Stats
Year Released: 1990
Company: Kenner
Size: 5"
Price: My sample was a gift (thanks again, Matt!) but you can probably find a carded figure on eBay for under $10.
Packaging: Carded
Looks: Bruce Wayne -
Batman - 
As Bruce Wayne, the figure looks fantastic. The dead-on Michael Keaton likeness makes this sculpt one of the best of any action figure from the time. The hips are a bit weird, with a big gap between the belt and the top of the leg, but the rest of his outfit (maybe a training suit?) works well. The bat-symbol on his sweatshirt is awesome and quaint with its blatant 90s styling.
But put on the Batman suit and Brucie takes a bit of a turn. Unfortunately, the batsuit looks rather clunky on the figure. Of the Quick Change Batman figures, this one looks better than most... but that's not saying much.
Articulation:
Like other early 90's Batman figures, Bruce Wayne has only 5 points of articulation: swivel neck, shoulders, and hips. That's standard Kenner fare for the time but it's nonetheless disappointing: there wasn't any improvement in articulation from a decade previously when Star Wars figures were on the shelves. Also, the Playmates TMNT line (released two years prior) had much better articulation. Kenner could have done better.
Accessories:
Bruce Wayne comes with a cape/cowl, chest armor, gloves, and boots, all in the 1989 Batman style. Although they look a little weird on the figure they're fun nonetheless, and look great on their own. He also comes with a walkie-talkie... whoopdie freakin' doo. All I care about is the batsuit.
Value:
This figure seems to be a bit more popular than the others in the Dark Knight Collection. You might have to pay more than say Iron Winch Batman, but it's certainly affordable for those collectors on a budget.
Kenner had a lot of practice sculpting Michael Keaton back then.
Coolness:
Bruce Wayne with the batsuit might not look as cool as he should, but I love the play value the batsuit gives the figure. And even if you don't like how the batsuit fits the figure, it still looks cool enough on its own to open up some cool display options. I'm sure an innovative collector could whip up a batsuit display case for the Batcave, kind of like this one using a Germs test tube:
Overall:
As cool as the quick change feature is, the batsuit is still a bit wonky on the figure. But Bruce Wayne alone merits the purchase, with a wonderful Michael Keaton likeness. The batsuit parts by themselves are also really cool and are just begging for some sort of an interesting display in a Batcave diorama. As with many early 90's figures the price is right, so this is a great purchase for fans of the 1989 Batman!
7 comments:
I really didn't care for this figure back in the day. I did like Keaton, but just couldn't stand the way he looked in the suit even way back when. I'd often get frustrated with this figure and chunk him back in the bag I kept my batman figs in, and pull out someone else....maybe it was because I lost one of his gloves.
But this figure was one of my least favorites of what I had back then.
I really like this figure just due to the fact that it came with such a cool cape and cowl accessory. Yes, the Bat-Outfit doesn't look that great on the Bruce Wayne figure, but carded, this figure looks awesome! I wish that Kenner had just made this a Batman figure with a Bruce Wayne head that the cape and cowl slid over rather than the whole 'Quick Change' Bat-Armor feature. I also didn't like that the Batarang was molded into the glove. The communicator accessory was useless.
I also purchased multipes of this figure as custom fodder for my custom Shogun Vader figures back in the late 90's!
Thanks for showing this bruce figure some attention! To me this is still the best bruce wayne figure. Better thAn the one where his head gets pushed in like a turtle.
This figure was so very cool to me when I was younger. I think my favorite part was that you didn't have to do a total costume change; Batman without his mask, for example, or some crude variation of "battle damage."
I didn't like this toy when I was a kid mostly because the batarang is permanently attached to his gloved hand. Never the less when I regain my interested in Batman movies when I grew up I really love this figure. It's one of the best Bruce Wayne to Batman figures made. You can see the Michael Keaton resemblance in the figure. The Bat armor is accurate to the movie unlike the other Bruce Wayne figures made with colorful Bat armor. The only thing that disappoint me was later on Batman Returns toy line used the same mold when the batsuit was completely different in both films.
My Boyfriend bought me this toy, still in its original package. As I was examining it, I noticed his belt was a dark green as well as his bat symbol on his chest was green. Could this be a flaw or glitch while it was being made? Has anyone else come across the same findings?
I haven't heard of a green variant for this figure, but I'm not particularly well-versed in the Kenner Batman lines, so I guess it's possible! But it could be that the belt and bat symbol green with age. If the bubble from the packaging was yellow, then that would indicate that the figure was stored in less than optimal conditions (like a garage) which might have turned the belt green, too.
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