Review of Batman and Robin
Batman Forever Sixth Scale Action Figures

Introduction

I've been collecting action figures and other pop culture collectibles for over 30 years now. I don't get too many surprises these days. Just about every license has been done, just about every variant produced, and pretty much no stone un-turned.

One of the very least surprising companies out there right now is Hot Toys. Once a company that produced figures from unique licenses, they've become the steadfast producers of Star Wars, DC, and Marvel over the last several. And even then, you can always expect another Trooper, another Batman, and another Iron Man.

So I was particularly surprised when they announced they were producing Batman and Robin from Batman Forever. First, it's a truly terrible movie. It's not quite Batman and Robin terrible, but it's so far below the quality of any other Batman related license they've worked with - including 66 Batman - that it's shocking to see anything come from it. Second, they aren't just doing Batman, but also Robin. We don't get many movie Robins, partly because there haven't been many movie Robins, and partly because they invariably suck. But here was Hot Toys, a company that has become ultra-conservative in their choices of characters and films, producing a risky pair of figures.

And unlike some of their announced figures that are more risky, they actually got produced. They started shipping a few weeks ago, and will run you around $250 each depending on the retailer.

Packaging - ***
These come in standard Hot Toys boxes, with a slip cover over a window box. Everything is collector friendly of course, and you can remove and replace the figure and accessories without any real damage to the package. One of the rather unusual observations here is the stickiness of the paint - the various plastic sheets covering different areas of the figures tend to be stuck to them this time, something I've never seen before.

Sculpting - Robin ***; Batman ***1/2
There are no unmasked heads here, but you still can make out who these actors are under the disguise.

Of course, Batman is Val Kilmer, and the lower face has the pouty lips and strong jawline. As is always the case, the sculpted skin texture is super realistic, and the cowl fits tightly to the face.

Robin is even more recognizable in the mask. The Chris O'Donnell likeness is extremely good, and the jawline, lips, and nose really sell it. The hair sculpt is detailed and realistic, and once again the skin texture makes the life-like appearance pop.

The suits are interesting. I'll get into the material more in the Outfit section, but it's worth noting here that the sculpted patterns and textures look great, right down to the Robin nipples. However, one aspect of Robin's costume did cost him a half star. That crotch. I'm not sure what's going on here, but he's hanging might low for a man his age. He might want to discuss that with a doctor.

Batman stands about 13 inches tall at the very tip of his big ears, while Robin clocks in at 11 3/4".

Paint - Robin ***; Batman ***1/2
The paint work on the portraits is the usual stellar, realistic, life-like application. The hair line on Robin is just about perfect, the skin mottling creates that realism that can be so tricky to achieve, and while the lips are a little dark -  which can give them a lipstick look - overall the face applications are great.

The bodies is where things get a little wonky. The super bright, glossy appearance bugs me. Yea, it's actually fairly screen accurate, although I'd argue it wasn't THAT bright in the film. But the simple fact is out of the shadows, on a shelf, these look out of place with other movie Batmen. Of course, that's part of the attraction, getting something that's not just another incarnation of a black rubbery suit. But the gloss could have been toned down a smidge, and the effect would have been better.

It's also this paint that I believe is causing the sticky feeling, and I'm a little concerned about this over the long haul. Only time will tell if there's an issue.

Articulation - *1/2
These are about as close to statues as you'll get with a sixth scale action figure. The suits don't allow for much mobility, and even the arms are pretty restricted. It says something when Robin's head and cape are the most articulated aspects of the two figures.

That's due to the lack of a cowl for Robin, and the inclusion of a wire in his cape. You'll be able to add a bit of dynamic flow to the cape that the rest of the figure can't match.

Accessories - Robin **; Batman ***
There's not a lot here, but Robin really gets the short end of the batarang.

He has a few extra hands, four to be exact. They swap easily, and stay in place while posing. He also has a nice display base with crotch support, with a great representation of the movie log on it. And that's it. Seriously. Oh, there's a couple extra wrist pegs just in case, but that's not going to improve this score.

Batman does better. He has a larger assortment of hands, which I neglected to shoot. There's seven extras to go with the pair of fists he comes wearing. Trust me, they are designed to work with the various accessories, and swap in easily. There's a couple extra wrist pegs as well.

This is technically the 'sonar suit' version, and that means he gets this extra set of sonar eyes. It's a plate that fits inside the cowl. There's a tool - the same tool you use to adjust the PERS eyes (more on that in a minute) - that allows you to remove the standard plate with the eyes and insert this sonar version. Don't bother.

There's also two versions of the large batarang, one closed and one open. There's a specific hand to hold these, as well as the 'underwater thruster' the large silver doohickey.

He also has the launcher that attaches to his arm, with a small batarang that fits on the front, along with another small batarang on the end of a stiff wire. This wire can be inserted into the launcher to give the appearance of a firing batarang.

Finally, there's the spinning batarang weapon, which he can hold in one of the specific hands, and the blade actually spins, manually of course.

Like Robin, he has the nifty base, although it's not necessary to keep him standing on the shelf.

PERS Feature - Robin N/A; Batman ***
One extra feature for Batman is the PERS, something you normally see on their DX series. You can adjust his eyes individually by removing the head and using the included tool. You can create your own side eye, or have him looking downward or up. Just be sure to get them lined up properly, or you'll have a wonky looking Kilmer. It works fine, and by doing the eyes individually there's less likely to be problems with the mechanism breaking, a big issue in the early days.

Outfit - ***
These costumes are about as restrictive as they come, and 'museum' poses are all you're going to get.

The body suits are made from a material that reminds me of automotive vinyl more than the old school rubber they once used. This is likely to have a much longer life than the previous outfits, but it is pretty stiff, and doesn't like to stay in any bent pose. The Robin suit has one other issue, thanks to the design. The chest tends to buckle and bend in weird ways at the shoulders in almost any arm pose.

The boots are single piece, so they don't do much for the ankle articulation. But considering the lack of any knee or hip mobility, ankles wouldn't do you a lot of good anyway.

The best part of both costumes are the capes. A very heavy material means they hang naturally, especially in the simple stances you'll be able to get out of the rest of the body. The materials are top notch, and the construction is excellent.

Fun Factor - *1/2
With such limited articulation and so few useful accessories, these aren't particularly 'fun' figures. You'll pose them once, and occasionally dust them.

Value - Robin *1/2; Batman **
These are extremely expensive figures for what you're getting. I do think the run size is going to be very limited, especially Robin, and I also think they are a release we'll never see produced again. If you're a big fan, I'd advise getting them sooner rather than later, although the price might be a little lower for the first 90 days or so, while retailers still have them.

Things to Watch Out For -
Not much. Be careful when inserting the accessories into the hands of course, but everything is fairly sturdy and well made, and I didn't have any worries about breakage.

Overall - Robin **1/2; Batman ***
I'm going to assume you're going into this with the understanding that these suits are super limiting on the articulation and posing. If you can find your way past that, you'll be much happier. If you were expecting something different, you're going to have a much lower personal Overall appreciation.

Even with that understanding, Robin had some additional issues. With few accessories his value is weak, and I don't love the weird buckle in the costume around the pecs and shoulders. Still, you aren't going to see this figure produced ever again, and I'm betting the numbers on it are really low. We've seen that create a sleeper - like Blade - but we've also seen that mean very little, like Tonto. Only time will tell.

Score Recap (out of ****):
Packaging - ***
Sculpting - Robin ***; Batman ***1/2
Paint - ***1/2
Articulation - *1/2
Accessories - Robin **; Batman ***
PERS Feature - Robin N/A; Batman ***
Outfit - **1/2
Fun Factor - *1/2
Value - Robin *1/2; Batman **
Overall - Robin **1/2; Batman ***

Where to Buy 
Lots of places are sold out, but you can search ebay for a deal.

Related Links -
I have tons of Hot Toys reviews related to various Batman movies. Highlights include Batman from Batman Returns, Batman (and Robin) from the old tv show, and Batman from Justice League.

You should also hit the Search Reviews page, in case any other applicable reviews were done after this one was published.

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