The New Adventures of Batman, a cartoon that only aired 16 episodes in total during its sole season in 1977, is pretty niche for any toy company to license, even if Batman: The Animated Series did pay tribute to it in one episode. What makes it a no-brainer for McFarlane Toys, however, is that it’s technically a way to continue the 1966 Batman TV show line. They seemed to have gotten as far as they could with actual actor likenesses and recently moved on to characters only seen in recent comic books that continued the storyline. The New Adventures of Batman wasn’t quite the same canon, but close enough, as Adam West and Burt Ward provided the voices for Batman and Robin.
(In keeping with Filmation’s usual actor budgets, Lou Scheimer and Lennie Weinraub did most of the villains.)
What’s New Is Old
As for the figures, they mostly use the same base bodies as the TV characters, with the exception of Commissioner Gordon, who looks more like the Jim Gordon of the comics but is also close enough to Alfred from the TV show that he could just about substitute. All the figures have new heads, done in the Golden Age-like style of the Filmation series. The first (and probably only) series includes Batman, Robin, Joker, Gordon with Bat-Mite, Riddler, Batgirl, and a platinum edition Batgirl variant. Each includes at least one accessory, and they sell for $17.99 apiece, making them possibly the cheapest 6-inch figures on the market for adult collectors.
Yes, for whatever reason — probably scale to an affordable Batmobile — McFarlane Toys opted to make the 1966 Batman line about an inch shorter than all his other Batman figures. Since this sub-line re-uses the same bodies, of course, it follows suit, but that also means you can use these figures with the TV Batmobile and Batcave playset. Indeed, those might see newfound interest and value among fans who like this art style on figures better than the likenesses of Adam West and his castmates.
Joint Relief
If you aren’t familiar with the TV figures, these aren’t just a different scale for McFarlane Toys but a whole different articulation style too. The neck is a limited ball joint; disc-and-pin joints are used for shoulders, elbows, and knees. Wrists and the waist are cut joints, and most oddly, the hips are straight back-and-forth cut joints like old Star Wars figures, presumably for ease in sitting in the Batmobile or diorama chairs. The capes are just wide strips of ribbon, similar to the McFarlane Super Powers figures — this is one area the company could stand to improve, and fans would probably even pay an extra buck or two for it, as many already are doing for third-party customs.
Hold ’em, Fold ’em
Batman and Robin both come with a Batarang and a portable device. Batgirl comes with a Batarang and handcuffs, either blue or black, depending on the variant. The more common version is classic gray and yellow with a light blue cowl; the platinum version is black and yellow with a dark blue cowl. And lighter blue eyes, somehow.
Joker’s accessory is a newspaper, which is made from a piece of glossy cardboard, folded. It’s small enough that one might not notice the fact that its stories are actually complete and not just a bunch of random words. An enlarged photo will reveal them if the eyestrain is too great.
Gordon, who can work as a generic suited man for other 6-inch lines, comes with Bat-Mite in his very Filmation-style redesign. He is not articulated. He might be bendy, but I don’t really want to risk breaking him to find out.
Pink Fink
The Riddler is an interesting case. The original animated series couldn’t use him as a character since he’d been licensed to Hanna-Barbera. Nonetheless, a version of him appeared in the opening credits but painted pink, so of course, nobody would think it legally was the Riddler. We’re decades on; none of that matters now, and McFarlane Toys has a Frank Gorshin body ripe for reuse. As such, one of the more bizarre Riddler variants is here. If anyone does Pride displays with their toys, this is one figure well-suited to them.
Collectively, they look like classic comic book stylings brought into 3D, even if Bat-Mite and pink Riddler offer undeniable reminders that they’re from a TV cartoon. If you liked the show, even better, but it’s a tough watch by modern standards. The likelier appeal here is to fans of older Batman art by the likes of Dick Sprang.
Take a look at some more angles on the figures in the images below:
