Holy Constructive Play, Batman! LEGO Unveils Batman Classic TV Series Batcave Set!

To honor the anniversary of Batman's television debut (50 years ago today!) LEGO just announced the Batman Classic TV Series Batcave set #76052 - and WOW what a whopper it is!

Due to be released in March 2016, this set includes NINE classic Batman TV series minifigures, three classic vehicles (including the fan-demanded Barris Batmobile FINALLY) and...well...a price tag of around $270.00. Sigh, looks like it's a couple hundred and sixty dollars out of my price range. Perhaps I should go get me a Powerball ticket after all.

If it's any consolation, I'm sure the bootLEGOers will be releasing all these minifigures for pennies on the dollar. But what I really want is that Batmobile! So while I look up ways to earn a little extra cash before March (anyone looking for an...ahem...escort?) let's drool all over these wonderful toys , shall we?

Fans have wanted an Adam West Batman LEGO minifigure for years, and here it is! A thing of beauty all the way down to those (Bat)man boobs!

And speaking of man boo...I mean Adam West...

Adam West Bruce Wayne is also part of the set!

Riddle me this: What are Bruce and Dick without Alfred, other than a couple completely heterosexual men hanging around in the basement wearing tights?

Answer: Without Alfred they are a couple completely heterosexual men hanging around in the basement wearing tights WITHOUT ANYONE TO MAKE THEM THEIR LUNCH, that's what!

Ahh, and here she is, the most gorgeous vehicle to ever grace asphalt. The LEGO 1966 Barris Batmobile. I want it. I want it BAAAD!

Stately Wayne Manor etc etc.

And the whole LEGO Batcave shebang laid out across my living room floor (I wish!) As I mentioned earlier, you get THREE Batvehicles: The Batcopter, Batmobile and Batcycle! I also love all those cool Batcomputer components. I wonder if they will all be neatly labeled as Batman is wont to do.

The LEGO Batcave entrance. The Batpoles are labeled! I also love the LEGO Shakespeare bust and of course the red Batphone is there too. 'It's for you, sir.'

What a wonderful LEGO Batcopter! As you can see, Robin (and presumably Batman too) has a second expression as well. Groovy!

The Atomic whatchamadoohickey. In LEGO form.

Looks like the Batpoles have a little spinny action. To the Bat-dramamine!

LEGO Burgess Merideth Penguin. WAH WAH WAH! Too bad it isn't kosher these days for him to have his cigarette holder.

LEGO Burt Ward Dick Grayson minifigure and of course...

...a LEGO Burt Ward Robin too! He looks great!

LEGO Cesar Romero Joker (with mustache!) Gorgeous!

LEGO Frank Gorshin Riddler - I hope the other side of his face is unmasked!

And last but not least, LEGO Julie Newmar (or is it Lee Meriwether?) Catwoman!

WHAT?!?! No Batgirl? Or Eartha Kitt Catwoman?!?! Or False Face, or Shame, or Egghead, or King Tut?!?!?!

Well, maybe their absence bodes well for more sets...but I wouldn't hold my breath. Regardless, this LEGO Batman Classic TV Series Batcave is a true thing of beauty and I am going to go sell some blood or something so I can own it.

1966 Batmobile Kiddie Ride

I recently spotted this 1966 Batmobile coin operated Kiddie Ride outside a K-Mart in Salinas, California. I am pretty sure this is the same machine I spotted a couple years ago outside a K-Mart in Watsonville California. What is it about K-Marts and these silly coin-op kiddie rides? They seem to go together like, well, K-Mart and aisles that look like they were hit by a tornado. But K-Marts have always had these kiddie rides in front of them for as long as I can remember - ever since I was a wee lad riding on them myself.

Anyways, I don't make it to either K-Mart location very often, but when I saw this Batmobile ride in Watsonville I had hoped I could get my intern over to ride on it. Sadly by the time I got back that way again it was gone.

Now it's in Salinas, and again I did not have my intern with me. I did however have a camera.

I also lucked out, because while I was getting ready to take the pictures a couple with a baby stopped at it and plunked in the fifty cents so junior could take it for a spin. I was nearly as excited as the kid (ok, I was more excited) when I discovered that when the ride kicks in it also plays the Batman TV theme song!

Holy two-bits, Batman!

I want this thing in my living room.

2014 San Diego Comic Con :: Toys!

We don't call this blog 'Toyriffic' because we're into high-dollar sneakers, people!

Around here we love TOYS! And San Diego Comic Con was chock full of reveals and displays and toys toys toys!

Ironically, I came away from the con having only purchased one single O.M.F.G. minifigure for myself. No toys this trip, I focused my own limited purchases on comic books and art. Crazy, I know!

But enough about that - let's look at some toys, shall we?

Mattel had the Yvonne Craig 1966 Batman TV Series Batgirl on display, and in true Mattel fashion it will apparently be available in a 3-pack which includes figures you already own (Batman and the Joker if I recall correctly.) Seriously Mattel? Seriously? To get the most sought after character in all the 66 television show series I have to spend fifty bucks and get figures that Amazon couldn't get rid of at five dollars each just last fall? Sigh. You can tell it's Mattel!

The Yvonne Craig Batgirl action figure looks great though.

A huge display of Batman Automobilia Batmobiles. I love them all!

The Batman Unlimited display. Man-Bat looks awesome (expect him to be available in a twenty pack that includes neon Batman because MATTEL!)

Also Batman with a shark. If not for the '66 tv show that would be the most ridiculous thing ever. 

More Batman Unlimited action figures. Now with transforming vehicles!

DC Multiverse Arkham Knight Harley Quinn action figure. I need this. I do not need to buy a fifty-pack, so HOPEFULLY Mattel releases this as a single figure. I won't hold my breath.

More DC Multiverse action figures. All Arkham video game designs.

Giant Mecha-Batman at the Funko booth!

Fully functional Darth Vader-mobile by Hot Wheels.

Almost life sized '66 Batcycle made entirely out of LEGO bricks. It even had the side-car!

Full sized LEGO Shredder.

Full sized LEGO Spider-Man on a LEGO wall/window.

LEGO!

These things came out of left field and were a complete surprise. Mezco is making 1/12 scale (appx 6") Dark Knight Returns Batman action figures with interchangeable hands/heads etc and cloth costumes. They look GORGEOUS!

I don't know what the price-point on these will be but I need at least one of them!

Beautiful!

I don't remember who makes this MASSIVE Batmobile, maybe Sideshow or Hot Toys? Anyways, it was HUGE and did all the things the Batmobile did in the first two movies.

A shitload of Stormtroopers.

Mattel, never one to let a poor online shopping experience stop them, will soon be selling these oversized He-Man action figures. I think it was a couple feet tall, and there was also a Skeletor on display.

Toynami will soon release an updated version of the classic Shogun Warriors Godzilla! This is exciting, but probably also too expensive for my tastes.

Other modern Shogun Warriors were also on display at the Toynami booth.

Well, that's it for the toys I was able to get good photos of. Barely a fraction of all that was there on display at SDCC, but these are the things that really caught my attention.

Random Toy Pic :: Caesar Romero as The Joker

I received this Caesar Romero Joker action figure for Christmas from my intern (who helped her mommy pick it out online.) This is The Joker from the Batman Classic TV Series action figure line by Mattel. He looks wonderful in person, the likeness to Caesar Romero is pretty spot-on.

I was telling my wife how my first encounter with The Joker in any media was Caesar Romero's version from the television series and thus, until I got deeply into Batman comics in my 'tweens, I assumed The Joker was a guy in face-paint and hair dye, not a perma-white victim of chemical exposure. Therefore Heath Ledger's Joker in The Dark Knight seemed perfectly natural to me, harkening back to my original conception of the character.

I'm glad I now own this figure. So far I have him and my Surfin' Batman, and one other from this line which I will reveal soon! And I am anxiously awaiting an Yvonne Craig Batgirl too!

Catwoman Purrrsday :: TV Inspired Catwoman Costume :: Countdown to Halloween 2013

One of the best things to come out of the recent licensing of all things Batman sixties TV show (besides a surfing Batman action figure) is all the great TV show inspired Halloween costumes!

Here's the Catwoman one, which looks pretty keen:

Other available costumes include Batgirl, Batman himself, and of course Robin.

Image found at CostumeCraze.com

Surf's Up, Batman!

Of all the Batman Classic TV Series action figures released thus far, the only one that made me shoot my curl is 'Surf's Up Batman.' Holy H2O this guy is just too much fun!

I live in Santa Cruz, and while surfing is a way of life here I have yet to partake. I'll stick to surfing the sidewalks personally. But there's just no way I could pass up this surfing Batman action figure! All the corny campy good clean fun of the 1966 TV series is contained in this one figure: Batman in board shorts with a massive yellow Bat-Board? What's not to love?!

I was surprised at the quality of the figure when I opened him up. I still have PTSD from Mattel's shoddy quality control in it's DCUC toyline, so I tend to expect the worst when I open a new action figure from them.

However Batman's joints all function properly and snugly and although I posed him over three times he has yet to disintegrate! He's well designed visually and although he seems a bit scrawny even for Adam West, I may actually be willing to pick up the regular Batman and maybe another figure or two from this line (if it continues.) I hold out hope that we get a Batgirl at least!

Batman's Bat-Board is great - it's well proportioned to Batman and even has a fin! That's a detail I assumed they would have left off (since it is the bottom of the board) so I am glad to see it.

Batman's face and cowl sculpt are really good representations of Adam West and his television cowl. There's enough detail here to prevent this action figure from coming across as too cartoony. The cowl, gloves and boots have a sparkly quality to them that gives them a nice shiny vinyl look. Batman also has a cloth cape which I always prefer and makes a lot of sense for this iteration of Batman.

And while the board could have been considered the base for this figure, Mattel has included an actual base as well. Nice if you plan on displaying Batman holding his surfboard. A card was also included, depicting a painting of Batman and Joker surfing reminiscent of the old Batman Topps card collection of the sixties. Unfortunately the card art is horizontal while the card only fits in the base vertically. The back of the card does show part of the Batmobile in the batcave and it fits vertically, so I assume you can line up all your figures and they make a nice panorama. But if you are cherry-picking the line it's useless as a viable display, but still a neat pic of Batman surfing (and the world needs more of those for sure!)

I'm happy with the quality of this figure now that I have him in hand. While he was the only one I 'needed', I may give other figures in this line a second look knowing this one turned out so well. I do hope to see a surfing Joker in the future, which I believe Mattel teased at a toy convention or SDCC or something. Let's hope the line survives long enough to see it on shelves!