Hot Wheels 1:18 Super Elite '66 Batmobile

I'm sure many of us have the Hot Wheels 1:18 Batmobile which came out a couple of months ago. I was so excited about it that I accidentally ordered it from 3 different places.

At SDCC 2007 Hot Wheels had an exclusive 1:18 Batmobile that is flocked like one of the show cars that traveled around. That one was $300 and I bought it.

I'd forgotten about the other 2 versions of the car that have been released - the "Elite" and the "Super Elite." Apparently I had ordered the Super Elite because it showed up on my doorstep the other day. I don't have the Elite, but I believe it's about $80. The Super Elite is $250-300, depending on where you buy it. There seems to be a mystery about it's edition size too - I've heard that it's only 1966 and that it's as high as 5500.

The other car is the basic, which was about $30.

Nice sheet metal stand - this is unique to the Super Elite I believe. The car is secured with 4 screws. Hot Wheels makes it extremely difficult to free the cars from packaging. I was never able to figure out how to completely free the fuzzy Batmobile from it's cylindrical case.


The box is nice - thick cardboard that flips open. There are 2 side inserts that are taped down that must be removed to get the stand out of the box.


The trunk has a rubberband holding it closed, but you can open it enough to cut the band so you can open the trunk. The front hood wouldn't open at all, I was sure it was supposed to. After unscrewing the car from the stand I found that the hood was twisty-tied closed to the front axle. I could have seriously damaged the finish by trying to open the hood - they need to have some instructions for this kind of thing.



It's obviously the same mold for all the cars and the cost is in the details. The elite has tiny signs on everything just like the real thing. The chutes in back are leather rather than molded plastic. There are rockets in the rocket tubes, the details on the cockpit items are all different molds - far more detailed. The seats are more detailed and there are seat belts with real bat-shaped buckles.







From what I've seen of the elite, it has a lot of these things - the trunk interior is the same as the super elite, and the jet engine under the hood is there, but isn't as detailed as the super elite. I don't know that it's worth 3 times the cost though for the details and fancy stand of the super elite.

That is super cool. I'd love to have one of those.

Pretty kewl.

Is that shot of the engine one that Hot Wheels took their own liberty or was there any on screen shots of the engine shown during the TV show?

EVILFACE said:

Pretty kewl.

Is that shot of the engine one that Hot Wheels took their own liberty or was there any on screen shots of the engine shown during the TV show?

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Pretty sure the engine wasn't shown during the show - it's just an extrapolation by Hot Wheels. The bottom of the car is also designed to kind of make sense for a jet engine in the front and exhaust in the back.

That SE's a beauty, Dave. I'm one of the pikers that has the basic version which isn't too bad either, really. I was never able to locate an Elite version when I was interested in getting one but your Super Elite looks amazing and has me considering one again. Congrts on a really pretty collectible.

For the differences(both price and detail) I do nt think the SEs worth the money.Too many obvious details not spot on that outta be.I had it on order from the off-It was my most wanted model by far and had been for years-but by the standards of other 1/18 manufacturers it was the difference between 1996 G.I Joe and Hot Toys today.A huge disappointment.I m just sticking with the standard issue and modifying it with aftermarket parts ala pimpmybatmobile.com as and when funds allow.

Wow... nice bat mobile. =D

Minimodel said:

For the differences(both price and detail) I do nt think the SEs worth the money.Too many obvious details not spot on that outta be.I had it on order from the off-It was my most wanted model by far and had been for years-but by the standards of other 1/18 manufacturers it was the difference between 1996 G.I Joe and Hot Toys today.A huge disappointment.I m just sticking with the standard issue and modifying it with aftermarket parts ala pimpmybatmobile.com as and when funds allow.

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I've never been one that has to have something super screen accurate, but I'd start with the elite and build up from there. From what I've seen the interior details are so much better than on the standard, and the elite is only $80.

I always thought that car looked so cheesy.. but the series was campy and over the top so it fit.

Darklord Dave said:

I've never been one that has to have something super screen accurate, but I'd start with the elite and build up from there. From what I've seen the interior details are so much better than on the standard, and the elite is only $80.

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Supposedly the standard has a different casting than the Elite and Super Elite, which both share the same casting. For the money, the Elite is definitely the way to go, and is the way to go as far as upgrading is concerned, so I hear. On the Super Elite,the metal stand is brushed aluminum, and the parachute packs are synthetic leather, from what I've heard. The Super Elite was originally supposed to be limited to 1966, but last I heard it was a little over 3000. Joe Kelly has an excellent video review of both cars, in his Playing With Cars series, posted on Youtube. The real car had a 429 cubic inch Ford V8, which was supercharged, and nitrous oxide injected. Apparently, it was pretty fast, but it did overheat a lot. The car also had no power steering, which made it difficult to drive. There are only 2 all metal bodied Batmobiles, number 1, and number 5. Number 1 is owned by George Barris. the others were all fiberglass bodied, like the stunt car.
The Super Elite costs $200 more than the Elite for metal rocket tubes, pleather chutes, a parachute pull ring in the interior, a few more painted interior details, and a deluxe box. The cost benefit just isn't there, unless it is really important to you to have the best licensed 1966 TV show Batmobile model ever made, and have it be all ORIGINAL. If you don't mind modding, you'll save at least $150, and have a better, more accurate model than the Super Elite, using an Elite.
All this said, I have a super elite, and I wanted an all original one. I am definitely disappointed. It was said the Super Elite was going to have light up features, and a leather covered base. In addition, a higher level of detail was promised. It isn't what I expected when I preordered one in July of 2007.
I haven't tried to remove it from the box yet. Thank you very much Dave, for telling me about the hood wired to the axle. When I get a clear display case, I will know how to remove it.

Thanks for the info Dave... I'll have to track down the elite then

I've got all three. I know, pretty silly. If I wasn't such an anal collector, I'd say the Elite is the best buy. But if you can afford it, or just have to have it, the Super Elite isn't a let down. I'm happy with all of mine.

Love the Hotwheels SE and looking forward to getting SE very soon.
Only have the 2 standard and a custom buit and a Elite Batmobile with custom figure of Batman and Robin figures from Scooter and Chop.
Here are my collection.



Batboat and Batcycle are from PolarLight and Batgirl Cycle are garage kit built by Chop. Batgirl is not shown on the pics.
Cheer and enjoy!

Thanks for the comparison Dave. It's nice to see the difference between the two.

I have the Elite and enjoy the heck out of it. Here's a video review of the Super Elite (scroll down a bit):

https://www.thecarroom.com/showroom.html

The Barris Batmobile is still the one to beat, it's an icon in the Bat World

the batmobile looks amazing. would love to have one

$189 on sale today only!

https://www.simplydiecast.com/Hotwh...bile-Super-Elite-Edition-118-Diecast-P48.aspx

Nice find Blackthornone. It would have been really nice if they included a Batman and Robin with it.

creecher said:

Nice find Blackthornone. It would have been really nice if they included a Batman and Robin with it.

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You can buy those at Pimp my Batmobile.com, on sale till the 12th.

I got my Super Elite from this site. It arrived nice and extremely well packaged. 8 foam protectors at each corner of original box, with paper in the gaps. I'd definitely buy again. Only 5 left at the site. The deal seems to be still on. I would DEFINITELY buy one of these now if anyone wants one. Probably the cheapest they will ever be.