Power Attack Batman and Robin Review

Posted 8 years ago by Toys

Batman and Robin

I may not be a hardcore toy collector, but I like to think I have a vague awareness of the current toy lines on store shelves, especially with big characters like super heroes and Star Wars. Usually I duck into toy aisles when my wife and I are out getting groceries (“I just need to look at something real quick..it’s for my blog!”), but until I read a post on Battle Grip I was not aware of the new Batman Power Attack line of action figures.

The Power Attack series features the cutesy, bulky style of cartoon-themed toy lines and more kid-centric lines like Imaginext but stretched out to 6″ scale, and the results are surprisingly awesome. After Philip’s first post got me interested, he went on to review some of the more colorful versions of Batman and I knew I needed to pick up a few of these figures.

I picked up the two normal looking figures in the line, Battle Gauntlet Batman and Strike Shield Robin. Since I was a kid I was always confused by the multi-colored versions of Batman and this line features plenty of those. Some of them actually look pretty cool, but I tend to stick with blue, grey, and black versions of the Caped Crusader.

Power Attack Battle Gauntlet Batman

Battle Gauntlet Batman

Besides the neon Batmen, the Power Attack line lets you pick between the classic black and grey suit as well as the blue suit. I grabbed the black suit, Battle Gauntlet Batman, and he looks great. I love that this action figure line isn’t based on a movie or cartoon, and that really comes through in the line’s quirkiness and the style of the characters.

The oddly named Battle Gauntlet Batman is just Batman with a ginormous bladey Batarang thing. I couldn’t really fit it in his hands so I didn’t include it in the photos. One thing to note about this toy line is that the figures are little bit rubbery, which means people with big fat fingers like me might have some trouble fitting things in their hands. That was a weird sentence.

I love the look of this Batman. The bulkiness of the utility belt, gloves, and boots is really cool, and I love the angles in the sculpt. This figure is pretty basic, with the crazier versions in the line looking like Batman Transformers or even Samurai. One detail I really love is the cloth cape. Plastic capes always seem so awkward, and even though Battle Gauntlet Batman’s cape is a little short, it looks great.

Batmen

I dug out all the Batman action figures I could find from my big tub of toys I had when I was younger. I thought I had more, but I found a good mix. One is a Happy Meal toy representing the Animated Series from the 90s, one is a really rough-looking Kenner Batman from the ’89 movie, and one is a random Batman with weird crap on his shoulder.

The Power Attack Batman towers over the other figures, and is a great addition to the very long history of Batman toys.

Power Attack Strike Shield Robin

Strike Shield Robin

The thing that really sold me on the Power Attack line before I bought any figures was how solid Robin looks. I haven’t seen that many cool-looking Robin action figures before, but the Robin in the Power Attack line is pretty bad-ass. For one, he’s not a toddler, he’s just as tall as Batman. His costume looks pretty cool, and he’s got exaggerated hair with a red stripe. What’s not to love?

Shield Strike Robin comes with a big yellow shield, which according to the back of the card, is for fending off lava attacks from Two-Face. Robin is sporting some huge boots and shoulder pads that kind of make him look more like Arena Football Robin, but in this exaggerated toy line it works.

This is my favorite Robin action figure, but I don’t have very many to compare. Still, I think it’s awesome, and it really makes me hope they come out with a Nightwing figure in this line, because I think he would look great in the style of the rest of the Power Attack figures.

Robins

I dug out all the Robin figures I could find after I took the Batman group shot, and found an equally diverse mix. I found a bland Batman Forever Robin with his disappearing mask permanently stuck at half-visible, as well as an Animated Series Robin that was part of an exclusive set that had Clayface and Alfred in it as well from Toys R Us. Oh, and some little PVC Robin sporting the green Speedo. The Animated Series version looks pretty cool, but this Power Attack figure is still my favorite.

I haven’t seen any of the villains in person yet, but Eric at Toyriffic reviewed Killer Croc and he looks great. The back of the packages for Batman and Robin feature pretty awesome-looking versions of Two-Face and Mr. Freeze, and I can’t wait to see what else they come up with for this line.

Have you checked out any of these figures yet? What Gotham characters would you like to see done in the Power Attack style?

  • I totally agree with you about this line. I saw Two Face and Mr. Freeze, as well as the Batman you describe. These 3 figures almost had me sold, but first I had to find Robin and Killer Croc. I found both at a Barnes and Noble of all places, so I’m hooked. I have to go back to Walmart and get Two-Face, I might nab the Arctic Batman as that seems to make sense versus Mr. Freeze, although I’m with you that I never really got into the whole “million faces/color schemes, of Batman” thing that all the toylines seem to do. I find it funny that this line was developed in house by Mattel with no media support, but that it somehow is probably the best re-imagining of Batman to date. I’m also not one to stray from the core brands I collect, but there was just something about these figures that oozed coolness.

    • I finally saw Wave 2 posted over at another site and Two-Face looks pretty awesome. I hope this series does well so we can see what else they have up their sleeves!