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Meat and Potatoes; 5.0
Perks; 5.0
Homer Facor; 5.0
The Hotwheels Batcave set is approximately 14" across and 6" high. The 'cave is is seperated into three sections, each one is two 'stories' high. The center section holds the Batcomputer and some catwalks, the section on the left holds a costume chamber and the Batmobile, and the right section holds some moitors, the Batboat, a lauching Batplane, and a miniature gym. All three sections are well sculpted and feature additional artwork to duplicate more 'rooms', control panels, and other features. The entire piece folds up to form Wayne Manor.
Tiny figures of Batman, Robin, and Alfred also come with the set.
Ah... but what if you decided to just drop the idea of having the Cave used by action figures? That idea was used once for 'Batman Forever'. Hasbro created a small Batman 'head' that opened to reveal a miniature section of the Batcave. It's actually rather neat; Batman and Two-Face miniatures, even a tiny Batmobile came with the set, and it opened into a tiny section of the Batcave... and I mean TINY.
In an article for the New Yankee Toy Shop, I talked about THE Batcave I would love to see if the Powers That Be listened. Hey, sometimes they DO listen. One of Mattel's many licenses is the Hotwheels license, so the toy-smiths at Mattel turned their CAD programs to the Batcave. Is it perfect? No... but it's still pretty dang cool.
Meat and potatoes on the piece, like the GI Joe 'chopper I reviewed, are going to be slightly modified since this is a play set rather then an action figure. The piece is a good representation of the new Batcave, post 'Cataclysm.' The entire cave is composed of three sections; two wings that are used for support sections, and the middle which houses the mighty Batcomputer. The main Batcomputer is in the middle, with a pair of catwalks leading to the two wings. The wing on the left houses Batman's weapons and costumes on the top level, the Batmobile on the bottom level. A miniature elevator slides between both levels. The top of the right wing holds assorted monitors while the bottom is for the gym and Batboat. And on the roof of this wing is a launcher for the Batwing. Yep, the set holds the Batmobile and Batboat... and also has the Batwing on the roof.
The sculpting details on the set are very solid; creating grind-lies on the multiple catwalks, the cracks and crevices on the walls of the cave itself, even the tile 'roof' of the cave. The set comes with miniature Batman, Robin, and Alfred figures (Go Alfie!) and are also well painted and sculpted. All in all, the details give the piece a solid look, rather then something just thrown together.
Perks are also outstanding. All three vehicles are mounted in launching mechanisms if you feel the need to fire the things or terrorize someone. The key perks are the little things. For instance, in the costume section in the upper left wing, a pair of doors open to reveal pictures of spare costumes in storage. On the right wing, there is a miniature trampoline that can be sued to launch Batman and Robin for practice drills... or for Alfred to have fun when everyone's out of the cave. Oh, and one more cute perk; the entire set closes into Wayne Manor. A few pieces do have to be disassembled to get the thing to close, however.
Homer factor was a big surprise for me. I hadn't heard any announcements for this play set, so seeing it in the store was quite a surprise. Then reading all the fun features on the back of the box just pulled me into the Dark Side. Bwahahahahahahahahahahaha.
So what have we got? A pretty cool piece of work from Mattel. No, it's not THE version of the Batcave fans would love to see, but considering the scale and price-point, it's a good representation of the Cave that anyone can take home. Hey... how about the JLA Watchtower next... oooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...