8/14/08

Firefly, Won't You Shine Your Light...

I had always hoped for a Firefly figure from Batman: The Animated Series. His design was cool and sleek, while being mostly utilitarian. Basically a fire-suit, a helmet, and wings to catch the updrafts.

Oh yeah, he also had flamethrowers.

Well my dream never came to pass. But surprisingly, a later incarnation of Firefly did appear in plastic a couple years ago.

The Batman was a decent cartoon. But like Michael Jordan's younger brother Dave or Babe Ruth's cousin Leroy, it really doesn't matter how good it was, as it followed on the heels of the legendary Batman: The Animated Series. The Batman could have been Shakespeare in tights (wait...Shakespeare was Shakespeare in tights.) Anyways, it didn't matter, because it had such a large shadow to crawl out of.

At least it stood on it's own in the way of character design. Not as good or iconic of a design/look as Batman TAS but, well, okay, I'll stop comparing apples to plums here.

What The Batman did give us was a Firefly action figure (whew...took me long enough to get there, didn't it!)


Not a bad take on the character, although the black and yellow make him look more like a wasp or something.


One really cool feature the toy designers gave him was a removable helmet. His backpack is also removable, which is kind of cool too. You could imagine Batman ripping it all off in flight and then leaving the baddy dangling from a light pole for the GCPD. Hours of fun.


The backpack also has a lever at the top. Much like a Bic, you flick it and it shoots a couple sparks into the enclosed area at the base. That's kind of cool too, and reminds me of a couple toys I had as a kid that shot sparks. That was always a fun feature.

So until Mattel releases a Batman TAS Firefly, or maybe a DCUC Firefly, this guy will have to hold the slot in the rouges gallery.

He'll do.

2 comments:

  1. The Batman character designs are great, almost a cross between anime and the original animated series.

    I think they made this one in another color scheme as well later on.

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  2. I'm not such a fan of the character, but the figure is cool. And the fact that they even made one is better! Too many times there's a chacter that you desperately want a figure of and it never gets made.

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