Burton/Schumacher era toys...

[SirThomasSharpe]

Looking back at the toys they released for movies like Batman Returns, Batman Forever, and Batman & Robin, it's actually quite funny how out-there some of the bazillion Batman variants are. Did you guys own any of these toys? If so, which ones?

 

[Blitzkrieg Bop]

I had a Robin that had a domino mask appear/disappear when run under water. Also had the Batwing and the Forever car, among other ****.

 

[Lead Cenobite]

I still have the Batman/Batman Returns figures from Kenner. I have a few from Forever also, but even back then I was disappointed with all the recasts and changes(mainly the departure of Michael Keaton, the redesigned Batmobile, and the lack of Elfman music) so I wasn't as interested in the figures as I normally was.

The best figures out of the first two lines were Shadow Wing Batman which had pop-up arms, Bruce Wayne which can change into Batman, Catwoman and the two Joker figures. The first Joker figure's skin could change from chalk white to Caucasian in cold water. My most prized Batman figure at the time was probably the 15 inch Batman Returns figure. For the time it had a very good sculpt and likeness to Michael Keaton, and had all the suit details that the smaller figures lacked due to being simple repaints of the first movie figures. I was never all that interested in the repaints. I was also disappointed that due to the outcry from parents at the time, they never made a Devito Penguin and opted instead to re-release the Super Powers version with a new paint scheme.

I had a few of the vehicles(most notably the Batmissile and Batskiboat) and the Returns Batcave playset, which was originally intended for the first movie line. The Batcave portion of the set includes a computer bank which more closely resembles the Batcomputer from the first movie with it's multiple monitors, and the smaller batsuit vault which contains the first movie's suit and can be used to change Bruce into Batman if you have both figures. There's even an Arctic World playset which is really just Axis Chemicals but with a few stickers to make it appear to be some sort of refrigeration machine to keep the penguin habitat cold. What makes it most obviously an Axis playset is the catwalk, which has a portion that breaks away and drops a figure into a plastic cup below, which I believe is supposed to represent a vat of chemicals. Remember, one of the Joker figure's head changes color in cold water, so you could potentially recreate the Joker's birth here.

Though I wasn't interested in the source material, the good thing about the Forever line is there was more than just paint to differentiate the Batman figures. They actually had unique sculpts. Unfortunately, they forgot to make a figure based on the panther suit, but they did make one based on the sonar suit, which was part of a two-pack with a basic Robin figure.

 

[titansupes]

Excluding a few odds and ends from BR, this was all the Batman movie merch I had as a kid. I still have the mug.

 

[Lead Cenobite]

Except for making his hair pitch black, that isn't a bad Kilmer likeness.

 

[Jochimus]

I still have some figures in a closet in the basement. I never really got into the whole "Lawn Defender Batman with Turbo-Attack Bat-Mower" variant bit (there were only really two of those I ever got, from Kenner's Dark Knight Collection: the one gold-colored Batman because of the cool retractable-wing jet pack; and the one with the comic-book blue and grey colors)...I tended to focus mainly on getting one each of the main characters, hero AND villain, in whichever figure most approximated the actual costume they wore in the movie, even if the likeness was off, or otherwise if Kenner didn't even bother to make a movie-accurate figure as with BR Penguin; also I got all the quick-change Bruce and Dick figures. I did, however, get the Robin figure from Batman Returns even though he wasn't in that movie.

Never really got any of the vehicles, though...a shame, too, since I probably really would have loved having an '89-style Batmobile or Batwing. I did have Toy Biz' Batcave set, though.

 

[Ponyboy]

Looking back at the toys they released for movies like Batman Returns, Batman Forever, and Batman & Robin, it's actually quite funny how out-there some of the bazillion Batman variants are. Did you guys own any of these toys? If so, which ones?

The Toy Biz (1989) Batmobile and the Batman Returns batmobile were my favourites. I had most of the figures from both those lines as well. I think by the time Batman Forever had come out, the variants got even more ridiculous. I think I only bought Riddler and Two-Face from that line. I don't think I bought anything from B&R...

 

[union_jak]

It's ironic that the B&R toyline was so awful, considering they tailored the movie in favour of the toys.

I remember buying them and being annoyed that they were too big compared with the previous movie releases. It meant toys like the Poison Ivy figure looked like giants next to the Burton releases.

I had the majority of the figures, playsets and vehicles but I was never a fan of the multiple versions of Batman. I think I had that manta ray Batman above, but I'm sure it was part of the Batman Returns release.

I loved the 1989 Batmobile because it was like the movie and had a passenger seat. I was always very particular about wanting my toys to look exactly like the movies, hence why I didn't care for variants of the Batsuit.

They made the Batmobile a single seater in Batman & Robin because the toyline demanded it. I think Schumacher's official word on that was that because Robin had his motorcycle, they didn't need a passenger seat, but that was ridiculous given the occasional need for Batman to drive passengers a la Vicki Vale in Batman 89??