McFarlane Toys DC Multiverse Red Robin (Tim Drake) - New 52

 

Who is the best Robin? Well out of the primary 4; Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Tim Drake, and Damian Wayne, my favorite often changes but I quite like Damian Wayne's brutal intensity alongside Batman. One thing is for sure, Tim Drake is the most analytically intelligent. He spent the shortest time as Robin before he was deployed to do his own thing as Red Robin. Then going back to Robin. Because comics! 

McFarlane Toys Jason Blood/Etrigan - Demon Knights New 52

Jason Blood is an expert in the occult and demonology from the 6th century. When the demon Etrigan was ravaging the area, Merlin bound the demon to Jason. From then on, Jason of the Blood has become an immortal being who can transform from man to demon upon uttering the rhyme:

Change! Change! O’ form of man!

Free the prince forever damned!
Free the might from fleshy mire!
Boil the blood in the heart for fire!
Gone! Gone! O’ form of man!
Rise the demon Etrigan!

His human side curbs the evil malevolence of Etrigan and the end result is a bit of a bawdy antihero. Jason Blood is immortal to the effects of age, able to use a wide variety of magic, and has all the martial knowledge of 15 centuries...which is a lot! This particular iteration of Jason Blood is from the Demon Knights comics. This is set in the Medieval era of DCU's universe, where Etrigan is working with Madame Xanadu through an exciting storyline that involves Hell, undead knights of Arthur's court, Vandal Savage and the murder of Merlin. Cool stuff!

This figure was bought just out of a pure desire for a really cool-looking demon figure. I have no particular attachment to Etrigan, though I do love his rare appearances in DC animated movies (which is the only decent way DC can do shows or films, fight me!). 

Mattel: Batgirl - Batman Unlimited

Batgirl has had a wild ride in comic books. She's had a significant impact on readers since The Killing Joke where she was paralyzed, and became the paraplegic computer tech assistant to Batman, Oracle. The Batgirl mantle has also been worn by a previously female Robin (Stephanie Brown), Betty Kane,  niece to Kathy Kane (Batwoman), and Cassandra Cain, a mute Asian from the League of Assassins. There are a couple of others too! The most iconic one, and the one this figure represents, is Barbara Gordon, daughter of Commissioner Gordon.

I have to say I much prefer Batgirl as a fully mobile character who can hold her own. It seems to me that The Killing Joke really set her character back for years. In New 52, they kept the older storyline but allowed her recovery after a few years after having a neurotransmitter chip placed in her spine. Now, in the DC Rebirth, she is hearkened more back to her pre-flashpoint era style, meaning she is not paralyzed.

Let's be honest, toy collectors are like birds: we see shiny things and want to pick them up. The shinier the better, and this figure is all that and a bag of chips. She's got very high gloss black, very shiny yellow gold pieces, and nice face and hair paint. She is fairly light and her cape, while solid, doesn't get too much in the way. She has those dang Mattel figure crotches that look unnatural when spread, but that was their shtick and they stuck to it. She has some elbow and knee joints which don't fully flex 90 degrees...and yet they flex BACKWARDS as if she had broken her limbs at the elbows and knees...odd!

DC Collectibles Superboy - New 52 Teen Titans

Another New 52 Teen Titans character, Superboy is a name taken by quite a few characters. Most recently in the DC Rebirth, it is Jon Samuel Kent, but in an alternate New 52 universe, he was Kon-El. He is a cloned creation from the DNA of Superman, Lois Lane and Jon Lane Kent. 

I got this figure because 1) Love the suit design and really shiny red lines against black and 2) Super cheap deal. Just like a lot of the New 52 DC Collectibles, the articulation is always different, and usually poor! His hair is fine, but his face sculpts and paint leaves something to be desired. The face looks almost pudgy or perhaps it's the high cheekbones. Either way, not very comic book accurate. He looks more like an adult rather than a teen. 

DC Collectibles Red Robin - New 52: Teen Titans

I personally enjoy narratives where heroes either pass on the mantle to their children or heirs to lead a new generation of heroes. It shows a development, a passing of time and a fresh perspective on the abilities and backgrounds of those heroes and their families.

Teen Titans was one of those. First appearing in comics in 1964, the original team had three members: Robin (Dick Grayson), Kid Flash (Wally West) and Aqualad teamed up to defeat Mister Twister. Since that appearance, they have had nearly as large of a rotating roster as the Justice League. Though I am not a great comic book aficionado, a really good animated version of the Teen Titans is a show called Young Justice. Check it out! A third season is supposed to be on Netflix sometime this year or next.

Red Robin is technically named Tim Drake (but it turns out that's a pseudonym). He is called Red Robin as the character's way of leaving the Robin mantle behind after Jason Todd's death (who was the second Robin after Dick Grayson). From 2009 to 2016, he had a falling out with Batman and formed his own team of teen heroes, alongside Wonder Girl and Kid Flash.

I got this figure in the hopes of forming the entire Bat-family. It's an ongoing process, but I wanted to get this one to have another take on Robin that I thought was aesthetically interesting. He's got a lot of straps and bands and sports a mostly red and black flight suit, coupled with rocket-powered wings designed by a fellow Teen Titan, Static. The New 52 figures generally don't have great articulation, but they have a nice palette of bright colours and fairly good comic book looks.