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Sunday, May 8, 2011

Vintage Batcave Playset by Mego 1974-1977

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Here's a look at one of Mego's many Batman related toys, the Batcave. It was brought to my attention that I have a toy blog with "Batcave" in the title, nonetheless, and I haven't discussed a single one of my Batcave toys. Geez! Well, better late than never.

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The Bat-signal! This used to be one of my favorite parts of this playset. It really worked and would shine a bat symbol on to any surface. Mego originally wanted to sell it separately from the playset, but toy stores scoffed at Megos cheapness at its introduction at the Toy Fair. Mego quickly decided to sell it with this playset.


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Bruce and Dick with characteristic speed and resolve descend promptly to the Batcave...

We can see here Mego was once again influenced by the '66 TV series by included the Batpoles - I mean Batpole in this case. It would have been spectacular if Mego had made a study that went on top of this section.


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And then as they have done many times before as Batman and Robin...
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Courageous warriors against crime, they are off once again to the rescue...We can see here on the Bat Computer that the Joker is once again up to no good.

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"Atomic batteries to power. Turbines to speed."

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The Batmobile races out the secret entrance. Good thing Gotham City is only 14 miles away. Hmmmm...Always seemed like they arrive at police headquarters in seconds.

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Although the TV series had two Bat Poles there was only one inlcuded with the Batcave playset. There was also a landing platform for the Batcopter.

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Mego made tons of stuff for Batman, but the one thing they didn't was the Batboat, but at least they did include it the Batcave.


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According to Mego's product catalog the Batcave was "built to accommodate all the Bat Vehicles" and according to the instructions is 3 feet long when fully assembled. The playset itself is vinyl wrapped cardboard and included a cardboard Bat Computer and wooden Bat Pole as shown above. A plain vinyl sheet was used to represent the floor of the Batcave. The vinyl sheet came in blue, green, and brown. The Batcave also came in two different box sizes as well.

About the author: John Sholtz is an avid toy collector and the interim editor of the Batcave Toy Room due to the abrupt death of Bruce Wayne. Learn more about him here and connect with him on Twitter at, Facebook, Google+ and LinkedIn.

10 comments :

  1. So great... not sure I remembered ever seeing this... I love to read about any Mego History!

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  2. Colin- It's an oldie but a goodie. Very fun playset. Especially, the Bat-Signal. Should be a staple in any collection. ;-)

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  3. Fantastic Batcave!, i love the Mego toys & figures. I have Toy Biz Batcave. but its no where near as good as the Mego one.

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  4. Vince Jones- Welcome to The Batcave Toy Room! It is fantastic. I love all Batcave toys, but the Mego version is my favorite.

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  5. as a small child I requested This Mego "Bat Cave Playset" and the "Joker Van"... I got the "Ape City" ...and the "Batman" version of the van... one of the most disappointing Christmas times of my childhood....

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    1. The Mobile Bat Lab you're talking about is worth a small fortune now. I've had two in my life time so far. I never had the Jokermobile, but I would love to have one now.

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  6. I was actually "cheerful" yesterday afternoon....I was a Wall-Mart while my Dad was "re-keying" a car ( He is a Locksmith).....
    In a display of some new Comic book heroes and Villains called..."Heroics".....Well in the display ( Very Well Secured) was a "Joker" figure ( Same pose as one in my room...though larger)
    I ask about and got one of the managers to Actually let have this Joker Figure...!!!!!
    Took time and a lot of trouble for him to do so....He then handed me one of these "ping-pong"-like containers...and told me to bring him the figure inside to replace the Joker ( it was "Flash").... ...he is the same size as my "Hero-Clix" figure of "Emperor Joker"...all three figures are grouped together in my room now...
    But,....The Point is that I Got the Joker...!!!!

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    1. Very cool Dr. Theda. I have often thought about asking managers about getting or buying different toy displays. I am glad to hear you were successful at it. I need to try that myself sometime.

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