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Imagine…

…a world of action and excitement where you decide what happens next!  Sword fights, jungle safaris, daring rescues and more.  Whatever world you travel to, it’s a whole new adventure every time you play!

Hi there!  Welcome to another exciting installment of Gotta Have It! Figure Edition!  This week we are going to take a look at Fisher-Price’s Imaginext: DC Super Friends line!  Get ready for…Robin & Cycle!

Product Line: Imaginext: DC Super Friends
Company: Fisher-Price
Released: June 2009
Packaging: Blister Card Packaging (from Hell)
Where to Buy: Pretty much any retail store with a toy department.
Price: US $5.88 (Wal-Mart)
Points of Articulation: 5
Height: 2 3/4 inches (Robin)

Paint Job: Robin is made from red plastic, painted with flat green, yellow, and a glossy black.  His yellow utility belt bleeds onto his red stomach and his yellow “buttons”  (something. whatever) bleed onto his red chest.  Pretty much a bad paint job.  They can’t use the excuse of the figure being so tiny, because I’ve seen some perfectly painted Heroclix figures.  There is no excuse.  His black hair also bleeds onto the skin tone of his face.

The motorcycle has no paint job issues at all.  Made of green plastic with red details, and black plastic with red details, it looks good.  Nothing bleeds.  Even the yellow of the headlights and bat emblems are good and clean.

Sculpt: Mask?  Check!  Utility Belt?  Check!  Gloves and boots?  Check!  Cape?  Che…wait, what?  Umm…nope.  We have no cape here.  This Robin action figure lacks a cape.  He has a cape “collar,” but nothing attached to it.  True, you take off your cape when you are helicopter hopping, but you leave the cape on when you’re cruisin’ around on a motorcycle!  Especially when you’re a badass dude!  You gotta let it flap in the breeze!  I guess maybe someone angrily walked up to this Robin and said, “That’s MY cape!” and snatched it.

Durability: For being so tiny, Robin is pretty solid.  No fear of breaking him until I turn his head.  I don’t think it’s supposed to move, so I quit monkeying with it.  He has a peg hole in each of his boot heels.  Nothing doing for this set, but I bet it has something to do with that sweet Batcave that is available.

The motorcycle is a little more lightweight than the boy wonder.  The “wings” on it feel like they could snap off when you push in on both sides, so don’t do that.  It is made of two pieces joined at the middle.  The wheels are also two pieces.  The axels on the wheels allow the wheels to spin pretty freely and you can go cruisin’ on down the road.

Poseability: The poseability is pretty limited.  Robin can lift his arms up and down and side-to-side.  The legs are straight, but can bend at the waist, straight out in front of him.  The two legs move together as one piece.  The joint is soft enough that the legs can go in opposite directions, but you probably shouldn’t do it.

On the motorcycle, the vertical levers fit into his open hands.  He doesn’t sit on the bike, but rather stands bent at the waist.  Because the head doesn’t move up and down, he really appears as to not be paying attention to where he is driving.  Also…he can ghost ride the whip:

What’s Awesome: The whole idea around this series is awesome!  Bringing super heroes to the little guys (and gals).  It is never too early to get started on super heroes.  The larger DC Super Friends seemed to have gone by the wayside, and they are continuing on with these very miniature versions.

What Sucks: Remember I said it was packaged in Blister Card Packaging (from Hell)?  The packaging sucks!  If you take a look at this picture, you’ll see that it has a neat looking “tab” on the blister.  Just pull, right?  Wrong!  I had to rip, cut, slice, and tear it open just to find out that the twist tie (I frakkin’ hate those. Seriously.) had been glued to the corrugated paper!

I also didn’t like that this Robin is running around without a cape.  The Batman & Cycle comes with a cape!  What’s up with that?  He even has a helmet.  Poor little Robin!  He’d go splat like a robin’s egg if he were ever to hit a patch of sand and couldn’t pull off something sweet and acrobatic!  Give him a cape!  Come on, people!

Overall: 3 out of 5.  I give this Robin & Cycle three thumbs up.  It’s really meant for the little kids, and from a little kid’s perspective…it’s pretty stinkin’ fun!  Vroom!  Vroom!  Adults should only buy this for the novelty of having another of their favorite DC character on their desk or shelf.  Imaginext: DC Super Friends: Robin & Cycle.  Gotta have it?  Yeah, go ahead.  Nobody really thinks about this set when seeking action figures.  You’ll have something nobody else does.

Aron White
aron@comicattack.net