Review: Batman Classic TV Series Batmobile

To many the Adam West version of Batman is the definitive Bat-incarnation. It's campy and silly, but deliberately so. This was a TV show that was supposed to be fun and there's no denying that this it is. After years and years of waiting, the DVD/video rights have finally been sorted out (due this November!) and leading up to it there's been a mass of new merchandise.

I've talked about the figures before, but it's taken this long to get hold of the Batmobile that goes along with them. The main reason was off-putting online reviews, saying it was way over-priced, of low quality and generally a big disappointment. Since I was going to have to import this thing from America, this would have pushed the price up even further and it wasn't something I was prepared to risk.

Until now.

The price has dropped somewhat over time and the cost of importing reached a level that I was happy with. And you know what? I'm more than happy with it.

Update: The Batmobile is now available in the UK exclusively from Toys R Us for £50.

The car is a faithful representation of the Batmobile from the show. I'm no expert, but it seems to be as accurate as you're going to get with a toy vehicle. The Batmobile is cast in shiny black plastic, with red highlights and plenty of added detail around the seats. My children have asked several times what all the bits and bobs are for but I have absolutely no idea. I suspect none of the people on the show do either. They just look cool. All those bits are done in a flexible plastic, which isn't wonderful, but at least nothing is ever going to snap off.

There are currently two 'normal' versions of Batman available - the one with wire in his cape (from the two-pack with Robin) and the single release without the wire. There are pros and cons to sitting each one in the Batmobile (with Robin you don't have the choice!). It's difficult to get the wire-free cape to go where you want it to while you're putting Batman in the car. As a result it can take several attempts before you achieve something that looks decent. But when he is sat in there, with the cape looking good, it looks good. On the other hand, due to the stiff cape, the wire- Batman goes in much more easily, but the cape hunches up at the shoulders and looks a tad odd.

There have been comments made that this Batmobile is very lightweight. I'm not sure what these reviewers were expecting. Essentially the entire vehicle is hollow, so there's not going to be much in the way of weight. To me, it looks great and rolls along the carpet really nicely. It's not up to Hot Toys standard, but then you're not paying Hot Toys prices - it's definitely more at the 'toy' end of the spectrum than the 'collector' end and as long as you're aware of this when you buy it I can't see you being disappointed.