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Saturday, July 13, 2024

The Second On-Screen Batmobile: Washington Mint #66009 1/24 Scale Diecast 1949 Mercury (2007)

I love all the iterations of the Batmobile and recently posted Mattel's 1/64 scale entry for the first comic book Batmobile which appeared in the 1941 comics:


However, two of Bruce Wayne's/Batman's earliest rides have never been produced by toy companies as Batmobile's per se. The first on-screen Batmobile was a 1939 Cadillac Series 61 convertible appearing in the 1943 Columbia Pictures serial "BATMAN" as seen in these screen grabs. It is nothing more than an everyday runner for Bruce Wayne with no special features and I am unaware of any diecast or plastic vehicle produced that matches it.

1939 Cadillac Series 61 Convertible


The second on-screen vehicle appeared in the 1949 Columbia Pictures serial "BATMAN AND ROBIN" and is a 1949 Mercury convertible, which too was an everyday runner without any special gadgets. It's notable that, in the first serial, Bruce Wayne drove a fancy Cadillac limousine - as one would expect of a millionaire. But in 1949, Columbia's cost cutting measures during the filming caused him to downgrade to a '49 Merc!



Fortunately, there was a toy '49 Mercury Convertible and it was made by the Washington Mint in 1/24 scale diecast back in 2017 however, it was not marketed as a 'Batmobile'. While the toy is made in a red color I'm unsure of what color the on-screen Merc was. It's definitely not black like the Caddy and maybe it too is red. Anyone out there know of a colorized version of this? The box says "Manufactured by J. Lloyd International, Inc. of Cedar Rapids, IA" and marketed as a combined 'Washington Mint' and 'h*a*w*k' product. I apologize, but I've never taken this out of its original packaging after buying it years ago. It is still in The Cave all wrapped up nice and pretty like you see in the photos! Enjoy! Opa Fritz








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