Pimp My Batmobile!

This past weekend was an amazing opportunity to meet so many of the people we’ve only known online for so long. Many regulars from The 1966 Batman Message Board all met up at the Screaming Tiki Con in Niles Ohio to swap stories, wear costumes, compare utility belts,  get Batcopter rides and much, much more.

Tim and I set up our PMB! booth and revealed several surprises that had not been seen in person before. We will be showing photos and some more exciting video very soon. Here’s our 2nd video of Shout-Outs from an amazingly generous and gracious bunch of folks. My thanks to everyone who stopped by and got on video for us, especially Scott and Vickie Sebring and Alex who did some cool stuff we’ll show very soon.

Well, kind of…

Peter Smith from Screaming Tiki Con just announced that Mattel/Hot Wheels are going to be at Tiki Con next week (wow, next week) and as you may already know - PMB! is going to be there too.  So maybe we’ll get to ask them some questions about some of their batmobile decisions… Hmm.  We don;t know what they’ll be doing there but we heard they might be selling Batgirl Cycle 3-packs.  Our educated guess is that since Yvonne is going to be there - they’ll have some signed boxed sets for sale.

Anyway - just a reminder that we will be there as well. Tim Meyer from “TPM Customs” and Tara Taylor from “T-Wear”  and I will be at the show. And we expect to have some surprises (hopefully) but I want to dispel any rumors here and now:

1. We will not be showing/selling the completed new upgrade parts sets. We will be showing some of the new parts, but we are waiting for some parts to come in from a few more vendors still.

2.  We probably won’t have a complete fully-modded Batmobile on hand. Sorry. We’ve been too busy lately.

Hopefully the stuff we DO bring will suffice for a little while. Oh did I mention we’ll be giving away some cool stuff each day of the show?

Hope to see you there. Niles Ohio, October 17/18/19 Click on the sidebar image to find out more about the con.

-S

Just wanted to announce that we are now a community of 500 strong Batmobile collectors/modelers/enthusiasts! Now, that doesn’t mean we only have 500 viewers. We have thousands upon thousands of viewers to this blog, the forum etc. But as far as registered, card-carrying users go - we just turned 500 last night. I know this because I had to go on to our rolls to try to see if someone was there. This brought me to a point I’ve been lax in discussing - that of the log-in issues to the Products Page. So here is a quick FAQ to hopefully deal with all this. I’ve posted this info elsewhere before but the problem is that people just expect stuff to instantly work in this web 2.5 world and I am right there with you on that. However - we have some valid reasons for what we do and once you complete everything correctly - you can set it and forget it, so bear with us. Here are the facts, jack:

1.
Q. “What’s the difference between the ‘Products Page’ and the ‘Custom Shop’?”
A.  There is no difference! It’s just two ways to refer to the same section.

2.
Q. “I got my username and password but I still can’t get into the products page. What’s up? Help!”
A.  You missed the little memo on the security pop up that told you you’d be getting a first set of UN/PW for The Site and a second set of UN/PW a little later for the Products Page/Custom Shop.

3.
Q. “Okay, but it’s been an hour and I still haven’t received that second set of info!!?”
A. That’s correct. I actually screen every single registration and send out the second set of UN/PW myself, by hand. that means it might take me a little while to do so. Please hold tight and be patient. I have never gone more than 48 hours without responding.
- Also, please check your spam folders - we have heard that our replies have sometimes gone there.
- Also - sometimes people discard the second email, thinking they’ve already got the log-in info and that it’s a duplicate email. It isn’t. They’re different.

4.
Q. “Okay but that sounds like super overkill. Why do you do it like this?”
A. There are several reasons. To make sure we don’t get spambots flooding us and that everyone is a real person is one. But the main reason is due to some of the sensitive licensing zones that some of our products veer into. As we phase some of the more uh…contentious stuff out and feature all original artwork, that issue may go away.

5.
Q. “Okay, I understand the need for security but then why are there TWO sets of UN/PW’s? That’s a pain!”
A. Well, actually there are THREE.  Don’t forget the forum/message board. The reason for this is that we wanted to go cheap and easy on the message board and shopping cart to keep costs down so we grabbed what was out there instead of custom coding things that take time and money. And so the makers of these things all need you to buy into their systems. So we end up with multiple log-ins. We set up the Message Board log-in so that folks coming from the 1966 Batmobile site wouldn’t have to re-register for another message board. 

6.
Q. “I can log-in to the forums, but I can’t get into the other areas.”
A. Right. There are THREE different log-in scenarios. If you like - set-up the same username and password for all of them. That should help. Also - use autocomplete or have IE remember your passwords so you never have to type them again.

7.
Q. “AaaaarrrggHHH! It’s frustrating!”
A. I know. Sorry. We can spend all our time streamlining and revising the way the site works, or we can work on new modeling ideas, customizing batmobiles, and parts.

Hopefully we’ll be able to fix some of these issues some time in the future when we don’t have as many projects going on and products in development.

-S
    

1. Back From Chicago. We took a quick trip to Chicagoland over Labor Day weekend to meet our future in-laws and take A. to the Legoland Discovery Center (the only one in this country) The lego place was pretty cool, though over-valued for what you got. The Lego stores however were amazing. Imagine being a 7 year old and being allowed to buy replacement Lego parts from bins… Oh yeah, they had this cool thing to pose with:

2. Crimefighter Figures. The second and last batch of finished/painted crimefighter figure sets are going out this week. That’s it for the first gen. figures. We are working on a follow-up set but we don’t expect to have news on them for a little while yet. Our thanks to everyone who’s been patient and supportive through us finding our way with these.

3. Upgrade Parts Set #01. Well the Super Elite came, saw, but sadly didn’t conquer. Not even close. But we said we were waiting and we did. So now the wait is over. We are now moving forward with the first parts upgrade set. Hopefully we’ll have news on ordering and what’s in the final set very, very soon.

4. Products Page Updates. These are coming this weekend. We promise. Other new items and corrected pricing and photos. Sorry but we’ve been BIZZY. If you’re still having problems logging in - read one of the many helpful explanatory articles peppered here and there on this site.

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.

-Scooter

Back from “vacation” though this was one of those trips that pushed the term’s definition a bit. Nice place (Deep Creek Maryland) and some fun but not a ton of relaxation. I did enjoy being initiated to Disc Golf and am now a sore elbow-sporting fan. (don’t call it Frolf) And my sister and her boyfriend just announced their engagement so that was fun too. But now I’m home and dealing with orders and painting and now we are on full-tilt boogie alert to get our act together for our first (and most likely last and only) public appearance at this year’s Screaming Tiki Con!

 I stopped doing cons almost 10 years ago but with the stellar cast from the Batman show coming and this being Yvonne Craig’s ONLY appearance this year,  and the show only being about 1.5 hours away from my home, and with us having a ton of stuff to show, sell, display - We thought - Why not!? It will be a chance to finally put some faces with names that we’ve only talked to online for years. This promises to be the coolest con in the MidWest and certainly will be our ONLY physical appearance for some time. 

We hope to have some really cool items to sell, perhaps some giveaways and definitely several TIKI-ONLY items are in the works if we can get it all done in a few short months. Look here for updates and we hope to see you at the show. Tim Meyer from TPM Customs and I will be manning the booth. Stop by!

Well I had 4 days there with virtually no internet except my new iphone and as cool as it is, I can’t really process orders with it easily. :) So I’ll be getting as many orders out as possible in the next 2 days. If you’re waiting on something that’s not figures - hang tight. Thanks to Tim for helping me get back online and no thanks to Verizon because their international call center truly sucks. Anyway, a brand new computer later (when it was the modem) and huge destruction in my office/studio and we’re semi-back up.

Figures - as mentioned previously, we got in a first small order of figures from the caster and are starting to assemble and paint them for those orders first. The next run is due soon and we will get them all out as soon as they come in.

As we’ve said all along - this was the first time we worked with an outside production company and we won’t make the mistake of taking preorders again. I will refund anyone who is sick of waiting. Otherwise - I have to keep saying hang on, we’re working on them.

I’ll be out of town from 7/20 - 7/27 so nothing will be going out that week.

-S

In response to many requests for a more immediate and interactive exchange of news, ideas, photos, chat etc., we have put up the PMB! Message Board. You can see it in the navigation list on the right under “community”. Because it is a Yuku supported forum, if you are already a member of the 1966 Batmobile Board you won’t have to log-in again on our forum. If you are not already a yuku member, you need to join up before being able to post anything.

Please come over and post questions, photos, tips, etc. as often as you like. We only have a couple forums right now. If we need to - we’ll split them out later. For now - we basically have one for modeling, and one for collecting.

Hope to see you there.

S.

So the official announcement of the 1:50 Batgirl Cycle as the SDCC promo vehicle is now okay to talk about. There may be photos on Friday. Check on the 1966 Batmobile board for more info. Looks like it’s part of a three pack at least at the show, which leads me to believe they might do a mass release of it on a single card. Here’s hoping, anyway.

See, people were moaning amount my hints, but really all you needed was the very first one:

We have a winner! Of the 167 registered users we had as of 6/1 our random number generator selected mnbatman as the recipient of the 1:50 Batmobile and Batcycle set! If you’re out there, mnbatman - give us a shout.

So let’s see what else…The seated figure samples just got here and they look better than we had hoped for. Production starts rolling and we should be shipping those out very soon. Thanks for all your patience.

And we are almost set to start production of the Parts Upgrade set #1 which will include a modified version of the Elite’s newly resized batphone. So some of you wanting to stick to customizing the standard edition can get the only useful part from the Elite version for your mod job. And it will be better. How? Wait and see.