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Building a 1966 BATMOBILE for 8 inch MEGO Batman

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  • darklord1967
    Persistent Member
    • Mar 27, 2008
    • 1550

    Building a 1966 BATMOBILE for 8 inch MEGO Batman

    Alright, I can’t keep it under wraps anymore. And frankly, I don’t believe I even really want to try. It’s just not my style.

    I’ve played coy about it anytime it’s even mentioned on these boards. But I’ve now decided that I might as well just start a thread that chronicles its full progress right up until the last detail.

    If nothing else, the constant demand for updates from all of you guys will inspire me to keep working on it until it’s finally DONE!

    I will make weekly updates (complete with progress photos) starting today and every Friday right here in this thread.

    So without further ado, I introduce you ALL… my MEGO customizing friends… to the creation of my custom MEGO-scaled 1966 BATMOBILE toy.
    I... am an action figure customizer
  • darklord1967
    Persistent Member
    • Mar 27, 2008
    • 1550

    #2
    This customizing story actually begins way back on Christmas morning of 1975. There I was, 7 years old, opening up the MEGO Batman toys that my parents gave me as gifts. I was already less than thrilled with the lack of detail and the silly giant oven mitts worn by the Batman and Robin figures. But as a little boy obssessed with The Batmobile, my biggest disappointment was actually yet to come.





    I remember that I took the MEGO Batmobile out of its package and I actually frowned. Yup… even as a 7 year old. An obsessive little voice in my head screamed, “Where are the bubble windows? Why are the wheels all wrong? Why is there no red pinstriping on the car? Why is the emblem on the doors all wrong? Why is the interior entirely in red? Why is there no jet afterburner tube in the back? Where are the parachute packs?”, and probably most nagging of all “Why is it so darn SMALL???” At a mere 13 inches in length, this Batmobile looked more like a Bat-Go Kart with MEGO figures sitting in it!!


    In short, I was NOT happy. But I was going to have to wait 26 years before I could do anything about it…
    Last edited by darklord1967; Aug 28, '16, 12:37 PM.
    I... am an action figure customizer

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    • darklord1967
      Persistent Member
      • Mar 27, 2008
      • 1550

      #3
      Fast forward to spring of 2001. I was putting the final touches on the initial series of 8 inch scale customized MEGO Bat-Characters that I had created. It occurred to me that the time was right to begin preliminary work on a customized ride for my custom Dynamic Duo.

      I purchased a MEGO Batmobile from E-bay in pretty good condition (to replace my long-lost specimen from ’75), and I began my plans to customize it with all the details I wanted to see.

      Unfortunately, NONE of my plans could ever correct the biggest issue I had with the toy… its lack of correct size. And I just couldn’t bear to STUFF my new custom MEGO Batman and Robin action figures into this tiny under-scaled Go-Kart.





      NO, it became pretty clear to me that building an entire car from scratch was going to be the order of businesss.
      Last edited by darklord1967; Jun 8, '15, 2:51 PM.
      I... am an action figure customizer

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      • darklord1967
        Persistent Member
        • Mar 27, 2008
        • 1550

        #4
        I began doing extensive research, and read everything I could find about George Barris’ creation of the famous crime-fighting car.

        The wealth of information I found was fascinating:

        The Batmobile was based off of a 1955 experimental concept car that Barris owned called the Lincoln “Futura”. The car had been featured in the film "It Started With A Kiss", starring Glen Ford and Debbie Reynolds.






        When production was over, the studio sold the car to Barris for $1 (rather than pay exhorbitant storage fees).


        By the time the Producers of "BATMAN" approached Barris about designing and building a slick, modern Batmobile for their upcoming show, the old car had been sitting rusting in the back lot of Barris' Hollywood custom "chop shop" shop for years.









        But the Futura already featured many of the details that the Batmobile would later become famous for. This was a good thing too since the studio only gave Barris 3 weeks to deliver a finished Batmobile in time to shoot the first film tests.

        Barris and his team made several major design changes to the car that brought it squarely into the "muscle car" era of the 1960’s. Being the shrewd businessman that he was, George wasted no time in securing a patent for his creation.





        True to his word, Barris delivered the finished Batmobile on time, and the studio was thrilled with the result. When the Batman TV show premiered in 1966, the Batmobile became just as much of an overnight star as Adam West and Burt Ward. Children around the WORLD thrilled to the Dynamic Duo racing into action in their awesome black hot rod!!


        Last edited by darklord1967; Jun 8, '15, 3:21 PM.
        I... am an action figure customizer

        Comment

        • thunderbolt
          Hi Ernie!!!
          • Feb 15, 2004
          • 34211

          #5
          Oooooh boy , I can't wait to see this!!!!!!!
          You must try to generate happiness within yourself. If you aren't happy in one place, chances are you won't be happy anyplace. -Ernie Banks

          Comment

          • david_b
            Never had enough toys..
            • May 9, 2008
            • 2305

            #6
            We're all behind you ~ Being as big a batfan as I am, I've toyed with customizing the mego release, but what I've seen thus far from others hasn't impressed me at all. The skills I've seen are extraordinary, don't get me wrong, it's just that when you're dealing with an undersized vehicle as a base, it's a bit 'all for naught' to me. As we can all agree, it needs to be 'flatter' and sleeker to me.

            And YES, it's undersized for the 8". That's why I'm opting to save my $$ on a Batcycle and just leave the vintage Batmobile alone, instead go for the Big Jim Corvette for the '70s look.

            david_b
            Peace.. Through Superior Firepower.

            Comment

            • AUSSIE-Rebooted-AMM
              I was NEVER here!
              • Jun 22, 2008
              • 1188

              #7
              Oh Man. . .I love those Pics. . .great history lesson there and nicely researched.

              All the best. . .I for one will tune in for a weekly update. . .same Bat time. . .Same bat. . . .ok. . . I'll just click in to visit.

              Comment

              • toys2cool
                Ultimate Mego Warrior
                • Nov 27, 2006
                • 28605

                #8
                awesome,Great info
                "Time to nut up or shut up" -Tallahassee

                http://ultimatewarriorcollection.webs.com/
                My stuff on facebook Incompatible Browser | Facebook

                Comment

                • spaceace35
                  Career Member
                  • Feb 1, 2008
                  • 699

                  #9
                  very cool info cant wait to see it
                  Rockin Rebels

                  Comment

                  • SoulSinger
                    Singer Of Mego Love
                    • Oct 22, 2007
                    • 279

                    #10
                    I got a bunch of mego stuff for christmas in 1971 and 1972> One Christmas, the batmobile was sold out. My dad improvised and got the big Jim Dune Buggy and fishing boat. I think I was better off. It didn't fit through the door of the batcave, but there was room in it. LOL

                    Bob

                    Comment

                    • spiderrogue
                      new mego-er
                      • Feb 3, 2008
                      • 0

                      #11
                      sounds like it will kick *** when done..cant wait to see it...
                      a bit of weird history from me...back when i was like 13 or 14 maybe, i had this gawd awful lime green shirt that had an illustration of one of these cars on it....kind of a weird thing to put on a shirt, i guess...always reminded me of the batmobile....

                      Comment

                      • Mikey
                        Verbose Member
                        • Aug 9, 2001
                        • 47242

                        #12
                        I can't wait to see it !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                        Comment

                        • Blue Meanie
                          Banned
                          • Jun 23, 2001
                          • 8706

                          #13
                          I've had the privilige of seeing the early version of Roberto's Prototype up closed and in person (He brought it to my friends store on Long Island that I used to help out at) and the early version kicked *****. The lines on the car were really nice. The sheer size of it was more in what should have been the scale of the Batmobile. A little slimmer and a little smaller than the custom Captain Action/GI Joe sized Batmobile that was out there a couple of years ago. But definitely bigger than the Mego Batmobile. Unfortunately it had not been painted yet. Been a long time since I've seen it...again it was early on. I'd love to see it now.

                          Comment

                          • Mikey
                            Verbose Member
                            • Aug 9, 2001
                            • 47242

                            #14
                            Can't we just see a peek ?

                            Just a little one .... eesie weensie

                            Comment

                            • darklord1967
                              Persistent Member
                              • Mar 27, 2008
                              • 1550

                              #15
                              I know how you feel, buddy!

                              Believe me, I wish I could post photos of the actual toy car I'm building RIGHT NOW!!

                              I anxious to show you.

                              But the truth is, I'm still taking the photos of the prototype as it sits on my work bench.

                              I'm posing MEGOS around it so that the scale is clear, and I'm taking comparison photos of my prototype next to MEGO's 1974 Bat.

                              These photos will not be ready for me to post until NEXT FRIDAY.

                              Unfortunately, it is humanly impossible for me to have them ready before then.

                              I can promise you this, though: The photos I post will be worth the wait.
                              I... am an action figure customizer

                              Comment

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