Toybox Review: DC Collectibles The New Batman Adventures Mr Freeze

In some respects DC Collectibles’ range of Batman: The Animated Series and The New Batman Adventures figures are the Batman toys fans have always dreamed of. Articulated and accessory-laden cartoon-accurate depictions of one of the most renowned pieces of Batman media – what’s not to love? However at the same time this line has proved to be an absolute nightmare, with multiple figures subject to delays, quality control problems or both. But thanks to the draw of these characters, fans keep coming back for more. Here we look at one of the earliest releases in the line – fan-favourite Mr Freeze, as he appeared in The New Batman Adventures episode “Cold Comfort”.

Toybox REVIEW: DC Collectibles "The New Batman Adventures" Nightwing

When Batman: The Animated Series made its transition to The New Batman Adventures, it brought about a lot of changes. The most obvious of these was the somewhat simplified art style, but also a time skip that changed the character dynamics of the Bat Family. Batgirl became a regular, Tim Drake joined the team as the new Robin, and Dick Grayson broke away from Batman’s shadow to establish himself as Nightwing. Despite playing a more limited role in the series, Nightwing was still a big part of it – appearing in the series logo while the more frequent Batgirl was inexplicably absent. Now DC Collectibles have added Nightwing to their new range of figures covering Batman’s main entries into the DC Animated Universe, completing the Bat Family in action figure form.

Toybox REVIEW: DC Collectibles "The New Batman Adventures" Batgirl

Although my relationship with DC Collectibles’ animated Batman figures has been rocky to say the least, there were always some characters I was going to by without question. And perhaps the biggest of those was Batgirl. Whether it’s her tenure as Batgirl (particularly in her utterly fantastic current ongoing) or assisting the Bat family and the Birds of Prey as Oracle, Barbara Gordon is undoubtedly one of my favourite DC Comics characters. So there was some considerable excitement when Batgirl was revealed to be joining the line, with a figure based on her black-costumed appearance in The New Batman Adventures – where she was promoted to main character and full-time member of the Bat family. As well as a new costume, Batgirl received a new voice actress in the form of Tara Strong – taking over from Melissa Gilbert and the late Mary Kay Bergman (who voiced the character in Batman: The Animated Series and Batman & Mr Freeze: Sub Zero respectively).

Toybox REVIEW: DC Collectibles "The New Batman Adventures" Robin

DC Collectibles line of animated Batman figures had a rather interesting year in 2015. After the hotly anticipated figures burst onto the scene at the end of 2014, they quickly received criticism for their fragility – leading the designers to take a step back and look at the how they could improve the builds for future figures. This led to delay after delay for the majority of the line planned throughout 2015, until they all seemed to hit in rapid succession towards the years’ end. Among these delayed figures was the subject of this review – The New Batman Adventures’ iteration of the boy wonder himself, Robin. Taking place after Dick Grayson had moved on to take up the mantle of Nightwing, this version of Robin is instead Tim Drake – considerably younger looking than his predecessor and sporting a rather different origin to his comics counterpart.

Toybox REVIEW: DC Collectibles "The New Batman Adventures" Two-Face

Arguably Batman: The Animated Series and it's follow up The New Batman Adventures owe a lot of their success to the brilliance of how it handled the Caped Crusader's rogues gallery. Whether it's Mark Hamill's portrayal of the Joker, Paul Dini's incredible reimagining of Mr. Freeze or the creation of the one and only Harley Quinn - many of Batman's most famous villains received some of their finest moments in these cartoons. So to kick off DC Collectibles new range of animated Batman figures, the first villain to follow Batman himself is none other than Two-Face, the criminal persona of former Gotham district attorney Harvey Dent. Though many of Two-Face's strongest episodes appeared in the original animated series, he also played a significant part in The New Batman Adventures - having close ties to the second Robin's origin as well as having his split personality fragment even more. As such, the toyline has turned to these appearances to craft a brand new Two-Face figure that celebrates these must-see shows.

Toybox REVIEW: DC Collectibles "The New Batman Adventures" Batman

Batman: The Animated Series is widely considered to be one of the greatest cartoons of all time, but despite this has never received any toys outside those that were released during it's original run (and those were actual toys rather than collectibles). But with the recent 75th anniversary of the Dark Knight, DC Collectibles have revisited the iconic show for a brand new range of high-end figures. Aiming to be as accurate to Bruce Timm's original designs as possible, this line not only features designs from B:TAS, but also the follow-up series The New Batman Adventures - which simplified the art-style somewhat to bring it more in line with Superman: The Animated Series and subsequently the rest of the DC Animated Universe. So to kick off the line is of course Batman, based on his 1997 New Batman Adventures look.