Last month, I did an article about the latest Adam West 1/6 scale figure from Hot Toys and by the end of it I think we all agreed that there was no better 1966 Batman figure out there. However, the ’66 Batman isn’t a solo crime fighter! So just putting The Caped Crusader on your shelf all by his lonesome would look mighty sad, right? Well, the good news is that Sideshow Collectibles offers a Burt Ward Robin figure as well so you can complete the Dynamic Duo! Well, now that I’ve got my hands on one we can sit down and talk about everything this toy has to offer!
Unboxing
- Burt Ward himself – with 30 points of articulation
- (1) Robin suit
- (1) Yellow cape with subtle buttons on the underside for fastening to the costume in multiple positions for a variety of style options
- (1) Black and bronze utility belt
- (1) Pair of green forearm gloves
- (1) Pair of green pixie shoes
- (10) interchangeable gloved palms painted in green
- (1) Pair of fists
- (1) Pair of relaxed palms
- (1) Pair of partially-clenched palms
- (1) Pair of holding palms
- (1) Right Palm for holding Batarang
- (1) Left Palm for holding Bat-radio
- (1) Batarang, which doesn’t fold together
- (1) Bat-rope
- (1) Bat-cuffs
- (1) Bat-radio
- (1) Figure stand with “Robin” nameplate, Batman TV series logo, and adjustable cradle
- (2) Green replacement wrist pegs
- (1) Diorama/Windowed Building with functional window and insert-hole for slipping in the batarang and holding it in place for your wall-climb display
Commentary
After how impressed I was with the box art for the Batman figure, I definitely had high expectations for Robin and I gotta say, I was not disappointed. These boxes look great and are worthy of being put on display themselves. Like Batman, Robin’s slip cover features an almost vinyl texture that runs along the grooves of its golden spiral sky. The pop art design captures shows Robin peeking over a red border featuring his name and in the background we can see the outline of Gotham City. The silhouetted cityscape wraps around the entirety of the cover only on the backside we see the iconic batsignal illuminating the heavens. Beautiful stuff.
Underneath we find the real box, which has a viewing window where we can see the heavily protected figure surrounded by all of his parts and accessories. The reverse side of the box is adorned in credits for all of the artists invovled in the making of the figure. The top opening reveals an explosive graphic accompanied by the words “Holy collectible figure!” which is a lovely touch for fans of Robin’s popular catchphrase.
Pulling out a Hot Toy for the first time never gets old. No matter how accustomed you are to the level of quality in a Hot Toy, there’s always a sense of astonishment that accompanies the unboxing of every new figure and Robin is no different. The head sculpt is breathtaking in how perfectly it replicates Ward’s likeness right down to the detailed curves and contours of his ears and the rich color of his perfectly groomed hair. However, it is disappointing to see that only the one neutral expression is available when so many other Hot Toys (Batman included) came with a number of interchangeable heads/mouths for showcasing different emotions. Robin was the most volatile of the Dynamic Duo and yet this toy’s gaze looks distant and detached. Whenever the Riddler one-upped our heroes, you could always count on Burt Ward punching the palm of his own opposing hand and shouting his frustrations, which were quickly eased by a calm and collected Caped Crusader. Here you can recreate the fist-to-palm pose, but the face won’t complement the gesture.
There are 30 points of articulation and given the nature of the costume (multiple pieces instead of a onesie like Batman’s outfit) you can move the character far more easily than Adam West, specifically in the legs and arms. You can fully rotate the arms, the legs can nearly perform the splits, and he pivots at the waist better as well. The head also does a full 360 degree rotation and boasts a ball-jointed neck so he can turn his attention up and down with ease. Unlike Batman, the short sleeve-wearing Robin has exposed arms and that means that the elbow joints are indeed visible, which may or may not be an issue for some of you. I personally didn’t have a problem with it and found the elbow joints almost unnoticeable. What did bother me were the knee joints, which are not only apparent through the white leggings, but bend in a way that doesn’t look very human.
The costume as a whole is incredibly high quality with the color of the cloth and painted plastic pieces (boots, belt, etc.) matching up with the real-life counterpart precisely, but the soft and shimmering material is indeed delicate. You’ll want clean fingertips and perfectly trimmed nails before handling your figure, which even comes with a warning about how a cuticle could snag the cloth. Donning a pair of gloves wouldn’t be a terrible idea either! The look is 100% exact from the neatly folded yellow collar right down to those winged pixie boots. Even flipping the cape up reveals a zipper, a detail unseen on the show! You’ll find yourself examining all the tiny aesthetic details for quite some time, but the costume also flaunts some nice functionality as well. If you look closely at the cape and Robin’s back you’ll discover some extremely subtle buttons intended for snapping the garment in a free-flowing or tightly layered pattern to meet your personal style preference.
Accessories, while well-crafted, aren’t going to blow away anyone who already owns the Adam West figure. The batarang, batradio, batrope, adjustable cradle, and diorama/building are all identical to what you found in the Hot Toys ’66 Batman. The one thing that sets Robin apart is that he comes with a pair of batcuffs. These are pretty cool, though, since they are actually functional and feature a real metal chain.
Finally, my Adam West figure has his partner and the space on my shelf looks complete. I think posing Batman and Robin together is going to be a lot of fun for any Batfan, but not being able to switch out the expressions on Robin to better sync-up with whatever lively stance West is taking is a shame. Still, once that Batmobile comes out, that look of extraordinary focus on Ward’s face is going to make perfect sense because I fully intend to have West standing up in the driver’s seat to throw a batarang or something while the Boy Wonder has to reach over and take the wheel.
Specifications & Credits
Points of Articulation – 30
Product Size – 11.0″ H (an inch shorter than the Adam West figure)
Dimensional Weight – 3 lbs
Int’l Dim. Weight – 6 lbs
Head sculpted by Yulli
Head painted by JC.Hong
Head art directed by Kojun
Price
$189.99 at SideshowCollectibles.com
Sideshow Collectibles is the official distributor. They provided Batman News with the figure you see in this review and have collaborated with us for quite some time now without a single hitch so I trust their site wholeheartedly. Also, if you buy the figure from Sideshow Collectibles right now you’ll get $9.50 in reward points for use on your next order! I recommend picking up a snazzy display case with LED lights or, better yet, The Batmobile that’s coming soon.
Negatives
- The knees. Anything else can probably be considered a rather minor nitpick, but the knees are the figure’s one real flaw. First, I’m a little creeped out at the way he bends at the knee. It just doesn’t look natural. All other bending joints look perfectly believable, but those knees appear kind of strange and anatomically incorrect when bent. Also, the knee joints of the toy are visible through the leggings and it hurts the suspension of disbelief that this otherwise perfectly lifelike model instills.
- Besides the bat-cuffs (which are pretty cool) Robin doesn’t have any exciting accessories. He has the same batarang, batrope, and batradio as the Adam West figure. It would have been nice to have seen a few more unique items thrown in much like how Adam West’s figure had the bomb and the shark repellent.
- He looks a little too tan. I know the Dynamic Duo went out in the daylight and Gotham was indeed shot in sunny California, but Ward looks perhaps a shade too dark.
- There aren’t any other heads. One great thing about the best Hot Toys figures is that they all come with changeable faces or heads that show off a variety of expressions. Robin doesn’t have that and I found that to be pretty underwhelming. Dick Grayson was easily the most excitable of the Dynamic Duo, but the Hot Toys pairing gives us a Boy Wonder who is forever frozen in a neutral expression.
Positives
- He’s the perfect complement to your Adam West figure and (eventually) the Batmobile.
- They absolutely nailed the likeness of Burt Ward. It’s almost jaw-dropping how realistic the facial sculpt looks.
- That lifelike sparkle in the eyes is uncanny for a toy.
- The incredible level of detail in the uniform. The tunic is so skillfully recreated that I couldn’t help, but marvel at the golden stitching that ran down the front or the little “R” over his breast. And unlike the cape on the Batman figure, there’s no noticeable metal hook on Robin’s shimmering yellow cloak.
- They made him shorter than Batman! I was afraid it would be the same body used between the complementary pair, but in different clothes. Thankfully, they got the height of these two figures right so they look spot-on standing side-by-side.
- The bat-cuffs are really neat. I found myself admiring every miniature link in the real metal chain.
- It comes with dynamic box art and a colorful diorama that doubles as a building for Robin and Batman to scale together. In fact, you can arrange the building edifice that came with Batman along with this one and make an extra long (tall, I guess I should say since that’s the illusion we’re going for) building for them to climb. Now you just need a Dick Clark or Jerry Lewis figure to pop out and greet your heroes!
- The price reflects the lack of additional features.
Overall
This is absolutely, positively the best Burt Ward as Robin action figure you’re going to find and if you already own the Adam West Batman from Hot Toys then adding Robin to your collection is a necessity. That said, it’s not quite as impressive of a figure as Adam West due to the lack of any truly original accessories besides the bat-cuffs or any changeable facial expressions, but thankfully that’s reflected in the price as this is one of the most affordable Hot Toys that Sideshow Collectibles has to offer.
