Archive for April, 2009

Our thanks to everyone who participated in the Super Elite Batmobile Giveaway. The lucky recipient of the Big Bat Package of Fun described below from PMB and Replicarz is: (drumroll please…)

Brian Jones from Sycamore, Illinois!

Congratulations Brian!

Brian has been contacted and says he never wins anything and is very excited.

As an added surprise bonus – You’re ALL Winners!  That’s right, we have decided to award a $5 coupon to anyone who entered the giveaway good toward any purchase over $60.00 at PMB! (good toward any new $60.00 or more purchase from this date forward, not an older purchase or preorder that hasn’t been shipped yet) If you are in this category (and yes, we have the list) and are buying something in the future – just let us know so we can apply your coupon. Or just wait until we send a real coupon code out later.

Thanks again for participating. We are working on preorder items and should be updating this page with parts info soon.

_____________________________________________________________________________________Our great  friends at REPLICARZ have made it possible for us to give away a FANTASTIC set of Batmobile goodies worth over $400.00 that some lucky person will be thrilled to get. Here’s the rundown:

• 1 Hot Wheels 1/18 Super Elite Batmobile, MIB! Graciously supplied by REPLICARZ!
• 1 Hot Wheels SDCC Edition 1/50 Batgirl Cycle gift set MIB
• 1 Hot Wheels 1/50 Batboat MOC
• 1 PMB! 1/18 Crimefighter Figure Set (unpainted)
• 1 PMB! T-shirt (sizes are limited)

How it works. This NOT a raffle or a sweepstakes. We are giving these items away completely free. However, we will be picking numbers from our new database. We will collect names to draw, (completely at random based on a numbered system and a true random draw) and pick a recipient on April 15th.

• This isn’t a raffle or sweepstakes, technically no purchase is necessary.
• Shipping of the items will be free to all continental US states. If an international  donor is drawn, you will need to pay the actual shipping costs.
• We will close the list on April 15th at which time we will then pick the recipient and announce on April 16th.

Well, looks like Round 2 has done what Polar Lights could not – namely re-releasing the Batmobile model. For those that don’t know or remember – Since many of the original patterns and sculpts for many classic models have been lost or sold or destroyed over the years, Polar Lights (another name for the AURORA Borealis, get it?) had the bright idea of gathering up some really pristine examples of some of the great kits of yesteryear and use them to make new steel molds. I know this because they bought my original Aurora Batcycle when they were scarfing stuff up. They put out the Batboat and the Batcycle and several comic-inspired vehicles. This was not a small or inexpensive undertaking and it, among other things, drove the company out of business.

I knew they had the original Batmobile molded up years ago. Mike Stutelberg, a friend of mine who designed other PL bat-kits and was part of the line’s creative team told me loads of stories from this company during this time period. Many very interesting ones. Seveal test molds (often in white styrene) have been sold over the years on eBay pretending to be “original Aurora test shots” but are actually much more recent Polar Lights test shots. PL weren’t able to afford or acquire the license and it all fell through years ago.

But here we are in 2009, a year after a successful Mattel Batmobile revival and apparently Round 2 has been able to pull it off. Looks like the Batmobile model is up for pre-ordering at several retail spots! Now keep in mind it is a recast of the original Aurora 1/32 car so it’s 7″ long, much smaller than the Mattel diecast. And it was a really innaccurate model. But it remains the number one selling model kit in Aurora’s historyand is a bunch of fun. With any luck, Round 2 will maintain the packaging like PL did and it will be a welcome addition that we can pimp as soon as possible.