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Mattel had a couple Hot Wheels exclusives at San Diego Comic-Con this year, and the most anticipated was a two pack of the Batman’s signature vehicles from last year’s Dark Knight film. The Dark Knight Bat-Pod & Batmobile set commemorates one of the most action-packed scenes from that movie, the conclusion of the Joker’s vicious attack on Batman through Gotham’s subterranean city streets. When the Batmobile is dealt terrible damage, Batman unleashes an all-new vehicle within, the motorcycle-like Bat-Pod!
For such a special release, the people at Hot Wheels came up with a truly unique package. Roughly shaped like a pie slice, the purple and black box widens toward a window flanked by the Dark Knight logo, an image of Batman and the name of the set. The top of the box has two jagged “holes” (plastic windows) giving you two more peeks at the contents. The “back” of the box has images of the two vehicles and detailed descriptions of each. Here you can learn about the Tumbler’s origin and all the cool things the Bat-Pod can do.
Open the wide end of the box and slide out the inner packaging. Essentially a diorama, this tray captures the pivotal moment in the film. The walls are decorated with images of Gotham city. On the floor, the Batmobile is elevated in the back atop a pile of rubble. In the front, Batman on the Bat-Pod rockets forward to continue his battle against the evil Joker! Both vehicles are attached by plastic bands through the bottom of the packaging, and can be placed back in the setting even after they’re removed.
Hot Wheels has made a couple of versions of this Batmobile before in several scales, but this one has some great details making it specific to the Dark Knight. In the standard Hot Wheels 1/50th scale the Batmobile is large and beefy at 3 ½ inches long and 2 inches wide. With some die-cast components, the Batmobile is also quite heavy. The “Tumbler” as it was originally known looks pretty much like the all-wheel drive version of a stealth fighter jet. It’s covered in irregular plates and planes, with multiple windows and angular vanes over the rear tires. Those tires are enormous, and two on each side flank a huge jet engine. The tires on the front of the Batmobile are much smaller and mounted on forward pylons (similar to those on the Spinner from Blade Runner).
The Batmobile has a very good sculpt. Previous versions of the vehicle have recreated the angular plates only, but this one has tons of sculpted detail on the irregular surfaces and numerous mechanical details. There are tons of different sections and elevations divided by deep lines, as well as connection parts on the front pylons and rear tire guards, circular vents on the doors, and tons of grooves on the rear vanes. The tires themselves are deeply treaded with deep rims on the rears and mechanical details on the outside of the fronts.
As is the case with most of Batman’s gear, the Batmobile is almost entirely jet black. Hot Wheels has used a very nice matte black on this vehicle, which nicely offsets the reflective windows. There are numerous painted details on the Batmobile in silver and bronze, with the former on the “connectors” and lights, and the latter appearing in significant quantity on the wheels. The rear jet section is silver with a ring of bronze around the exhaust. The wheels on the Batmobile spin very well, though as the package says, it is “not for use with Hot Wheels sets” (it’s too big to fit).
When the Batmobile is wrecked beyond repair, it undergoes a transformation and ejection of sorts. The front left section opens up and out rockets the Dark Knight on his Bat-Pod. Startling at first, the ‘Pod takes some getting used to. The box describes it as a “motorcycle-ATV hybrid... fitted for ultimate protection with grappling hooks, cannons and machine guns.” It looks like a bare-bones motorcycle with giant (Tumbler) wheels and huge gun clusters on the front. This exclusive Hot Wheels version even comes with a miniature Batman figure astride the vehicle, taking out the trash of Gotham City. The Bat-Pod is 4 inches long and 1 1/3 inches wide, making it quite large. I’m not quite sure why the box says both vehicles are 1/50th scale when the Bat-Pod is longer than the Batmobile, but they’re both cool so it doesn’t really matter. Like the Batmobile, the Bat-Pod has easily spinning wheels and can really zoom around!
The Bat-Pod is composed of three main segments. The main body on top of which Batman rides is basically an engine with brackets leading to the wheels. This part is very well sculpted with lots of machinery detail, and the weapon pods at the front have lots of character down to the ridges on the grappling hooks. The brackets lead to the oversized wheels that have a tread pattern similar to that on the Batmobile’s front wheels. Finally, there’s Batman himself. He is fixed in a riding pose and has no articulation, but he looks great on the Bat-Pod. His Batsuit is intricately sculpted with armor plates and musculature, and he attaches firmly via open fists around the controls and feet on pedals.
The Bat-Pod’s colors are also divided by segment. The central engine section is a flat metallic gray, while the frame that holds Batman’s legs and the wheels are black. The weapon pods at the front are mostly metallic tan with accents in black, silver, and gray. These colors are repeated on the Bat-Pod’s control surfaces, where there are also tiny dots (some sort of buttons or readouts) in green and red. Batman himself is of course primarily black, with a gold utility belt, white eyes, and flesh-colored lower face.
These vehicles are very accurate miniature representations of what you saw in the Dark Knight. With significant die-cast metal content and great sculpts and decos, the Batmobile and Bat-Pod are great additions to any Batman or superhero vehicle collection. Even better, they come in a very cool package that can be re-used to create the critical scene from the film. Couldn’t pick up your set at Comic-Con this year? Don’t worry; the Hot Wheel Collector site (www.hotwheelscollectors.com) will have a few more available this week only!
For more images of these exclusive vehicles, CLICK HERE!
Words by Scott Rubin
Pictures by Michael Klein
Review Samples Courtesy of Mattel