Batman

For several years now, Walmart has had, in its electronics section, a small area of "collector" toys - NECA, McFarlane, Super7, Nacelle, etc. And now a company called Beast Kingdom. Never heard of them, but we have heard of the DAH - Dynamic 8ction Heroes - line; just never knew who made it. And since it was an import line, definitely never expected to see it at Walmart! But hey, if you're going to try to break into the massest of mass markets, there are worse characters to try it with than Batman. Released in 1995, Batman Forever was the first in the series to not star Michael Keaton. Tim Burton left first, annoyed that WB wanted him to make a movie that lived up to the standards set by Happy Meal merchandising. Keaton stayed on for a time, but he didn't like the lighter tone Joel Schumacher was going for. There's a fan theory/head canon that says the first two movies were the actual Batman, while the second two were just in-universe movies made about him after he retired and his identity became public - you know, like the real citizens of real Gotham City who really survived Joker's real gas attack at the parade could, perhaps decades later, take their kids or grandkids to see a silly neon movie about Batman fighting a buffoon with a wacky brain-sucking machine. Although, the movie we got isn't the one Schumacher wanted to make. The guy gets a lot of crap for his work, but (unlike Burton) Schumacher was an actual fan of the comics, and so his first pitch was a Year One-inspired prequel; it was WB who pushed him onto the "goofy" track, because McDonald's had been pissed about the way Returns had screwed them over; saying Burton got pushed out because of Happy Meals was not just us exaggerating for comedic effect. The absolute first thing you'll notice about this figure is its size. He's packaged with his cape wrapped around him, so it's hard to judge through the front window on the box, but we were expecting something around the size of a McFarlane or NECA figure - making this a good figure to display alongside Michael Keaton and Christian Bale. Take him out of the tray, and it's immediately clear this is much bigger. Apparently the DAH line is done in a 1:9 scale, or 8" tall. Great news if you ever wanted to see live-action Batman fight Aang and Zuko. Actually, you know what it really reminds me of? You ever seen those figures Applause made in the 1990s, the ones that were just big vinyl figures with minimal articulation? That. This humongous Batman feels like he should be standing next to those. The role of Batman in Batman Forever was taken over by Val Kilmer, and despite us only being able to see the mouth on this figure, we can say it has a good likeness. No mistaking those lips! Is it a controversial take to say Kilmer was the best '90s movie Batman? Like, George Clooney was great at playing the flighty playboy persona Bruce Wayne would put on, but that then bled into his Batman too much; and Keaton was dark, but camp, and had the manic unpredictablity a real-life person who became a Batman would have; Kilmer, meanwhile, realized that nobody actually cared about the character inside the Batsuit, and so just played both Bruce and Batman straight, but his work got entirely overshadowed by the film it was in. After the weird size, the next thing you may notice is that this isn't the costume the you want. The Forever Batsuit (which is still the one prospective actors wear for camera tests when auditioning for Batman today, making the title surprisingly apt) was more anatomical than the one in Returns, but also more stylized than the original. It had a small bat symbol in a yellow oval, and a silver utility belt with pods on it. It also famously had nipples. But after the Batcave and everything in it was blown up by Riddler, Batman had to use "the prototype with the sonar modifications [he] invented." No explanation for what the sonar was supposed to do for him was ever given in the final film, but a deleted scene in Riddler's deathtrap at the end would have revealed he was using holograms that would have failed to fool Batman because the sonar could see right through them. All that's left of that in the finished product is a single line and a shot of the eyes of the mask being weird. The idea to give Batman a costume change was pushed by Kenner, who wanted to be able to sell more toys. As if they weren't okay making up their own variations anyway. This suit has a batsymbol spreading across the entire chest, a smooth utility belt, and an overall design that looks like lightly Giger-ish armor. And has no nipples. In the movie, this suit was a solid grey all the way up and down, meaning the toy is actually more colorful: the cowl, cape, gloves, and boots are not quite full black, but they are darker than the rest of the body. And the belt is silver with some golden accents. Plus, the spikes on the forearms are the same silver, which definitely wasn't the case on-screen. All the promotional photos (even the ones on the back of the box) color correct the toy to be darker, to help make you think you're getting the normal suit. Really living up to the "dynamic action" part of the name, Batman has articulation aplenty! The head can't really turn, which is accurate to the real costume, but it can slide forward to facilitate him looking down. Same goes for the chest barbell. The waist is a balljoint, but the cross section of the torso means it totls more than it wants to turn. The hips are balljoints on hinges, like GI Joe Classified, and the thighs are swivels right below the balljoint, like NECA. There are double-hinged knees, and this is the first time in the history of ever that a video review would be even remotely useful, because words cannot adequately describe to you the sound the left knee on mine makes when you move it; it's like two pieces of styrofoam rubbing together, but also minorly metallic? CREEEAAAaaaaaakk. And it's just that one knee. Instead of shin swivels, the ankles are swivel/hinge/swivel, so the same range of motion is preserved (same for the wrists), and the toes are hinged. Double-hinged elbows, swivel biceps, and swivel/hinge shoulders that can actually pull laterally out of the torso a little, to make the range of motion even better. Neat idea! His cape, which feels like the kind of plastic lobster bibs are made of, has a posing wire on the sides. The accessories include a bunch of alternate hands in various poses, the net launcher he uses to subdue the goons patrolling the waters around Riddler's island, and a batarang. In the movie, it folds in half, and the toy version does that too; unfortunately, the peg that allows it to do this is remarkably tiny and doesn't have a cap on the end, so the halves fall apart easily. The net launcher is packaged with one of the hands already holding it, so you understand how it's supposed to work. If you can look past the neon, Batman Forever has a lot going for it. The assembly cut (the first, "throw everything in and see how it's working" edit) saw Bruce Wayne questioning whether he'd done more harm than good, and dealing with guilt and psychological trauma in a much more nuanced way than the final film gave us. A few hints of the Year One influences managed to survive all the way to release, but even they couldn't save things. This is a great representation of the Sonar Batsuit, butthe scale limits what you can use it with, and getting the actual Kilmer Batsuit would have been preferable. -- 09/23/26 Would Burtons's Batman 3 have been any better? 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