You light up my life

As integral a component of the Bat mythos as it is, it is almost impossible to fathom that there have been more Alfred action figures than Bat Signals produced by both Kenner and Mattel combined over the past thirty or so years of Batman action figures!

Sure, Mattel is currently releasing one in their TDKR Movie Masters line-up as a BAF or Collect-and-Connect piece, but it'll run you a lot of money and frustration to get it if you can even find all the figures in the series in order to complete it (my guess: you can't.)

Mattel also made a Bat signal as a European exclusive pack-in with some random Batman back pre-DCUC and as much as Mattel LOVES reusing parts ad nauseum, they have never seen fit to release that Bat Signal on US toy collectors. Because: Mattel.

So after collecting Batman toys for the greater part of my life, I finally, FINALLY have a Bat Signal thanks to...some random book store gift box?!?!

A functioning Bat Signal no less! It even shines the signal onto a wall in the dark!

The signal comes with a tiny book that kids will probably think is cool, with some generic pics of Batman and villains and little blurbs about them. And at ten bucks it's kinda pricey, but I couldn't live another day without a Bat Signal and I think it's worth every penny.

And now that I have one I fully expect Mattel to release about fifty different Bat Signals over the course of the next year because that's how these things go, right?

Okay, so it's a little small for your action figure needs (if they stand right next to it) but it's perfectly proportioned for Lego or other small sized figures.

But who cares, it's a working Bat Signal and I shouldn't have had to wait so goddamned long to find one in a store!