Batman & Robin Merchandise Review - Robin Redbird cycle figure from Kenner

Of all the vehicles in Batman & Robin I think the Redbird cycle was my favourite. It was sleek, it had a little bit of colour and Robin looked cool riding it.

Thankfully Kenner translated the bike to toy form very faithfully. The bike looks great and has the usual extra play features. A missile on the front, trip bars either side and most bizarrely a rocket underneath the bike (surely this should come out the back).

The way Robin rides the bike is the only let down. I shouldn't be surprised - Kenner used this design a lot. The Street Racer Batman bike for Batman Forever worked the same, as did The Shadow movie bike.

Anyway the figure that comes with the bike looks great. It's a rework on the Battle Glacier Robin figure (the one with the snowmobile) painted yellow and black. The colour scheme reminds me of the mid 90s Nightwing costume which was also pretty great.

Batman & Robin Merchandise Review - Deluxe Ice Terror Mr Freeze figure from Kenner

It's weird that considering how toyetic the Batman & Robin movie was that some elements of the film didn't become toys.

Mr Freeze's Freezemobile seems like an obvious candidate for a toy but sadly the closest we came was this Deluxe Ice Terror Mr Freeze that came with this three wheeled dragster.

It's a big step down. I know Kenner had a few of these three wheel vehicles across their various Batman toylines but I never felt they worked. They always felt really weedy compared to the massive batmobile and batbikes.

There's an attempt to make the vehicle more interesting by giving it the ability to transform but again, for me, it's very lacklustre. It just turns into a slightly lower, longer dragster. Why not make it turn into a plane or a sled?

The figure itself is okay. An interesting attempt at giving Mr Freeze a suit with lots of cooling pipes. I appreciate them trying to make a more colourful Mr Freeze.

Batman & Robin Merchandise Review - Ice Blast Mr Freeze figure from Kenner

Back to the Kenner reviews with this early Mr Freeze figure. I'm fairly certain this was the first Mr Freeze figure they put out for the movie toy line. As you can see it's a long way from what Arnie ended up looking like in the finished film and is likely based on some early concept art.

I don't know about you but I actually prefer this to what we got in the film. It's very reminiscent of the blue suit he wore in the Animated Series and has similar red goggles.

I'm also a total sucker for transculent figures and this one has see through arms and torso which admittedly makes no sense but is still and awesome look.

I'm not totally sold on the weird blaster. It's kind of flimsy but I do like the rocket boosters. Very cool that you can put them either on his legs or back.

If you're not fussed about figures looking completely accurate to the movie I recommend this one.

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.

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.

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 - Batgirl figure from Kenner

Okay, I guess it's about time I start reviewing some Batman & Robin merchandise. First up is the Batgirl figure from Kenner. This was one of only two figures they made of the character and unfortunately doesn't look much like Alicia Silverstone. It was based on the concept art by Miles Teves and had a cowl rather than a domino mask. Still it's kind of a fun figure and worth getting if you like this period of action figures.

Concept Art: Batgirl costumes

Batgirl was a new character for Batman & Robin and there were some questions about what her costume should look like. The task was given to costume concept artist Miles Teves who produced these four wonderful and wild designs. 

In an interview even he admitted the boob window on the second was maybe a step too far. Obviously the cowl was dropped for the finished film in favour of a domino mask like Robin.

Those who are disappointed by the lack of yellow should check out the 2002 TV series Birds of Prey which sports the exact same costume with yellow highlights and a cowl.

Also Tim Burgard designed this costume that is also super interesting. It looks like he was going for a mix of leather, latex and (possibly) spandex. I particularly love the goggles over the eyes.

Book: Batgirl To Dare the Darkness by Doug Moench

Following on from the previous post I also have a scanned pdf of Doug Moench's tie in novel Batgirl: To Dare the Darkness.

For those who aren't aware Doug, like Alan Grant, was a writer on the DC comics Batman titles throughout the 80s and 90s. Together with Chuck Dixon and Graham Nolan he is credited with creating the character of Bane (I wonder what he thought of the film's loose interpretation of the character) and also wrote many classic stories including big chunks of the Knightfall saga and the popular Elseworlds story Batman & Dracula: Red Rain.

The story picks up after the events of the Batman & Robin movie and sees Barbara Wilson leave Batman and Robin and set up on her own in Gotham City feeling that she isn't needed or appreciated by the dynamic duo. She considers leaving the Batgirl persona behind (much like Robin did in Facing the Enemy) before reaffirming her vigilante commitments and going up against Black Mask (another character Doug created) and the False Face Society.

Enjoy!

https://archive.org/details/batgirl-to-dare-the-darkness

Book: Robin Facing the Enemy by Alan Grant

One of the cool (pun not intended) bits of spin off merchandise for Batman & Robin were the two novels Robin: Facing the Enemy and Batgirl: To Dare the Darkness that gave us a glimpse of what happens before and after the movie. 

Robin: Facing the Enemy was written by Scottish writer Alan Grant who was a prolific writer at DC. During the 90s he wrote almost every issue of the Batman: Shadow of the Bat title (which lasted 96 issues!). 

The story picks up shortly after the events of Batman Forever and sees Robin fall out with Batman (*groan* again) and leave Wayne Manor to live in Gotham City. He gets a job at a diner and ends up having to take down a wannabe villain who rather unimaginatively dubs himself " The Enemy". 

It's a fun, brisk story (98 pages) that reminds me of the Nightwing comics of the early 00s. If you want to give it a read, here's a link to a pdf:-

https://archive.org/details/robin-facing-the-enemy

Concept Art: Robin costumes

This week we're looking at concept art of the Robin costume used in the movie. These were designed by Miles Teves and based on the then fairly new Nightwing costume that Dick Grayson wore in the comics. The only change was the addition of a cape and a red bird logo on his chest (rather than the blue in wore in the comics).

I always felt it was a shame that the Robin costume from Forever didn't get reused as it's really only briefly seen in the last 15 minutes of the previous movie. Interestingly the storyboards do depict that costume so the filmmakers must have at least considered that option. 

Magazine Article: Film Review Special #20 - Part 3

Last part of the Film Review Special is a few photos from the premiere and then a long interview with Alfred Gough about his long career.

Magazine Article: Film Review Special #20 - Part 2

Returning to the Film Review Special - we have an interview with Arnold Schwarzenegger about playing Mr Freeze. The other topics covered are his heart surgery that happened almost straight after filming and his thoughts on movie merchandising (spoilers: he loves it, which is probably due to him having a percentage of Batman & Robin's merchandising profits as part of his contract).

Then we have an interview with Joel about making the film. Interesting to note that when a fifth film is mentioned at the end he says he would direct George and Chris and would look to bring back "one or two other characters." I presume he's referring to the idea of bringing back Jack Nicholson as the Joker. The only other character I can think is maybe Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman???

Magazine Article: Film Review Special #20 - Part 1

Film Review did a big Special magazine covering two of 1997's biggest Summer blockbusters - The Lost World and Batman & Robin (as well as a bunch of articles on the other Batman films).

First up we have an introduction to the film from Joel Schumacher and writer Akiva Goldsman who posits it as a film that is about "how individuals reckon with loss" which is an intriguing concept and it's a shame the film doesn't fulfil that objective. 

Next up is a typically self deprecating interview with George Clooney who from the sounds of it - wasn't actively campaigning for the role of Batman but more fell into it.

Magazine Article: Starlog #241

This week we're back with one last issue of Starlog - this time an interview with Robert "Jeep" Swenson, who played Bane and sadly died in August 1997, two months after the film opened. Interesting little detail that originally the character didn't have any lines in the script, and they were added by Joel in the edit.