’re dealing with a block-buster of this caliber, isn’t a lot of time.  The end result was less than stellar.  Batman & Robin holds the lowest earnings of any Batman film to date, and is still regarded as one of the worst comic book films ever made.  With all that said, it did succeed on one front: it was a pretty excellent toy commercial.  The toyline that accompanied the film was easily the best part of the whole thing.  Amazingly, though I dove into the Batman Forever line, I have as of yet not looked at any Batman & Robin figures.  I’ll be changing that today, with Iceboard Robin!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Iceboard Robin was released in the first basic series of Kenner’s Batman & Robin line, which hit shelves in 1997, alongside the film.  The first series had two Robins included, with this one being the “standard” movie Robin.  The figure stands 4 3/4 inches tall and he has 5 points of articulation.  Robin sported an all-new sculpt.  Robin is actually the most fortunate of the film’s main characters, as he was the only one whose design didn’t change during the production process, meaning his was the only standard figure that was actually film accurate.  Additionally, Robin’s design, which was a pretty nifty merging of more classic Robin characteristics with the then current Nightwing costume from the comics, is really one of the nicest of the film’s designs in general, if you can get past the general Chris O’Donnel-ness of the head.  The sculpt does a nice job of capturing the look from the movie, and is generally a lot sturdier and more sharply detailed than the Forever figures were.  Pre-posing on this figure is at a minimum, but he’s a little better than the straight standing poses of prior figures.  There’s a more natural stance here, and it’s actually pretty darn nice.  The cape is a plastic piece, as were most of the capes on this round of figures, and it plugs into his back fairly securely.  Robin’s paintwork is pretty basic, which the majority of stuff being molded plastic.  However, the red detailing of the uniform is pretty cool, and has a slick metallic finish to it.  Iceboard Robin was, stay with me on this, packed with an iceboard, which is really just a big, goofy stand.  He also included a missile launcher, but mine is missing that piece.  Oh no, whatever will I do?

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I was too young to see Batman Forever in theaters (though I sure got in on those toys), but Batman & Robin hit at the perfect time for me to be all about it.  I was very excited prior to the film’s release (and even after, if I’m honest, because I loved it.  In my defense, I was 5), and this guy was part of the hype.  At the time, Toys R Us was running a promotion where you got reprints of Robin, Batgirl, and Mr. Freeze’s first appearances if you bought one of the toys from the tie-in line, and my mom was awesome enough to take me over one day after work.  Unsurprisingly, given my more recent collecting habits, I opted for Robin to be my qualifying figure purchase.  Quality of the film and of the actor playing Robin aside, this figure holds up well, and is just a genuinely fun offering.