1/6 Hot Toys Batman Forever Batman (sonar suit)

[nexus]

I still think Batman and Robin will be released. Both were still being shown, unlike a lot of the prototypes that make one or two appearances then disappear into the ether. Also, unlike other dropped pieces, these have a number of things going for them — Batman, males, heroes, cool colorful costumes—which checks off a lot of the right boxes. If they don’t happen it will likely be due to either lukewarm response and/or too high production costs not because HT never planned to release.

If they do get solicited I wouldn’t be surprised to see Xensation rerelease Riddler and Two-Face, which I’d definitely pick up.

 

[IAmIronMan]

I still think Batman and Robin will be released. Both were still being shown, unlike a lot of the prototypes that make one or two appearances then disappear into the ether. Also, unlike other dropped pieces, these have a number of things going for them — Batman, males, heroes, cool colorful costumes—which checks off a lot of the right boxes. If they don’t happen it will likely be due to either lukewarm response and/or too high production costs not because HT never planned to release.

If they do get solicited I wouldn’t be surprised to see Xensation rerelease Riddler and Two-Face, which I’d definitely pick up.

I'm newer to the game but I agree. I think the reason they weren't at ACGHK or the Hot toys SDCC at home is because they were at the DC booth for the CCG Shanghai event, since as far as I can tell it's the same prototypes that have been displayed since last year. I think because all these events had overlap because of covid, they could only have them be present in one location and they seem to want to showcase either a)new stuff that's going up for preorder or b) new stuff that hasn't been shown before. Hoping they'll get more love at a later event closer to pre order announcement.

 

[Alatar]

Interesting that Hot Toys thought to even develop this and show it last year. Now that the Schumaker cut of Batman Forever is gaining traction among the fandom. And Val Kilmer is going to be attending DC Fandome. Makes me wonder if HT knew something even last year. Kind of looks like Kilmer is going to announce the Schumaker cut. I'd imagine this is the sort of popular wave that HBO Max would love to ride during the production slowdown caused by Covid-19. HBO Max is gonna go heavy with DC properties.

And to be fair it is a badass suit. And Kilmer was a damn good Batman.

 

[IAmIronMan]

Guess that venomized Groot announcement pushed me over.
https://chng.it/Y44zxDG7jn
Who knows if it'll work, but there was a petition for the Mark 47 reissue. Maybe this one will work as well.

 

[Wor-Gar]

I still think Batman and Robin will be released. Both were still being shown, unlike a lot of the prototypes that make one or two appearances then disappear into the ether.

Many Star Wars pieces were shown at shows for multiple years and never came to fruition -- Tank Trooper, Death Star Trooper, Baze, etc -- and the troopers are mostly reuse in many areas.

To me, these two seemed unlikely from the start.

 

[Saintv1]

I think a Batman figure is a lot more likely to hit preorder than a a minor Star Wars figure, but these particular Batman figures are probably the least like among Batman figures to go up.

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[Wor-Gar]

I bet the list of minor Star Wars figures that HT has made is a lot longer than the list of HT Batman figures.

 

[Saintv1]

I bet the list of minor Star Wars figures that HT has made is a lot longer than the list of HT Batman figures.

Fair point.

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[FB80]

I hope for the Batman day, on 19 september 2020....

 

[IAmIronMan]

I bet the list of minor Star Wars figures that HT has made is a lot longer than the list of HT Batman figures.

Wouldn't the equivalent comparison be minor batman characters shown and not released to minor SW previewed and not released? Or to look at it another way, main versions of star wars characters shown but not released?

Not trying to be argumentative, genuinely curious.

I think a Batman figure is a lot more likely to hit preorder than a a minor Star Wars figure, but these particular Batman figures are probably the least like among Batman figures to go up.

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I'd imagine Clooney would be worse, this is definitely second to last though.

 

[Wor-Gar]

Wouldn't the equivalent comparison be minor batman characters shown and not released to minor SW previewed and not released? Or to look at it another way, main versions of star wars characters shown but not released?

Not trying to be argumentative, genuinely curious.

In terms of main character versus supporting, I think all that matters to HT is demand -- be it Prime Batman or a Gonk Droid. If they can make money, it will get made.

You are making the assumption that more people would buy Batman Forever Batman than would buy another stormtrooper variant. If that was so, we would have had this Batman already.

Instead... we got a Gonk Droid.

 

[IAmIronMan]

In terms of main character versus supporting, I think all that matters to HT is demand -- be it Prime Batman or a Gonk Droid. If they can make money, it will get made.

You are making the assumption that more people would buy Batman Forever Batman than would buy another stormtrooper variant. If that was so, we would have had this Batman already.

Instead... we got a Gonk Droid.

Fair point, I realize it all comes down to money in the end, but if that is the only thing they are concerned with, it's not a sustainable model. Sometimes it's worth taking a smaller profit to expand to a wider audience. Not sure if Hottoys is a publicly traded company, but only trying to maximize short term profit seems short sited. I understand why we don't get large vehicles or intricate characters requiring different molding (Batmobiles or Vulture/Cyborg) but these guys don't fit that bill. We haven't seen any old school DC release since Returns, and that was, what? Four or five years after 89 Bats? Actually, that is a good question, when did they show the returns prototype? I wonder if it also had a large gap between prototype and going up for pre order.

 

[Uncle Bingo]

I signed the thing. I'm not feeling very optimistic about this coming out anymore, but I hope that helps.

 

[DiFabio]

**** Hot Toys.

I don’t see why collectors still talk about them. Even if you finally get the figure want after years and years of waiting, it detoriates in less than a decade.

They suck. Dunno why they even bothered with Batman Forever in the first place. Star Wars? They can’t even get figures out on time.

 

[Uncle Bingo]

Hot Toys needs an enema.

 

[Wor-Gar]

when did they show the returns prototype? I wonder if it also had a large gap between prototype and going up for pre order.

I do remember a long time for Batman Returns... not sure what the wait was between proto at a show and PO though.... but from 89 Bats to Returns took way too long.

EDIT: actually, scratch that I did find the dates. Proto was shown nearly a year before PO. Proto at SDCC 7-2014.... PO 6-15-15

 

[IAmIronMan]

I do remember a long time for Batman Returns... not sure what the wait was between proto at a show and PO though.... but from 89 Bats to Returns took way too long.

EDIT: actually, scratch that I did find the dates. Proto was shown nearly a year before PO. Proto at SDCC 7-2014.... PO 6-15-15

Huh, I think the first appearance of Robin was SDCC 2019 and Bats was ACGHK2019. If that time table held we would have gotten the PO already but things are different, for Hot toys and the world. Oh well, all we can do is hope.

 

[Wor-Gar]

I still hope for Penguin and Catwoman.

 

[DiFabio]

Even if Forever Batman, Robin and Returns Catwoman and Penguin went up for preorder TOMORROW, you wouldn’t have them in hand until 2023 Q4.

 

[IAmIronMan]

I still hope for Penguin and Catwoman.

I do think the chances of that are better if they keep doing releases from the classic movies.

Even if Forever Batman, Robin and Returns Catwoman and Penguin went up for preorder TOMORROW, you wouldn’t have them in hand until 2023 Q4.

Probably true, although I'd still rather know they were coming at all.