Last year, this ad appeared in some trade magazines showing the then prototype Hot Wheels 1:18 Batmobile:
Since then, we waited patiently as the Standard, Elite and Super Elite editions have been issued. It might be interesting now to take a look at things that changed (other than the previously well-discussed rollbar/canopy revisions) as the production cars came out. (This topic was sparked by Tim, thanks)
1. Bat Ray Trim Striping
Well this is one aspect of the prototype that we all naturally expected to get carried through to production but for whatever reasons - it wasn’t. What first seemed like an error of omission has since bloomed into an obviously economics-based intentional gaffe. They had too long to fix the paint apps and too many people have been complaining for 6 months for this to be acccidental.
2. Barris & Ford Badges When HW laser-scanned the car, they brought along many placards and badges. These seem to indicate that both the Barris shield and the Ford oval badge that lingered on the #1 car as a reminder of Barris’ Ford sponsorship was intended to be part of the final product at one time. Maybe HW was trying to get Ford to pay for some of the tool-ups and the deal never got inked. Either way - they are both gone by the time we got the toys. It has been indicated elsewhere that Barris was only paid a consulting fee for this project. Maybe they tried to sell him ad space as well.
3. Bat Radar This just looks like a proto-mockup that they would eventually replace with either the plastic piece on the Standard or the photoetch piece on the Elites.
4. Rear Antenna Not a big thing but the prototype’s was taller and more accurate looking than any version that we got. Amazing because a guitar string looks better than any of their versions.
5. Non-Rader Wheel Rims This is pretty interesting because it shows that originally the rims were much closer to the ones on Barris’ car NOW (which are not Raders). One of the few times they seemed to skew toward 1966 versus the current condition of the car. (Though the new ones seem to be tri-ridge as opposed to just center ridge)
Are there more differences that we can’t see from this shot? Are there ones that YOU see and we missed? Let us know.
So aside from shooting the video and posting pics of the new Super Elite many people have been asking me for my actual opinions about it. My feelings. Give us the buzz, El Scootero - Is it worth the money? Is it nice? etc. So here we go:
1. Which upgrades are cool? The rocket tubes being now hollow and metal and sporting Corgi-esque missiles are pretty cool. The chrome flange/trim rings are nice, even if they’re not ‘66 accurate. The chrome metal exhaust ring trim is nice. The photo etched metal running boards are nice. The painted dash details are okay. The aluminum display base is sleek and well-executed.
2. Which upgrades are bogus? The pleather (or leather, who cares) parachute packs while sounding like a neat idea if they could be carried off successfully, sadly weren’t. they’re puffy and cartoonish and inaccurate to boot. The braided turbine engine hosing is way out of scale, if there’s such a thing for a fictitious engine. Though they seem to have channeled the Chrysler turbine engine a bit so you never know. But the chrome plating and blue/red couplings just look kind of dumb. The metal beacon cage would have been nice but even if you forgive them for it being the current incarnation of the beacon, they left off the ribbing that was present on the earlier editions and so they lost any points they might have had. The metal rear antenna and plastic base are ludicrous.
3. So is it any good? Sure it is. It’s beautiful. If this were the only release HW had given us and charged us this amount for it we’d be pretty happy. Even though it’s expensive, we’ve all paid big money for resin versions and GADM replicas before so we’re used to high-ticket batmobiles. The problem comes in when they show us what they can do for $39 and then offer THIS for $279.00. There’s just not enough upgrade. The lack of lights, sound, or what would have made everyone happier - ACCURATE 1966 DETAILING, gives us nothing to justify the upcharge. If you take the Elite version’s pricing at $79 which didn’t seem too bad for all the upgrades it offered, then lets add $25 (to be generous) for the aluminum base, and roughly $25 (again being generous) for the metal upgrades and $6 for the soft goods (parachutes) then we’re looking at roughly a $139 collectible that’s being retailed at $279. That’s just outright offensive.
Not to mention that you could make the argument that the few upgrades I mentioned as being cool above should have and certainly could have showed up on the Elite version for an extra $12 and made everyone happier then.
Credit where it’s due - Hot Wheels pulled off what nobody else has been able to do (well, actually, DC just did too) Let’s face it - HW did a pretty good job of capturing the car in its current state. It’s not their fault that none of us wanted those details. Or IS it?
2. Yes it is, sadly. Hot Wheels is a mega corporation and it’s negligent at best to not have done the bare minimum amount of market research required to fully optimize a major licensing expenditure such as this. There is more information about getting this model correct available online at a click of a mouse than just about any car in history. Not putting Andy Garringer, John Haig, Eric Seltzer, Mike Stutelberg, or Jim Apitz (or any combination of them) on as executive consultants on this project was misguided. My guess is that they would have done it for free. Instead they went with the king of the bullshitters who either sold them that this was the way the car was in 1966 (which means they’re idiots) or convinced them that the model should reflect the current condition of the car. Either answer is patently unforgivable, just from a marketing standpoint alone.
They all but ignored fan input all along. They kept pre-release info to themselves, showed no specs or catalog detailing at any point and didn’t exhibit any of what has become Retail 101 for the web 2.0 world - Transparency. User driven interaction gains you market share. Look at what the Star Trek or Irwin Allen communities have done for their collectibles market just by embracing the huge droves of geeks that actually shell out the cash to buy this stuff. (not dissing your target base - who’da thunk it?) Mattel’s old school cloak and dagger ”if you make it, they will come” smirking attitude may work on their 50+ year old 1:64 scale scalpers that scour the world for “accidental” blister card variations - but it ain’t playing in Gotham City!
So if I tell everyone to stick with the $39 Standard and spend the rest of your money here at PMB! buying parts to trick it out it will seem self-serving. And not everyone is a modeler or has any interest in tricking out a diecast car. So instead let me offer what I am planning to do. For completists or HW Super Elite collectors or speculators or aluminum display base fans - knock yourself out with the Super Elite. For my money, I’m sticking with the Elite model because I like the opening hood and trunk (even though I hate the engine) and as-is, it’s the best value for the money. I’ll most likely trick one out completely 1st season and keep one in the box because it’s cool.
Hope that covers my opinions on the 3 versions. Please send any questions or comments here or the message board.
The eagle has landed. (28 minutes early I might add)
Just shot the video opening the box. I am resetting the timer for first look video tonight. Should have video edited and be hosting our first online panel chat on the PMB! mesage board Bat Chat tonight by Midnight EDT give or take. (If I get hit by a bus - you’ll all have to wait and get your own)
Cryptic Highlights:
1. More metal.
2. Unexpected texture.
3. Are you KIDDING me?
4. Really?!
And for all the speculators out there that have been wondering how they managed to fit that new multi-piece aluminum base that showed up on the retailers sale-sheet into the box, or if that was just a dealer display - one word -INGENIOUS.
Thanks to our amazing insider contact at Replicarz.com, we are excited to share this first look at the new Super Elite Batmobile model. We also received a factory listed breakdown of all the changes and detail upgrades we can expect to see and they are listed below. I will say that at this first glance - it looks like Hot Wheels has been paying attention to some of our ramblings! There are 25 MORE metal parts listed than on the Elite version! 35 Photo Etched parts total. Looks very promising!
New sturdier, upscale box.
For those of you who’ve been hankering for a great display option - how about custom cut/bent aircraft aluminum!
Steel braided wiring and we can see they’ve painted the dash upgrades.
Many of you that ordered Elites from Replicarz now realize what a great dealer they are for diecast cars and especially the HW Batmobiles. I’ve been authorized to tell you that they still have Super Elites available for pre-orders but the quantities are limited. So if you’re interested in these - you’ve seen how some of the other diecast sealers have performed with the Elites (not so great) I would personally recommend going with Replicarz on these. Tell them you saw them on PMB!
List of new upgraded parts. (NOTE: As with the Elite, this is not definitive until it’s actually in HAND. But these are directly from Mattel documentation, NOT insider heresay or speculation)
- There is NO mention of lights/sound or any electronic features of any kind.
- Closed box with opening lid (as opposed to a window box)
- There is NO change listed for the body material (so probably still plastic bottom)
- Formed aluminum display base
- Black bat buckles
- Metal exhaust “collar”
- Metal exhaust “ring”
- Metal parachute cable
- Metal Siren Lighting Cover
- Metal speaker grilles
- Metal Door sill plates
- Metal rear antenna
- Metal window frames
- Metal door handles
- Painted red rockets in tubes
- PE enine plates in jet engine
- Braided steel fuel lines
- Red and blue hose fittings
- A pair of SU softgoods parachutes
- Painted batlever on dash*
- Added painted buttons on dash*
- Painted PVC seats*
(Note- these last three items were NOT on the Elite’s list of features either as painted or unpainted, bringing up the questions - were they stuck on there last minute because they’re now using common dash parts? And are these “PVC” seats a new softer ddition or just the same as the removable ones on the Elite?)
- Hsg for top red siren?
(Note- I don’t know what this item indicates. If anyone else wants to take a crack at what Hsg means - let me know. Handsignal? Hysterosalpingogram? Henry Strongin Goldberg? I don’t know if it’s a type of light or what.
No chrome listed but neither is it listed on the other models so there could still be more coming as well.
Initial builds and brush-ups by TPM Customs, this first batch awaits some bat decals and final detailing and out they go. Just wanted to update some of you patient pre-orderers. I know it’s been a while, but we ARE showing progress.
For those of you who are into variations in toy releases, or who have wondered what I’ve been going on about recently - here is finally a closer look at the difference between the Dealer Sample Elites that came out weeks ago (the one that I featured in our first video look at the Elite) and the regular production Elite. Originally I thought these were just random advanced details from the Super Elite sneaking onto a few production Elites but it looks as though the few dealer sample versions actually are lacking some of the production details.
Here is the original dealer sample Elite that I received from Replicarz.com. Note the mostly barren driver’s side dash. And the smaller detectoscope.
Now here (below) is the current, regular production Elite. Note the new additions: Above compass lights array, Bat-Ram lever, 2 pushbuttons, the larger button. And the detectoscope has had a scalloped base added below it and the inset panel is up closer to the outer ring. Also note that the rollbar antlers are no longer made from the soft flexible rubbery material of the standard version but are a rigid plastic now.
I like the bat-ram lever, the 2 pushbuttons and the compass array lights but the detectoscope is still too small and the configuration with the buttons is all wrong. And we can only assume that maybe they’ll all be painted in the Super E. version? To date, for me, the single best upgrade that Hot Wheels has achieved is the smaller batphone.
So what’s remarkable or at least interesting is that - like with the older Corgi variations - there are some Elites out there that are slightly, but signifigantly different than the others. These aren’t just stuck on pieces, some of them are molded into the dash now. So the dealer sampler being a hybrid of sorts has to be Preeeeety rare. There were only rumored to be a handful when they came out (I only knew of 3) So do I have a unique one? I don’t think so. I think there were probably a few more that might have shared this lack of details, but we never heard much about it.
So anyone else out there got one missing these new Elite dash details? Let us know.
