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Corgi Batmobile

1:18 Scale 2000 DC Comics Version

Review by Philip N. Zeman
Posted 08.07.2005

Contest Deadline Extended One Final Time! See below for details.

Click to see Gallery Manufacturer: Corgi USA (www.corgi-usa.com) MSRP: $39.99 USD

The first thing that came to mind when I got the box containing the various Corgi Batmobile products was, "Wow. This is heavy." Never having owned a Corgi product (but knowing about them and seeing a few items over the years), I was unfamiliar with the quality of the vehicles. Having opened, held, and played with a couple of pieces, I can say I am highly impressed.

Corgi was kind enough to send over a variety of pieces for us to review and give away (more on that later). The piece I selected to review is the 1:18 Scale 2000 DC Comics Batmobile.

The 2000-era edition is indeed a nice piece of die-cast work. Approximately 4" wide at the rear wheelbase, 12" long from wingtip to nose, and 3.25" tall from wheel to wingtip, this piece will look nice whether on a display shelf or rolling along your floor. The level of detail is fantastic, even on just the car body itself. The wings are nicely ribbed, and there are little tech details surrounding the cockpit. The back of the cockpit even has slightly embossed bat ears. And of course, we can't ignore the grill of the car, with yellow eyes and bat ears, perfect to strike fear into the heart of the jaywalker.

The cockpit and engine block are both molded under translucent plastic. The hood has more of the detailing.on it, but really, you're interested in the engine, aren't you? Boy, it sure would have been nice of Corgi to allow you to look under the hood, wouldn't it have been? It's your lucky day, as the hood pivots up, allowing you to gaze intently at the engine block. While I'm no mechanic, it sure looks like an impressive piece of internal combustion, straight out of the comic book. Cast in metal, with dark grey, copper, gold, and rust accents, it shines brightly. Batman must change his oil frequently.

Moving towards the back, of the car, we again see the cockpit and the canopy. Corgi again allows you access into the details. Pop off the smoky plastic, and you can expose two dark grey and black seats, one in front of the other. Again, the detail is outstanding. The steering wheel has the Bat symbol molded on it, plus another one is molded over the dashboard. The dashboard itself has circular gagues and what appears to be the starter, and the gear shift is modled into the steering column.

Each seat has the older Batsymbol on the back, plus bat wings on the headrest. And, the rear seat has gagues as well, perfect for your sidekick to exclaim "Holy Instrument Readings, Batman!" Wait, that's the wrong era of Batmobile, isn't it? If look closely at the side panels of the cockpit, you can see more detail lines molded in.

Behind the second seat is the turbine, a shiny silver turbine that looks like it should spin. After all, that's what turbines do, don't they? Again, Corgi comes to the rescuse. If you roll the Batmobile on the floor, the turbine will spin. It's little touches like this that make the toy. It'd be a great piece without all the attention to detail, but the turbine, the instrument gauges, and just the detail lines show that Corgi cares about their products.

I'd be remiss if I didn't call attention to the underside. This is probably the one area that doesn't conform to the comics (although, not having read many Batman comics in the past decade, I could be wrong.) Batman is under the car. No really; there's an embossed Batman, full body, under the car. Somehow, I doubt that really exists in the comics, but hey, if it does... who am I to argue? It's the Batmobile; Batman can put his likeness on it if he wants.

This Batmobile also comes with a "Batcommunicator". It's a 4.75" by 3.5" little device that has a drawing of Batman on it and a button to push. When you push the button, one of 4 recorded sentences (which cycle in order) is played, and Batman "speaks". The picture of Batman is actually lenticular, and it moves up and down in time with the sound. When viewed through the plastic, Batman appears to open and close his mouth. Okay, this is a bit kitschy, but it's a neat addition to an already cool car. Kids should love it; adults will probably tire of it quickly and go back to admiring the shiny car.

You'll notice that some of this review -- well, most of this review -- was written with a bit of an overzealous attitude. Well, blame it on this toy. It's the Batmobile; you're supposed to get excited over this car. If I didn't get excited, then Corgi would not have done its job. But this is a solid Batmobile, one any Batman fan would be proud to own and get excited over.

You can see more in our Gallery!

Remember how I said that I got a big box of stuff from Corgi? Well, you are in luck. You can win some of the pieces Corgi sent ASM. I've divided them into three sets:

One person will win the 1:24 Scale 1960's DC Comics Batmobile, a $19.99 USD value! Another person will win the 1:16 Scale 2000's DC Comics Batcycle, a $12.99 USD value! And a third person will win a 1:43 Scale 1940's DC Comics Batmobile, a 1:43 Scale 1950's DC Comics Batmobile, and a 1:43 Scale 2000's DC Comics Redbird, a value of $9.99 each! (Note: The 1950's Batmobile's box is slightly damaged on the box flaps. Nothing major, but we wanted you to have full disclosure.)

For those who have asked, yes, ASM is aware that the value of the three 1:43 scale toys is higher than the value of each of the other two prize sets. If we claimed that one of the sets was a grand prize, that would matter, but we aren't making such a claim. We're just dividing them into three sets that seem to fit together.

All you have to do is E-mail us at with the phrase "I'm Batman!" in the subject line. Include your full name and E-mail address in the body. For those of you who live in countries where a math problem needs to be completed when winning a contest, just tell me what the total value of the third prize listed, meaning what's the total value if you added the value of each 1:43 scale toy together? For full contest eligibility, please see the Official Rules.

That's it! Good luck! The contest will run until August 29, at 11:59pm Eastern Daylight Time.

UPDATE, 8/27/2005 -- Some mail to any asmzine.com address was not working. ASM is extending the contest until 11:59pm EDT, Monday, August 29, 2005.

OFFICIAL RULES:

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. SWEEPSTAKES ARE OPEN TO LEGAL UNITED 
STATES AND CANADIAN RESIDENTS ONLY OVER THE AGE OF 13.

The ASM "I'm Batman!" contest ("Contest") commences at 12:00 EDT on Sunday, 
August 7, 2005 and ends at 11:59pm EDT on Monday, August 29, 2005 
("Contest Period").  The Contest is sponsored by ASM, with prizes 
furnished by Corgi-USA.  Other than furnishing the prizes, Corgi-USA and 
DC Comics are not affiliated with ASM or the Contest.  By participating, 
entrants agree to abide by these Official Rules. 

Eligibility:  the Contest is offered only electronically via the Internet and 
is open to legal residents of the United States and Canada for the duration 
of the Contest.  All federal, state, and local laws and regulations apply.  
Void where prohibited.

To Enter:  Each entrant must send an E-mail to the specified Contest E-mail 
address with the phrase "I'm Batman!" in the subject line and their full name 
and E-mail address in the body of the mesage.  Members of Canada must also 
complete the math problem as specified:  What is the total value of all three 
1:43 Scale toys when each single value is $9.99 USA? 

By accepting a prize, winner releases ASM, its subsidiaries and affiliated 
companies and/or persons, its advertising and promotion agencies, and their 
respective officers, directors, agents and employees, from any and all 
liability, loss or damage incurred with respect to the awarding, receipt, 
possession and/or use or misuse of any merchandise or prize and acknowledge 
that said parties have neither made nor are in any manner responsible or 
liable for any warranty, representation, or guarantee, expressed or implied, 
in fact or in law, relative to any prize, including, but not limited to, its 
quality, mechanical condition or fitness for a particular purpose.  All taxes 
on prize are the responsibility of the winner.  Sponsor reserves the right in 
its sole discretion without liability to any person, to cancel or suspend 
the Contest should virus, bugs or other causes beyond the control of the 
sponsor corrupt the administration, security or proper play of the Contest.
Participants entering through the Web must provide a valid email address.  
Sponsor is not responsible for incorrect or inaccurate entry information, 
whether caused by Internet users or by any of the equipment or programming 
associated with or utilized in the Contest or by any technical or human error 
which may occur in the processing of the entries of the Contest.  Sponsor is 
not responsible for lost, late, illegible, incomplete, mutilated, or 
misdirected entries, nor is sponsor responsible for computer system, phone 
lines, hardware, software or program malfunctions, or other errors, failures, 
or delays in computer transmissions or network connections that are human or 
technical in nature.  ASM reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to 
disqualify any individual found tampering with the Contest.  One entry per 
person per E-mail address.  Persons who are involved with ASM or are 
affiliated with ASM are ineligble to win.
  
Drawing:  Only entries with all information required will be kept.  Entries with
invalid or missing information will not be considered.  After the Contest Period 
is over, three entries will be selected via random drawing from all eligible 
entries, where eligibility is described above.  These selections will then be 
declared the winner ("Winners"). The decisions of ASM are final and binding in 
all matters relating to the Contest.  The Winners will be notified by e-mail at 
which time ASM will request the Winner's mailing addresses.  An individual may 
not win more than once in a six-month period.

Prizes: The first name drawn will receive a 1:24 Scale 1960's DC Comics Batmobile 
(Value: $19.99 USD).  The second name drawn will receive a 1:16 Scale 2000's 
DC Comics Batcycle (Value: $12.99 USD).  The third name drawn will win a 1:43 
Scale 1940's DC Comics Batmobile (Value: $9.99 USD), a 1:43 Scale 1950's DC 
Comics Batmobile (Value: $9.99 USD), and a 1:43 Scale 2000's DC Comics Redbird 
(Value: $9.99 USD).  Total Value of all Prizes: $62.95 USD.

General Conditions:  This drawing is governed by U.S. law.  Prize winners must 
claim their prizes by E-mail notification within five days after receipt of 
prize notification.  Prize winner may be required to sign and return an 
Affidavit of Eligibility and Liability Release within 10 days of notification. 
If a selected winner cannot be contacted, is ineligible, fails to claim a prize 
or fails to return any Affidavit or Eligibility and Liability Release (if 
required), the selected winner will forfeit her/his prize and an alternate 
winner will be selected from previous Leaders.  If a prize is won by a minor, 
the prize will be awarded to the parent or legal guardian.  Employees of
ASM, Corgi-USA, DC Comics, and their immediate families are not
eligible to enter this contest.

Internet:  If for any reason the Internet portion of the program is not capable 
of running as planned, including infection by computer virus, bugs, tampering, 
unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failures or any other causes beyond 
the control of ASM which corrupt or affect the administration, security, 
fairness, integrity or proper conduct of the Contest, ASM reserves the 
right at its sole discretion to disqualify any individual who tampers with the 
entry process, and to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the Contest.  ASM 
assumes no responsibility for any error, omission, interruption, deletion, 
defect, delay in operation or transmission, communications line failure, theft 
or destruction or unauthorized access to, or alteration of, entries.  ASM is 
not responsible for any problems or technical malfunction of any telephone 
network or lines, computer online systems, servers or providers, computer 
equipment, software, failure of any e-mail or entry to be received by ASM on 
account of technical problems or traffic congestion on the Internet or at 
any Web site, or any combination thereof, including any injury or damage to 
participant's or any other person's computer related to or resulting from 
participation or downloading any materials in this contest.  CAUTION: ANY 
ATTEMPT BY ANY PERSON TO DELIBERATELY DAMAGE ANY WEB SITE OR UNDERMINE 
LEGITIMATE OPERATION OF THE SWEEPSTAKE IS A VIOLATION OF CRIMINAL AND CIVIL 
LAWS AND SHOULD SUCH AN ATTEMPT BE MADE, ASM RESERVES THE RIGHT TO SEEK 
DAMAGES FROM ANY SUCH PERSON TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW. 
 
Winners List:  The Winner's first name, last initial, city, and state will be 
published at the end of the contest.  The Winner's E-mail address will not be
printed.  For answers to questions about the promotion or to obtain a winners 
list, send an e-mail message to .  Requests must include the 
date and title of the promotion for which a winners list is requested.