9 Batmobiles And More!

I like Batmobiles.   If you do too, read on.

Hot Wheels and ERTL have done fans of HO and the Batmobile the great favor of making quite a few that are very close to 1:87.   Below are 9 Batmobiles and a couple other Batman-themed vehicles.

Starting out with the least impressive examples from Hot Wheels...

Dark Knight Batmobile (Tumbler)

A bit small. Racing wheels in the front, chunky detail and other changes from the source material are unfortunate but with a coat of black paint I could maybe see this perched on top of a building.

Batmobile (The Brave and The Bold)

A bit closer to HO scale though the dual windows suggest that it may still be a bit small .  However, I like this one more than I thought I would. an interesting fusion of several notable Batmobiles. Nice mix of modern and vintage cartoony.

Arkam Asylum Batmobile
Despite being one of the smallest vehicles, the chunky dimensions and cockpit size make this one look very close to HO.  Not my favorite Batmobile but it's not bad for a modern-hot-rodded style and the popularity of the Arkam Asylum video games will make for alot of recognition from the youngsters if you put it on your layout.

Justice League Batmobile

Not only is it much too small for HO scale but IMHO this is by far the worst looking Batmobile.  Appropriately so since the design originated in "Batman Vs Superman" one of the worst Batman films.

"Batmobile"
Here's a recently released Batmobile that seems not to be based on any particular media.  Not a bad vehicle though if you want a more sci-fi Batmobile and the size is very good.

Now for the Good Stuff!!!

Batmobile (1989)
Looks spot on for scale. The '89 movie Batmobile is enormous.  My second favorite Batmobile as the Keaton 1989 was my first movie Batman. 


Batman: The Animated Series Batmobile !!!!

My favorite of the Batmobiles.   BTAS was my first introduction to Batman, and -unlike much of the 90's- it still holds up today.  In my opinion the minimalist Streamline-Moderne design of the show is iconic. 

A bit small (though it's from a cartoon so who knows) but it looks nice next to HO vehicles. I may blackout the wheels. 

Hot Wheels '89 Movie and Animated Series Batmobiles. Only separated by 3 years but quite a difference!  One of these will likely be on the layout often.

1966 TV Series Batmobile
Here's the Batmobile for everyone who remembers when Blue (and Yellow) Boxes were state-of-the-art.  Yeah, it's a bit too big, but it sure looks pretty.

Surprisingly these only cover about half of the Batmobiles made by Hot Wheels. You can see more of them here: hotwheels.wikia.com/wiki/Batmobile

ERTL

Over the years ERTL has made several series' of Batman themed vehicles and not just Batmobiles.  Just a couple examples. 

Recently found NIB at a local resale shop, here's the 90's Batman the Animated Series "Gotham City Police Chopper".  Sure it's low on detail (just like the source material) and aeronautically impossible (no tail rotor) but it's a great piece of minimalist streamline fantasy and I absolutely love it. 

Size is just about perfect too. This will make periodic appearances on my layout.

Here's a shot of the blister pack back showing the rest of the series. 

The Batmobile, BatBoat, Helicopter and possibly Bruce Wayne's car are probably the only one's near HO scale.

Here's the comparison between the Hot Wheels and ERTL '89 movie Batmobile. I can't find the loose ERTL example I gave to my son and I want to keep this in the package for now. Suffice to say they're very similar with the Hot Wheels being a bit compressed in length and the ERTL larger and more accurately proportioned.


This is the ERTL 2-Face's Armored Car from "Batman Forever". Terrible Movie but I really like this vehicle. Size is good for a baddie's truck and it could work for a variety of bad guys. 



ERTL Armored Car and Hot Wheels '89

I hope you enjoyed this Die-Cast trip down Batman memory lane.  Somewhere I have a couple more and if they make an appearance I'll share them as well.

Be well,

Karl

PS This will be the first of ALOT of multi-vehicle scale comparisons.  Before this blog I did comparison pictures of dozens of near-HO Hot Wheels and Matchbox for a forum I used to belong too.  I've saved those pictures and will be posting them here with additional comments and links.