I was planning on buying this figure to add to My Batfamily collection, but I can’t make out which Robin it is. To me it looks either like Tim or Dick but I’m not sure. Thanks in advance
He is who I like to call ‘Product Robin’, who has bits and pieces of specific Robins, but without being named as Dick, Tim or Damian (because they are never gonna sell any Jason Robin stuff.) That way they can sell him to general audiences without having to keep to a specific look as any specific Robin.
Tim’s costume but Dick’s cape and hair. So it’s “I told you to design a Robin figure I don’t care what it looks like now get this to production or clean out your desk!”
This is the one I just got for my daughter(17). There is quite a long thread with me asking the same!
I added a black fabric to the back of the cape, and painted the neck cowl to make him Tim, for sure. In person, my daughter is convinced he looks like Tim.
It's just a modern take on his original costume, because the speedo shorts were ridiculous and fucking stupid.
The all yellow cape and pixie boots are the giveaway.
You can make an "argument" for Jason Todd, but DC VERY seldom ever makes Jason Todd Robin figures. We'll get a dozen more Red Hood figures before we get Jason in his Robin era...
But it was already a ridiculous idea to have a literal child take to the streets fighting violent criminals. Let's give him the most impractical goofy ass costume on top of it! 😆
He was an acrobat and the outfit was a leotard. Impractical, yes, but thematically appropriate and likely something Dick would have held onto as a reminder of his parents and where he came from.
Mcfarlane has 4 Tim's out on the market right now. And a reissue of the most popular version coming. They're out there just have to be willing to find them.
DC has often retroactively depicted Dick and Jason's Robin suits with some of Tim's more modern aesthetics because the original Robin costume design is just way too ridiculous, impractical, and unrealistic.
Toys like this one end up being outliers because TBH I don’t think much thought or budget is put into them. I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re just reusing a print out of budget limitations and/or laziness.
Along with artistic liberties, certain colored inks were also used for the interior panels because they were easier to keep consistent throughout the entirety of the book and for cost efficiency, green and purple being two notable examples.
But throughout official DC art, media, and marketing, Dick's variant of Robin has consistently been depicted with a black domino mask. It wasn't until they overhauled the design with Tim's iteration that the green domino mask became an official permanent mainstay.
What part of "artistic liberties" did your illiterate ass not understand?
That was still just as much a thing back then as it is now.
Before Tim's overhauled design, the only time Robin was depicted with a green mask was in comic panels, for the reasons I explained earlier, and when the artist took subtle liberties with the design.
Unlike the permanently established black mask, any occasional occurrence of the green domino mask were few and far in between, and nowhere in the realm of consistent. Similarly, some artists in the 90s and early 2000s depicted Tim in his original costume but sporting the black mask, sometimes even black gloves. But he's far more often than not, depicted with his traditional green mask.
You can literally prove this with a simple Google image search of early depictions of Dick and Jason as Robin. The results OVERWHELMINGLY feature the black mask.
Your meager findings don't negate what I said. Reading comprehension is fundamental. 👌
If it's not Tim, they got it wrong.
Tim invented that look. He actually made the "Robin" popular again with his introduction.
It has Dick's cape and shoes. But it's still a Tim knockoff.
B-b-but pants! Ugh. Tim and Jason's entire existence is because the Bat editorial wanted that Dick Grayson Robin money that the Wolfman/Perez Titans was printing. That era was magic in a bottle and Dick was a major factor for that book selling so well. Every iteration of the Titans since has been trying to recapture that era which is why Tim has lead the Titans and now Jason leading his own Titans team. They can't quit Dick's influence. Dick has always been super popular.
Domino mask-Dick. Black hair-Dick. Red tunic-Dick. Red/black/green/yellow color scheme-Dick. 'R' on the left side of chest-Dick. Green sleeves-Dick. Yellow 'buttons' on chest-Dick.
Handsome-Dick. Detective-Dick. Tech genius-Dick. Leader of the Titans-Dick. 'Boy Wonder'-Dick. The best partner to Batman-Dick. Dick as Robin has always been an icon. It's called "branding". Tim's entire existence is based on Dick's branding.
Notice how they didn't give Tim blonde or brown hair. Why didn't they change the colors of the uniform? Hal's costume is completely different from Alan Scotts. Barry's costume is different from Jay Garricks. Even Tim's name has the same vowels sounds as Dicks. DiCK GRaYSON/ TiM DRaKE. Tim is a copy of Dick. A few cosmetic changes doesn't mean Tim "invented" that look.
I really do agree with you. Dick Is this iconic Robin!
It just bothers me that they try to make him Tim-ish in this image.
What was so wrong with Dick's original image?
Bruce took in Dick in one of his very few true acts of kindness and kinship.
Batman before and after Dick Grayson were two very different people.
It broke Bruce's heart (and mine) when Dick grew up and went off to be his own man. But that's how life is supposed to happen when your kids grow up.
There was never a truer father and son relationship ever depicted in comic book history.
Say whatever negative things you want to about Bruce, but that's the real reason why he's Batman!
He's the father figure of the superheroes. And they all know it and seek his approval.
I’m a new DC fan, specifically Batman and his Robins.. and I always feel like a fake when I’m at the store and can’t name the specific Robin figure lmao. Glad to know it isn’t just me, and they’re intentionally made to be as ambiguous as possible.
I'd say it's just a poor attempt at adapting Dan Mora's Dick costume from world's finest. Yes the shoulders and logo are Tim's but everything else is more reminiscent of Dick.
It's both and neither. It's purposefully generic because this is an action figure line aimed at kids and Mattel's marketing department knows that the parents buying these figures won't know or care about the differences between the Robins (...or that there's been more than one in the first place...).
If I were you, I'd either buy one of the McFarlane figures, or wait until next year when Mattel launches their adult collector line (but there's no telling which characters they'll do first or how long you'll be waiting for them to do your favorite Robin)
The suit is just Tim's suit but with a fully yellow cape, green trunks and short green boots (and with a lot more lines and visible knee pads) and without the cylinders on the gloves.
The face and hair looks more like Dick, and the body type is closer to Jason's (though that's probably just because they were using a generic base model for all the figures they produce).
Overall, i don't think that it's meant to be one specific Robin, but rather justRobin, i doubt that whoever designed it even knew about the differents Robins.
Tim has never incorporated the pixie boots into any variation of his suits.
It's just a modern take on Dick Grayson's costume.
DC does this all the time with Dick and Jason. They retroactively update their Robin suits with a few of Tim's modern aesthetics to keep up with the times.
It's Tim's logo for sure, but it's mostly for branding moreso than identification. Tim's specific emblem is often used as the definitive Robin logo in DCs marketing. It's the most popular, likely because it's the most stylized of all the other emblems.
Off of the accessories alone I wanna say Damian (which I know is wrong) because he’s the only mf in that Bat Family who would probably use those weapons
I would personal say this is Jason Todd. It seems like a step toward the direction of Tim’s costume while containing some classics elements of Dicks costume
I'm a little lost on the logic here; it combines elements of two character's designs therefore it is neither? Are we just meeting between Dick and Tim to come to the conclusion of Jason, not sure how that really works here.
There isn’t much to read. He was Robin for 2 years before death and then there have been some issues set in the past or mini series that showed him as Robin
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u/Old_Ad_5723 5d ago
John Robin