Let
me preface this review by saying that I am writing it immediately
after writing the review for Mezco’s new Dark Knight Returns Batman
and that Robin might suffer a bit from being proximal to such an
incredible action figure.
The
Needless Things crew had a discussion about which Robin to buy back
when these were first being solicited. I’m going to have to have
both. This isn’t a situation like Scarecrow or Bane where there are
different versions of the same character and preference plays a
bigger role. There are two distinct Robins that are entirely
different characters. And I like both of them, though it is a bit
confusing as to who’s who if you’re a Bat-novice.
I
like Dick because out of all of the characters that were depicted
over the fourteen year televised run of DCAU, he had the most
compelling character development. We got to see him grow from being
Batman’s sidekick into being his own man as Nightwing. He also had
a spark of a relationship with Barbara Gordon, which was handled in a
more mature and realistic way than most cartoons handled such things
at the time.
I
might be able to skip alternate versions of some characters, but
without Dick as Robin my Animated collection wouldn’t be complete.
FIRST
GLANCE
These
bright colors immediately stand out from what we’ve seen so far in
this line, which is exactly how Robin should be. The proportions look
great. This is also another example of how much more these figures
are nailing it.
I
don’t want to talk poorly about Kenner’s Animated
Series
line because I love it and I’ll be hanging onto it even if this
line encompasses every character, but these DCC figures are showing
just how primitive and simplified that line was. On their own, the
Kenner figures look great. But once you see these they just don’t
hold up.
PACKAGING
I’m
okay with these basic blister cards. The Batman graphic looks nice
and the important information is on the front of the bubble. Sure –
I like to have bios. But if sharing cardbacks is keeping the cost on
this line down even a little bit, then I’m all for this.
And
really, the most important thing to me is that the artists that work
on the figures are recognized. And DCC is doing that right there on
the front of the package. Okay, well, the side. But not in tiny print
on the back.
LOOKS
That
smile is the key to this figure. That is Dick’s confident and
enthusiastic grin.
Well,
the hair is pretty important, too.
This
head sculpt is great. The hair is sculpted amazingly well. The domino
mask is sculpt and not just paint, and the proportions of Robin’s
features just look so exact. The paint is all very tight, with no
blotches or slop. The white of his eyes and teeth is bright and
vibrant – it doesn’t have that fuzzed-out look that white paint
often has on action figures.
The
torso has slight musculature to it and sculpted laces, utility belt,
and “R” symbol. You might notice that the “R” circle is a
little stylized here as opposed to being circular. That’s because
in the character design it was
more oblong and not a perfect circle. I assume there were
animation-related reasons for this. The laces actually stand up a bit
more thickly than you might expect and look really good.
The utility
belt is great. It has a thickness and a weight to it that makes it
seem more like a utility belt and less like a fashion belt, if that
makes sense.
I’ll
never be a fan of this style of hip articulation and DCC didn’t do
Robin any favors with this paint job. I won’t go so far as to call
it sloppy, but it’s not clean. I understand that putting a sculpted
edge between his leggings and his tunic would limit re-use of this
piece in future figures, but when compared to the rest of this
figure, that painted line just doesn’t cut it. Especially when the
edges aren’t as clean as they should be.
Robin’s
gloves also have that substantive quality. The tops protrude far
beyond his arms and make for a great profile.
Not
much to say about the boots. They look good and are a flat black.
ACCESSORIES
Robin
comes with a stand, a bolo, a grapnel gun, an extra cape, two extra
sets fo hands, a grapnel gun hand, and instructions.
The
instructions aren’t really an accessory, but I find it interesting
that this second wave includes them. They’re simple to the point of
being obvious and I can’t imagine any collector needing this kind
of direction.
The
alternate cape is kind of an odd choice since the only difference is
that it hangs over the figure’s right shoulder. But it looks good
and it’s easy enough to pop the head off to change capes, so
whatever. I’ll never complain about too many accessories.
The
bolo was Robin’s go-to weapon in the cartoon, so it was a must for
the figure. I’m not sure how well-executed it is, but I’m also
not sure what would have been better. The grapnel gun looks great.
The
extra hands have nice, useful sculpts and are easy to switch out. The
paint comes off the hinges, which isn’t exactly an impressive
feature but also doesn’t cause any harm since the hinges are green
underneath. It’s interesting to note that Robin shoots his grapnel
with his left hand.
The
stand is nice, just like all of them have been so far. This one is
the simpler one they’ve been using for the smaller figures. The
character turnaround printed on the base is a neat touch, but I do
wish they’d done these in a color other than white.
FUN
Most
of the joints on my figure work nicely and support poses well. Sadly
the waist and the left calf swivel are immobile. After the issues
with the first run of Animated figures I really expected better. It
was really surprising to come across these because every other joint
on the figure functioned particularly well.
And
there are plenty of joints. The head has a great range of motion and
the arms are loaded. There are swivels at the biceps, glove tops, and
wrists. The shoulders are hinged swivels and the wrists are also
hinged.
The
legs move as much as you need while maintaining the smooth profile
that this line requires. But I still hate these hips. I think I might
have been willing to deal with some deviation from the source
aesthetics if it meant I didn’t have to look at these unsightly
hinges.
With
tons of poseability and accessories, this is definitely a fun figure.
I’m debating on whether I would have preferred fabric capes on
these figures, but that’s just because of the Mezco Batman and the
impending release of the Animated Batmobile.
OVERALL
He’s
really good, but he could have been better. The stuck joints and
paint around the hips is a bit of a let-down. Honestly, the
accessories are kind of flat, too. But it’s all appropriate to this
Robin. We’ll get much cooler gear with Tim Drake and with
Nightwing.
I’m
slightly tempted to give this guy a “3”, but I think he’s
better than that.
4
out of 5
Go
to Amazon and buy yourself a Dick!:
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