Batman Forever Merchandise Review: Tide Racer Robin figure from Kenner

Well, this is it! The final Kenner figure I needed to get.

Tide Racer Robin is a Target Exclusive figure and a repaint of Hydro Claw Robin. If you liked that figure, you might like this variant. 

Don't worry my reviews will continue. I've looked ahead and won't be going anywhere for the foreseeable future. Still lots of vintage merchandise to review as well as new stuff like Hot Toys and McFarlane.

Batman Forever Merchandise Review - The Unauthorized Batman Collectors Guide by Alan J Porter

Searching for all this Batman Forever stuff on eBay I frequently stumble across other items of interest. I was thrilled to find this random book that was made back in 1998 for people who were collecting Batman merchandise back then.

This was fascinating to look through and full of great photos of figures and comprehensive text. For someone like me, who loves 90s Batman, this was great to look through.

The back half of the book contains estimates of every item - books, toys, mugs, statues, duvet sets, posters and any other piece of merchandise out there.

On the one hand I'm jealous of how much cheaper it was to collect Batman merchandise in 1998. But I can't help but feel it would be much harder finding everything without 2023 eBay.

Batman Forever Merchandise Review - Audio Game from Parker Brothers

Turns out the board game - Battle at the Big Top - wasn't the only game that Parker Brothers put out. They also released this very fun audio game. 

Basically, you have a deck of cards and a coin and you just listen to the tape as it instructs you with a loose adaptation of the movie. 

The two sides of the tape (yep, it's a cassette tape) give you two adventures. One in Gotham City, one at Claw Island.

I've played it once with my wife and kid and we actually had a lot of fun. 

If YOU want to play a game yourself you're in luck. Because it's nearly Christmas I've decided to give you all a present. Not only have I recorded the cassette (apologies, it's a little wobbly in places), I've also made up some cards that you can print off so you can play along yourself. Merry Christmas.

 

New site under construction

Hello everyone, you'll notice the posts on 1995batman.com have slowed down in January. I've scaled down to one post a month. This is because I'm currently working on a new website.

This blog has been running since 2018 and although I'm thrilled at how many posts I've done (over 260!) it's starting to show its age. I feel like there's tons of great content on here but it's getting lost in the blog format.

As such I've started work - and bear in mind I'm far from finished - on creating a more traditional website so that people can quickly access articles and images. Here's a link if you want a sneak peak:-

https://jackthursbyedit.wixsite.com/1995batman

I'm still working on the site - trying to figure out where to place all the sections and how to divide everything up. There's probably loads of broken links and empty pages. I can foresee it taking probably until Summer before I have it in full working order. 

If you have comments or suggestions for the site - features you'd like to see included for instance - please let me know.

Batman Forever Merchandise Review - Trading Cards from Dynamic Marketing

I've already reviewed the Fleer trading cards that were released in the US but I've recently picked up the Dynamic Marketing series that was released in Australia. It’s the usual set of stills from the film that runs through the gist of the story and posed shots of the actors.

But what's really awesome is that it contains some of the deleted scenes (that are possibly in the fabled Schumacher Cut). Also it's got some awesome concept art of the Bat gadgets and locations. 

Ironically, for an Australian card set there's not many of Nicole Kidman (Boooo!). But anyway, here's me laboriously going through them all. 

I'll get the really interesting ones scanned for the website in the near future.

Batman Forever Merchandise Review - Hydro Claw Robin figure from Kenner

I've reviewed a lot of Batman Forever over the last few years but Hydro Claw Robin holds a particulaly special place in my heart. This was the first Batman Forever figure I ever bought back in 1995 having just watched the film. I loved the figure then and I still love it now. 

The suit is really nicely detailed and I love the addition of the gold bandolier. It strays quite far from the movie suit but feels like it would fit really nicely with the Batman Sonar suit. 

The reversal of the green and black elements (gloves and boots) also works really well too and helps give the suit a darker look. If only it came with a cape this would be a great figure (and in fairness it's no trouble to nick a cape from another figure). 

This was a definite shelf warmer back in the day but it's still worth picking up (even today). EBay is awash with them so there's excuse not to get one too. 

Magazine Article: Automobilia no 52 Batman Forever Batboat

This week we're looking at the Batboat magazine that came with the Eaglemoss Batboat model. To see my video review of the model, click here.

This is a neat little magazine. The cutaway of the boat in particular is really fun to see.

Batman Forever Style Guide - Part 4

Here's the last part of posts showing the best bits of the Batman Forever Style Guide.

To see the full guide click here.

This part is particularly interesting because the last few images are something called "Forever Kids" which was an attempt to make illustrations suitable for under 5s. It looks a lot like the Animated Series.

There's also a bunch of product concept ideas which were never made like Batman rollerskates, umbrellas, waistcoats and more.

Batman Forever Style Guide - Part 3

Here's more of the best bits from the Batman Forever Style Guide. See the full Guide here.