Modified pocket heroes batcave

[BrianAlbright]

Now up for sale in the marketplace folder, if anyone is interested...

[tmthor]

I have one I am almost positive it came from JCPenney (I got it from a relative that worked there) It was marketed for 3 1/4" lines. there was an instruction sheet that said it fits most GI Joe, SGT Rock, Star Wars & most other 3 1/4" action figures. also the box is a plain brown box w/no art on it

[mazinz]

I hate bumping an old thread but it seems I missed this the first time round. I too did have this base and mine was purchased from JC Pennys catalog. It was marketed as a base for 3 3/4" figures but obviously was geared towards GI JOE. I know I made a diorama setup with the figures and took pictures of this back then. If I can find them will scan and add them to the thread

[mazinz]

ok found it. Well a few but this one is enough

gijoe sears base.jpg

[LordMudd]

Did a little research on Google, my favorite place to look for pictures of stuff. This is not the Mego Batcave. There are basic differences in the design, structure, and layout. This suggests an independent manufacturer.

TimMee Toys has started reproducing the old Marx Battle Mountain. From the look of this one, it might also be Marx in origin. Anyway, maybe TimMee could get their hands on one of these and start making it too.

CCC.

[mazinz]

Did a little research on Google, my favorite place to look for pictures of stuff. This is not the Mego Batcave. There are basic differences in the design, structure, and layout. This suggests an independent manufacturer.

TimMee Toys has started reproducing the old Marx Battle Mountain. From the look of this one, it might also be Marx in origin. Anyway, maybe TimMee could get their hands on one of these and start making it too.

CCC.

Yes but it is sort of clear we have one of two things

either the maker of this JOE base

A: the designer created this using the Bat Cave as an influence (for assuming their own reasoning)
B: they did use the batcave and totally re-tooled it for this Joe Base

[Bruce Banner]

Speaking of Pocket Heroes... this custom Flash is pretty cool.

[LordMudd]

Yes but it is sort of clear we have one of two things

either the maker of this JOE base

A: the designer created this using the Bat Cave as an influence (for assuming their own reasoning)
B: they did use the batcave and totally re-tooled it for this Joe Base

I am pretty sure it is not the same mold. It does not have the batpole hole in the roof, it is missing some molded details in the bottom half, and the plastic looks thicker.

Back then, cave playsets in a semi circle were popular, so it is possible that it was done without anyone ever seeing the Batcave set, which could also explain why it was never reused for anything else. I would really like to know who actually made it. Probably doesn't have anything on it saying who made it. I have some old doll house furniture from the '70s in 6" scale with no marks of any kind on any of them.

CCC.

[LordMudd]

Speaking of Pocket Heroes... this custom Flash is pretty cool.

This one is odd. I like it but... the added details like the chest disc, boot and ear wings are very detailed, but the face and hand details have faded out. A minor thing is the eyes are not painted. I would suspect that this is a 3D printer custom, but it could be a silicon mold custom.

CCC.

[mazinz]

I am pretty sure it is not the same mold. It does not have the batpole hole in the roof, it is missing some molded details in the bottom half, and the plastic looks thicker.

Back then, cave playsets in a semi circle were popular, so it is possible that it was done without anyone ever seeing the Batcave set, which could also explain why it was never reused for anything else. I would really like to know who actually made it. Probably doesn't have anything on it saying who made it. I have some old doll house furniture from the '70s in 6" scale with no marks of any kind on any of them.

CCC.

you misunderstood what I was saying

the design for this may have been influenced by the Batcave, AND it is also possible they re-tooled and modified the hell out of it for their own purpose and then made their own cast from this modified version.

It could really be just a coincidence but they both share a strong similarity which is why I think whomever designed this "JOE" Set used the Batcave as the main influence for it

[LordMudd]

you misunderstood what I was saying

the design for this may have been influenced by the Batcave, AND it is also possible they re-tooled and modified the hell out of it for their own purpose and then made their own cast from this modified version.

It could really be just a coincidence but they both share a strong similarity which is why I think whomever designed this "JOE" Set used the Batcave as the main influence for it

No, my point was it was probably a coincidence more than a matter of influence, then someone at Mego saw it and said "Hey, you can't do that." so it never got reused for anything else again.

I could see repainting it for Mr. Freeze's lair.

CCC.

[mazinz]

No, my point was it was probably a coincidence more than a matter of influence, then someone at Mego saw it and said "Hey, you can't do that." so it never got reused for anything else again.

I could see repainting it for Mr. Freeze's lair.

CCC.

I wish I still had it. I am pretty sure I still have the battle Mat it came with but that might be it

[EmergencyIan]

This one is odd. I like it but... the added details like the chest disc, boot and ear wings are very detailed, but the face and hand details have faded out. A minor thing is the eyes are not painted. I would suspect that this is a 3D printer custom, but it could be a silicon mold custom.

CCC.

It looks very much, to me, like how Mego did the other CAH and Pocket Heroes back in the 70's and 80s. Their paint apps were "quirky" when it came to these series of figures.

- Ian

[tmthor]

This thing is sitting in a box at my parents' house, otherwise I'd post a picture, but I got a 3/4" playset as a kid that I have since discovered was a slightly modified version of the vacuform batcave from the Pocket Heroes line.

I think it came out of a Sears or Penney's catalog. It has a solid top half (no batpole), and the cage door has been replaced by a solid door that says "explosives." There''s a table in the middle, with some little chairs that went around it, and some tiny green cannons that you could set on top of the thing.

It was marketed either as knock-off G.I. Joe playset (I used it as Cobra HQ), or maybe it went with the Remco Sgt. Rock/Bad Guys line. I can't remember.

Anyone know when this came out, or who it was sold through? It's clearly from the same molds as the Batcave set.

I think it came in a brown mailer box, too.

I'll probably be selling it here after Christmas, but I can't remember for the life of me exactly where it came from.


AND HERE ARE THE LONG-AWAITED PHOTOS. Not the "Dimensions for Children" copyright on the plastic mat at the bottom. I've used a 3 and 3/4" inch scale Infinite Heroes Question figure to show you the sizes. Anybody else remember this?

I have one of those and yeah it made a great cobra hq

[tmthor]

Where the table and chairs vacuformed too, or were they from the Fortress of Solitude playset?

I recall something similar to what your discussing. It didnt use any Mego parts that I recall, but it was similar in look to what you mention, and was sold as a generic "Base Station"...something like that. It was grey, with green and red accessories that included a canon, a flag pole, and some sand bag bunkers....dont remember what else? The packaging was a white box with a label attached showing the playset. The picture featured Star Wars figures in the playset.
The ones I saw were sold at a drug store chain in the early eighties (perhaps even a bit before the 3 3/4" Joes)...at least here in Calgary. I want to say it was the old Boots drugstore...but it might have been the short lived Big M store.
No idea who built it, but it was the kind of stuff HG Toys or maybe even Timm Mee might have produced?

Yes the chairs were vacuformed