Raving Toy Maniac

Hello, Ghost Town Toysite!

Just my impressions of the new boxed 24" "Deluxe" Batmobile...(aka BM)

"Extremely di$appointed" would be an under$tatement. Where to even $tart...a$ide from "$pend your $150 el$ewhere!"

I enjoyed Timm's Batman animated cartoon series, although I preferred the redesigned art after the first season. This BM is intended to be a larger scale version of the rather "art-deco" first season vehicle released along with the 5" figure line many years ago. It comes with Batman & Robin figures (although Robin was not featured in the first season of the cartoon, from which this car derives...more on this later), as well as an "art-decoish" bat signal.

This BM is hardly in scale with the 6" line AT ALL, although it purports to be. This BM is LAUGHABLY too large. Even the Caped Crusader & Boy Wonder would need to pole vault over the sprawling chassis to drop into the cockpit. At first glance this vehicle would seem to be far closer to 7" or 8" scale...however, unlike the earlier foot-long version of this car (which was a single-seater) this new giant-sized BM has been reimagined/redesigned to seat two, side-by-side.

The two figures included DO come with cloth capes to allow them to be seated into the BM cockpit, ostensibly. However, the capes included are NOT the spandex capes pictured on the box (the photograph on the package makes the figures look far larger than they are, relative to the BM, btw), the included capes are single, flat sheets of very stiff fabric. Even these provided "soft goods" capes only BARELY allow both figures to be awkwardly seated together in the BM. Also, I have small hands and I simply cannot fasten to foolishly-PC "safety belt" features across the figures without hemostats. It should also be noted that in order for both these figures to fit into the BM, side-by-side...even as badly as they do, a smaller (older torso design) Batman figure was included, not the more modern release with broader shoulders.

But the large & pricey BM in itself is cool enough, right?

Well, it's not horrible, providing you have the shelf space to display it, but unlike the way cooler & more fun 12" single seater version, the new BM does not include any telescoping "excursion vehicle," or extendable "axle cutters." Instead it has a sadly anemic "light up headlights/taillights/interior light & rear jet) feature" powered by 3 AAA batteries that must be tedious screwed behind a plate on the bottom of the car. (I guess this is to prevent little Timmy from popping the batteries out too easily and swallowing them?) BTW, this on-off switch is ALSO conveniently (hardly) placed UNDERNEATH the car!

The car itself is flat black, with a cockpit cover that slides open across the middle of the hood. There are small areas of silver metallic paint on the grill, header pipes & wheels. Although the steering wheel itself is not functional, the front wheels (at least they are "low profile/WIDE" rubber) can be manually turned to each side about 1/16".

What have I left out...? Aha! the Bat Signal! (aka BS) IMO this BS has an overly large base footprint, no doubt to accommodate batteries, right? Well, sorta. But instead of AA or AAA batteries, the BS uses 3 large watch batteries (LR44s) which are not as easy to purchase as one might suppose...mainly because the LR44 designation is NOT the label commonly used on batteries of this size & type, at least not in the USA. Maybe it just wasn't my lucky day, but I had to search online & make 3 trips to different local stores to obtain the batteries required. The BS uses a single bulb (NOT an LED, which might offer a longer life), and of course, does not project an image of a bat, even on a flat object less that a foot away.

The Animated Series 31" Batwing comes out next. I can hardly wait for this preorder to arrive on my front porch...assuming there is enough room there to accommodate the giant shipping box!