I had every intention of buying this Robin when it was first announced. I just wasn’t going to buy it for me – it was going to be for Lil’ Troublemaker. Robin is his absolute favorite superhero; no matter what he’s wearing. He loves Batman and all, but I think like a lot of kids he identifies with Robin more. And Robin is a whole lot cooler now than he was when I was a kid.
This should have gone up last Wednesday for a whole week of Bat-centric toys, but I was on vacation. Now you get this today, another Bat-entry on Wednesday, and a Special Mystery Figure on Friday! Oooh…
Mattel had a tough decision to make when naming this figure. “Jean-Paul Valley as Batman” is obviously correct, but there are all kinds of reasons you might not want that hanging from a peg. While “Knightsend Batman” would have technically been more appropriate than “Knightfall Batman”, I think Knightfall is more likely to be familiar to the general public or lapsed fans as the story where Bane (this series’ build-a-figure) broke Bruce Wayne’s back and then Wayne found the one insane sociopath in all of Canada to appoint as his successor. Way to go, Bruce.
It took me a long time to build Bane, but I’m glad I did.
I’ve already got a perfectly good DC Direct figure of the Brazilian Bat-Breaker (not to mention the Arkham Asylum version I just bought); but I’ve never really felt that you can mix DC Direct with Mattel. They just don’t look right side-by-side in my opinion.
I’ve always been a big fan of Bane. This is mostly due to Knightfall and the ensuing Knight-prefixed storylines being some of my nostalgic favorites. They’re nowhere near consistent quality-wise, but it’s the biggest and most involving event of my comic collecting heydays. All people tend to think about is big, muscle-bound Bane breaking Bruce Wayne over his knee. Rarely does the amazing setup that led up to that point get mentioned. Well, until Nolan’s recent decision, anyway.
