As I'm away and without access to my bits box, frustratingly, I can't make anything for a while.So, I've been musing over my next likely project post-Dr.Who during the UK's long winter.
Batman!
Or more specifically his toy arsenal. The old stuff, his plastic guns.
Having begun to lift the Crusader's cape a little it's clear that Bat's plastic armoury was and is a vast belfry of weapons.
Unlike Dr.Who, who had a manageable amount of toy munitions, which I'm steadily recreating, Batman was over-armed and tooled up for an endless pretend war with Gotham's hoods.
So I'll start with those I can source as close to the original as I can, before attempting any modifications. Besides, sleuthing online is about all I can do whilst away on family business and fortunately, I like sleuthing toys.
When faced with a TV hit like Batman in the Sixties, toy companies fell over themselves to get a piece of the Knights pie. To get a jump on the competition existing toys were quickly repurposed to exploit the new Gotham blockbuster.
Sourcing these earlier incarnations of bat guns is a good way of getting hold of examples as near to the original as is feasible, although the prices could still be prohibitive.
Here are a just a few examples I've found so far.
The silver pistol in the sought-after Ideal Batman Utility Belt was previously ....
.... The green pistol in their King Zor set. Holy smokin' Grails!
The Marx Batman rifle was previously ...
Their famous Flashy Flickers film gun.
The Batman bubble gun, which came with a plastic pit of bubble liquid, was previously a very commonplace water pistol used and re-used by many toy companies. There's a Gerry Anderson iteration of it too.
Here's just one other version, the Spaceman Water Pistol.
A more modern Batman blaster by Kenner was previously ...
... Their Star Wars ESB electronic Laser Rifle or something very similar.
One of my favorites, the Parks Plastics Batman water pistol ......
.... is simply one of the many Parks water pistols like this cool transparent one.
Another favourite, the Robins Holy Squirt, again by Parks ....
... Appears to be their Mau Zee water pistol with a paper label stuck on!
These are just a few Batty originals. There may well be modern replacements or very similar toys that could be upcycled. Alas, there are also customizers who resort to bootlegging their creations in an attempt to sell new stuff off as old.
Here's a few suspects I spotted on my googling for Batman, all in South America.
Have you any Batman toy guns or equipment readers?
That last set is as far from Ideal as its possible to get! Looks like its been cut out with plastic scissors and the box sprayed with black paint! Its as bent as Wayne's batarang!
ReplyDeleteIts always amazing what toymakers will do to hop on a TV craze - just slap a new sticker on existing inventory is my favorite - but sometimes, they really come up with some imaginative humdingers! SFZ
ReplyDeleteI have lots of Batmobiles but none of these larger toys - very cool!
ReplyDeleteHoly Whatever! The first picture of Batman's Utility Belt appears to have a black Briar Pipe on the left? If I had seen that in my college days I would have worn one.
ReplyDeleteThe black thing next to the gun looks like a plastic goatee - just the thing to go with a hipster briar!
DeleteI bought a couple of bat guns in the states years ago, my first trip away, I took an extending suitcase and 2 carry on bags, some poor guy had to have his hand luggage in his lap, I digress, these guns were based on the grapnel gun but with a flying disc thingy, so I get to customs and they ask do we have any guns or gun shaped objects? I had to answer yes, why did I pack them at the bottom of the suitcase??? Customs laughed, yes these are pretty gun shaped.
ReplyDelete