Mego 1966 TV Batcopter
 |
To the BATCOPTER! I've always loved the vehicles from the 1966 Batman TV show. All of them. But I guess I coveted Batcopters more than anything because there weren't any toys or models ever put out that looked like the one in the movie. Maybe because it was based on a Bell 47D chopper from the Korean War meant that nobody wanted to do a toy or replica of it. Who knows. Aurora had plans to do a model but that got scrapped. The Corgi copter was a way-newer Bell (like the A-team one) and all other toys followed suit. Anyway, I always wanted one for 12" figures and years ago - I thought I was on the right track when Cotswold offered a "Bell 47 Styled Copter for GI JOE dolls" so I ordered a couple. When I got them I was dismayed because they were really toy-simple and way too small for 1:6 dolls. I put them in the back of the parts closet and in the back of my mind. Then recently it dawned on me that both their sizing AND their toy-like qualities would be great to do a MEGO Batcopter for the MEGO dolls! |
 |
Mego DID put out a Batcopter that was highly disappointing even back in 1975. Looking more like a character from Lidsville, collectors have dubbed it the "flying slipper" and other less flattering names. I don't know what they were thinking. The Mego Batcycle is nice and the Batmobile, while pretty crappy at least resembled the TV Batmobile. Heck, at least it resembled a CAR!. |
|
MEGO-RIFFIC! I have modeled the Batcopter in 5 other scales before this one. So I knew how to start. I spent a long time making the copter the right red with a finish that wouldn't rub or flake off. It is a rubberized red coating. Then the appropriate emblems, and registration numbers. Then the often-incorrectly modeled wings. The shape of the wings was much more triangular and bat-like than people often make them. I got my wing drawings from the original Aurora line drawings for their model and have checked them with the overhead shot from the movie. This was a fun project, being as I had to throw scale accuracy out the window and just get CLOSE for the MEGO world. And in the MEGO world -fun is more important than scale. This is a toy, not a model. It looked pretty good. But something was missing...
|
 |
Still something was missing...I had it
-the key scene from the movie featured the legendary "Oceanic
Repellent Bat Sprays" so I made them. At that point I realized that
I had to have Batman. And a rope ladder. And the shark of course. No
room for Robin in the cockpit so he could be skipped but the rest
had to happen.
|
 |
"Tower to Batman: Batcopter cleared for liftoff. We couldn't help noticing that your controls are pretty rudimentary and there's a set of spray cans in your cockpit. Over." |
 |
"Batman to tower, I don't know how I am hearing you or you me as the guy didn't bother to customize me a headset...big time toy customizer with the fancy Batcopter. Oh yeah I got these spray cans but a simple headset? Noooooo. Shoddy slacker." |
 |
"Okay, I am lowering myself down the ladder to investigate this ship. Hey Robin, pass me down that can of shark repellent and we'll do that thing in the movie where we eat up 12 minutes because the producers thought it would impress people to see you using those 'gymnastic skills' in the least urgent rescue anyone has ever staged. Robin? Robin? Oh crap I forgot. Damn one-seater helicopter...um, Batcopter on autopilot!" |
 |
"Okay I miraculously now have the can of shark repellent. You know. Just in case. Just in case "something happens of a shark-like nature" Wink wink." |
 |
"Holy crap! Commodore Shmidlap's cruise ship has turned into an aircraft carrier! No you're not supposed to notice that...I can see - I can see - uh..." |
 |
"Hey I can see your house from here! Yeah, the green shutters right? That's nice. Man this is a long ladder sequence without the dazzling acrobatics of Burt Ward to spice it up." |
 |
"And...right on cue. Who didn't see this one coming? I will NOT look down at you Mister Shark! I will not look...hey if it was a rubber shark how did it bite my leg? And couldn't the movie producers have made it look a little better by not simply wedging the sharks jaw against my leg forcing me to keep pressure on the ladder creating the "illusion" of the shark clamping down? I guess I've got bigger problems than that." |
|
Okay that's probably enough for now. The Batcopter will be on ebay very soon WITH the shark and the rope ladder and the spray cans and Batman and maybe a Batmobile...Mego Lives! |
