@moro Kenner’s basic Keaton Batman body/buck was indeed derived from the Super Powers Batman. After an extensive retool, that body was then used for 97-98% of their Keaton figures.
Toy Biz would also use the SP Batman (with modifications) as the prototype for their Batman figure, which debuted a year before Kenner’s revamped edition.
Other Batman related Super Powers figures were repurposed for the Keaton movie toylines too.
With a new head sculpt, paint apps that legally had to differentiate him from the Toy Biz offering (since it was still at retail when Kenner’s would debut) and no Power Action feature (instead featuring a color changing face), The Joker was retooled into Sky Escape Joker in The Dark Knight Collection.
For Batman Returns, Penguin’s Power Action components were removed, rad black and white paint apps were applied to him and he featured an umbrella firing projectile launcher, which was a slightly retooled version of the launcher that debuted with Crime Attack Batman.
There’re rumors that the Batman Returns Catwoman figure design was largely based off of designs for what would have been the Super Powers Catwoman (who would’ve had a tail BTW). I’ve come across conflicting reports about this point over the years, so I see her as a newly tooled figure that some folks project aspirations of a Super Powers figure that never was onto.
The final Batman based Super Powers item to be revamped for the Keaton era was the Batcopter. As far as I know, this was just a repaint from dark blue with black landing pieces and rotors (Super Powers) to all black in every way (The Dark Knight Collection).
As for Zipline Batman, since I featured his original release from 2003 in HCQ’s thread in General, below is his 2004 re-issue after Mattel applied the underworld theme (which was in relation to the sewers of Gotham, thanks to the inclusion of Killer Croc in the line; not the movie Underworld) to their Batman line.
SN: Zipline Batman was also released on the underworld cardback with a reprint of Batman #608 as a Walmart exclusive (as were other figures), in a two-pack with the regular edition of Robin, and as a European edition that featured different accessories.
. I’ve done this once before with Superman, and that thread was a deep dive into figures that were not limited to my personal collection. The thread had a relatively small audience (thanks to those that participated), but was fun nonetheless. I’m going to approach this one differently. Will limit myself to the 5 figures that capture my eyes the most when looking at my display, and then I’ll talk about one that is on my wish list. So half a dozen…short & sweet! As with the Superman thread, I’ll mostly be using pictures from Google searches, since I’d rather not move my figures around/take 'em out of the cabinet. Hope more of you chime in with your favorites as well.
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