Hot Toys Tim Burton Batmobile

Blackthornone said:

To scale, the Batmobile should be over 3 feet 7/12 inches long. I guarantee you that it isn't that long, therefore it is short from that standpoint. Proportionally, it looks like it is too short compared to it's width. If you are fairly adept at eyeballing things, you can tell this. As an artist, I need to be able to gert proportions right, so I am quicker than most people at eyeballing proportions, and as there are other artists here, they can do the same.

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I'm an artist too. As an artist you should know all about the tricks of perception that perspective can play on our eyes, and even on cameras, as I already explained in this post: https://www.sideshowcollectors.com/forums/showpost.php?p=3641796&postcount=397

The reason it is too small is to so it isn't too big for most people's collections. A correctly sized one would eliminate about 70% of potential buyers. It is also smaller to lower cost.

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Was the Hot Toys Tumbler correctly sized? I know the 1989 Batmobile is a longer vehicle, but if the Tumbler wasn't squished at all and it sold out completely, why would Hot Toys be worried that a correctly scaled 1989 Batmobile wouldn't also sell out?

The original movie car was a pearl silverish color, as sourced from Terry Ackland Snow, who built it. All colors look different in different lights, and so the darker the lighting, the blacker the 89 Batmobile gets.
I don't really know whether the car was supposed to look black or not, but most people expect it to be. The real pearl color of the car would become obvious in broad daylight, and so if some people saw it then, they would believe that the car was painted a different color than it was in the movie, because they could never really tell what color it was in the film, and simply assumed that it was black. (They assume this even though you could easily see the contours of the car much easier at night than you could ever see, if the car was REALLY painted black. A lot of people don't think about this, and still assume that it was black.)

This color is as close to the real color of the car as red is similar to orange. If you wanted to film a red Ferrari at night and wanted it to look red on film, you couldn't paint it red, you would have to paint it red orange, or orange instead, because at night, red looks like dark maroon. What color would the car be, REALLY? Is it specially painted orange car used in the movie, or is it just the regular Ferrari red, Rosso Corsa painted Ferrari? It is a matter of opinion.

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Thanks for the explanation of the color, it seems to be basically in agreement with my point towards people that gripe that the color is inaccurate...inaccurate to what particular scene or photo exactly? It's mostly subjective when it comes to colors for real objects.

I saw in another forum, people start saying this is gonna cost $950. !!!
WTF? That is too much for HT!!!

DarkMagic said:

I'm an artist too. As an artist you should know all about the tricks of perception that perspective can play on our eyes, and even on cameras, as I already explained in this post: https://www.sideshowcollectors.com/forums/showpost.php?p=3641796&postcount=397



Was the Hot Toys Tumbler correctly sized? I know the 1989 Batmobile is a longer vehicle, but if the Tumbler wasn't squished at all and it sold out completely, why would Hot Toys be worried that a correctly scaled 1989 Batmobile wouldn't also sell out?



Thanks for the explanation of the color, it seems to be basically in agreement with my point towards people that gripe that the color is inaccurate...inaccurate to what particular scene or photo exactly? It's mostly subjective when it comes to colors for real objects.

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As far as proportions, you do have a point, but then why is it that all of the pics of the Toyami 1/8 Batmobile seem to show it correctly proportioned in every photo, and the Hot Wheels 1/18 scale Batmobile always looks properly proportioned in all pics, and yet this looks at least a little short in EVERY picture of it we have seen. Admittedly, it looks longer with the canopy closed, but not long enough. In addition, the inside of the front fenders curve in too much, to compensate for the fact that it is too narrow as well. Another way of saying it is that the car is too tall for it's height and width. Needless to say, they couldn't lower the roof to match the rest of the car's proportions, because the figure must fit inside and sit properly.






As far as scaled correctly, it would need to be 3 feet 7 1/2 inches long,and 22?(Ill check later-I posted that size before) inches wide. That is about 6 square feet of shelf space, a little over 3 and a half feet long and a little under two feet wide. I do not believe that most toy collectors, even Hot Toys figures can justify putting aside that much room for this. With figures or statues, it often seems like you can find 2 square feet just about anywhere, or sometimes even 4 square feet, but 6? That makes me apprehensive about buying.

I remember how much room my GI JOE Aircraft carrier took up, which was 7 1/2 feet long and about 2 feet wide. This is just under a foot shorter. I had to make a special place for it by making it the centerpiece of the whole room.
This piece is cool, but it isn't well done enough to sacrifice that much space for. A correctly scaled 1989 Batmobile would just be too big for most people, even most collectors, and even most serious Batman fans, simply because most people don't live in mansions. There is only so much room in most people's houses, and when you get to a certain sized thing, it better be REALLY important in order to justify taking up that much space IN ONE PLACE. A lot of smaller things that are scattered about are different. I think the best way to display something of that size for most people would be to have a lexan case made for it with a removable top piece that extends maybe 3-6 inches on all sides and make it into a coffee table display case.
I don't know if the Tumbler was correctly sized.

Guinnessfan said:

Personally I'm thinking 3 easy payments of 19.95 and 1 freaking complicated payment.





Thank you Mitch Hedberg for that line R.I.P.

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We ain't gonna tell you which payment it is, but one of these payments is gonna be a _____. The mailman will get shot to death, the envelope will not seal, and the stamp will be in the wrong denomination; good luck, ____er!

if mitch hedberg were alive, i'd buy him a batmobile too. for the laughs.

jye318 said:

I saw in another forum, people start saying this is gonna cost $950. !!!
WTF? That is too much for HT!!!

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Surely not. But, if that's true, a lot of people here won't buy considering the Tumbler was $400-$500 and I'd reckon less than a 1/3 of the people on this board bought it (though now most wished they had). Still it is the 1989 Batmobile.

Gully Foyle said:

Then don't buy 'em.

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I have zero plans to thanks for the tip

Not at all convinced it is correctly size, the more pics I look at, the more certain I am it is too short

I am thinking that it looks short because of the open cockpit. I have an old 1:18 scale batmobile and was comparing the two and at first it did look short. Although when you open the cockpit, it makes them look the same. This is only perspective because I am going from such a small model to a larger scale picture.

What are the measurements and proportions of the Toynami version? As I understand it, that was made from the mold of a studio scale prop that was used in the Axis explosion scene when at parts where it was unsafe to risk the fullsize car and driver? It probably does look right, because the prop itself was designed to look right by the effects team,---film professionals who knew all about the distortions of perspective and perception at different scales, and who knew they would be shooting at a different scale than they film the real car. They could adjust and correct for the distortions if they had so it would always look right when filmed at a smaller scale. (See what I did there?) Or maybe they forced the perspective to look right by using a different shape camera lens and filmed from a different distance, or some combination of the two techniques. I am not saying this is what they definitely did, but as pros, they had to be at least aware of the distortion that comes from filming at a different scale, and had to compensate for it somehow (altering the dimensions of the model, or altering the light as it passed into the camera by using a distorted lens).

What are the are the official measurements of the full sized prop car, and from what source are you guys getting those measurements? I ask because there is a wealth of supposedly primary source/official information available about this Batmobile, much of it contradictory. How do you decide which one is right?

According to the packaging on the Ertl model kit:

wheelbase = 141.0 inches | 1:6 = 23.5 inches
length = 260.7 inches | 1:6 = 43.25 inches
width = 94.4 inches | 1:6 = 15.733333... inches
height = 51.2 inches | 1:6 = 8.53333... inches

According to "Batman: The Official Book of the Movie" by John Marriott, who was on set during the production and had access to the special effects and props teams:

length = 19 ft , 6 inches (5.9 m) = 234 inches | 1:6 = 39 inches
width = 8 ft (2.4 m) = 96 inches
Wheels (doesn't specify whether they are talking about the front or back wheels which are different sizes, or the wheels without the tires) = 24 inches | 1:6 = 4

inches

According to The Official Batmobile Blueprints from Batman Returns--which contradict themselves, and are drawn in perspective instead of pure elevation, except for the side
view (which looks right) and the top view (which is clearly the wrong shape), available here https://www.chickslovethecar.com/KeatonBlueprints.aspx?Comments=All

wheelbase (top view) = 11.77 feet | 1:6 scale = 1.9616666... feet
wheelbase (side view, the measurement shouldn't be different from the top, but it is) = 12.96 feet | 1:6 scale = 2.16 feet
height (to the top of the roof and highest point on the fins) = 4.43 feet | 1:6 scale = 0.738333... feet
height (to the top of the hood) = 3.09 feet | 1:6 scale = 0.515 feet
length = 21.16 feet | 1:6 scale = 3.52666... feet
width = 6 feet | 1:6 scale = 1 foot

According the very sparse special features on the first DVD release "Two Batmobiles were built for the film, each 20 feet long" now that hardly sounds like a very precise, down to the inch measurement, but just for the sake of being thorough I've included it here. 20 feet | 1:6 scale = 3.333... feet

Please don't say, "looks like", or "Trust me, I'm really good at eyeballing, so it's..." If you're going to make a claim about it's scale/proportions, you've got to have something concrete and objective beyond your own human perception to back it up.

DarkMagic said:

Please don't say, "looks like", or "Trust me, I'm really good at eyeballing, so it's..." If you're going to make a claim about it's scale/proportions, you've got to have something concrete and objective beyond your own human perception to back it up.

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But he's a self appointed accuracy expert!

i understand about some people that want total movie accuracy...but this thing is bad ass, and we have not seen a single 1/6 fig next to this thing. i would have to imagine that a company that specializes in 1/6 scale figs would know how to not only work up dimensions but create something that wouldnt make a 1/6 scale fig look to small or too big. also, i highly doubt that a sculptor would be given a project to do an be told to "eyeball it" they would have had plans, and blueprints, and im sure since HT has the license plenty of help from the archives from WB. its the batmobile not a prius, it will look amazing when done.

thenammagazine said:

But he's a self appointed accuracy expert!

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Actually, no. Find me one post where I claim this hot toys model is definitely accurate. My point is that we can't claim one way or the other that it is or isn't accurate without the measurements of the Hot Toys model AND precise measurements of the actual movie prop car...which are apparently very difficult to pin down, since different "official sources" come up with different numbers.

DarkMagic said:

Actually, no. Find me one post where I claim this hot toys model is definitely accurate. My point is that we can't claim one way or the other that it is or isn't accurate without the measurements of the Hot Toys model AND precise measurements of the actual movie prop car...which are apparently very difficult to pin down, since different "official sources" come up with different numbers.

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That was sarcasm.

eighthsamurai said:

We ain't gonna tell you which payment it is, but one of these payments is gonna be a _____. The mailman will get shot to death, the envelope will not seal, and the stamp will be in the wrong denomination; good luck, ____er!

if mitch hedberg were alive, i'd buy him a batmobile too. for the laughs.

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I'd get him 89 joker and bats...im sure he'd have an interesting take on it love hedberg....did the tumbler have lights that lit up? just asking cause if there is an area that held batteries maybe the machine guns would be mechanical if they are included.

Guinnessfan said:

I'd get him 89 joker and bats...im sure he'd have an interesting take on it love hedberg....did the tumbler have lights that lit up? just asking cause if there is an area that held batteries maybe the machine guns would be mechanical if they are included.

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Yeah, it has working lights. I actually think they wided the area of the Tumbler where the batteries go, just so they would fit.

For the 89 Batmobile, I think the most inconspicuous place (and easily accessible---not under the car) to put the battery compartment would be in the trunk. They could easily make it open along the seams like the Toy Biz version did.

DarkMagic said:

Yeah, it has working lights. I actually think they wided the area of the Tumbler where the batteries go, just so they would fit.

For the 89 Batmobile, I think the most inconspicuous place (and easily accessible---not under the car) to put the battery compartment would be in the trunk. They could easily make it open along the seams like the Toy Biz version did.

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thanks im gonna hope that the machine guns can be activated from the cockpit...that would be kewl.

I hope it has real miniature bombs that pop-out of it and blow-up the rest of my collection. No wait, I wouldn't want that.

Batty said:

I hope it has real miniature bombs that pop-out of it and blow-up the rest of my collection. No wait, I wouldn't want that.

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attachable mini bombs that didnt explode and ruin your collection would be sweet though

You guys are arguing about nothing. Who cares what the exact scale is. ITS FREAKING AWESOME. JUST AGREE OR PERISH.

HellboyFanChuck said:

You guys are arguing about nothing. Who cares what the exact scale is. ITS FREAKING AWESOME. JUST AGREE OR PERISH.

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That would mean upping the dosage on their OCD meds.