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Review of Robin & Cyborg - Teen Titans Go! action figures
Jazwares
Date Published: 2013-09-27
Written By: Michael Crawford
Overall Average Rating: 2.25
out of 4
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Introduction
As much as I love almost every form of television show and movie, I've come to realize that it's animation that's my one
true favorite. It helps that right now we're in what could be considered a golden age of kid's cartoons, with plenty of
enjoyable, goofy, and downright hilarious shows to choose from. While the adult fare, like South Park, Family Guy, and
Archer, remains strong, it's the kid's cartoons that are really shining. Shows like Adventure Time, Amazing World of
Gumball, the new Looney Tunes, and Regular Show all prove that you can entertain kids and adults alike with a great cartoon.
One of my current favorites is Teen Titans Go! With some great character designs, well thought out plots, and a total
disregard for continuity or common sense, it never ceases to entertain me and my son.
I've been hoping for action figures of course, and Jazwares have answered with a series of 5" characters. I've only found
Cyborg and Robin so far, but all five main heroes are pictured on the back, so I'm assuming we'll get the rest in this
scale.
I've only seen these at Toys R Us so far, where they will run you about $11 each.
Click on the image below for a Life Size version
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Packaging - ***1/2
The packages are brightly colored, using the graphics from the show. Each is also personalized to the character with a short
bio on the back, which is always a nice touch. They only used one rubber band for the inside tray too, and no twisties -
another big plus for me.
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Sculpting - Cyborg ***; Robin **
It's tough to capture cartoon figures in three dimensions. It doesn't help that their look - including scale - can change
from frame to frame. Creating depth where there is none can be a daunting task, and only a few companies do it well. Sadly,
one of the best at it is no longer with us - Palisades.
These are an improvement over some of the earlier Jazwares cartoon figures, but they still have a way to go. Cyborg is the
better looking sculpt of the pair, with his trademark goofy grin. You get an impression of his personality through his look,
and while scale is a little off (he seems a bit stubby), it's a minor nit.
Robin is more of a disappointment. He's got a big head, as do all the characters, as it's a design feature for the show.
But while the Cyborg figure looks about right, Robin looks like a cheap bobble head. It doesn't help that the size of the
mouth, eyes and chin all seem off as well, completely messing up the overall appearance.
Cyborg is about 5 1/2" tall, and Robin is just a smidge shorter. Overall, Robin needs to be quite a bit smaller than Cyborg
to look right, another strike against him.
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Paint - *1/2
Easily the biggest general issue for both of these figures is the God awful paint work. Just about anything that can be
wrong, is. Poor cut edges abound - look at the white on the eyes of Robin's mask, the edge of the skin tone around Cyborg's
face, or just about any edge of any piece of either costume.
Then there's the stray marks - lots of them. Add in some dirt that's trapped in the paint, an R on Robin's chest that
appears to have a thumb print, and a wonky pupil that's looking someplace other than where it should on Cyborg, and you have
far too many issues, even at this lower price point.
Just to top it all off, they printed a very obvious black number on the interior yellow of Robin's cape. Ugh.
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Articulation - Cyborg ***; Robin **1/2
This is one of those situations where the number of joints is misleading, since the design and engineering make them far
less useful than they should be.
Cyborg has a cut neck, ball shoulders, cut wrists, ball hips, and pin knees. The shoulder armor is articulated as well,
allowing the arms to rise to shoulder level.
While it's not a ton of articulation, these joints all are sturdier and stronger than past Jazwares figures, and nothing
felt cheap or likely to break with normal play.
Robin has a cut neck (I think there's a ball up under there, but the head is too tight to the body for any tilting), ball
shoulders, pin elbows, cut wrists, ball hips and pin knees. Due to the design, Robin can only have his feet flat on the
ground when they are directly under his torso - any stance at all puts them at an angle. It can be tough to find a stance
that he can hold for long periods, and the very large solid head makes him quite top heavy.
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Accessories - Cyborg **1/2; Robin *
Each character comes with one accessory.
Cyborg has a jet pack which is removable. He can stand up fairly well while wearing it, and it's easy enough for even
smaller children to pop on and off.
Robin has exactly what he has to have - his staff. Of course, if they'd also given us his replacement staff I would have
been thrilled, but at least we got the standard version he loves so much.
Except for one minor detail - he can't hold it. It's way too thick for his tiny hands. I was able to eventually force it,
but not without much cursing and straining. It won't stay there long, as the tiny fingers are not able to maintain a grip.
That's about as unacceptable as you can get - how can a kid have fun with this figure if it can't even hold it's main
accessory?
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Fun Factor - Cyborg ***; Robin **
Cyborg isn't bad, as far as low end action figures go. And I mean really low end - not MOTUC level or even Star Wars level.
But the articulation worked well enough, and nothing felt like it would break or fall apart under normal play.
If you're wondering why Robin scored lower, please re-read the previous section. Not able to hold his staff? Big deductions
here.
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Value - **1/2
While I'm not thrilled with the overall quality here, it's hard to argue with the $11 price point. Most action figures in
this scale are in the $15 (and higher) range, and while I'd like to see Jazwares correct the QC issues, the price point
certainly makes them more accessible to kids.
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Things to Watch Out For -
Trying to fit that damn staff into Robin's hands can result in a) damage to his hands; b) damage to the staff or c) damage
to your television when you chuck the figure in frustration.
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Overall - Cyborg **1/2; Robin **
I love the show, and have to admit to being a bit underwhelmed by this toy offering. Cyborg isn't awful, but the the sloppy
paint keeps him from getting an average score overall.
Robin wishes his only problem was paint. With a critical accessory that he can't even hold, a heavy bobble head, and wonky
articulation, he strikes out in just about every category.
Will I buy the rest? Of course. Teen Titans Go!
Score Recap (out of ****):
Packaging - ***
Sculpting - Cyborg ***; Robin **
Paint - *1/2
Articulation - Cyborg ***; Robin **1/2
Accessories - Cyborg **1/2; Robin *
Fun Factor - Cyborg ***; Robin **
Value - **1/2
Overall - Cyborg **1/2; Robin **
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Where to Buy
Your best bet is your local Toys R Us where they are running about $11 each, or you can search ebay.
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Related Links -
This is the first of the Teen Titans Go! figures that I've found, but I'll be picking up the others as they show up.
You should also hit the Search Reviews page, in case
any other applicable reviews were done after this one was published.
Discussion:
Want to chat about this review? Try out one of these terrific forums where I'll be
discussing it!
Enjoyed this review? Be sure to head back to the main page to find thousands more just like it!
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This product was purchased for the review by the reviewer. Photos and text by Michael Crawford.
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