Review – Batman Hot Wheels 1940s Batmobile
If we’re lucky Mattel’s series of Hot Wheels Batmobile toys will keep going for a very long time. They’ve produced many cars over the years (I really should post a list of all of the Batmobile toys I’ve reviewed since 2008), and today we’re taking a look at the 1940s Batmobile which was inspired by the old serials of the forties.
A Plastic Fin and Batram
The car’s body is metal, but unfortunately the black plastic fin and “batram” on the front of the car don’t blend all that well with the shiny metal body. I can understand why Mattel didn’t use metal for the fin and ram, but the blend of plastic and metal here simply doesn’t work and seriously detracts from the look of the Batmobile. It doesn’t ruin the toy, but it makes it one of the less cool cars in the series . . . which kinda sucks since the design is so very fun and different from most of the other Batmobiles.
As Always, Great Paint
Mattel knows the Hot Wheels brand is very important to their business and they often do wonderful work with the paint apps on the cars. Well, this 1940s Batmobile continues the tradition of clean, excellent paintwork and even with minimal apps Mattel doesn’t seem to have cut any corners or shaved the quality of the paint. And the color combo — black, red, and silver — looks gorgeous!
So Many Batmobiles
I can remember, as a kid during the late seventies, wanting a Batmobile toy car. I was watching the old Batman TV show just about every day and nothing would have made me happier than getting a Batmobile toy . . . except for when my parents surprised me with a rideable Batcycle for my birthday. Looking at the pics in threads at the Mego Museum forum and Batman YTB forum sure reminds me of how much I loved that riding toy . . . damn. Memory rush and now I forget my point.
Closing Thoughts
This may be the weakest of the Batmobile toys in my collection and might just be the only one I ever suggest skipping. The design is great, but that plastic and metal parts blend really doesn’t work all that well. Even at a distance I can kinda tell the two materials are different because the blacks just aren’t a great match. At least there are many, many other Hot Wheels Batmobile toys that are awesome.
See, this is one of my favorite batmobiles. I think it looks great! I would only recommend passing on this if you’re not a fan of this version.
@Matthew M – The design is great. I just don’t like how the plastic and metal are so different in appearance.
I picked this one up a while back to use as a vehicle for Heroclix (it was on clearance for about $2, so it was impossible to pass up). That lighter-blue model though (bottom pic, second from right), been looking for that for a while. That’s the one from the Superfriends, yes?
@Jay – Right, that’s the Super Friends Batmobile. I reviewed this one a while back:
https://www.battlegrip.com/?p=24095
I can’t help but like it, because it was one of my most wanted batmobiles in the 1:50 line, but I was disappointed in the plastic fin and ram. Not only that, but it seems a bit undersized, but that could just be a mistaken impression on my part.
I hope we keep getting 1:50 scale batmobiles. They really, really need to re-release the 1989 batmobile (without battle damage in a box set), and we need a Batman Brave and the Bold version too!
This is a re-release of a model that corgi put out a few years back. The paint on the corgi model is spotless and the tail-fin and bat head front end blend much better. As a matter of fact there is even a larger scale one as well that is glorious…
@clark – I’m assuming these Batman Hot Wheels cars are selling fairly well since Mattel keeps producing them. But I agree: I hope these keep coming out!
@fel9 – Shhhh. Don’t go telling me about other Batmobile toys . . .
@fel9 – I knew that corgi had produced one, but I thought this was an original mold to Mattel. Did they purchase corgi?
@clark – This page — http://www.corgi-toys.com/history.html — says Corgi was owned by Mattel for a little while. That page is a decade out of date so more may have happened since then.