Long time no post – AFB’s “real life” has been a bit too “real” lately!Back in January I was pretty unhappy (along with most of the collecting community) about the solicited headsculpt for the 13" Nightwing. This was adjusted by DCD, but unlike most of 13" line I didn't place a firm order for this one at my LCS.
Now October is AFB's birthday month (mark your calendars for next year please....), and with not much else happening DCD-wise around my birthday I decided to at least look this one over when it came in.
The verdict? Well, it's far from terrible. In fact, some aspects are pretty good, and the longer I’ve had him the more he’s growing on me.
A nice range of useable accessories are included, no plastic cats here. The highlight of these is the inclusion of both blue and black masks which attach easily and tightly. From inspection it doesn't look like they're magnetic like the Hal Jordan mask, but they’re not going anywhere. The headsculpt really is a genuine improvement over the craptacular one solicited, but it still doesn’t really evoke Dick Grayson.On the not so great side, the plain black body suit really accentuates all the negatives of the 13" body sculpt. The funny ridgey leg thing (sorry for the technical terms) doesn’t look great on any of the guys, but it really sticks out here. Bleccch.
The packaging design is pretty pedestrian, a far cry from some of the more creative and eye-catching design work done on the Shazam! and Aquaman packs for example. The "action" shots look like something some Year 9 IT students did up in Photoshop in one lesson. Perhaps the good graphic designer was sick that day?The bottom line is this looks great alongside the other Bats 13”ers, (thankfully my friend Shaun at The Fortress of Testicular Fortitude as taken some great shots and they look quite good together) but on its own it’s an average effort. Weird then that for some reason I quite like it. Just goes to show that collecting isn't all rational!
Oh hey - I totally forgot to mention that this is first 13"er I've taken out of the box to have a better look at - I definitely like this one better out of the packaging - maybe when Mrs AFB comes through on her promise of moolah for anti-dust display cabinets he can be out permanently!
Until next time.....
