Help Needed for Custom 5-inch Robin Figure

[Beatlemania]

Hello, everyone!

Recently, I've been toying with the idea of creating a 6 inch figure of Robin the Boy Wonder, as Figures Toy Company currently makes no such figure and I've always been bothered by the odd scale issues between the heights of Batman and Robin, as well as his height relation to other characters in the toyline.

However, I do feel as though doing a 6 inch figure should be reserved for someone like Jason Todd, who I always saw as a bit taller than Dick Grayson, as well as closer to Batman's height. Because of this, I decided that I'd instead try to tackle a 5-inch tall custom action figure of Dick Grayson as Robin.

My plan was to buy either Doc Mego's 5-inch child body or CTVT's version of the same body (I'm also curious as to which one of these is more durable and well-crafted, so any help there would be greatly appreciated), and then sculpt over an exist head created in the 5-inch scale, like an old Little Rascals/Our Gang head.

I've looked for some of those heads on eBay, but all I've found are complete figures. Granted, I'd probably only need a loose figure, as a card wouldn't be necessary, and many of the loose figures I've found are pretty cheap, so I guess it wouldn't be too bad. Then, I'd want to hand-sew an outfit to fit with the 5-inch body. My only issue with this is that I wouldn't know what to do for shoes or the actual head. I've heard of types of clay that can be used to sculpt over existing pieces, air dry, and then be painted over.

While it may seems like I have a plan put together, I still just had a few questions mentioned above that I'm curious about.

Thanks!

[MIB41]

I think this is what you;re looking for. A six inch figure (if you're counting the head with the suit already in scale). You just need a different head and you're set!

https://www.amazon.com/Comics-Appearances-Action-Figure-Yellow/dp/B013M357DG/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1470702410&sr=8-2&keywords=Retro+Robin+first+appearance

[darklord1967]

The question of Robin The Boy Wonder’s actual height (whether it be Dick Grayson or Jason Todd) is a rather arbitrary one since both boys assumed the identity of The Batman’s partner at an age when most boys are growing very, very rapidly.

To compound the confusion, there are DC Comics sources that list disparaging figures for the heights of each character. Those “conflicting” numbers are likely attributed to the assumption of character height at different points in their careers as masked adventurers.

For the sake of this post, I think it best to proceed with the official commonly listed heights for Dick Grayson and Jason Todd at the time they INITIALLY became Robin.

For Jason Todd, that height was listed as 5’2” (source: Who’s Who in the DC Universe). But far as I’ve been able to determine, Dick Grayson’s height upon first becoming Robin has been listed alternately as 5' 0" tall (source: Who's Who in the DC universe) and 4' 10.5" tall (source: Official DC Comics Database)

As a side note: The shorter height for Grayson was the one I applied when I created the custom body for my own Dick Grayson / Boy Wonder, action figure. That resulted in an action figure that stood 6.5 inches nude (head to toe measurement) when working in true 1:9 scale.

Now I mention all this because MEGO was never accurate about scaling (as you astutely have observed). With all male heroes sharing the same 7.75-inch tall bodies (when nude), the scale discrepancies are endless within the WGSH line.

Using MEGO’s Bruce Wayne figure as the standard, you’re looking at a sizing for Bat-characters that actually more accurately comes in at 1:9.6 scale. Using THAT scale and the taller 5’0” height listing for Dick Grayson as a guide, your final figure should be exactly 6.25” in height. The FTC "Teen Hero" body (used for “First Appearance” Robin) measures 6.75" in height. In 1:9 scale, that translates to a real-life teen standing just short of 5'1" in height.

[darklord1967]

The MEGO "Our Gang" bodies never measured 5 inches (head to toe measurement) in height. They ranged in size from 6 inches to 6.5 inches. The differences in height were attributed to differently styled torsos for the various characters. The younger characters of the line (like Porky, and Mikey) were created with the shorter, stockier torsos. Spanky was fashioned with the unique fat boy torso, and Alfalfa was given the taller thin boy torso.

The body offered by Doc Mego is a loose reproduction of the MEGO body utilized for Porky and Mikey. The CTVT boy's body is also a reproduction of this same body, but it is not of very good quality. Original MEGO Our Gang bodies almost ALL come with broken, cracked, or splayed lower legs... Even mint on card.

While ALL of these are the shortest bodies made for this scale, I honestly do NOT consider them appropriate for use in creating a character like Robin The Boy Wonder. My reason? Porky and Mikey were both created as slightly pudgy boys, just as they appeared on The Little Rascals / Our Gang film shorts. Furthermore, the pelvis sections of ALL "Our Gang" figures tend to be sculpted with a considerable lower belly bulge that would not look very good on Robin... particularly in his classic tunic and green shorts outfit.

With Robin / Dick Grayson being a former circus acrobat, a wiry, athletic, well muscle-toned body, is certainly a more appropriate build.

FTC's approach to teenaged heroes seemed to be to shrink down the adult male hero body and call it a day (just like Lion Rock's Teen Titans line back in '76). The trouble with that approach is that the final figures do not have the proportions of boys or adolescents. They just look like freakishly small, big headed men with barrel chests and long gorilla arms.

For all these reasons, my approach to custom Robin was to fabricate my OWN Custom body.

[bleit1701]

For Robin's shoes I used a pair of Doc Mego's Titan boots cut down and painted.

[TrekStar]

Beautiful set of Titans, I could never understand why Mego made a Kid Flash, but not the Flash?
he's the only teen without a mentor.

[Mego Magyar]

First appearance next to the original Mego
image.jpg
Sorry Austin doing this on a tablet and sideways is how it uploads

[TomStrong]

image.jpgmade this one for my daughters birthday about two years ago.

[darklord1967]

Back in 1998, I created this custom MEGO "Classic Dynamic Duo". These were created exclusively with MEGO body parts and assembled together in a standard MEGO bungee tension cord configuration.

I created Robin the Boy Wonder using a MEGO "Our Gang" Alfalfa body with a slightly shrunken and re-sculpted "Our Gang" Mikey head.

It took me nearly a year just to find one pair of Our Gang boy's lower legs that were not broken. The slightly pudgy lower tummy of the torso and pelvis were sculpted away to create a slimmer more athletic profile.

I was reasonably satisfied with the final custom figure, but truth be told, I was never happy with the obvious lack of muscle definition on the figure. It seemed to me that lean musculature would be typical of a former circus acrobat who was trained in the Martial Arts by Bruce Wayne. The forearms and ankles on the Our Gang limbs were just much thicker than what I felt were appropriate. Also, the standard MEGO bungee tension configuration made for very limited stability and poseability of the figure, so I was less than satisfied with that too.

These issues led me to revisit the custom Caped Crusaders more than 17 years later, and led directly to the creation of my all-new, all ball-jointed, "athletic hero boy body".

As for Robin's pixie shoes, I created those with a pair of doll sneakers taken from a different line of dolls (Barbie, I believe) as the base, and then I laminated them with the same green fabric that I used to make his gloves

[TrekStar]

You made a fantastic dynamic duo set, Robin came out sweet, a lot of work and effort went into this, so
once again bravo.

[Beatlemania]

Hey everyone!

Thanks so much for the great help and feedback with this project! It's always a treat to see such helpful people on the Mego forums!

After reading this information, I'll probably go ahead and try making Robin with the Mego "teen" body in mind, as opposed to the originally-planned "Our Gang" body. I've been looking on both Doc Mego and CTVT's sites, looking for pieces of the costume. In the glove department, I found a pair of green gloves under the "Superhero Rubber Gloves" section of the accessories that I really like the look of. My only worry is that they'll be too big for the teen body. Has anyone tried those kinds of gloves with the teens? Or would it be more wise to buy teen-specific gloves from their respective section and repaint them. I really like the look of the rubber gloves and would love to actually use them for this project (as well as buy a pair for Batman).

Thanks!

[Riderfan]

Hi

My post #11 in this thread might give you some ideas.

http://megomuseum.com/community/showthread.php?107258-I-m-wondering-7-quot-Robin-head/page2

K

[comicmike]

Hi

My post #11 in this thread might give you some ideas.

http://megomuseum.com/community/showthread.php?107258-I-m-wondering-7-quot-Robin-head/page2

K

Thx for the re-post:**Awesomeness**

[thunderbolt]

Hey everyone!

Thanks so much for the great help and feedback with this project! It's always a treat to see such helpful people on the Mego forums!

After reading this information, I'll probably go ahead and try making Robin with the Mego "teen" body in mind, as opposed to the originally-planned "Our Gang" body. I've been looking on both Doc Mego and CTVT's sites, looking for pieces of the costume. In the glove department, I found a pair of green gloves under the "Superhero Rubber Gloves" section of the accessories that I really like the look of. My only worry is that they'll be too big for the teen body. Has anyone tried those kinds of gloves with the teens? Or would it be more wise to buy teen-specific gloves from their respective section and repaint them. I really like the look of the rubber gloves and would love to actually use them for this project (as well as buy a pair for Batman).

Thanks!

The hands are a bit small on those gloves, so they should work for a teen body.