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Arrived yesterday at Castel Crivens, the reissue of Corgi Toys (singular on the box for some reason) first version of the Batboat And Trailer. I never had this as a kid, so it's good to add it to the collection almost 60 years later. It was supplied with an adaptor for the Batmobile exhaust as the 1966 BM didn't have a tow-hook, though one was added for later editions after the release of the Batboat.
Anyway, for those Crivvies who are into such things, here's a few photos to rekindle your memories if you had this toy back in the day. Feel free to share any reminiscences in the comments section.
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Below, in response to LH's request in the comments section, is an original Corgi Bat-copter.
13 comments:
I had a set of the Batmobile, the Batcopter and the Batboat. I think I bought it late 70s. I loved it. I sold them when I got married and moved house. The buyer claimed that Robin was missing when he received it and I know damn well that Batman and Robin were both in there but how can you prove something like that? Anyway, nice to see the Batboat again and it's in a great box.
I've got an original Batmobile and Bat-copter so it's good to now have all three, M. The Bat-copter was issued in, I think, 1976, though I didn't get mine 'til the early or mid-'90s. (I got my replacement Batmobile in 1991. In fact, I've got two.) I've also got several Corgi reissues of the Batmobile, including the matte version. I expect the Corgi Model Club will reissue the Bat-copter before too long.
I still have my original Batmobile and batboat. It was released after the movie came out I think. Correct me if I am wrong
Yes, LH, Corgi released it because it was in the movie. It doesn't quite look like the movie boat though, nor does the Bat-copter.
I wonder how much money Corgi are leaving on the table by not doing 2025 forensically accurate reproductions of the actual vehicles, as their current new catalogue items show them capable of, alongside the nostalgia reproductions of the several decades old original toys?
I mean, I'm slightly intrigued to get a Batmobile, etc. but the hideous off-model Batman and Robin figures are, well, hideous, and I see they are no better in this Batboat reissue.
A Batmobile with the red pinstriping, accurate Adam West and Burt Ward like figures would be a bit irresistible, wouldn't it?
I know other companies make a relatively accurate Batmobile with Batman and Robin, but there's something about the scale and it being a Corgi, ya know.
Also, a No Time To Die accurate silver Aston Martin DB5 but without all the scratches and window damage, I'd buy one of those, but the not so accurate looking 1960s versions I already owned and don't need to revisit.
I think the Batman and Robin figures would be pretty indistinguishable from the '60s versions, even if placed side-by-side, Ex, as everything's done via computer scanning nowadays and it's hard (though not impossible) to get things wrong. And at least they hint at Adam West and Burt Ward even though they're not 'identikit' doubles of the actors. Also, Corgi's Batmobile was too short at the front, but if they corrected it, then it wouldn't quite be the toy it once was, would it?! Corgi did a larger version of the DB5 (271 I think) right up to a few years ago and it was pretty accurate for what was, essentially, a toy for kids.
Good to see that the Batboat is finally shipping. Hopefully mine will turn us here in the US before too long, with presumably a further tariff surcharge! I paid for it ages ago. I wonder if it will be financially viable for Corgi to run the US arm of the Corgi Club with the huge tariffs on China.
The Corgi Batboat brings back great memories of peering at it through the window of the toyshop just inside Albert Rd from the Waverley Rd traffic lights in Southsea. I probably was given it for my birthday in July 1967. It was the version with the plastic sleeve to connect to the Batmobile exhaust.
I was totally unaware that there had been a Corgi Batcopter, although I bit of googling indicates that it was a 1976 issue, and not connected to the 1966 Batman series or movie.
Indeed it was a 1976 issue, B, but it was also included in a Corgi Gift Set with the Batmobile and Batboat, thereby tying it in with the '66 TV series and movie. Especially so as the first two toys (as well as the third) were still being manufactured up into the early '80s.
Yeah, nah... if you look up "Corgi James Bond Aston Martin DB5 No Time To Die" you'll see a current issue toy that is so elegant in detail next to the Corgi DB5s of years (decades! half-Centuries!) gone by or even the various other versions of dubious spec or accuracy. BUT IT'S COVERED IN SCRATCHES AND BULLET MARKS!
I'd buy one yesterday if the No Time To Die version was issued without the battle damage.
Similarly, I'd love a Batmobile with a more carefully rendered Batman and Robin that looked more like Adam and Burt, or even '60s comic book Batman and Robin, rather than the hideous historically-accurate-Corgi-mold-reissue figures.
That Robin haircut!!!! Those bat-ears!!!! The missing chest emblem!!!! Hideous, I tell you.
I think most reasonable people would conclude that you're expecting a bit too much for a reissue of what was essentially a toy back in the '60s, Ex. First of all, the figures are probably too small to give them accurate facial representations of Adam West and Burt Ward, and even if they could, Corgi would have to pay to use their likenesses, making the models even more expensive. They are what they are, and I for one am quite happy with them.
I cannot for the love of me remember the Batcopter. Any possibility of a photo of it being posted please.
I'll do so within the next hour, LH. Luckily, it's hanging on the wall in another room. In fact, I'll see if there's one on eBay and 'borrow' the photo.
A couple of borrowed photos of it up now, LH.
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