NIGHTWING

BATMAN '66 (McFARLANE TOYS)

Perhaps the most recurring moment of "didn't see that coming" for me as of late has been the successes of McFarlane Toys with their handle on the DC license.  I mean, yeah, they had a rocky start, and there are still plenty of very iffy choices abound, but there's also been a surprising amount of success.  I mean, of all the companies working on the Batman '66 license, who would have guessed McFarlane would be the ones that would actually get a decent run of it?  They even ran out of actual show-based figures and expanded into other media, which is how we wound up with the opportunity to get a Nightwing figure!  Oh yeah!  Nightwing!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Nightwing was released in Series 10 of McFarlane's Batman '66 line.  He's one of the line's comics-based figures, coming from the revival comic series launched when all the licensing opened up.  Specifically, he's from the crossover with Wonder Woman '77, which moved the Batman cast 11 years into the future, hence the aged up Dick Grayson, sporting a "live action" version of his original Nightwign get-up.  The figure stands 6 inches tall and he has 18 points of articulation.  One of the neat things about the McFarlane Batman '66 line is that, in contrast to the main McFarlane DC line, it's 1/12 scale, meaning the figures can still fit in with the Mattel figures, if you're so inclined.  That said, they're stylistically a little different, which is to say they don't suck.  Obviously, with this being adapted from a comics design, there's a bit of adaptation here to make him fit in more with the actual live-action figures.  There's a bit of a half-step there; it's not 100% realism, so there's something of a flair to it.  It's honestly, pretty solid.  A little stiff, but the details are sharp, and the design looks good in figure form.  The likeness is also an okay match for Burt Ward circa the '70s, so there's a nice feeling of continuity.  The paint work on this guy isn't bad.  There's a little bit of slop on some of the changeovers, and the yellow's a little thin in some spots, but generally things are good.  Nightwing is packed with two different punch effects, one that says "VRONK!" and another that says "CRUNCH!"  What's "VRONK?" No idea, but I kinda dig it.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I have thus far avoided the McFarlane Batman '66 line in its entirety largely because Mattel just really burned me with their line, and I've not been able to really get back into it.  That said, I do really have a soft spot for Nightwing figures and I really like this particular design.  That said, I drag my feet on it a little bit.  I wound up swinging past a GameStop after lunch a couple weekends ago, and they had him, and I was feeling the need to buy a figure, so that worked out pretty well.  He's honestly pretty fun, and I kinda want more of this line now, because it's a lot better than the Mattel stuff.

Orginally published on February 11, 2025