I
honestly don’t know that I could pick a favorite Robin. It’s
entirely possible that I have in the past for the purposes of making
a point or for something that I was writing, but if I really sit and
think about Tim, Dick, and Damian I find it hard to choose between
the three.
Dick was first, but he was wearing Tim’s gear.
When they introduced Tim, they de-aged him because to a certain
extent Dick had been an amalgam of the traditional Dick Grayson and
Tim, who was the current Robin in the comics. There needed to be
differences between the two when the show time-jumped between
Animated
Series
and New
Adventures.
I
was disappointed with the new Robin. I loved Loren Lester’s Dick
Grayson, and even though he appeared as Nightwing in the follow-up
series, he was not the constant companion that Robin was. After the
cool, teen Robin of the original show it was hard to adjust to this
little kid.
In
cartoons, little kids had a long history of being incredibly annoying
characters that were often nothing more than kidnap victims or the
cause of the conflict for any given episode. From Scott Trakker to
Spike Witwicky to any and every kid that ever showed up on He-Man
and the Masters of the Universe,
they were universally a pain in the ass.
Side
Note: Yes – I know that Spike was technically a teenager. But he
sure didn’t act like it. What an idiot. I didn’t like Spike until
Transformers:
The Movie,
but then they introduced his even more annoying son, Daniel.
Showrunners
seemed to think that the young character was a necessary portal into
the shows, but everyone I knew hated
these kids. That’s why it was so smart to use a teenage Robin for
Batman:
The Animated Series.
A lot of the tone of the show actually revolved around there being a
more mature Robin.
This
new Robin was more than just a little kid, though. Voice actor
Matthew Valencia brought an intelligence and spirit to the role that
kept Tim from being another annoying kid. And he certainly wasn’t a
victim. He was capable and tough and complimented Batman in exactly
the way Robin should. So now, even just between the two Robins of the
DC Animated Universe I have trouble choosing a favorite.
FIRST
GLANCE
Like
Batgirl,
this is a tiny figure. With a big head. That is, of course, exactly
what this animated Robin looks like. The proportions are spot-on and
the colors are nice and bright.
PACKAGING
These
come in just about the simplest blister card you could ask for and I
love it. The character specific information is all on the plastic
blister because the backing cards are all the same.
It’s
classy packaging, but it’s as simple as can be – much like the
style of the cartoon these figures are adapted from.
LOOKS
This
Robin has crazy hair. Like, Flock of Seagulls crazy. The sculpt is
fantastically messy, with the whole mess swept up and to the left
while those two trademark pieces hang down on the forehead. It has a
lot of volume and creates so much personality for the character.
The
ears and cheeks stick out, giving the figure that little boy look.
The domino mask around the giant eyes is proportioned perfectly. All
of the paint is clean and precisely applied.
Robin’s
short cape is a separate piece of rubber or soft plastic that can be
removed if you pop the figure’s head off. It’s sculpted turning
in on the sides, which looks good. The yellow lining is painted
perfectly and doesn’t bleed out onto the black exterior.
The
details on Robin’s torso – the logo, laces(I guess?), and utility
belt are all sculpted. It’s subtle, but they have depth. The paint
application is very slightly off on the yellow of the “R”, but
it’s not noticeable until you get really close to the figure. On
the shelf, you’d never know. Robin’s trunks also have a subtle
sculpt at the edges. I’m glad DCC paid attention to this rather
than just painting along the lines of articulation. They’re going
to a lot of effort to make sure these figures look right. There is a
bit of confusion around the inside of that fugly joint, but when the
figure is standing in a neutral position everything looks fine. And
honestly, since this figure is smaller those hip joints don’t look
as awful when it’s posed.
The
boots are just painted on, but they look fine.
Similar
to the sculpt on the trunks, Robin’s sleeves have a little extra
work to make them look right. The red extends out onto the arm and
there’s a sculpted extension of the main shirt piece rather than
just black sleeves going into the shoulder joint. That probably would
have looked fine to me, but pickier folks would have noticed. My
issue is that the paint on the black sleeves is a little sloppy and
doesn’t quite match the black on the rest of the figure. DCC is
usually very good about this. But again – it isn’t terribly
noticeable until you get up close, so I’m not losing any sleep over
it. I dig the shape of the gloves. They stick out from the arms in an
oddly satisfying way. The hands are sculpted nicely and match the
color of the upper portion.
ACCESSORIES
Robin
comes with five extra hands, a Batarang, a grapnel launcher,
Batcuffs, and a stand.
The
extra hands are right and left posed to hold the Batarang, right and
left open fists, and a right hand with an attached grapnel gun. They
all match the gloves and are easy to switch out. The pegs are tiny
and you should be careful, but DCC is using a different plastic from
the initial wave that had the breakage issues. These kinds of parts
are much sturdier now.
The
Batcuffs are two plastic pieces connected by an actual metal chain.
They should fit most regular-sized Animated figures, but you’re
going to have to pop their hands off to get them on. There’s no
opening mechanism like on Judge
Dredd’s
handcuffs. That’s okay, though, because everyone’s hands come
off.
I
suppose the Batarang is actually a Robinrang, because if you look you
can see a sculpted line that creates the image of a bird’s head.
Neat. The grapnel gun is two pieces and doesn’t serve much purpose
since none of the hands can hold it properly, but I’m glad it’s
here.
The
stand is the same fancy piece of business the rest of the figures in
the line come with. It’s too big and takes up too much shelf space.
FUN
For
the most part Robin seems to be a little more poseable than some of
the others from the line. Some of his joints bend a little deeper and
those hips aren’t as fugly as some, I suppose due to his small
size. He can achieve all kinds of cool poses. His head also has a
good range.
The
accessories all interact with the figure – and other figures, in
the case of the Batcuffs – in a meaningful way and add to the play
value.
I
feel like I should say more here, but that’s it. He’s a fun
little guy that compliments Batman
and Nightwing (review coming soon) nicely.
OVERALL
Robin
is great! If you’re not a fan of Tim’s or have eliminated him
through cherry-picking, I suppose I can’t convince you to buy one.
But DCC absolutely nailed it with this figure. He’s one of my
favorites from the line so far.
5
out of 5
If
you have to buy one, buy from Amazon and help Needless Things pay the
bills!:
I am so tempted to start collecting this line.
ReplyDeleteIf I didn't love the DCAU so much, I wouldn't. Those hip joints bother me that much. I'm also pretty miffed about some of their release decisions, like doing another Batmobile and repacking old figures with new ones.
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