Transorming Bruce Wayne/ Batman

Transforming Bruce Wayne/Batman



My Bruce is in really bad condition as you can see, but just bear with me on this one. I've had him for 18-20 years now like most of this line, and toys degenerate over time. Luckily I got some better pictures of the armored figure last night from one I'm selling.



At some point, Kenner decided to make transforming figures have a pop-up pop-down head held by a spring. The head would disappear into the body and one would place the armor over over it. Other Batman figures have this, but I must say I prefer the regular mask or helmet over face better like in BTAS Bruce and Batman Returns. Anyways, this Bruce has Val Kilmer's look...sort of. I like to think that this is how Val Kilmer looks today rather than 20 years ago...



I really enjoy this battle armor though! It's fragile, though. The Bat symbol rubs off easily, the clips on the battle swords break easily and the cheast plate breaks midline...or at least it did in mine.



See? Then again for a 18 year old figure that has been in tons of battles he's held up pretty sprightly...anyways moving on.



What I like about this figure is the options of having normal arm snap or armor or those huge battle blades that can be stored in the back and used as wings. That's a whole lot of playability in this figure!



Ready for battle!



While a lot of the line's figures tone and look is sort of techno-organic, this figure retains the techno aspect of it. This suit is very robotic and heavy in nature, but then again most of the pre-sonar suit figures carry this look rather than the sexy animal look that came afterwards. I highly recommend this figure, but as we all know I am a sucker for armored figures or figures with snap-on armor. Who wants to go to the BONUS ROUND?

Transforming Dick Grayson/Robin

Transforming Dick Grayson/Robin



DIIICK! Chris O' Donnell is my favorite movie Robin...um...the only movie Robin we've gotten. Whatever. This awesome figure is more complex than you think.



At the same time, nobody dressed like THIS in the 90's. Maybe in the 80's, but if anything this transforming Dick looks just like Robin, just without certain elements...





Are these the elements you're looking for? Wait there's three more left...



Bird shields and a mask? *makes enemy pass out quickly*. This is one nice Robin. Suit construction is complicated and scary as dark red plastic breaks easily, and the cape goes over two grooves of the chest plate. My old figure also had an easily chipped chest plate paint come off at an early stage. My original figure's belt also broke. Luckily there's this. Oh, also...



There is a golden cape variant! If you haven't figured it out, Dickie here has a secret. He's both Dick and Robin, but he wouldn't be able to ease the transition without cold water. Dip his head in icy water and his head suddenly develops a very dark domino mask. Very nice, but most figures are broken due to our crazy seasons. I have three of these, and two of them are essentially broken. I don't understand the science behind temperature color change toy features yes, but this was my first exposure. We'll talk about this later some more. OH and btw, the last picture has Triple Strike Robin's blue cape. They are essentially the same mold.



The similarities are uncanny!



Great Robin! It's a nice figure, very fun, but very fragile.

Skyboard Robin

Skyboard Robin



Sorry for the slight absence, it has been a hell of a work week in addition to my birthday on Monday. I got a bunch of cool Dark Victory figures and a NECA '66 Batman that is soon to go up on sale. But anyways. Skyboard Robin is the most accurate Batman Forever Robin of all, even more so than the Guardians of Gotham two pack. It's also one of my favorite figures from the line.



His golden skyboard fires a missile and has an adjustable control panel. I suppose this is a sort of boat or...?



I think the skyboard is kind of lame to be honest. I mean I love vehicles that come with figures, but this is THE Robin. I wish he came with more Robin-y accessories.



Another lame thing is that he comes with a lame black cape instead of the right cape like this:



Much better. Anyways, sorry for the short review. This is the 100th review! Yaaay! I will look more at this figure later when I review the Guardians of Gotham City duo.



Noble! But stupid.

Triple Strike Robin

Triple Strike Robin



This figure is a repaint of the Dick Grayson Transforming figure with a new weapon. It's different from most robins in this line in that it's...blue. All other Robins have red, yellows and greens.



This figure received a hideous repaint in Batman & Robin which we shall look at later. Anyways, the gimmick is those rubber projectiles. Pull them from the gun, which by the way rotates around the figure's wrist, let go and they fire. This figure was made in 1995 so the rubber has degenerated and for some reason he can't hold the weapon quite as well. When we review the repaint we shall do a better assessment as these problems have been corrected. Unlike Transforming Dick (lame), this figure's mask doesn't change color. Sorry! Oh and he doesn't come with any armor, which says a lot about Transforming Dick whose clothes are essentially...um...Robin to Robin. More on that later.



I can't make this up. It's almost like someone is feeding this material to me through these figures and how awkward they really are. Triple Strike Robin is a lazy figure with a terrible weapon. A lame repaint, so to speak. It was so lame it was repainted AGAIN, but again, more on that later. Now we celebrate the 100th post! Right on my Birthday! Hooray!

Martial Arts Robin

Martial Arts Robin



The spiritual predecessor to Knight Force Ninjas, I have very little to say about this figure. It is important because kicking features evolved from this concept, but it is this figure's curse as he cannot stand up unless supported by a wall or another figure.



That's actually me saying "no, Robin did NOT get his sh!t together". This dude stumbles around more than an alcoholic. I'm glad Dick went through some Martial Arts training, but that was supposed to help him FIND HIS BALANCE, NOT LOSE IT.



It's a nice sculpt, though. Lots of weapons, nice colors and SHOULDER BALL JOINTS AND ELBOWS! That's something new for this line. I know we've reviewed figures with ball jointed elbows, knee and shoulder joints before, but back in 1995 this was unknown in a Batman figure. We can say that while Robin DID NOT GET HIS ACT TOGETHER, he was a pioneer in paving the way for more articulated figures! But for the time this Deluxe figure was a bit too ambitious for what it turned out to be. I'm not saying it's bad, but a figure that cannot stand properly is...difficult. At least he's not Night Flight Batman who likes to flip off EVERYTHING on the shelf...



Does Karate Kid Robin get his s#!t together next time? Hopefully. But let's not judge it harshly. 5 pictures only! It's really hard to picture when he just won't stand up! Then again let me make a comment about my rocky background. The ground is uneven. It's a miracle all of these figures have been able to sort of stand up on uneven ground. Resilient? Yes. Amazing? Always. This Robin may not have been able to stand up here...or anywhere, but he is a pioneer as he was the first truly super articulated Batman family action figure ever. Never Mind Toy Biz' Batman '89 with his knee joints. Naw. This has 10 POA. Not many figures in 1995 had 10 POA. Impressive figure, all odds considered. Highly recommended.

Street Biker Robin

Street Biker Robin



Looks like Dick joined a street gang! And he's full of accessories! One of my favorite figures from the line, this quintessentially 90's bad boy is ready to rock!



This corny yet accurate figure was a shelfwarmer back in the day. I wonder why? He's the best Robin from the whole series! Well except for the fact that he's not Robin, he's just Dick. His bags fire two missiles that form A TRAPEZE! Not only are the accessories relatable to the figure, but to the character as well! Who needs a missile launcher when you have a launching trapeze from your leather bags?



He can hang from the trapeze, do tricks, amuse some other bad buys and gals, relive the tragic deaths of his parents thanks to Two-Face, I dunno.



He also comes with a nicely sculpted staff with a chain mail wrapped on one end and a scary looking knife on the other. Dick's not fu*king around yo.



"Yo kid, gimme your lunch money"

Holy street gang, Batman! Why go undercover when he can just disguise himself as plain old Dick, taking away lunch money, jamming out to Nirvana, hangin' in da hood and secretly moping around 'coz Two-Face isn't dead while watching 90210? Just plain Dick, guys. Maybe he'll get his sh!t together and go fight crime at some point, right? RIGHT? I mean, he's even got a nicee lowrider! (Sold Separately)



"Yeah baby mama!"

We'll be looking at the bike in coming days, but first: Watch Dick get his sh!t together in the next episode!