No not Adam West (although an Adam West/Batman action figure is thirty years over due.)
I'm talking about the "First Appearance" Batman figure from DC Direct.
This figure represents Batman as he was drawn in Detective Comics #27 - Batman's first appearance.
There are very distinct design cues (ie his ears on the side of his head) that only lasted a couple issues. Like a grey Hulk or a diamond shield wielding Captain America, this Batman "rough draft" is a great toy and a great glimpse at the past.
This is a brand new Matchbox Hitch N' Haul set aptly named "Vacation Day." It includes the Chevy Silverado and this brand new available no where else camper casting! It also included the elk, and a couple campers (not shown.)
I was very excited to finally find this set at Longs as it was released last year and there are few places locally that carry these sets. The art on the packaging shows a camper being attacked by a herd of elk, and on the back it has a blurb "It's an elk attack!" How cool is that?
I just love these little 1:64 Matchbox campers and wish they would make more. Historically there have been a few, and I probably should just scour eBay until I have them all. Someday I probably will.
Back in the early nineties there was a now famous (or infamous) series of storylines that followed the breaking, replacement, and return of Bruce Wayne as Batman called Knightfall, Knightsend, Knightynight, and all sorts of other clever names (read all about it...elsewhere.)
Kenner did well with their at the time industry standard sized (3-4") Batman and Justice League figures. With little fanfare and even less fan support, Kenner tried to get a little bigger by releasing a line of 6" action figures in 1999. The series included Superman, Batman, Superman Red and Blue, Captain Marvel, and Knightfall Batman. It apparently didn't do very well and faded fast.
Anyways, throughout the storyline Batman's replacement progressively updated the Bat costume into the one seen here (and beyond) with this result being the most widely recognized version. Knightfall Batman is the only one I picked up from the series, and frankly the only decent one of the whole set. I'm glad I did, as this size has now become the comic character industry standard (thanks to Marvel Legends) and you don't tend to see these Kenner figs very often these days.
I do hope Mattel, with their new DC Universe Classics series, revisits the character soon.
Johnny Lightning released this 1:64 scale Back to the Future DeLorean a few years back. One of the coolest movie cars of all time, and a spot on accurate casting! How cool is it to have a 1:64 die cast time machine? The playability is limitless! Park it next to your plastic dinosaurs or your Star Trek spaceships - it fits right in!
My only regret is that I didn't buy a dozen of these when they were released. I could customize one with white walls, one with train wheels, one with folded over flying wheels...
If I could only get my hands on a flying, time traveling train, I'd be in heaven.
