So far I have been successful in resisting the Batman Classic TV Series line of figures. Don’t get me wrong – I grew up on re-runs of the Adam West / Burt Ward series and have a real love for the show. As a kid, I had a small diecast version of the Batmobile, and it was awesome! It had tiny versions of the dynamic duo that could fit in the cockpit – they could fit in the Batboat I had too. The car had a bunch of action features – the front had a chopping blade that popped out, the wheel rims included a bat symbol that came out to pop the tires of bad guy vehicles, the tubes on the trunk actually fired little red missles, and the flames in the exhaust port pulsated when you spun the wheels.
One of the reasons I’ve held out on the new toys is that I couldn’t see having the figures without the Batmobile, which is a Toys R Us exclusive. I’ve come to the realization that in the digital age, toy runs just aren’t as fun, and that’s been my excuse for not staking out the nearest TRUs for the Batmobile. But that’s becoming moot.
For one thing, the Batman and Robin 2-pack is back down to $29 and change on Amazon – there was a time that they had sold through their stock, and 3rd party sellers had bumped the price to nearly $50. On top of that, I found that while it’s not available for shipping, ToysRUs.com can check your local store’s inventory for the Batmobile and hold it for you to pick up. Using it, I can see that the Batmobile is in stock at the two TRUs nearby. At $59 and change, it’s a great deal when you keep the $215 Ghostbusters Ecto-1 in mind. But I’m pretty sure my wife will give me the evil eye if I bring home a 1/12 scale Batmobile. Someone, anyone, please talk me down off the toy buying ledge!
Thanks for the ToysRUs Batmobile inventory tip. I was able to find some at a local Orlando area store. I picked one up but there were three more on the shelves (they must have just come in).
Hey Ron, the point may be moot, because I checked the TRU website, and it said a store that’s about 25 minutes from me had the Batmobile in stock. So, I took a chance and cruised over there. They had 3 Batman & Robin 2-packs on the shelf, but not even one single Batmobile. I went to the front desk and asked if they had them in stock, and they said yes, we’re showing 4 on the floor right now. I found a stock person and asked if he’d seen them, and he said he put them out this morning and they were gone within minutes. It was 2:00 PM at the time. I said, “If they’ve all been gone since this morning, then why is it still showing up that they are in stock?” He said it sometimes takes a while for it register with the system. Which sounds really dumb since the whole system is computerized. But I left the store without the damn car, and drove the 25 minutes back home, pretty pissed off. I did go ahead and buy the 2-pack, but I’m going to return it if I can’t find the car at retail, because there’s no way I’m paying Ebay scalper prices for it.
Before you go out and buy the car, check out some review to make sure you really want to spend that much money on something that is not all that great of a vehicle. Pixel Dan did a nice review and not full of sucking up to Mattel like it normally feels he does on some figures