Batman: The Animated Series was a revolutionary series when it debuted, and it has more than stood the test of time three decades on. Its followup, The New Batman Adventures, was a more somber, serious affair, one that I absolutely adored when I was a kid. As time has gone on, my appreciation for it has dampened, to the point that I consider the shows completely unrelated in terms of continuity and characterization. It’s still a good show, with some great episodes here and there, but it’s not nearly as brilliant as the original series.
Even still, it’s a Batman show, and that means it had plenty of sweet toys. Once again I’m going through every figure, vehicle, and playset I could find to show you the best, worst, and weirdest of The New Batman Adventures toy line. Prepare for some surprises.
Vehicles and Playsets
13. Radio Control Batmobile: This Batmobile design is fine. Not the best, certainly not the worst. I’m just ambivalent toward remote control toys, and always have been for whatever reason.
12. Hoverbat: The design is alright, if a bit random. Almost like they reused a mold from another toy line entirely and slapped Batman’s name on it. Coming packaged with a pretty solid Batman figure is a definite plus.
11. B.A.T.V.: Same as the Hoverbat, just with a better design.
10. Batcave: There have been a lot of Batcave playsets across these posts, and this is certainly one of them. Not to sound pithy or anything, it’s just a perfectly acceptable Batcave.
9. The Joker Toxic Lab: I’ve written so many of these posts that some of these sets are running together. Have I covered this one before? I don’t know. Would I buy it? Absolutely.
8. Gotham City Bank: This is one of a few pieces that I had to add back into this post, after finding out it existed after the fact. It’s stupid expensive on eBay, and has a really cool design. I just wish it was a bit bigger.
7. Knight Striker Batmobile: As far as I can tell, this is the exact same…
6. Batmobile: …as this, just with slightly different names. As with the remote control car, it’s a decent Batmobile design, just without the need for batteries. That’s a win.
5. Batman’s Battle Headquarters: Oh man, there are a few of these micro playsets, and they’re pretty amazing. The best part is that they have what look like large stone monuments of Batman’s head, which is absolutely incredible. Love it.
4. Batplane: Great design held over from the main BTAS line. The goofy yellow coloring doesn’t make sense, but who cares?
3. Batplane Fighter Fortress: Like the Battle Headquarters with the added bonus of a fun little vehicle.
2. The Joker’s Battle Headquarters: A Mount Rushmore-style Batman monument is funny because it’s so bizarre. A Mount Rushmore-style Joker monument is perfect because it is 100% something he’d do.
1. Crime Alley Micro Playset: Another set I didn’t find out about until after the fact, and it’s one of the best one’s I’ve seen. Amazing design work, tons of great play features, everything you’d want in a playset.
Figures 50-41
50. Catwoman: If looking at all of these toys has taught me one thing, it’s that I absolutely hate solid red costumes on anyone but Daredevil. It just looks wrong.
49. Gotham City: There are quite a few of these four-packs, and they all have the same names. This has Batman, Robin, Nightwing, and Batgirl all bundled together, which should be a home run. The problem is they’re all in bright silver costumes, which look beyond silly. Get used to that, too, because there’s a lot of this going on in this line.
48. Batman: While I’d absolutely love a Silver Age-inspired Batman story where he has to dress in a copper-colored costume to take on the Penny Plunderer, that’s not what’s going on here. This is just ugly.
47. Batgirl: The sculpt is fine. It’s the colors that don’t work. Like I said, a lot of this.
46. Street Strike Batman: Ugly colors, but at least this has the benefit of coming bundled with a fun little street racer accessory. That can at least be paired with a better looking figure.
45. Tech Suit Batman vs. Two-Face: This Batman reminds me of Flashpoint, which isn’t a good thing. Two-Face is kind of hilarious with that technical grid look, so there’s that.
44. Gotham City: This would almost be great, were it not for that honey mustard Catwoman. So close to excellence, with one tragic, fatal flaw.
43. Nightwing: Wonky pose, unnecessary silver, beautiful mullet.
42. Gatekeepers of Gotham City: You know, I almost kind of like these figures individually? From a coloring perspective, this is one of the best Batman figures so far, and the black and gold look pretty good on Nightwing. Batman is over-designed with all those straps and buckles, though, and the figures don’t really look like they go together.
41. Silver Defender Batman: Again, kind of almost like the colors, with the silver and purple looking kind of sharp. It’s a bit bulky, though, and at least one of those missiles is getting lost under the couch right away.
Figures 40-31
40. Garden of Evil: I like the green suits, but why are Batman and Robin from The New Batman Adventures bundled with a Poison Ivy that’s from Batman: The Animated Series?
39. Gatekeepers of Gotham: Batgirl rocks. Batman does not.
38. Joker: I don’t know what’s going on here, and I don’t hate it.
37. Batman vs. Two-Face: Considering all of the bizarre designs and color schemes we’ve seen so far, you’d think I’d be more welcoming of a traditional two-pack. It’s pretty good, especially Two-Face, just Batman has some unnecessary paneling that holds it back.
36. Batman: Nice swoopy cape. Cool for display, less so for play.
35. Batman: Better for play, and one of the better looking silver figures.
34. Attack of the Penguin: Each figure is good to great, even the weirdly-colored Nightwing. Penguin in particular is awesome, you can just find him by himself further up the list. A strong set, but you can get better versions of each character independently.
33. Batman: This would be perfect were it not for the battle damaged look. Love that blue and the pointy shoulders.
32. Gatekeepers of Gotham City: Not sure why these two-packs keep getting Batman so wrong and the other characters so right. That Robin is fantastic. Batman works as, like, Jetpack Batman, but not as just Batman Batman.
31. Catwoman Attacks: Finally, a set where everyone looks right. The only reason it didn’t crack the top 30 is because, again, you can get just as good if not better figures independently.
Figures 30-21
30. Robin: For whatever reason, the silver suit doesn’t look too bad on Robin. I don’t know.
29. Force Shield Nightwing: This seems contradictory to rank this so high, but I’ve actually had this figure for years, so I have a soft spot for it. The grapple gun works great, and that big shield is unwieldy and all sorts of fun.
28. Batman and Robin: Now that’s better. Both great figures, even if Batman is silver. We’re getting closer.
27. Hydrojet Nightwing: Also a figure I’ve had for years. The hydrojet actually floats, and Nightwing’s knees bend!
26. Knight Glider Batman: And a third figure I’ve had for quite some time. Love the jetpack, the blue suit looks great, and the little missiles are fun. The only real problems are Batman has jetpack controls molded into his hands, so he can’t hold anything, and his neck doesn’t bend back so he’s always looking down when “flying.”
25. Two-Face: Like I said before, the tech grid look kind of works for me? I’ve seen this figure in the wild before, at a Big Lots or something like that, but never bought it.
24. Battle Scars Batman vs. Catwoman: Great Catwoman, and a pretty good Batman. Take away the battle damage and he’d be perfect.
23. Batman & Nightwing: Great Batman and a great Nightwing. I just wish Nightwing’s pose was a little better.
22. Robin: Not gonna lie, that dark blue tunic looks sharp. I wouldn’t hate owning this.
21. The Adventures of Batman & Superman: I’m never going to turn down a good Batman, nor am I going to turn down a good Superman. Put those hands together and you’ve got a great two-pack.
Figures 20-11
20. Batman vs. The Riddler: Like the Poison Ivy set from earlier, it’s weird that a TNBA Batman is paired with a BTAS Riddler. I’m a little more forgiving here because that is the superior Riddler design.
19. Deluxe Joker: We’re getting to a point where pretty much every figure is a winner, so a lot of these are ranked based on initial gut feelings. This Joker looks great, but he’s my least favorite of the Deluxe figures, and I like other standard sized toys more.
18. Undercover Bruce Wayne: Dig that red coat. Not a whole lot I can say about it, just that it’s different and kind of cool.
17. Wildcard Joker: Awesome figure with great, on-brand accessories. It even makes the less than great TNBA Joker design look pretty good.
16. Deluxe Batman: Cool Batman, good accessories. The only way it could be better is if it was the BTAS suit.
15. Detective Batman: Solid all around Batman, through and through. Also a figure I’ve had since the late ’90s, and one of my favorites from back in the day.
14. Crime Solver Nightwing: Hey guess what? I have this guy too. Honestly, I never loved the look of Nightwing in the cartoon (the bird logo was too on the nose), but I was always excited to see him show up since Dick Grayson is my favorite.
13. Catwoman: Simple, sleek, and perfect. Could use a good accessory or two, but better too little than too much.
12. Deluxe Batgirl: While I liked the characterization and vocal performance of Batgirl in BTAS more, her suit in this series was fantastic. It looks great as a 12-inch figure, and I love the Batarangs and grapple gun accessories.
11. Laughing Matter Batman vs. The Joker: Both of these characters and their accessories are recycled from elsewhere. I do not care. Batman has great colors, and I love the trenchcoat and fedora look on Joker.
Figures 10-1
10. Batman and Superman: Blue and gray Batman always wins, and Superman is an added bonus.
9. The Mad Hatter: A perfect Mad Hatter, and a figure that would work well with the BTAS line too.
8. Batman vs. The Joker: Batman with a yellow oval and the Joker with a playing card? Four stars.
7. Crime Fighter Robin: A simple, great figure. Love the bird-shaped glider thing. Yet another toy I still have all these years later.
6. Deluxe Harley Quinn: You can’t go wrong with Harley’s best look. While I would have liked to see maybe an oversized gun or mallet, Bud and Lou are a winning pair of “accessories.”
5. Batman vs. Two-Face: Fantastic Harvey with good accessories, a silver Batman with sculpted cape that manages to make both work, and I’m almost positive those Arkham Asylum gates are three-dimensional. Even if they aren’t, you could cut them out to make a pretty sweet display piece.
4. Deluxe Robin: At the risk of sounding repetitive, this does everything right with this character design. The figure is perfect, there are plenty of cool accessories, and it looks like you can get some amazing poses out of it.
3. Deluxe Nightwing: Copy and paste. His bird shuriken rock, and escrima sticks are nice to see.
2. The Penguin: Oh hey, it’s that Penguin I was talking about earlier! Why he wasn’t released as part of the main line, I do not know. He looks absolutely spot-on to the cartoon, and I love how his open palm can support the umbrella.
1. The Creeper: Heck yeah the Creeper. Look at him! His weird, brilliant design translates perfectly as an action figure, with the swirls of the red boa providing some great dimension. Add in some newscaster-adjacent accessories and you’ve got yourself the unlikely best figure in the whole line.
All images were obtained from Figure-Archive.net, unless otherwise noted.
