Pink Slips Classic TV Series Batmobile

       
 
 
Jada Toys TV Series Batmobile
Jada Toys 1966 Batmobile packaging Jada Toys 1966 Batmobile door bat Jada Toys 1966 Batmobile cockpit Jada Toys 1966 Batmobile wheel Jada Toys 1966 Batmobile chassis Jada Toys 1966 Batmobile rear

 
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Background

In 1957's Detective Comics #241, Dick Grayson is injured rescuing a child and has to limit his duties as Robin for a time. To keep attention away from The Boy Wonder and prevent anyone from noticing the injury, Batman wears a series of more and more eye-catching suits including solid colors, one with a large target on the torso, and even one in a vertical rainbow pattern. The ruse works, keeping the eyes (and cameras) of Gotham's citizens off Robin while he recuperates.

 

Packaging

The Batmobile uses the updated Pink Slips box design with the plastic tray built into the base of the box, though the tray now sports a transparent pink edge rather than the opaque plastic used previously. The back wall behind the Batmobile has the classic TV logo added to it, and the back panel has co-sells for a Lamborghini Veneno, '71 Chevelle SS, '17 Ford GT, and the Batmobile.

 

Casting/Paint

Jada's take on the '66 has a large, heavy diecast body befitting the Batmobile. Most of it looks very good: clean panels, sharp details, and nice panel lines defining the hood, trunk, and gas fill. The opening doors a little gappy, but given the extreme contours of the car I'll cut them some slack here. What's less forgivable are the openings on the hood, which are surprisingly rough and uneven. I get what they were going for, but it would have been better to just mold them closed. Other than that, though, it looks great - right down to the subtle brickwork in the grills, ribbed rear deck, and soft look of the parachute packs. Only a few plastic details are used, including clear for the headlights and canopies, transparent orange for the turn signals Bat Rays, soft vinyl for the antenna and rocket tubes, black plastic for the license plate bracket, and a combination of chrome-plated and painted plastic for the turbine exhaust.

Paint has been the real standout of the Pink Slips series, and the Batmobile is no different. The main body is done in a high gloss metallic pink that tips more towards magenta than bubblegum, and has a clean smooth finish right up to the panel lines. The stripes and door bats are a sharp bright white, with excellent placement and not even a hit of bleedthrough. Black paint is used for the grilles, silver is used for the canopy trim and behind the headlight lenses, and red is used for the taillights. The rear plate is a sticker with the Pink Slips logo, the only one on this car.

The interior is mostly white, a combination of cast and painted elements, and is accented with body-matching pink for the steering wheel, roll bar, and antlers. The beacon is painted silver with red for the top, and the same red is used on the antler lights, Bat-Turn lever, and fire extinguisher. Orange is used for the throttle and phone, an odd choice but it works. In an fun bit of serendipity, the mount points for the antlers and beacon look like a set of switches on the underside of the roll bar.

Underneath, Jada provided a fully detailed chassis complete with the bottom half of the turbine, frame rails, tanks, exhaust tubes, drivetrain, and front and rear suspensions. The wheels are soft vinyl tires over chrome Radirs with body-matched Bat hubs.

 

Features/Accessories

Both doors open on smooth-operating hinges.

 

Accuracy

The general shape and proportions are very good. As part of the Pink Slips line it doesn't have to get everything right, but the choices Jada made all feel smart - the colors work well and are applied well, and given some of Batman's other rides it's not even the weirdest thing I've seen. Scaling is actually not too far off for a Batmobile, coming it at about 1/25.5.

 

Overall

While a great deal of this will look familiar to anyone who has Hot Wheels' Batmobile, it is a wholly unique casting from Jada...and between the more accurate scale and opening doors, Jada arguably did it better. The only wonky bit is the hood intake, which is less apparent with the traditional black paint job and would likely be a minimal issue if you go with that one. But I already had plenty of black '66 Batmobiles, and really like Jada's unique take here. I may see if I can do a little touch-up work, because that's the only downside to an otherwise excellent addition to the Pink Slips series.

 

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