McFarlane DC Multiverse 1966 Batman & Robin 2-pack review

You probably don't know this, but the Adam West Batman show was one of my first introductions to DC Comics. I was a Marvel kid primarily, but the 2004 Batman cartoon and glimpses of the DCAU and Teen Titans got me into the Batman side of things with a bit of Superman. The 1966 show may be campy as hell, yet it still had a sense of badassery that no other DC project had. Kind of like how Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy were in SpongeBob. While I know Batman was meant to be a darker character, to the point of killing so many times it would make a shitty DC subreddit cry and debate about canonicity, I understood the context behind the development of the show given the time period it was released in. I may not agree with the Comics Code of Authority, but I will admit that the one benefit it indirectly leading to the creation of this show. Unlike the low effort cartoons Hanna Barbera churned out, I always felt Batman 1966 had some quality entertainment to it that made it feel engaging rather than phoned in, if that makes sense. Anyways, I already reviewed Batman by himself, so why don't we revisit the figure and delve into the 2-pack now that we got the Boy Wonder this time?

Let's quickly go over Batman since I already reviewed him a good while back. It's the exact same as the standalone release from 2024, though my copy has a slight issue with the front of the cape not being tucked in that great. While the proportions remaining unchanged is fine, I don't like how they still haven't changed the blue on the mask, neck area, gloves, trunks, and boots to be metallic like on the cape. It was an issue I had on the original release, and it's worse here since it would have been an easy fix. Not to mention the cape is longer than it should be for this Batman, but without a reissue of Hugo Strange Batman around for a cape swap, you're stuck with this look. I wish I could say the original version was Toy of the Year as McFarlane once believed, but it wasn't quite there in the first run and is not in this 2-pack. He retains all of the accessories from the original version, so just click on my review on the standalone release here.

The Bruce Wayne head is new to this release, and while it doesn't use the facial scan technology Hasbro used for their lines, it is a reasonably good likeness to Adam West. I believe it was first spotted in a prototype cast in solid red, but I could be wrong. Honestly, if we could get one for Bruce, why couldn't Dick Grayson have an unmasked head of his own? Pretty sure McFarlane could use the CAD files of the unmasked Robin heads unless Burt Ward or his estate has a specific likeness fee they would demand a la Jack Nicholson vs toy manufacturers wanting to make figures of his Joker.

As for Robin, this figure seems to be built from the ground up, at least for the torso, trunks, arms, and feet. The legs may or may not have been used from a previous Robin, at least not the All Star version with the stylized head (or the Carrie Kelly version). The suit is faithfully recreated in figure form, though that may affect the articulation as we'll get to. The only real issue I have other than maybe how boxy he looks is how slightly spacious the gap between the legs is; maybe it was like that on the actor himself, but I don't know 100%. Overall, the figure mostly does the job but like Batman, he could use some tweaks here and there.

Head sculpt is pretty accurate to what Burt Ward looked like in the 69s, though a problem I have is that the mask is a little too apart from the eyes, so it makes them hard to see under natural lighting. Granted, Robin's mask seemed a bit hard to see through, but it bothers me in a way on this figure. Articulation is mostly standard yet there is only one torso joint in addition to hindered shoulder wiggle due to the overlay of the suit, and the ankles cannot pivot because of how high up the shoes cover the ankles. The suit overlay is somewhat understandable if they wanted to reserve the sculpt, though it usually has results both positive and negative. The latter is frustrating since it could have been possible to make those ankles rock side to side yet they chose not to. At least he has a wired cape, unlike another Robin figure I'll review at some point.

One of his accessories is a black Batarang with a string going through it, which was both teased with the stringless blue version that came with Batman and is a nod to the times the Dynamic Duo would scale buildings. Good luck making a display like that, action figure photographers! Oh and we have the Shakespeare bust that hinge its head back to reveal the secret button, granting Bruce and Dick access to the Bat Poles. Pretty sure the button should be painted red, but at least it is sculpted.

Overall, as a fan of the 1966 Batman series, I am happy to own these figures in spite of there not being any villains for them to fight (unless I pluck some from the smaller McFarlane line or the Mattel versions). But as a reviewer, I have to admit I am disappointed nothing was changed to improve this Batman, and while it's great we finally got a Robin before the license expires, he has some issues of his own. A few are understandable, but others are still glaring. If you love this series like I do, who am I to stop you? Just don't get any high expectations if you already got Batman.

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐