When I first heard of this figure, I didn’t believe it was really going to happen. Even after test shots showed up on ebay I had my doubts. It just seemed so cheap and wrong. I hadn’t read the storyline the repaint is based on and I didn’t like the proto pics I saw, so I didn’t plan on buying this thing. So why do I have a bunch of pics of this figure? I’m not sure, really. Read on for more pics and my theory as to why I bought this thing.
I really did not expect to see this guy when I hit TRU the other day looking for the Aquaman/Mer-Man 2 pack. I wasn’t planning on buying this. Quite frankly, I thought this repaint was a bad idea, inaccurate to the comic look and kind of cheap.
But I saw it hanging there on the pegs and dangit, the figure just looked cool. In person, I actually like the chocolate brown/red costume combo. He also has something missing from the original Nightwing figure – a painted neck line to the costume.
The main thing I had objected to in pics I had seen, the mask lines painted around the existing mask sculpt, did not bother me in person.
He also looked slightly leaner to me than the original Nightwing figure. Opening the figure it looks to me like it has the post wave 9 version of the slimmer build base.
He’s great fun to pose in fighting stances with his escrima sticks as the original figure was. The plastic quality feels good and I didn’t notice any defects in paint or construction.
I think I bought this Renegade Nightwing figure because I was surprised to see him there, I didn’t find what I was looking for and he turned out a little cooler than I expected. Plus, I had money burning a whole in my pocket.
He’s a fun figure and a really obscure repaint idea. Even though I don’t know that part of Nightwing storytelling, I love that Mattel goes into every corner and era of the DC universe. Now I want to read that Renegade storyline. I haven’t heard anything good about it, but the art is by Hester and Kuhn and I love the art of those two.