Batman & Robin KENNER 1997



Batman & Robin has often been ridiculed amongst Batman fans citing its hammy performances overly bright tone a beyond ridiculous plot and far too many "ice" related puns from Terminator turned refrigerator Arnold Schwarzenegger as Mr Freeze. All perfectly reasonable arguments but before Batman & Robin hit cinemas back in 1997 the Burton/Schumacher directed series was still going strong and the buzz for the new Batman flick was mounting when Kenner put out their new Movie tie-in toy line and the while the Movie itself may have disappointed the figures did not!

Here we look at some of those figures in detail:







 



Hover attack Batman features  the nearest to movie accurate Batman of this series boasting a really good George Clooney likeness and (most important) is devoid of any "Bat-Nipples)



 



Batman with his complete accessories taking loose inspiration from one pretty ridiculous but fun action sequence form the movie!



  





Robin (on Ice board) Again taking its cue from the movie and featuring a screen accurate rendition of the robin costume with brilliant Chris O'Donell Likeness



 

Ice Terror Mr Freeze as this figure is known doesn't resemble the screen character much at all but given that these figures were put into production before the costume deigns were finalized its no surprise, eventually a screen accurate Freeze was produced but this early deluxe figure is  better detailed and would have been a better alternative to the actual suit used in the movie! despite that it is a good Schwarzenegger face likeness and the vehicle he comes with (a sleeker version of the freeze mobile in the movie) is very nice indeed!

 

The second figure released based on the Movie Batgirl is quite a departure from the version seen on screen with a Robocop-esque feel to her suit and complete with a really cool looking cycle that has panels that extend for riding on ice!







Also included in the line were a range of 12" possible action figures/dolls one for each of the main characters minus Bane. Features a really good Clooney likeness and accurately recreates the movie Batsuit (minus Bat-nipples!)

 

If there is one consistency in The Batman movies produced through out the 90's its Kenner's tie-in action figures, I've loved these ever since the company took the licence over from Toy Biz and 1997's Batman & Robin is no exception, In fact Kenner managed to out do themselves in some regards on this line though I would say maybe they produced too many figures in the line (check out the entire list bellow) add to the fact certain characters aren't exactly screen accurate in appearance (not a exactly rarity amongst toys lines in the 90's) but overall its a nice set of figures for Batman fans and figure collectors generally!

 

Figures available in the series:

 

series 1:

-Batman (hover attack)

-Batman (heat scan)

-Batman/Bruce Wayne (battle gear)

-Robin (Ice Board)

-Robin (Razor skate)

-Batgirl

-Bane

-Poison Ivy (Jungle venom)

-Mr Freeze (Ice Blast)

 

series 2

-Batman (Ambush attack)

-Batman (Ice Blade)

-Batman (Neon Armor)

-Batman (Snowtracker)

-Batman (Wing Blast)

-Robin (Blade Blast)

-Mr Freeze (Cryonic Blast Bazooka)

-Frostbite

 

series 3

-Batman (battle Board)

-Batman (Ice Blade)

-Batman (Neon Armour)

-Batman (Laser cape)

-Batman (Rotorblade)

-Batman (sky assault)

-Batman (thermal shield)

-Batman (wing blast)

-Robin (Talon strike)

-Robin (Triple strike)

-Robin (attack wing)

-Mr Freeze (ultimate armor)

-Mr Freeze (jet wing)

 

2-packs

-Brain vs Braun

-A cold night in Gotham

-Guardians of Gotham city

-Challengers of the night

-Night hunter Robin vs Evil entrapment poison Ivy

 

Deluxe figures

-Batman (Aerial combat)

-Batman (rooftop persuit)

-Batman (Blast wing)

-Robin (Aerial defender)

-Robin (Wing Blast)

-Robin (Glacier battle)

-Robin's redbird cycle

-Mr freeze (Ice terror)

-Batgirl (with Icestrike Cycle) 

 

12"  figures

-Batman

-Robin

-Mr Freeze

-Batgirl

-Batman vs Poison  Ivy

-Ice battle Batman

 

Ultimate figures

-Batman

-Robin

 

Vehicles/Play sets

-Batmobile

Remote control Batmobile

-Ice fortress

-Bathammer Jet blade

-Wayne manor/Batcave

-Cryo-Freeze chamber