[BarbaraGordon]

Street Date: 2020-01-2020
MSRP: $20
Price I Paid: $20
Scale: 7-inch (or 1/10)

This is officially sold out, though you may still be able to find him at specialty retailers for MSRP.

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I didn't really start collecting action figures until July 2021. By then, the Detective Comics #1000 Batman had become difficult to find. However, there's a comic book store in my area that still has several of these for $20.

I know my review is "two years late", but I think it's worth looking back to the beginning of the DC Multiverse line to see how far it's progressed, what has stayed the same, and maybe what areas have actually gotten worse over time.

The most obvious complaint about this figure is that the head is too small for the body. However, this issue has persisted in this line, with many subsequent masked/helmeted heads being too small, not just compared to their bodies but also in comparison to unmasked variants. Indeed, I would argue that the Masked Batwoman Beyond head is ridiculously thin, especially given Elainna Grayson's luxuriously thick hair.

When I first got this figure, I thought that the feet were way too big. I still think they are, but now McFarlane has erred too far in the opposite direction, with some figures having such small feet that they can barely stand.

For some people, this Batman is too slight in terms of his overall build. This is "true" when you pose him next to the Arkham Knight Batman or Three Jokers Batman. However, Detective Comics #1000 Batman is perfect to use as a Dick Grayson Batman.



Mattel released a Dick Grayson Batman with interchangeable heads (it even had an extra cowl piece). The heads are too big for the Mattel body, but ironically, they're proportionally suitable for the McFarlane figure. The Mattel masked head also sits higher on the peg than the McFarlane head, so now Batman actually has a neck, lol. Fortuitously, you don't even have to re-paint the Mattel masked head!

So, I'm reviewing this figure today to recommend it as a secondary Dick Grayson figure since McFarlane has really released only two different Nightwings (the blue/red/Jokerized Rebirth body and the awful Gotham Knights one).

In the plastic tray, there's one main plastic tie around the torso. The grapnel and batarang snap into their respective places in the tray. The cape fits through a slot in the tray. You also get a base stand and an information card. The figure stands about 7.2-inches tall.

The head, upper torso, and lower torso can rotate 360 degrees. The head and the neck (to which the cape is glued) are easily removable. The cape really restricts the amount of movement the shoulders can have, but once the cape is gone, you can rotate the shoulders 360 degrees as well. Unfortunately, the arms can be pushed to about a 30-degree angle from the body; they just won't go fully flush.

The upper and lower torso are separate pieces, but you don't get much movement either forward or backward. This is obviously an area that has improved with subsequent waves. Surprisingly, even though this figure has a hard diaper, the figure can do deep splits, and you can rotate the thigh joints 360 degrees as well.

I think the batarang is a bit boring and wish that McFarlane would use the Three Jokers Batgirl's batarang as the default batarang for all Batfamily figures. However, the grapnel is pretty nice and fits in a variety of Batfamily members' hands.



Areas of Concern:
-- While the head can be replaced easily, there's no denying that the cape restricts the shoulders' movement. One could undertake extensive modding to give him a cloth cape, but I imagine the average person isn't going to invest that much time and effort into a $20 action figure.

[BarbaraGordon]

[BarbaraGordon]

[BarbaraGordon]

[BarbaraGordon]

Note: There was also a chase variant of this figure with light blue instead of dark blue and a different chest symbol.

[cowen]

I have both the black and the blue versions (the latter is really hard to find and spending more than 50 usd for it is insane) and i think it's not a bad figure per se with the toy company's growing pains and all if you're not that selective when it comes to 20 usd batman figures. My constant criticism with the entire toy line of mcfarlane is the articulation itself, the ankles and wrists needs reworking.