Batmobile coming to McFarlane Super Powers
Affiliate links in post. See Disclosure Policy.
In an incredibly exciting announcement today, McFarlane Toys announced that the vintage inspired Super Powers Batmobile is coming to the DC Super Powers line and will be available for preorder this Friday May5th at Select Retailers! Just a couple weeks ago, we got the announcement for Wonder Woman’s Invisible Jet Coming to McFarlane Super Powers, and now we get the official reveal of the Batmobile! This is such exciting news for Super Powers fans everywhere as we can rejoice that there is a vintage inspired Batmobile coming! You will also notice an all new Batman and Robin riding inside! As the instagram post says, figures sold separately.
According to McFarlane Toys:
FIRST LOOK at the new DC Super Powers Batmobile! The next wave of Super Powers pre-orders drop this Friday, May 5th at select retailers.
*Figures sold separately*
McFarlane Toys
The styling of the new DC McFarlane Batmobile looks very similar to it’s vintage counterpart, with it’s bright blue plastic curved design, translucent orange windshield, large black wings in the back, and big yellow bat symbol on the door panels. It even has bat symbols on the wheel rims! I also love the big Batman mask shape on the hood of the car. It looks to be raised as if it activates some sort of action feature. The vintage Batmobile had a ram in the front and claws in the back that grabbed unsuspecting villains, so perhaps this one does something similar.
Also if you look closely, there is an all vintage inspired version of Batman driving and a new Robin figure copiloting! These are not vintage stand ins photographed in the Batmobile, yes folks they are all new McFarlane DC Super Powers versions of Batman and Robin!! Batman has that vintage Super Powers style with the black and blue colored cowl and his grey and blue outfit with yellow bat symbol! Robin has a classic looking style to him as well! Also just by the look of things, and how they are sitting in the vehicle, it looks like the material for their capes is vastly improved as it looks to be of a softer material as it is nicely tucked underneath them as they sit inside the Batmobile.
This is so exciting, as we learned in the McFarlane DC Super Powers Wave 4 leaked list artcile we published, Wave 4 is supposed to bring a “Classic Detective” version of Batman and a new Robin (Tim Drake), which you can see on the leaked list below.
Where to buy
Vintage Super Powers Batmobile
The Super Powers Batmobile was a toy vehicle produced by Kenner Products in 1984 as part of the Super Powers Collection, a line of action figures and vehicles based on DC Comics characters. The Batmobile was designed to resemble the vehicle used by Batman in the popular 1980s Tim Burton film, with a sleek black body, large bat wings on the sides, and a cockpit that could seat one action figure. The vehicle was powered by a friction motor, allowing it to move forward when pushed. The Super Powers Batmobile also came with a detachable canopy, allowing kids to access the cockpit and place their action figure inside. The toy had a host of other features, such as a flip-up engine cover, pop-up missiles, and a grappling hook launcher. The Super Powers Batmobile was a popular toy among kids in the 1980s and remains a sought-after collectible today.
You can see the package was quintessential 80’s goodness with an illustration of the Batmobile on the front with Batman and Robin piloting the car and of course they were nocking the stuffing outta poor Joker at the front with the pop out bumper ram.
Batman (Classic Detective)
The classic grey and blue look for Batman is what most Super Powers fans are craving! The first Hush version of Batman that came out as part of the McFarlane Wave 1 DC Super Powers line was cool, but there was something not right about him. Perhaps the large chest, the lack of the classic yellow Bat Symbol on his chest? What ever it is, fans are still craving a Classic Batman for this line! And it looks like we will get him in Wave 4! Below is the vintage carded version, and my personal loose vintage Super Powers Batman for your reference.
Robin (Tim Drake)
What would Batman be without his trusty side kick Robin? Next on the leaked list of Wave 4 is Robin. This one is listed to be a Tim Drake version, but we will have to wait to see what he looks like! Below is the 1984 Super Power version of Robin, so let’s hope the new McFarlane version is close to this one!
According to : Tim Drake – Wikipedia
Timothy Jackson “Tim” Drake is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with the superhero Batman. Created by Marv Wolfman and Pat Broderick, he first appeared in Batman #436 (August 1989) as the third character to assume the role of Batman’s crime-fighting partner and sidekick Robin. Following the events of Batman: Battle for the Cowl in 2009, Drake adopted the identity of Red Robin. In 2019, Tim returned to his original Robin persona and had a brief stint in which he used the mononym “Drake”.
As a young boy, Tim was in the audience the night Dick Grayson‘s parents were murdered and later managed to discover the identities of Batman and the original Robin through their exploits. After the death of the second Robin, Jason Todd, and witnessing Batman spiral into darkness, Tim attempted to convince Dick to resume the role of Robin, stating that “Batman needs a Robin”. However, Dick refused to return to being Batman’s sidekick, and instead, Tim was appointed as the third Robin. Neal Adams redesigned the entire Robin costume specifically for Tim Drake’s character, with the sole exception of the redesigned “R” logo by the late Norm Breyfogle.
Subsequent stories emphasize Tim’s superior detective skills compared to the previous two Robins, which make him more similar to Batman. He succeeded Dick as the leader of the Teen Titans, and later led his superhero team, Young Justice. He was briefly followed in the role of Robin by Stephanie Brown, and later for a longer period by Batman’s biological son, Damian Wayne, during the time Tim operated as Red Robin. Tim has been shown to have a close friendship with Superboy (Conner Kent). He has had romantic relationships with superheroes Stephanie Brown and Wonder Girl (Cassie Sandsmark), and more recently his former schoolfriend Bernard Dowd.
Tim Drake – Wikipedia
History of Kenner Super Powers Line
The Kenner Super Powers line was launched in 1984 and ran thru 1986. It consisted of 3 Waves with a total of 34 epic figures, 8 vehicles and 1 amazing playset! The line was heavily influenced by the 1980’s Super Friends Cartoon, but was not a direct translation of the animated series. The first wave consisted of 12 figures and of all DC heavy hitters like Superman, Batman, Robin, Wonder Woman, Joker, Penguin etc.. The second wave had a little bit more deep cuts from the comic books with characters like Darkseid, Firestorm, Green Arrow and Dr. Fate. The third and final wave consisted of very obscure characters which is why they are the rarest of the line and worth a lot of money on the secondary market. The final wave had figures like Plastic Man, Samurai and the rarest Cyborg.
According to Super Powers toyline and products | SuperFriends Wiki | Fandom
DC Comics awarded the license of their characters to Kenner Toys, hot on the heels of Mattel‘s “action feature” heavy He-Man toy line. Winning the license away from Mego Corporation and Mattel with their emphasis on action and art, Kenner devised hidden mechanisms within the figures that would trigger an action when the figures legs or arms were squeezed. This emphasis on each figure’s “super power” led to the naming of the line – The Super Powers Collection. Each figure in the first two series were also packaged with a mini-comic featuring that character’s adventures (a detailed list of these minicomics can be found at List of Super Powers Minicomics).
Once the line was in full force a merchandising frenzy took place, with DC Comics and Kenner slapping a Super Powers logo on whatever they possibly could. Three series of figures and accessories were released: in 1984, 1985, and 1986.
In addition, the toy line helped establish the mainstream acceptance of artist Jack Kirby’s seminal “Fourth World” characters, particularly Darkseid and his minions. Evidently, the Kenner representatives were interested in a cosmic line of villains for the superhero characters, and Kirby’s creations were deemed ideal by them for this purpose. In fact, Kirby was commissioned to design the action figures for his characters, such as Darkseid, which resulted in the only time Kirby directly monetarily benefitted from his comic book creations apart from his work-for-hire wages. Another major comic book creator, George Perez, was similarly commissioned to design the action figure for his character, Cyborg.
Super Powers toyline and products | SuperFriends Wiki | Fandom
You will notice immediately what an amazing job that McFarlane has done to recreate the vintage Super Powers Packaging! Complete with the Super Powers & character logos, blue, yellow star bursts and stripped background just like the vintage figures! They did choose to go in a totally different design direction with Batman and Darkseid, but overall they kept that nostalgic vintage feel to the figures. Pictured below are the vintage versions so you can see what they looked like compared to the new line.
Source: Superman | SuperFriends Wiki | Fandom
Source: Batman | SuperFriends Wiki | Fandom
Source: Darkseid | SuperFriends Wiki | Fandom
Source: Aquaman | SuperFriends Wiki | Fandom
Source: 1984 Kenner Super Powers Boxed Playset – Hall of Justice (collectorarchive.com)
Source: Green Lantern | SuperFriends Wiki | Fandom
Toy Sorceress’ Vintage Collection
If any of you follow our Toy Habits Instagram page and The Toy Sorceress Instagram page, you will see the Toy Sorceress loves Toy Photography, so here are some photographs for your enjoyment and inspiration!
Looking for more DC Super Powers figures
Be Sure to check out our new DC Supers Shop Pages!
