Kenner The Adventures of Batman and Robin Pogo Stick Joker Kenner, 1992
Day #2,813: January 28, 2025
Pogo Stick Joker with Power Launcher
The Adventures of Batman and Robin Action Figure
Item No.: Asst. 64115 No. 64093 Manufacturer:Kenner Includes:Projectile, pogo stick launcher Action Feature:Rocket launches, kind of pogos Retail:$5.99 Availability: 1995 Other: Bounces
In the 1990s, Kenner's various Batman lines reigned supreme - and at the end of the decade, the license went to Mattel. I bought a lot of figures, and it turns out I had some I didn't remember purchasing like Pogo Stick Joker. I'm not sure why not - maybe I picked him up on clearance on a crappy afternoon in high school or college, because I was trying to keep character variants tight and I wasn't going out of my way to buy figures without a hefty redesign. This Joker is similar to other Kenner Joker figures, right down to the backpack hole in his suit. It's a sturdy figure in a snappy blue outfit with a green shirt, yellow flower, and a purple tie with matching gloves. It's striking, and the accessory is goofy and on-brand.
With only 5 joints and a pretty normal pose, this is a good figure. It may not impress modern toy fanatics, but it has really nice green highlights in his hair and nice, clean paint applications for his eyes, lips, and teeth. Kenner was not known for ornate facial paint, but they upped their game as the 1990s went on and figures like The Joker tended to fare better than, say, Ripley or Alan Grant. Kenner's Batman: The Animated Series line and its sequels sold well to the adult figure fans as well as kids, so you'd have products like this one which reuse Kenner's sculpts multiple times (in new colors) with an added accessory to refresh it and appeal to the tiny tots. Kids were generally why we got the cartoon, specifically to sell toys and ads against them, and Batman was one of the best shows of its time.
I love the sculpt. The crisp suit has a few wrinkles and creases around the character's theoretical real-life joints, and they all rotate smoothly. This toy is almost 30 years old and feels as solid as a rock - I could chunk it into a wall and it would be just fine. The arms swing around, the head turns, and both legs swing forward completely so he could drive the Jokermobile, or maybe he'll just steal the Batmobile.
I had the fortune of meeting Kenner's the late Mark Boudreaux a few times and hearing him pitch what made Batman great - the toys - really shines in figures like this one. The accessory has a loop on it which can wrap around The Joker's arm, but it's so heavy he can't balance with it - so some assistance is required. The rocket shoots fairly well for its time, but it also can be pushed in and out like a pogo stick. The figure has no problems being placed on the foot pegs, making the experience just perfect. It can't stand in this mode either - but neither could you, so I would say they designed the very tech-y pogo stick accurately in that regard.
I prefer some of the other figures of The Joker, but this one is pretty good in that it fills a mandate to make Kenner money without too many new parts and comes up with a fun accessory to do so. I would love to live in a world where a toy company would make figures of this exact quality, adjusted for inflation, and see how they do. Most action figures today are plussed up to make the manufacturers more margins because adult collectors demand fancier product, squeezing kids (and millions of potential buyers) out of the market entirely. Back in the 1990s, we all bought Kenner's figures because they were the only game in town - NECA, Mattel, Funko, LEGO, none of those guys had the license because back then, more manufacturers tended to have an exclusive master toy license. Lines were smaller, cheaper, more durable, and generally easier to get if you had a lot of stores nearby. Villains tended to be harder to get because they were shortpacked and had a lot more people after them, but I remember seeing this version of The Joker around and clearly I liked it enough to shell out for it. Adjusted for inflation this figure would sell for $12-$13. Coincidentally, that's about what it will cost (shipping included) for a sealed card version sent to your house in 2025. For those who demand McFarlane's articulation or Mondo's art piece-level design, you'll never want this. But it's a good toy, at a fair price, and it was accessible to fans of all ages (four and up.) It stings a little that this part of the business is largely dead, but the stuff was made so well you can pick up a toy from 30 years ago and it'll feel just as good today as it did back then. If that isn't a job well done, I don't know what is.
Buying new toys - especially lately - really shows how the entire industry has lost its way chasing adult dollars instead of a future generation of adult collectors in the form of children. We don't get anything this weird anymore, and certainly nothing looks quite this good for this price. Spin Master has made some lovely smaller figures, but they don't have that Bruce Timm-adjacent look and feel, but they do have a lot more articulation. (Some Batman Forever retro figures just came out, but without the wacky spring-loaded gear.) I wouldn't say they're better toys - things like this pogo stick demand you interact with the toy, rather than just look at it on a shelf. You can have him bounce around on your mousepad while holding him in your hand, and it's a very satisfying experience. Thankfully, you can afford to try it yourself.
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