Corgi introduced it's popular Batmobile model in 1966. The following year they released their Batboat based on the Glastron Industries design for the 1966 film Batman.
My gift set 3 is a later edition first released in 1976, which also saw the altered version of the Batboat. (Mine has a repro box. The original would have had a polystyrene insert.)
While the first version of the Batboat came with figures of Batman and Robin, this one didn't. The beacon cage was also missing, even thought it shows it present on the box photo. There's also much cheaper decals. All part of cost cutting on Corgi's part.
The Batmobile had gone through a few changes over the years, too. The most obvious thing are the missing red bat wheel hubs. The Whizzwheels that replaced them meant the moving rocket exhaust at the back was now static.
Even though both these of these models have been altered to keep costs down, they still look pretty good to me.
"Holy Die-Cast!"
Superb post Scoop about one of my own fave die-casts. I spent hours as a kid just being amazed at all the detail on the 1966 Batmobile: the small batphone, the rocket launchers and best of all the fire flame exhaust that went in and out! Pure class and an icon of our childhood.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I still think it's one of the best Corgi's, Woodsy.
DeleteBy the time I got my first Batmobile (November 1970 or '71), the gold hubs with the red Bat emblems had been replaced with ordinary wheels, but I think the exhaust flame still went in and out. I managed to get a boxed, pristine one (with original hubs) in 1991, which I've still got. Hard to believe that the time elapsed since then is longer than the time between it and my original one.
ReplyDeleteIt was, and is, a popular collectable, Kid. You'll be right about your original Batmobile in 1971 still having the flame going in and out, even though the bat hubs had gone. The Whizz wheel modifications meaning the flame is static appeared in 1973. My version here is from 1976 and has the 12 spoke hubs with solid plastic tyres.
DeleteI must admit I find the evolution of these old diecasts fascinating.