Batman & Robin Merchandise Review - Mr Freeze bust from Quick

Apologies, took November off but I hope you checked out the Knight Force Ninjas Power Kick figure on my YouTube channel.

Anyway, this week we've got a really interesting piece of Batman & Robin merch that I'd never seen until few weeks ago when I picked it up on eBay.

This Mr Freeze bust was a give away with fast food meals at Quick - a French equivalent of McDonald's.

It's a decent sculpt but not much paint work. And I guess it's fun that they tried to include a squirting water feature to make it more playable. I'm particularly amused by the instruction on the accompanying leaflet to pop the head off on put it on your finger!

I haven't see this before but I'm definitely keeping my eye out for the Batman one now. Shame they didn't do a Poison Ivy or Bane.

Batman & Robin Merchandise Review - Blast Wing Batman figure from Kenner

Given that Batman & Robin came out only 2 years after Batman Forever it's not surprising Kenner cut a few corners to have all the figures ready. Here's another example of a figure from the Batman Forever toy line that was repainted and head swapped.

Much like the original figure, it's okay but I feel there's better figures put there with spring out wings. Mech Wing Batman for the BTAS figure was one of the best. This one feels a little underwhelming. Coupled with the gun/spear that doesn't fire. I don't know, it feels a little cheap. Get it if you want.

Note: this is not to be confused with Deluxe Blast Wing Batman. Totally different figure.

Batman Forever Merchandise Review - Robin and Ivy 2 Pack from Kenner

Given all the heroes and villains in Batman & Robin, it should come as no surprise that Kenner made a plethora of two-pack figure sets.

This week I'm looking at Evil Entrapment  Poison Ivy and Night Hunter Robin. 

The Robin is pretty standard. It benefits from a metallic red all over but the accessory is a dud. 

The Poison Ivy figure is great though. Love the green transculent bits and the Little Shop of Horrors-esque Venus fly trap is greaf. I kind of wish they did more Ivy figures - Uma Thurman had 4-5 costume changes throughout the film.

Anyway, this set is worth getting for the Ivy figure. Get it if you can.

Batman & Robin Merchandise Review - Ice Blade Batman figure from Kenner

With Batman & Robin coming out only two years after Batman Forever, Kenner were under pressure to get the figures made in time for the film's release. The timeline for designing, producing, and shipping out figures is usually a minimum of 18 months. So Kenner had to be smart, and one of the advantages they had was that they could repaint a few from the Batman Forever line.

Ice Blade Batman is one such example. A minor repaint and head replacement. I really liked this figure in the Forever line but this version feels like a bit of a downgrade. First off, there's no translucent elements to the figure. Secondly there's the weird purple and yellow colour scheme.

All in all I think this is one for just the diehard Kenner fans who want every figure.

Batman & Robin Merchandise Review - Ice Board Robin figure from Kenner

Following on from the Hover Board Batman figure, we have it's counterpart - Ice Board Robin. This is the one Robin figure that does a decent representation of the first costume Chris O'Donnell wears in the film with the dark blue suit and the red bird symbol on his chest. 

He comes with a little hover board that you can stick him on. Not a fan of that but the staff he comes with is pretty neat. You can split it in two and use one bit as a missile while the other spins on Robin's wrist. Very clever little accessory and it quite possible it was inspired by the Tim Drake Robin in the comics who also used a staff weapon.

As I always say if you just want the figures that look like they do in the film this is one of the ones to get.

Batman & Robin Merchandise Review - Hover Attack Batman figure from Kenner

Now this is a figure a lot of people had. This was one of the first figures to come out and together with Heat Scan Batman I feel was the default action figure for a lot of kids. Batman is presented in virtually all black (as he is in the film - well it's blue in the film but looks black most of the time). There's just a little bit of silver on the emblem on his chest which is something I like. I always thought Clooney's suit needed another little bit of colour to make it pop.

The figure comes without a cape but with a hoverboard backpack and giant blades. I'm disappointed about the lack of cape but the sculpt is otherwise pretty good.

I need to do a bit of research but apparently this toy concept comes from an early draft of the script which would see Batman and Robin have their capes transform into hoverboards and pursue Mr Freeze. I guess this got altered to them using ice skates and sky surfing with those rocket doors.

Batman & Robin Merchandise Review - Deluxe Glacier Battle Robin figure from Kenner

Looking at one of the Deluxe Robin figures this week based on the airboat-thingy that Chris O'Donnell pilots towards the end of the film. 

Like all the Robin costumes this is based on the Nightwing outfit from the comic books. I think the silver and blue lools pretty great and the cloth cape - a rarity for this line - is a nice touch. 

I particularly love that the vehicle has two modes and you can (admittedly awkwardly) put two figures on the vehicle. All in all a pretty great figure.

Batman & Robin Merchandise Review - Collectable discs from Kelloggs

Quick break from action figures this week to have a look at a weird cereal tie-in with Batman & Robin - these foam discs. At first glance I thought these were Pogs but given there's no hard plastic "slammer" I think they're just a novel alternative to trading cards. These are really easy to find on eBay. Get them if you really want but don't expect them to be a future family heirloom.

Toys: Mr Freeze figure photography

Shout out to Dwayne Pinkney who sent over these brilliant photographs he's taken of all the Mr Freeze figures from the Batman & Robin Kenner toyline.

Please feel free to email me at jackthursbyedit [at] gmail [dot] com if you have any images you want me to share here.

Batman & Robin Merchandise Review - Mr Freeze Bazooka figure from Kenner

This week we're looking at the main Mr Freeze figure from Kenner. Kenner made quite a few versions of Freeze for the toyline (I've got some cool photos to show next week). However many of the figures were based on concept art and didn't reflect what the suit looked like in the film. They also put red goggles on a couple of the figures making it hard to recognise it as being Arnold Schwarzenegger.

This silvery figure is as close as we get to what the suit looked like in the actual film. I'd love it more if it was chrome and had a translucent blue on the light up parts of the suit but it's fine... I guess.

The face sculpt is really good. It's clearly Schwarzenegger's face and isn't a generic face like the Uma Thurman Poison Ivy figure. I do feel the figure needed just one more paint colour. Having just two paint colours feels really cheap and bargain basement.

The missile again is good but not particularly close to the one he has in the film. Would have loved if they could have done some sort of diamond weapon using some clear plastic. 

Anyway, you want a vaguely screen accurate Mr Freeze this is the one to get.

Podcast round-up: Batminute & All Star Superfan podcasts

I've been so snowed under with other work this year that I completely forgot to post here the multiple podcasts I've guested on.

First up I returned to the Batminute podcast with Niall McGowan and Jonfen Parker earlier this year talking about three minutes of the 1997 Batman & Robin movie. The toyetic sections covered was the bit when the heroes turn up in their silver suits and ice vehicles while Gotham freezes. 

Here's the links:-

https://thebatminute.com/bat-minute-robin-minute-103-artificial-arnie-a-with-neil-rickatson-1

https://thebatminute.com/bat-minute-robin-minute-104-rollin-with-my-homies-with-neil-rickatson

https://thebatminute.com/bat-minute-robin-minute-105-doin-up-my-coil-with-neil-rickatson

I was also invited onto a special (non-Superman related) episode of the All Star Superfan Podcast with Rob O'Connor and Alan Burke to talk about all the previous Batman movies before dissecting the latest Matt Reeves' movie The Batman. More than a few juicy stories got spilled here, not least the time I was an extra on the set of Batman Begins. 

Here's the link:-

https://allstarsuperfan.podbean.com/e/adventures-in-the-dc-universe-the-batman-spoiler-review/

Both these podcasts are very much worth your time (even the episodes where I'm not guesting) and are well worth subscribing to or catching up with.

Batman & Robin Merchandise Review - Poison Ivy figure from Funko Pop

Okay let's take a break from the Kenner reviews and take a look at something else this week. 

A couple of years ago Funko did a great set of Batman villain figures based on the Burton and Schumacher movies. Having bought the Riddler and Two-Face figures I cooled on getting the ones for Batman & Robin. One of the things that put me off was that they priced the Poison Ivy figure at £25 rather than the usual £10 price they retail for. I don't know why this was - maybe they felt they wouldn't sell as many because the character isn't as popular as the others.

Anyway it recently came down in price to £10 so I snapped it up. It's pretty fun and as always with Funko there's a real attention to detail. All the little bits of the costume are present and correct as are the colours. 

If you like this character/movie and you like Funko Pops there's never been a better time to pick this up.

Batman & Robin Merchandise Review - Battle Gear Bruce Wayne figure from Kenner

If you've seen my other website - 1995batman.com - I've already wheeled out this figure when I reviewed the Quick Change Bruce Wayne figure for Batman Forever. 

I thought it was worth a second look so I've done a solo review here. It's a fun little figure - I'm a big fan of figures where you can put extra armour on them.

This loses a few points for the Batman head which for some reason they've attached to the plastic cape. This means when you turn the head the whole cape moves too.

Otherwise it's a solid figure and if you're a George Clooney fan it's an essential purchase.

Batman & Robin Merchandise Review - Deluxe Blast Wing Batman figure from Kenner

Hope you all had a good Christmas. Back to the Kenner reviews. This week we're looking at Blast Wing Batman - one of the six deluxe figures. 

It's a good Batman figure with a silver paint job and a typically giant backpack with spring out wings. Unlike previous figures that had spring out wings this one focuses more on the wings making a chopping motion. 

The backpack can also double as a hover board (which a lot of other accessories in this toyline could do). It's a nice attempt at adding some versatility but it's still only a middling figure in my view. Not bad but not great either.