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 - Val Kilmer Batman figure from Beast Kingdom

So I finally got both the Schumacher Batman figures from Beast Kingdom. I covered the George Clooney one over at 1997batman.com

I'd actually say that one was slightly better than this Val Kilmer one. The sculpt isn't too bad but the weirdly large gaps at the top of the legs let it down for me. As does the decision to go with a dark grey rather than metallic blue metal finish.

Still it is nice to have something at this scale and the accessories are neat. Hopefully the Riddler figure (which isn't out yet but the prototype looks great) will look good alongside it.

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.

Batman Forever Merchandise Review - Triple Action Vehicle Set from Kenner

I can't tell you how long I've waited to find this pretty rare vehicle set for the Batman Forever toy line. It's the last bit of the Kenner toy line - not counting the role play sets like the Combat Utility Belt - that I needed.

One slipped through my fingers on eBay three years ago and I've only ever seen about 3 or 4 for sale in my whole life. I don't know if they just weren't sold over here in the UK or they came so late in the toy line's shelf life that not many were sold/made.

Anyway, I had one shipped from the US which was expensive but it was definitely worth the cost. Bless the seller, he included a few Batman Returns Statues inside the package as a bonus. I think he thought I was nuts paying so much for shipping.

This is a really clever toy that allows you to recreate all 3 (or 4) vehicles from the film. Kudos to the designers at Kenner for thinking this up. 

You just know they knew that kids would "frankenstein" their own crazy vehicles with wings and wheels.

News: Spin Master to release NEW Batman Forever figures in January 2025

Well, this took everyone by surprise. Toy manufacturer Spin Master has just announced they're releasing Batman Forever figures in January 2025.

The news broke quite strangely over the last few days. There was no big announcement. It all started when people in Malaysia started posting images of a Batman Forever batmobile that was on toy shelves over there. It turns out they were shipped slightly early over there.

The internet became obsessed with finding out answers and eventually the VP of Spin Master did this interview with Screen Rant to explain that 1) yes, these are Spin Master products and 2) they will be on shelves exclusively at Target Stores in the US in January 2025.

No word on if these will go to other territories but I think they will.

Anyway Spin Master have released these promotional images which show Batman, Robin and Two-Face on card as well as the Batmobile (with exclusive Batman figure). The promo poster for the line also shows the Riddler too but no sign of what his card will look like.

As I'm sure you've noticed these are almost identical to the old Kenner figures from back in the day. It looks like Spin Master is reproducing the exact same 5 inch molds with some small tweaks. Two-Face for instance has lost the gun that was fixed in one hand. Robin has the movie accurate Robin symbol now. And they've tried to make Batman closer to his panther suit appearance.

The Batman figure (both the exclusive figure that comes with the Batmobile and the single figure) look like they are based on Blast Cape Batman (without the cape missile accessory).

The Robin figure is based on Hydro Claw Robin (without the scuba backpack).

And Two-Face is based on the original Two-Face (without the cannon and coin he came with).

I could be wrong but all three figures look like they have much more articulation in the shoulder that the original figures so their arms can go out to the side, not just up and down.

The Batmobile looks to be the same as the original Kenner one just without the light up feature and missile at the front. It also has a sliding canopy which is much better that the original where the canopy had a hinge at the front.

All the figures have quite a vibrant colourful look and are different enough that they'll look good alongside the original Kenner ones. I'm a little sad Spin Master didn't create their own sculpts - the 3.75 in figure they did for Batman Returns last year was an outstanding original mold. I also don't know they picked the best Kenner molds. I feel Night Flight Batman was the best match to the Sonar Suit and Skyboard Robin was the better, more accurate Robin figure.

Anyway, I'll definitely be picking these up when I can get them. Let me know if you will be and what you're hoping Spin Master will do next - the VP mentions in the interview that more will be revealed soon!

Batman Forever Merchandise Review - Robin figure from Hot Toys

So I know this is a little late. I was really on the fence about picking up the Hot Toys Batman Forever figures. I'm a huge fan of vintage figures but don't tend to buy too many "new" figures. The price point of them is really high (around £175) and for a long time I felt like there was no way I could afford either of them.

Recently I got a job upgrade and the price lowered slightly on eBay so I decided to bite the bullet and get one. I'm glad I did because these are really special figures. The finish on them is spectacular as is the attention to detail. As I say in the video, this is the closest you'll get to having a tiny Chris O'Donnell in your hands.

As some have pointed out, it's not perfect. The shade of red they chose doesn't seem to match the on-screen costume (it was admittedly difficult to figure out exactly what it should be given in the film it is usually lit with strong coloured lighting).

But on the whole it is great. The other issue is the poseability. The promo shots of this have the figure in all the cool poses from the film but the reality is that the suit really bends in awkward ways when you move the arm or legs out of their default positions. It doesn't both me much as I rarely pose figure but might be a consideration for others.

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.

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.

Batman Forever Merchandise Review - Riddler and Two Face figures from Kenner

Given that Riddler and Two Face are partners in crime in Batman Forever, it makes sense that Kenner made a double pack of figures.

These are basically just repaints of existing figures. The Riddler has a new head sculpt but other than that they aren't any different.

Two Face comes with a gold gun accessory that annoyingly my one is missing. It's based on the gun he uses to blow up the gas line and bury Batman in the subway.

These are definitely good value and perfect if you just want the most movie accurate versions of the two villains.

Batman Forever Merchandise Review - Solar Shield Batman figure from Kenner

If there's one thing everyone remembers about Batman, it's that he needs the sun for power.

Wait, no that's the other guy.

Oh well, as was often the case with 90s Kenner figures they went with an absolutely bonkers concept because:-

1) it sounded cool and 

2) made for a great figure.

This is Solar Shield Batman, one of the wave 2 figures. It come with some enormous wings and a crossbow (?) for his hand.

The material on the cape is particularly neat. They could have gone with just black but the metallic blue really makes it stand out. 

It took me a long while to track this one down. Glad I have it because there's nothing quite like it. Get one if you can.

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.

Batman Forever Merchandise Review - Bruce Wayne Target Variant by Kenner

Towards the end of Kenner's toyline Target (the US store) asked them to make a few exclusive repainted figures.

One of these was this variant of the Transforming Bruce Wayne figure. A straightforward repaint.

Decked out in metallic green and gold. It's a really nice colour scheme - maybe even better than the original flat blue and red.

However I'm not sure they needed to make Bruce Wayne's hair dark red. I'm sure they could have recoloured some other part of his body. Maybe given him a new coloured top or trousers.

Anyway, I love this figure. As I say in the video it might be my favourite Batman figure ever!

Batman Forever Merchandise Review - Dick Grayson figure from Kenner

Now we come to one of the most experimental figures in the Batman Forever line - the transforming Dick Grayson figure.

I remember having this one as a kid. I really liked the Dick Grayson character in the film and I love figures that have the ability to change. So this was a must buy.

First up the negatives, I was always disappointed the figure didn't have some dramatically different costume underneath. I always loved it when you had a figure in their casual clothes and got to suit them up. I get the reasoning but it sort of defeats the object of being a transforming figure if he's already wearing a sort of Robin costume underneath his Robin costume.

Secondly the colour changing mask on Robin was always a bit temperamental. It's a neat idea but the reality is your figure will usually just have a grey outline most of the time rather than looking like a fresh faced Chris O'Donnell.

I remember sometimes I'd try to change it without the aid of water. I had this has heater in the room where I placed with my toys and I remember melting my original figure by leaving him too long near the heat.

That said, I still like the figure and still have fond memories of it. Even with it's flaws I still find it fun and it reminds me of Kenner's constant desire to make some of the most innovative, playful figures of the 90s.

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.

Batman Forever Merchandise Review - Batman vs The Riddler from Kenner

Sad to say we're really close to finishing the Kenner toyline. Only a few figures left. Even though these are only repaint I thought they were pretty interesting figures to cover.

The Movie Collection was a line of three 2-pack figures that were released in 1997 that packaged a Batman figure with one of the villains from Batman (1989), Batman Returns and Batman Forever.

For this they brought out the molds of Batman (Guardians of Gotham) and The Talking Riddler and gave them new paint colours. 

Unfortunately the colours aren't particularly revolutionary. And there's no fun missiles or backpacks. Still it's nice to have a couple more figures for the collection.