Batman Forever Merchandise Review - Final Suit Riddler figure from Kenner

Once again, this figure came out a while back but I'm only just getting around to reviewing it now. There's been such an avalanche of Schumacher Batman figures coming out it's difficult to keep up with it all.

When I finished reviewing the Batman Forever figures from McFarlane earlier this year, I said at the time I hoped they'd do something else and sure enough they have.

It's not the Panther suit but I can live with that. Instead they've made the white suit (or Final Suit as it's labelled) Riddler figure sporting his look from the end of the film.

I guess this was an easy one of them to do. The body looks to be the same as the original Riddler - only now in a pearlescent white with little bits of glitter inside. The head sculpt is new and although it's not the best work McFarlane have done, it's a step up from their first Riddler figure.

The green cane with the skull completes the look nicely. You get two extra hands which is cool but I would have loved a little throne to sit him on. Oh well.

Hopefully we might see one more Forever figure before the middle of 2026 when McFarlane loses the DC licence.

Batman Forever Merchandise Review - Nightmare Bat from McFarlane

Finally completing my McFarlane set of Batman Forever figures with the Nightmare Bat build a figure.

As I say in the video, this was an odd choice for a fifth figure for the line. I can't help feel that there was probably some rights issue with Nicole Kidman's likeness rights.

Still, it is kind of fun to put together and put alongside the rest of the figures. All in all I really appreciate McFarlane doing this line but can't help but feel they are all a little compromised. I actually think the B&R figures came out better. Maybe it's just my expectations.

I have the Forever batmobile (and Alfred figure) to review and I'll get around to that very soon.

I'm still hoping to get the white suited Riddler figure that came out a few weeks back. Struggling to find anywhere online that sells one.

Batman Forever Merchandise Review - Riddler figure from McFarlane

As with most of the Batman Forever McFarlane line, this Riddler figure is a bit of a mixed bag. On the one hand, it is super posable which is great because it means you can put the figure in pretty much every one of those crazy poses Jim Carrey did for the promotional photoshoots for the film.

But super poseable also means you need to have tons of joints. And joins are difficult to paint over. So there are large sections (down the side of the legs, the shoulders, the kneecaps) where the questions marks just stop.

I think McFarlane could have solved this somewhat by having a few less questions marks. That would have made these gaps seem less obvious. But anyway, it is what it is.

The face is decent but nothing to write home about. Again, everything after the Uma Thurman Poison Ivy figure feels like a tiny step down.

I still mostly recommend this figure. It's great to have it in my collection but I am more excited for that Beast Kingdom figure that is hopefully coming out later in the year.

Also excited to say we are getting an extra figure to this line that was recently announced - a white suit Riddler that looks to have a completely new head sculpt. Hopefully this will be out in time for the 30th anniversary this Summer.

Batman Forever Merchandise Review - Two Face figure from McFarlane

So now we come to my favourite figure of the McFarlane Batman Forever line - Two Face.

Although it's not a perfect likeness to Tommy Lee Jones it's got a great expressive face and I love that they've done the coin flipping in his hand.

The costume is well captured. Sure there's a couple of bits of silver paint missing but they aren't huge. It will only take me a few minutes with a chrome pen to put the three metal bits on the glove and a steel toe cap on the right shoe.

The only real blunder is that the figures has no guns! I believe that this is a recent edict by DC Comics that action figures based on their characters (even those ones made for adult collectors) should not have any guns. As a result you're going to have to find your own weapons for this figure.

My suggestion however is to make a tiny newspaper to put in his hand. Here's the link to the jpeg / pdf.

Batman Forever Merchandise Review - Robin figure from McFarlane

Apologies for taking so long to getting around to reviewing this figure. I actually took SO long that news just hit McFarlane will be losing the DC license next year (it's going back to Mattel - read more about that here).

Anyway, on to the figure itself. This is a nice figure. I'm a big fan of the costume in this movie. I love that it takes most of its cues from the Tim Drake comic book suit. 

Some stuff they've done well. I love that they've kept the interior of the cape yellow (lots of other toy versions skip over that). The head sculpt is good too. I don't know if it's up there with McFarlane's Poison Ivy but it's a solid representation of Chris O'Donnell. I was quite surprised that this is a completely different head sculpt from the Batman & Robin one.

I love that it comes with extra hands. I don't know why it has hands for grasping things - maybe the makers are expecting us to borrow some of the gadgets like the batarang and grapnel launcher from the Batman figure. But I do enjoy the pointing finger and open palm hand. It means you can give the character a bit more personality when you pose them. These McFarlane figures are so flexible they deserve to be put in good poses.

On to the bad, the colours of the suit are kind of flat and matt. Not the muted metallic tones that the movie version had. That's a shame. I have seen people do good custom paint jobs but I don't know that I have the skill to tackle this one.

All in all, a solid start to the Batman Forever line.

News: McFarlane Toys unveils Forever Batmobile at San Diego Comic Con

McFarlane Toys have just unveiled the light up Forever Batmobile with exclusive Alfred figure. 

Yup... it's green... for some reason. I have no idea why this is and hope the finished version will light up blue like it did in the movie. I'm not holding my breath though.

The vehicle has a button near the front of the canopy to activate the light up feature.

Presumably the canopy opens but I haven't seen that part in action. I really hope they've ironed out the issues that the Flash Batmobile had with the canopy sliding open.

Not sure if the giant fin on the top will be able to split in two like it did in the film.

Overall I think it looks solid and will definitely be picking it up - in spite of the green colour.

The Alfred figure looks really solid. Can definitely see the Michael Gough likeness there. Would be nice if he had a tray accessory or something but I doubt it will. I'll definitely pick this set up as it's unclear if they'll sell the figure separately.

Also remember, the leaked listing mentioned a second batmobile that would have a glow in the dark feature (and I would presume be without the Alfred figure). Be interested to see what that looks like.

Anyway, here's some rough photos. 

To see a video, follow this link: https://www.instagram.com/reel/C95VjxKSYxu/?igsh=MW5rbXF2cjZ3MjhmeA==

News: Beast Kingdom is making new Batman Forever and Batman & Robin figures

Beast Kingdom has previewed these 8 inch (I think) figures at the Licensing Expo 2024.

They seem to be doing the same thing as McFarlane and making a whole range of Batman movie figures from Michael Keaton to Robert Pattinson and everything in between.

Most interesting are some new figures of Val Kilmer's Batman, George Clooney's Batman and a Jim Carrey Riddler figure.

I've got to say I love the look of the Riddler (maybe even more than the forthcoming McFarlane figure). The cloth jacket and bowler hat look ace.

I'm less keen on the Clooney and Kilmer figures though. I don't know, something feels a bit off about them. Their heads seem quite far off their bodies.

News: McFarlane reveals close up look at Batman Forever figures in poster

McFarlane Toys have released this cool poster showing off the new Batman Forever wave of figures in more details.

Obviously it's based on the classic John Alvin poster which is really neat. I will say doing this makes it stick out even more that they didn't do a Chase Meridian figure. I've had a think about why they chose not to do her. I wonder if it's possibly because - unlike all the actors in the Batman & Robin line - Nicole didn't have a figure back in 1995 so has no pre-existing contract to base a figure off her character? Another reason is maybe that they didn't think people would be interested in the character.

Anyway, the other things to notice. We finally have a close up look at Robin, Riddler and Two-Face's facial sculpts.

• Robin looks really close to the one from the Batman & Robin line (except obviously for the mask). I liked that sculpt on that figure so I'm happy to see it return. The colour of Robin's suit is quite a bright red and doesn't really have the metallic look the movie suit had. Still it looks great. Interestingly the collar looks to be plastic but the cape looks to be a yellow fabric on the inside.

• The Riddler looks not bad. I don't love the face sculpt but it is recognisably Jim Carrey. The teeth seem really big but maybe it will grow on me. I feel the ab crunch is going to look a bit weird on this figure because there's no details on the costume to hide it.

• Two-Face is - for me - the weakest of the bunch. Don't get me wrong, the detail is great but I'm just not getting Tommy Lee Jones. The head seems quite chunky. Maybe it's one of those things where if you see it from the side or at an angle it'll look better. I can't quite tell from the way the pictures are blended but it looks like he'll have a coin in his hand.

Of course, in the background we have the Nightmare Bat (which will be the Build-a-Figure part - ie. you'll get a bit with each of the main four figures and can put it together once you have all four). Can't see too much detail on this but it looks solid. My only concern is that the figure's head will be fixed. I'd love if it could move so you can stand him face to face with Batman (and recreate that deleted shot from the film).

The other thing to note is that the Batman figure doesn't appear to have a plastic cape - it looks cloth. I assumed it would have a plastic one so it was different from the one from the Ultimate Batman set however as someone pointed out to me if McFarlane do a Forever Batmobile the figure will need to fit inside it - so it will need a flexible cape.

And that brings me to the final bit of news - well rumour - this list of forthcoming McFarlane figures has been leaked. It mentions two Forever Batmobiles. One with Alfred - I'd assume an exclusive Michael Gough figure. And one that's listed as GITD - which I think stands for Glow In The Dark. Exciting to see if this is true.

News: McFarlane announces a Batman Forever line

Well I think we were all hoping this would be coming sooner or later.

Finally last weekend - at Wondercon - Todd McFarlane announced that a Batman Forever 7 inch action figure line is on the way!

See the picture below. 

(Although it says Summer 2025 but apparently this is incorrect and they'll be out this year).

Some interesting things to note:-

Unfortunately we're only getting a reissue of the Sonar Suit that came out last year in the Ultimate Batman set. There's no Panther suit. However the rumour is that an exclusive Panther suit may come later (possibly with a 7 inch scale Batmobile!).

Although I can't see from the photo. I imagine the difference will be that the Batman figure will come with a molded plastic cape.

Two-Face, Riddler and Robin are the other three figures to collect. I think we all expected that given that the Batman & Robin line also had 4 figures. It's a shame the line isn't bigger - a Sugar, Spice and/or Chase figure would have been cool.

The big surprise is the choice for Build-a-Figure. It's the Nightmare Bat that Bruce keeps dreaming about in the film. This is a cool choice as it is only briefly seen in the film (poor Rick Baker who designed it). 

It's most famous for the deleted scene where Bruce spreads his arms out and stands face to face with it (which was put in the trailer).

Again, I can't tell from the photo but I hope you can move the Bat's head to recreate that scene.

I'm sort of hoping this helps a tiny bit in getting the Schumacher Cut finally released. Who knows? Every little bit helps.

Lastly, I'd recommend watching this video of Todd talking at Wondercon (skip to 15 minutes in to go to the Batman Forever reveal). 

He mentions two things of interest - 1) the Batman & Robin line had a "really big response at the toy fair last year and at retail" 2) he specifically notes that there "a group of you that are trying to collect the Batman movie characters" and he's "trying to deliver on that".

It feels nice to hear Todd say that. I (and I think everyone else that reads this blog or watches my YouTube channel) feel seen.

Batman Forever Merchandise Review - Val Kilmer Batman figure from McFarlane

Merry Christmas everyone!

In a bit of Christmas kindness, a fan of www.1995batman.com reached out to me on Instagram and asked if I would be interested in the Val Kilmer figure from the recently released McFarlane Ultimate Batman Collection - a six figure set of all the most recent movie Batman actors.

I can't thank the guy enough for sending it to me. 

This is a really great figure and hopefully it will be released as a solo figure soon as part of a Batman Forever line.

It really captures the likeness of Val and the sonar suit. All the details are there, right down to the gold belt buckle. I particularly love that they've captured the metallic blue silver colour (something the vintage figures never really did).

Being a fan of vintage figures I wasn't aware how good articulation had gotten. The an crunch and should joints in particular are really well done. As is the flexible "pants" that allow the figure to look good as a statue and be able to be put in tons of poses.

One thing to note is that this figure has a cloth cape. When the solo figure comes out it may not. The solo George Clooney figure changed the cape to be a plastic one. So if you're like me an love cloth capes, get this one.

McFarlane are doing more Batman & Robin figures

Wow, did not expect this so quickly. McFarlane Toys have announced they are also releasing at least 5 figures from Batman, Poison Ivy, Batgirl, Robin and Mr Freeze.

Again these are 7 inches.

There's no mention but there will also probably be a Bane build-a-figure (ie. You'll get a part of Bane with each figure you purchase - collect them all and you can make the full figure).

Release date is listed as Fall 2023. No price guide but likely $20-25 per figure.

I'm assuming they'll also be doing some Batman Forever figures too but who knows.

New McFarlane Kilmer and Clooney figures coming soon

Todd McFarlane just announced a new 6 figure Ultimate Movie Collection of figures based on the most recent Batman movie actors. 

The set will retail for $119.99 and feature the following actors:-

Michael Keaton (1989 suit)

Val Kilmer (Sonar suit)

George Clooney (non-Ice suit)

Christian Bale (Dark Knight suit)

Ben Affleck (looks like the Tactical suit from Justice League without the goggles)

and Robert Pattinson 

Most are reissues of existing McFarlane figures but Kilmer and Clooney are brand new sculpts. Have a look at the pictures below and see what you think.

Here's a link to the McFarlane page:-

https://mcfarlane.com/toys/batman-the-ultimate-movie-collection-6-pack/

They are all 7 inches and come with one bat signal with interchangeable bat symbols! No batarangs or other gadgets have been mentioned.

I don't love the poseable heads (it makes them look less like the actual suits) but everything else seems really good. I particularly love that these have cloth capes. And I think the likeness (the mouth and chin) are pretty good - certainly much better than Mattel DC Multiverse figure of Kilmer from a few years ago.

Hopefully these will be able to be purchased separately at some point in the future.

There were rumours earlier in the year that McFarlane may released more figures from Batman Forever (Batman, Robin, Two Face and The Riddler) and Batman & Robin (Batman, Robin, Batgirl, Poison Ivy, Mr Freeze and Bane as a build-a-figure). 

Who knows if that will happen but this certainly makes it more likely.

I know Todd will never see this message but THANK YOU for not forgetting the Schumacher Batmans.