Kidbiz 1989 8" Batman

Okay, I dropped the ball on "Bat Week" last week to commemorate the 20th anniversary of Tim Burton's 1989 Batman film. However, I'm going to go ahead and make the next batch of posts Batman related to make up for it.
This is Kidbiz's 8" Batman figure that was released in 1989. This isn't a toy from the 1970's and I hate to label it "Almost Vintage" as it's already 20 years old. I'm sure that's considered vintage in many people's books. I have a hard time swallowing something from 1989 being considered "vintage" but that's just my age "talking." In kind, I certainly would have considered something from 1969 to be vintage while living through 1989.


This Batman figure was released in Europe and Australia only. I remember running into one at the San Diego Comic Con in 1990 and wondering why we didn't get this one released in the US. I'm sure it had something to do with Toybiz having the US rights to produce their 1989 Batman figure abominations (alright, they're kind of quaint...in hindsight).
Kidbiz's Batman was obviously produced with the Mego line of Superheroes in mind. He's 8" tall and in perfect scale with Mego's 8" figures. He's also designed the same way with an articulated base body with a cloth and plastic costume on top.

This figure is a perfect example of how much of the merchandise of 1989 kind of "rode the fence" between the new movie's interpretation and the comic book's interpretation of Batman. For instance, Batman's head and chest emblem look very much like they were designed with Batman's comic book image in mind. However, his all-black costume, boots, and belt are direct imitations of the costume that Michael Keaton wore in the film.

This figure looks a bit goofy in person. He's got a pair of black briefs over the top of his black body suit that makes him look a little thick in the middle and also makes his legs look fairly stumpy. However, to my surprise, he's actually quite photogenic and looks pretty decent in many photos. One thing I DO like about this figure is the fact that his cape is large enough to wrap around the front of his body. This is a pretty rare trait for any Batman figure from any era or price range. Most toy companies don't bother.

A complete Kidbiz Batman should include his cape (vinyl with a "pleather" collar), black body suit with attached forearm covers, black briefs, boots, and belt.