As well as the smaller 5 inch figures, Kenner also produced these larger 12 inch figures for the Batman & Robin movie that were aimed at a very young market. The Batgirl one feels like it was even maybe aimed at young girls who liked Barbie dolls.
I don't have complete or boxed versions of these but I felt there was enough to do a review.
I particularly wanted to show the custom Clooney figure at the end. It makes you realise that these weren't a million miles away from the high end 1/6 scale figures of today from Hot Toys and the like.
This week we're looking at the Ice Fortress playset from Kenner.
"But Mr Freeze didn't have an Ice Fortress in the film!", I hear you say. Fair point, but I always love Kenner when they go off script and invent new stuff that wasn't in whatever film they're adapting. They were great at that sort of thing and it always made for great story telling adventures as a kid.
There's not a whole lot to the set. It's primarily a few bits of translucent blue plastic that click together. There's a disc firing cannon in the middle, a couple of white cannons that fire green missiles and some swivelling guns too.
I do love that they included a new backpack and hand missile for Batman - anticipating that kids who buy the set will likely have other figures already.
I recognised the backpack thing from the Crime Squad Animated Series line (it even still has the logo on the picture on the front). The fire missile is from the Knightquest (aka Azrael) figure from the Legends of Batman line. Got to love how Kenner recycle things.
There's also some mines and grenades too (sorry, ice grenades and freeze mines). But to be honest, you'll probably lose them.
I don't mention in the review because it only got pointed out to me in the YouTube comments after posting. This whole playset is actually a complete lift of this Ice Station Zero playset from the 90s GI Joe Extreme line.
Now all the guns make sense.
Got to love it when Kenner dust something off and rebrands it for another toy line. This is not the first time I've spotted this. Famously their Robin Hood Prince of Thieves lines took bits of several other lines ranging from Return of the Jedi to Robocop!
I reviewed the (so-called) Ultimate Batman Forever figure from Kenner a few years back. It was a pretty large 15 inch action figure that had very limited movement and mostly served as a statue. Kenner, of course, made Ultimate figures for the Batman & Robin movie too - this time of both heroes.
The issues are mostly the same. The likeness is kind of wonky on both and they are posed dynamically. The cape is extremely see-through and the only moveable parts are the arms and waist. Still, they are kind of fun to put on a shelf and look great side by side. All in all, a non-essential purchase.
Finally getting around to reviewing this Batmobile from Kenner. It took me a little while because I purchased it on eBay without checking it was complete (rookie error). For years I was missing the missile on the front and given that's really the only play feature I thought I should wait until I found one.
Fast forward a few years and I now have a complete Batmobile. I wish I could say it was worth the wait but unfortunately this is a pretty disappointing vehicle.
The car in the movie seems tailormade to make a toy out of but sadly Kenner fumbled the ball. The biggest issue being there's no light up feature - instead we have some very boring stickers. We don't even get a steering wheel!
My theory is that Kenner put more effort into the Bathammer (which does light up) and chose to save some money on a Batmobile. I guess they figured more kids would be interested in the new vehicle and most might already own one of their old Batmobiles from the previous movies or Animated series.
Slowly picking up the last few of the Batman & Robin figures from Kenner. Managed to snag this Deluxe Wing Blast Robin recently after a long search. It was a nightmare to find due to there also being a similarly named "Blast Wing" Batman figure in the line.
Anyway, glad I got it as it's a really nice figure.
For starters there's some amazing artwork on the box of Chris O'Donnell wearing a photo realistice version of this suit.
The figure is in an appropriately snow themed blue and white version of the Nightwing suit. Like most of the line it's only two colours but the sculpting is great, lots of little details like the bird on his back.
He comes with a little scythe weapon (very similar to the Batgirl figure) and this really nifty back pack with spring out wings that reminds me of similar Batman figures from the animated series line.
There's also a missile that clips on to the backpack and fires. All in all, a really solid figure.
Getting close to completing the Batman & Robin toy line. These last few are becoming harder and harder to track down. I was lucky to find someone in Germany selling this and ended up paying a bit extra to get it posted to the UK.
This was totally worth it though. The figure is a villain version of those Batman and Robin figures where you snap on the armour and those types of figures are some of my favourite ones ever.
This time it makes way more sense because Arnie's suit was big and bulky and he did have a sequence where he has to put it all on ("A laundry service that delivers!").
The paint work is still pretty minimal but I appreciate them going with something other than blue for the colour. The mint green undersuit looks kind of awesome.
Another day, another Batman figure. This one has a pretty cool colour scheme though. And even has the classic yellow oval symbol on his chest. I was always kind of disappointed that wasn't on Clooney's suit in the film. Nice to see it back here on a figure.
Once again, we have huge backpack that sort of turns Batman into a one-man jet. It's a little clunky and actually when it's all on it's tough to get him to stand up.
Anyway, this is far from the best figure in the line but far from the worst either.
And here's an interesting fact I learnt after I posted the review. Kenner/Hasbro actually reused most of the vehicle as Deluxe Midnight Pursuit Batman figure from a later Animated series line.
This figure and it's Batman counterpart might be some of the strangest figures of the Batman & Robin toyline. Rather than have a figure and a backpack, this one fuses the figure permanently into a mini plane. In fact, on closer inspection, you only get a head and torso.
As a kid I probably would have hated this and tried to pull the vehicle apart but as an adult I find it kind of novel. Kenner were trying to find new ways to make their action figures stand out and I can't blame them for that. Particularly when your toy line has over 40 figures!
One interesting note is that the figures are actually pretty accurate to the look and colours of the ice suits in that are used at the end of the movie (the Guardians of Gotham 2 pack are also pretty close).
I've got a lot of nostalgia for these kind of micro playsets. I had 5-6 Mighty Max playsets back in the day (some of which are still intact) and definitely a few of the Star Wars ones. I don't know how much I played with them but they were always fun to set up and have on a shelf. There's something intrinsically fun about having a movie set rendered in miniature form.
Took me a while to find a complete version of this Observatory playset. People tend to lose all the little accessories easily which is understandable so it means wading through tons of half complete sets on eBay. Glad to finally have it in my collection but it doesn't feel quite as fun or packed with features as the three Batman Forever ones.
The scale of the figures is very small and the playset feels a little bit... empty. It could have really done with a trapdoor or missile or something extra to bring the whole thing to life.
There's two more Batman & Robin microverse sets out there - a Batcave one and a slightly larger Arctic Gotham set. I'll keep my eye out for them. I'd really like the set of micro figures too (shown in the video) but I can't find these anywhere.
I've done so many review videos I've sort of lost track what I've covered (hence the error in this video where I start comparing it to Rooftop Pursuit Batman figure which I bought ages age and assumed I already covered).
Anyway, Thermal Shield is a pretty fun figure. I like the big mask that flips down over his head and the sculpting on the figure itself is one of my favourites.
I don't know if the hole on Batman's head really is for the missile but it does make for a hilariously goofy look when you put it there.
While the Batman's Bathammer and Batgirl's Ice Cycle were more or less faithfully translated to toy form by Kenner, Robin's Batskiff (as it's sometimes dubbed) was translated twice and neither are particularly close to the size or shape of the vehicle.
First we had a small miniaturised red and black version that came with Deluxe Glacier Robin and now we have another larger version that comes with... no figure at all. In fact the box depicts Batman driving it, but clearly this is meant to be the Bat Skiff.
It's a much longer shape than it appeared on screen and the fan is much smaller but it's still a nice design. I wish they had picked a slightly shinier grey than the matt colour they went for.
Sadly, there are no light up features like it had on screen. Clearly all the money was put into making the Bathammer toy light up. It's not a complete loss though, the vehicle has a fun pull-out wings feature and best of all the missile is NOT another push button affair. We have a novel spinning blade wheel that fires out.
I think this feature was taken from an existing projectile feature that had been used a couple of years earlier in a Batman Forever role play toy called the AeroDisc Shooter.
Anyway, if you have the other vehicles, this one is a must. Otherwise what is Robin going to drive.
Back to the Kenner reviews with Attack Wing Robin. There some heavy Marvel influences on this one.
His helmet looks like Ant-Man. His wings looks like Archangel. And his suit looks like Spider-man. Who knows if that's intentional or not?
I actually really like the sculpt on this. I vener really noticed until now that although the paint work on the B&R figures is a bit lacklustre, the actually sculpts are really intricately detailed.
A lot of the time the Batman & Robin figure line looked a little cheap. Most of them only had a simple 2 colour scheme. Often a really garish bright colour and black. Thankfully Battle Board Batman bucks that trend and goes for a mix of cool blue and light purple. I think it works really well.
The sculpt is also a little different from the other Batman. There's some neat little details on the gloves in particular.
The actual accessory is something that Kenner did again and again. A hoverboard that clips onto Batman's feet and can also be stuck on his back. I'm less keen on that but on the whole I like this figure. Definitely one of the better ones.
Although I usually like my movie action figures to look like they did on screen, I also enjoy when a toy designer throws out the rule book and makes their own wild and crazy reinterpretation. The Batgirl Ice Strike Cycle is definitely one of the latter.
The figure is a predominantly light purple with a visor - worlds away from the look in the film. I really dig it though - it reminds me of the Batman vs Predator comic from the early 90s. Maybe that inspired the toy designer too.
The cycle itself is fairly close to the look of the film. It's missing the big bat symbol on the front and a few other details but it's close enough. I like that they've made it so the character can sit up properly and not have to lie down on top of the bike like so many other Kenner cycle (I'm looking at you Redbird Robin and Street Racer Batman). The wheel missile is a nice addition too. I didn't note it in the video but apparently you can take that missile launcher off and attach it to Batgirl.
I may have finished off all the Batman Forever figures but there's still plenty of Batman & Robin ones to go.
Here is a fairly standard "peg warmer" called Blade Blast Robin. He sports the same shade of neon orange as Heat Scan Batman so you can make a good pairing with him. I'm surprised Kenner didn't re-release them as a two pack.
The missile he comes with is very cumbersome. There's no way you can stand the figure on its own while holding it. It does have a cool switch that flicks out the yellow blades though.
Diecast vehicles are never my favourite things to collect but I had to pick this Batman & Robin set because it was going cheap on eBay.
It contains 4 of the vehicles seen in the film - the Batmobile, Bathammer, Redbird cycle and Mr Freeze's Freezemobile. All at various scales.
Sadly Batgirl's ice cycle doesn't get a look in. Instead we're given an exclusive Mr Freeze's Thugmobile - which I'm fairly certain is a repaint from another line.
Anyway, these are fun but not essential. The accuracy is pretty loose and the paintwork isn't great. But if you want to put in the time with your own painting skills they might be worth it.
If you are more interested in a traditional Bane figure this is the one for you.
Sadly Kenner didn't make him look much like his actual appearance in the film with those sickly green arms and massive skull button on his chest. I guess this was another case of making figures before the costumes were made.
The design seems to be based very much on the comic version (designed by Graham Nolan). I enjoy the little accessories he comes with - the massive metal glove and the weird axe on a rope. Even if you don't like this movie, this is still a good Bane figure to get if you like the character. He fits in quite nicely with the Legends of Batman figures (which didn't get a Bane figure in the line).
You get a completely chrome Batman which looks fantastic in the light but the real treasure is the bonkers Bane figure. Kenner really went all out on this - coming up with a really fun concept whereby Bane has been seemingly surgically altered to be half made of see through ice and half covered in mutated plant vines.
As I say in the video, I can't help but be reminded of Jason X even though that film came out 5 years later. This Bane is a definite highlight of the line.
This week we've got Snowtracker Batman - another cold themed Batman figure. That was basically the theme of all the Batman and Robin toy line. Hot or cold (...or plants).
Anyway it's got a hard white cape that folds into place and fires a missile out the back. And that's about it. I don't know, this one wasn't working for me. It feels a little bit basic.
The one bit of interest is the paintwork on the legs 😔
One of the notable things about Kenner was their thriftiness. They'd often pad out toyline with existing molds. Robin Hood Prince of Thieves for instance used Hawkman and Robin (from Super Powers), a villain from Robocop and a Gamorean Guard.
Rather than be annoyed at this, I always admired their ingenuity and appreciated them trying to maximise the amount of figures in a toyline.
When it came time to do the Batman & Robin toyline, they did reuse a few molds from the Batman Forever line. In most cases it just required a swap of a Kilmer head to a Clooney one.
Neon Armour Batman is a typical example. I think ultimately it's a downgrade but still a relatively fun figure with some cool snap on armour.
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