As I explained a few days ago, I've become so jaded by the current state of affairs at DC Comics that I've become much more forgiving of, shall we say, lesser incarnations of Batman. Regardless, even the most devout West-hater out there will have a hard time denying the cool factor of the George Barris-designed Batmobile from the old television show.
Apparently the rights to the actors' likenesses for the TV series have been in some sort of legal limbo for the past 40 years, and the battle for rights and celebrity approval still has the series' DVD release held up. But they did manage to free enough up that we have a slew of merchandise coming, and Mattel, having the main 6" DC license, got a jump on most other companies with these.
As surprised as I was to find myself purchasing these, I was even more astounded at how much I'm enjoying them.
Batman and Robin
The Good: The figures capture the look of the show well, and your preference toward a specific iteration of Batman may make that a bad thing. But admittedly, they look just as goofy as West and Ward did. I won't profess expertise on the actors' likenesses, buy you do know which version of the Dynamic Duo these toys represent instantly. Their articulation is pretty good (Mattel's Movie Masters, which is what these really are, are notoriously limited in range of motion), and they stick pretty well to the included wall base through their feet pegs. Other than the base, there's only one accessory, a blue batarang that's clear-banded to BatWest's hand and bent up because of it. It looks appropriate, and in scale, but there's a hole on one edge that looks like it was meant to have a string or rope. Speaking of the rope...
The Bad: The rope is a piece of shit. It looks like someone took a bunch of sucked-on Blo-Pop sticks and sort of twisted them together and painted it black. I'm afraid that it will unwind or fray over time, so a replacement rope will be needed to allay my fears. I also checked to see if my DC Universe Detective Batman's feet would stick on the pegs of the base, but they're a tad too small. Whether or not all my DCU Batmen will have this problem is yet to be seen, but it would be nice to use the base for other figures, since BatWest and Wardbin will probably permanently occupy the Batmobile.
While most other Movie Masters seem to have sort of squat or stocky proportions, these two seem a little on the lanky side. Again, from my memories of the show, that might be appropriate, but their arms and legs in particular seem a little too thin to be right.
The paint apps also seem to be hit or miss; While the faces on mine seem solid, there are parts of Robin's thighs that have green showing through, or worse, an entire chunk of plastic missing like an exacto got taken to him. Finally, the capes leave something to be desired. Others have mentioned the huge tags (which are RIDICULOUS, by the way), but it's the wire in the edges of the capes that misses the mark the most. I'd understand if it was on the bottom edge, something many other companies have done much more successfully, but it runs about 90% of the way along the vertical edge of their capes, and makes no sense whatsoever or helps with 'posing' the capes that I've found, save for getting the capes to sit better beneath them in the Batmobile. Simply plunking the figure down and futzing with an un-wired cape would have been preferable to these infernal things.
Overall: I'm going to be more forgiving with these two than I should; the real reason I got them was to go in the car. The two-pack costs between $25 and $35, depending on where you grab one, which is about what us poor suckers (read: action figure collectors) are used to paying for something in this scale and this quality. So are they great figures? Not really, and I can't call them good while standing behind all my aforementioned reservations. They're just below good, and if not for the main reason I purchased them, I'd definitely grade them at a C. But let's get to this reason I keep talking about, shall we?
The Batmobile
The Good: As soon as I opened the gigantic box that these items came in, I let out a "Holy SHIT!" Because this fucker is just that big. I still haven't decided where the fuck I'm going to put it, it's so huge. The size alone makes this a very impressive piece, and once you get Batman and Robin in there, it looks even cooler. There are all sorts of little details sculpted in, such as the Bat-phone, the label reading "Emergency Bat-Turn Lever", the buttons all over the consoles, the textured detail sculpted into the front bumper. It all looks extremely nice, even if there are a few scuffs on mine and the red striping is a tad dicey in places. You kind of want to look around inside and see if anything works, but nothing does. Just about everything on here is static except for the very plastic tires.
And while it certainly rolls smoothly across the carpet (I checked. I smiled like a kid and scooted it across the room a few times, and this baby flies!), that may not be enough for some collectors who've been waiting a lifetime for this to come out.
The Bad: This is a very nice looking toy, but if you want more than that, save your money. Although it's extremely easy on the geeky eye, once you have it in hand, impressive size aside, it has a very "Barbie Dream Car" feel to it. While I certainly wasn't expecting anything of import quality or intricacy, I was expecting the car to do more than roll satisfactorily across the carpet. I mean, opening doors would have at least been considered by the designers, wouldn't they? And opening doors would also help with getting the figures in and out.
While it's not as much of a hassle as I would have thought, it can still be frustrating to get the figures in and strap them down. Robin is a bit easier than Batman, due to BatWest's belt and the fact that you want his hands on the wheel, but you still need to finagle with 'em before they're in there just the way you want. And this is made that much harder because everything inside the cabin is made of soft, rubbery plastic that barely holds its shape and gets caught under the figures (because of the bloody over-wired capes!). This same plastic is not only used inside, but on the roof fixture and the three exhaust pipes. There's a little bending going on already, and I fear it won't get better with time.
The seatbelts are rubber, and thankfully can be pulled taut from underneath the car once you get the figures in and thread the belt through, and so far they've done their job well, even when turning the car upside-down.
Again, mine has a few scuffs, the ugliest of which is on the front hood, so if you're willing to risk waiting for these to hit retail you may want to choose carefully. Combine the scuffing with spotty paint and bent ornamentation, not to mention Mattel's infamously poor Quality Control, and I'm surprised mine doesn't have even more issues.
The Batmobile costs $60 at Toysrus, and while other stores will allegedly get this (Target has this on their site, unavailable and listed at $50), I took the plunge anyway, not wanting to be left out once I decided I had to have it.
Overall: I wasn't looking for lights and sounds, or super-fancy details like die-cast; I wanted the iconic TV Batmobile, and this is certainly a stellar version of it. There are better (and more expensive) versions out there in different scales, but this is the only one, at least so far, to have the appropriate Batman and Robin to go with it. If the lack of working parts and extras bums you out, you're probably better off saving the dosh. I spent a little over $100 on the two sets, and for me, these days, that's not a lot on two items, specifically "exclusive" items from Toysrus. Is it a great price? No, but it's a fair one, in my opinion. Without the car, Batman and Robin would score a C. Without the figures, the Batmobile gets a B-. As a package deal, I can't go any higher than a B, but damn, does this thing look awesome.
I should be back on track with my reviews very, very soon. Cheers!
Swift
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