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| BATMAN & ROBIN copyright DC COMICS |
This is my very own CORGI TOYS BATMOBILE, which I acquired from a shop in Edinburgh back in 1991. Someone I knew told me about it, so I duly hopped onto a coach with an old school pal one morning and shot through to buy it. The one I'd bought back in 1970 or '71 only had ordinary hubcaps, the original gold and red Bat-symbol ones having been replaced in what was undoubtedly a cost-cutting exercise, but I'd always regretted not having the first version and was glad to be able to finally rectify that - even if it was 20 years later.
The first person I ever knew to acquire this 'must have' toy in 1966/'67 was a friend who lived a couple of doors along from me, a lad by the name of JOHN FIDLER. I like to think his choice of Christmas present (for such it was) had been influenced by the fact that we both liked to run around our neighbourhood playing BATMAN & ROBIN. (Though that's probably only because I like to take credit for everything - unless it's bad, of course.)
Corgi wanted to re-release this toy a number of years ago, but try as they might, they just couldn't obtain permission from the relevant copyright holders. That's why they eventually went with the idea of doing the 1966 comicbook Batmobile (as well as others), which had a similar (though not the same) Batman image to the one on the underside of their original 1960s TV toy. The comicbook version was nice, but nothing could ever replace the original Corgi model.
Now that the copyright issues over this car have finally been resolved, I wonder if Corgi will ever follow through with their original plans, and re-issue this iconic TV vehicle for a whole new generation of children (and an older generation of collectors)? Wouldn't that be nice, Bat-fans? Why not get in touch with them and suggest it? You just never know!
Anyway, enjoy the pictures in this post, and I'll maybe post more classic toy cars from yesteryear soon. Incidentally, the second set of missiles in the bottom photo are actually bright red - they came out a funny colour because I scanned them instead of photographing them. I trust you won't hold it against me.
I did not play or collect toy cars but a pile appeared in our home over the years.
ReplyDeleteOne of these was this car.
I remember it as being grey (paint flaking) and unloved.
It may be in a box at my mothers ,she has a habit of keeping things for the grand weans.
She kept a lot of my younger brothers Star Wars and He-Man toys.
The Corgi Batmobile was one of my first Christmas presents - I did myself a few inhuries treading on those fins sometimes.. When the red missiles got lost, mum would make up new ones using snapped matchsticks...
ReplyDeleteYou should check, Baab. It's possible to obtain missing parts to repair old toy cars, and a respray may restore it to its former glory. It'd be worth it.
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Ah, the old matchstick trick, MM. I think everybody who had one of these cars did that. It was a great toy.
I've seen a few versions of the comic, tv era batmobile, which in the comic was a reasonable substitute for the Futura version it meant to emulate. The model cars though, were a little wide of the mark, I suppose fidelity to the source is more nebulous, when you're copying a drawing in a comic book but one had an absolutely awful pastel cerulean paint scheme, like on a 70's Hillman for flip sake.
ReplyDeleteI've got three or four '60s comicbook Batmobiles by different manufacturers, and there's a fair bit of leeway in their interpretation when compared to one another. Funnily enough, the actual TV vehicle DID actually appear in the comics, but the artists must have got fed up having to refer to photographic reference, and the comicbook version soon evolved. They're pretty similar at the front in some respects.
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