I’ve gone back and forth over which Robin is my favorite
(right now it’s Tim), but Dick Grayson will always be my favorite Nightwing.
Yes, I know. Dick is the only Nightwing.
Of course, none of that has anything to do with the
continuity of the DC Animated Universe. Here, we first got to know Dick as a
teenage Robin who was wearing Tim’s costume. He had the same origin, but to me
felt different as a character than any other version of Dick Grayson. He seemed
more self-reliant and fleshed out and less like Batman’s lackey. The creators
of Batman: The Animated Series seemed
to have a soft spot for Grayson and were taking good care of him.
I also wonder if it had something to do with Loren Lester’s
excellent voice work as the character.
When the show was rebooted as The New Batman Adventures, Dick returned as Nightwing. The show
told fantastic stories about his father/son and also working relationship with
Batman, touched on his mentor/big brother relationship with the new Robin, Tim,
and even explored the complex feelings between Dick and Barbara Gordon.
Over the course of two different shows, a lot of character
work went into Dick Grayson. His story is perhaps the most interesting of any
recurring character on those shows. As such, a Nightwing figure was a must-have.
Also, he has a kickass 90s mullet.
FIRST
GLANCE
This is one of the sleekest figures so far in the series.
Nightwing has an incredibly simple design, which makes him perfect for the
aesthetics of the line. That doesn’t mean he’s basic, though. Plenty of care went
into getting the details that are there right and giving us a great Nightwing.
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
The head sculpt is one of the most fun of the line. When
you’re dealing with a mullet and a domino mask, there are a lot of options. How
much action in the hair? What kind of expression on the face – happy, angry,
total party dude? DCC went with neutral hair (good) and a serious face (also
good). Nightwing is the ultimate “business in front” guy. Later on he might cut
loose at the local Blüdhaven honky tonk, but right now he’s kicking your ass.
The paint is solid, with different glosses on the mask and
the hair. The white eyes are brilliant and clean and the mouth is placed well.
Nightwing’s body is about as basic as it could be with
one very important distinction – the emblem. Rather than just a painted-on
logo, Nightwing’s blue bird is a separately sculpted piece that stands up
beautifully from the body sculpt. I’m really impressed with the sculpt and the
design of this piece.
The bodysuit itself is matte black and has a great
profile. Dick should have an acrobat’s physique and he does here. The
musculature is clearly defined, but not overbearing. What’s interesting is that
this does feel specifically like Nightwing. This body doesn’t look like it
could be reused for, say, Riddler or the Creeper.
Nightwing has itty-bitty little feet. Initially this didn’t
present a problem, which surprised me. I was able to get plenty of poses out of
the figure initially. Now that I’ve had Nightwing for a few months, though, he’s
having trouble just standing up straight. He’s one of the handful of these
figures that has fallen over every time I walk into the room.
ACCESSORIES
Nightwing comes with six
extra hands, binoculars, a Nightwingarang(?), and a stand.
The hands all look good and
are fairly easy to swap out. The variety of poses is nice, but I would’ve liked
some “karate” hands.
The binoculars and throwing
star have great sculpts – very clean. The paint on the binoculars looks great
and is one of the reasons we’re paying a premium for these figures.
The stand is the big, clunky
thing that I’ve come to resent but also realize that there’s no way around
using them. After taking all of my figures off of the stands, I’m now going to
have to dig back into storage and pull them all out. I still wish they were
black instead of white.
FUN
I had more fun playing around with Nightwing than any of
the other animated figures. He can achieve tons of fighting and acrobatic poses
and looks pretty good in all of them despite the ugly hip joints.
He has hands specifically for the throwing star that work
great.
I was surprised to find that he can use the binoculars
properly.
This is one of the more fun figures from the line and he
actually stayed on my desk for a while when others that came out at the same
time went on the shelf.
OVERALL
This is a great Nightwing! If you’re a fan of the
animated shows or just of the character I highly recommend it. I’m bummed that
he won’t stand up straight on his own anymore, but he can maintain a more
dynamic pose.
While I really dig Dick in Tim’s costume (as seen in The Animated Series), to me the iconic
grouping is Batman, Nightwing, the Tim Drake Robin, and Batgirl.
4
out of 5
If you want one, buy from Amazon and help Needless Things
pay the bills!:
I'm really tempted by this guy although I'm just not digging this line that much. I've enjoyed what I've picked up, but the articulation just feels off to me. Still, this guy was one of the very, very few TNBA figures I owned (I still have him) and I just remember how cool and sleek he felt. Glad to see this figure captures that appearance.
ReplyDeleteAs for Dick's identities, I'm also not that big of a fan of him as Robin. I really do like Dick as Batman (that was a fantastic, albeit unusual, run) and I'm totally digging Grayson. I'm a trade reader and I'm behind on it, but I love the undercover super spy version of Dick.
The hip joints, man. If they had just done well-concealed ball joints I'd be so much happier. They wouldn't have as much range, but they would look SO much better. Everything else is great except for the Harley figure, who needs a re-do.
Delete