McFarlane Toys doing Batman 66 figures?

[WishItWas1984]

Cool to see the series will hit a Wave 7 from McFarlane, but man I'm bummed that the new figure isn't going to be one from the '66 show.

Honestly, I really wonder why he hasn't gone 100% deeper into the show. Why comic Two-Face and Batgirl? I mean, he went with King Tut and Egghead, so that's something, but those two molds could've been Mad Hatter and Bookworm. Although...if you include the two Batman '66 animated movies, I guess Two-Face works. Oh well, fingers crossed for wave 8.

[Ben Bentley]

Cool to see the series will hit a Wave 7 from McFarlane, but man I'm bummed that the new figure isn't going to be one from the '66 show.

Honestly, I really wonder why he hasn't gone 100% deeper into the show. Why comic Two-Face and Batgirl? I mean, he went with King Tut and Egghead, so that's something, but those two molds could've been Mad Hatter and Bookworm. Although...if you include the two Batman '66 animated movies, I guess Two-Face works. Oh well, fingers crossed for wave 8.

Honestly, if we do get a Wave 8 and he gives us a Bat-Copter in this scale... i'm more than happy to overlook decisions regarding villains!

[WishItWas1984]

Cool to see the series will hit a Wave 7 from McFarlane, but man I'm bummed that the new figure isn't going to be one from the '66 show.

Honestly, I really wonder why he hasn't gone 100% deeper into the show. Why comic Two-Face and Batgirl? I mean, he went with King Tut and Egghead, so that's something, but those two molds could've been Mad Hatter and Bookworm. Although...if you include the two Batman '66 animated movies, I guess Two-Face works. Oh well, fingers crossed for wave 8.

Honestly, if we do get a Wave 8 and he gives us a Bat-Copter in this scale... i'm more than happy to overlook decisions regarding villains!

I hear ya. In terms of vehicles, the company is killing it when you see what they are doing with the rebooted Super Powers line too. Now that you mention it, that might be where the budget is going. Molds and tooling aren't cheap, especially for vehicle's at this scale, so perhaps as he invests in that, he's repurposing figure molds to compensate.

[Therin of Andor]

I don't understand the comic version of Batgirl. Yvonne owned her face, but she didn't own the costume. Weird.

Of course she didn't own the costume. She (and her Estate) simply chose not to have her likeness signed off in-perpetuity.

I mean, he went with King Tut and Egghead, so that's something, but those two molds could've been Mad Hatter and Bookworm.

Considering that Egghead and King Tut were included in the six "Arch Villains" category on the series ("The Entrancing Dr Cassandra"), I am not surprised they were chosen first. People complained when Funko did Bookworm in their line!

[rickkrefft]

For me personally, I could care less about Bookworm. I don’t need the one shot villains to feel complete. That said, I really do want Mad Hatter…especially with Pink Cowl Batman coming up. I think they maybe feel Mad Hatter wouldn’t sell on a single card as well as Egghead, Tut or Freeze would. I’m hoping for a Villains United box set that could include Hatter as the new figure packed with maybe some variants we are hoping for like Masked Penguin, Unmasked Catwoman and that b&w Riddler in color.

The Batcopter is a must. I really want this one. I know it’s gonna cost about double the other vehicles, but I’ll pay it. To me, it’s the most important bat vehicle after the Batmobile. Hope it includes the ladder.

I 100% understand the comic book versions of Two Face and Batgirl. McFarlane has dug so deep into the line and Batgirl is the very last real popular character left to do. It was the only way to get her in the line and work around Yvonne’s estate loophole. I’m glad to get her any way I can. For now I’m using the Mattel Batgirl to fill the void. As for Two Face, he too seems like a perfect addition to the line. There have always been 3 MIA villains fans wanted on the show and their absence has always been felt. Two Face, Scarecrow and Poison Ivy. I’m hoping McFarlane does Scarecrow and Ivy as well. Adding these characters will help the line stay alive. Whereas characters like False Face, Clock King, Bookworm (as much as we may like them) just won’t sell well.

[svl]

Of course she didn't own the costume. She (and her Estate) simply chose not to have her likeness signed off in-perpetuity.

I know that all too well, but thanks for the condescending comment. My point is I simply don't understand why companies are reluctant to create costumed Batgirl merch when it would be a simple matter to use a generic female lower face and eyes. Kudos to McFarlane for finding a litigation safe workaround by labeling the product with the " '66 comic version" tag.

[Therin of Andor]

I know that all too well, but thanks for the condescending comment. . Kudos to McFarlane for finding a litigation safe workaround by labeling the product with the " '66 comic version" tag.

It wasn't my intention to be condescending. My apologies. You were the one who said "Yvonne owned her face, but she didn't own the costume. Weird." And I didn't see anything weird about Yvonne's license agreement. I read your post several times to work out if it was being said in jest.

My point is I simply don't understand why companies are reluctant to create costumed Batgirl merch when it would be a simple matter to use a generic female lower face and eyes...

If a company produces a generic female face wearing the TV costume closely associated with only Yvonne Craig's Batgirl, then it is still Yvonne's "likeness", even though it doesn't look like her at all. It becomes a bad likeness, which is worse for the Estate.

A common complaint of the Funko, FTC and Mattel TV Batgirl figures was that none of them resembled Yvonne enough. So the fans will not be satisfied with a generic face. Meanwhile, my spare Mattel Batgirl figure stands with my McFarlane figures and DC Universe TV Alfred, and she fits quite well.

[rickkrefft]

The FTC Batgirl was hideous IMO. Not only was the face awful but that long cape was the laziest thing they ever did. I’m actually so glad FTC stopped making 66 figures. I was getting tired of paying so much money for junk bodies they were making (especially the females) It would be nice if Mego could get the 66 rights away from FTC. The Mattel Batgirl is pretty good. She fits in well with the McFarlane line.

[Therin of Andor]

It would be nice if Mego could get the 66 rights away from FTC.

It still wouldn't get you a different 8" Yvonne. Her likeness is now unavailable.

[Larry A.]

The FTC Batgirl was hideous IMO. Not only was the face awful but that long cape was the laziest thing they ever did. I’m actually so glad FTC stopped making 66 figures. I was getting tired of paying so much money for junk bodies they were making (especially the females) It would be nice if Mego could get the 66 rights away from FTC. The Mattel Batgirl is pretty good. She fits in well with the McFarlane line.

I hate to say it, but FTC HAS reissued the TV Batgirl. What I am doing is buying the FTV TV Batgirl, Then adjusting the costume to fit the new "S" bodies and cutting apart the FTC Batgirl cowl away from the original face and gluing it on to the red haired "S" figure.

How did I figure out how to do that, One may ask? Simple, I just asked myself, "WWID" ( What would Ian do!!!!!)

Cheers!

[AndyFish]

Yup Ian is right-- Warner Bros might own the costume but Yvonne's likeness includes it-- the law would interpret it as if it can be mistaken as a figure of Yvonne she would be owed fees for it. It's the reason Universal went with the green Frankenstein jacket so many years ago, because Karloff's was black.

Now the bigger thing that's strange, and Scott would know the answer to this, is I believe Yvonne's estate is open to licensing and for a very reasonable fee, but they haven't even been approached. It wouldn't be necessarily up to McFarlane to do that, it would be the license held by WB because as a manufacturer you get a "bible" which shows you what characters you have access to and how they should look. McF MIGHT be doing the heavy lifting though, because I seriously doubt Two-Face is in that bible.

[TysonL]

Yup Ian is right-- Warner Bros might own the costume but Yvonne's likeness includes it-- the law would interpret it as if it can be mistaken as a figure of Yvonne she would be owed fees for it. It's the reason Universal went with the green Frankenstein jacket so many years ago, because Karloff's was black.

Now the bigger thing that's strange, and Scott would know the answer to this, is I believe Yvonne's estate is open to licensing and for a very reasonable fee, but they haven't even been approached. It wouldn't be necessarily up to McFarlane to do that, it would be the license held by WB because as a manufacturer you get a "bible" which shows you what characters you have access to and how they should look. McF MIGHT be doing the heavy lifting though, because I seriously doubt Two-Face is in that bible.

I know it's slightly off topic from the McFarlane stuff but this conversation steered a little towards Batgirl and this was in the Cryptozoic newsletter so I'm not quite sure what their plan is but supposedly this will be releasing at some point soon. Not sure how they're pulling this one off.

[allknighters]

Forbidden planet in the UK got a big
Drop of Batman 66 goodies! Mr. freeze, Catwoman, bat cycles and the villains lair!!

[Lou Szabo]

Just got a shipping notice for Villains lair and Batcycle.

[johndeblasi]

All I want is Egghead, Anyone find any?