SDCC Batman '66 Batcave set with Figure

[Idiot Savant]

I ordered mine (and its on the way) and cannot wait to get it! I didn't see it offered anywhere at SDCC but glad it's the same toy...is the exchange rate that insane going to Canada?

[Ken Davis]

I ordered mine (and its on the way) and cannot wait to get it! I didn't see it offered anywhere at SDCC but glad it's the same toy...is the exchange rate that insane going to Canada?

The rate is now about 25%............75 cents cdn to one US dollar. Essentially, anything that is $1 in the States, we'd have to pay $1.25.
That include any shipping costs too. And then when it comes up here we can be dinged by Customs on the costs for GST/PST ( sales taxes, on the exchanged cost--up to another 15% depending on the province. So a possible 40% hike over what you'd pay in the States.
Yes, ouch.

[Idiot Savant]

Jeez man that's awful...hope they land in your TRU's soon

[Ken Davis]

Jeez man that's awful...hope they land in your TRU's soon

TRU ( and just about every other big retailer up here) tacks on the exchange because the whole sale is higher accordingly.
Thus a $40 set stateside is usually about $75 up here. And then again we get the sales taxes added on at purchase.
Usually the only thing we are spared is the skipping, which is worked into the price over above wholesale.

Last year, our dollar was at par. Action figures that cost $20 stateside, cost $20 up here in Canada. It was good then, but not so much now.
The unfortunate thing is that for US customers, the exchange rate should, in principle, work in their favour, BUT retailers up here mark UP the stuff by the 25%, so coming up to Canada to buy stuff doesn't really incur much of a savings.

[Doctor Fate]

I will be picking mine up week from next Friday - I've got it reserved and I'm paying it no matter how much it is. I'll be getting it from a dear friend who is picking one up for himself.

[Ken Davis]

Lo and behold, this Batcave set AND the 3-pack set with Batgirl showed up here at TRU this week. The Batcave set is about $40 Cdn.......that is a border-line OUCH price, but i pulled the trigger. The 3-pack is $70, which is too big of an ouch for me right now.

The CAVE set is the start of something sweet and special. I'm going to look for some doll-house scale furniture for a Bruce Wayne's study diorama. A quick Google search shows some desks that are close enough to the actual desk to use--the chairs might be trickier.
I wish there were some civilian bodies to swap the Bruce Wayne head to, but I'll use it as is with the Bat-body provided.

Then I think I might try to build some other Bat-consoles for the cave.

[Webslinger]

I hear ya Ken, they could have gone all the way with this line and I would have bought them all!!! Civilian clothes Bruce and Dick 2 pack, civilian Barbara Gordon, Alfred, Aunt Harriet, Gordon, Chief O'Hara, John Astin Riddler, Eartha Kitt Catwoman, Vincent Price Egghead, Victor Buono King Tut. Not to mention the guest star heroes they had Van Williams and Bruce Lee as the Green Hornet and Kato 2 pack!!! This line had such potential and Mattel botched it. I really hope we get some more with the upcoming '66 animated movie next year.

[Ken Davis]

I hear ya Ken, they could have gone all the way with this line and I would have bought them all!!! Civilian clothes Bruce and Dick 2 pack, civilian Barbara Gordon, Alfred, Aunt Harriet, Gordon, Chief O'Hara, John Astin Riddler, Eartha Kitt Catwoman, Vincent Price Egghead, Victor Buono King Tut. Not to mention the guest star heroes they had Van Williams and Bruce Lee as the Green Hornet and Kato 2 pack!!! This line had such potential and Mattel botched it. I really hope we get some more with the upcoming '66 animated movie next year.

You've named EVERYTHING on my own list, total agreement on every suggestion.

I do have some small complaints about the Batcave set, most of which fall in line with complaints voiced in other reviews.
I do wish they'd cast and painted actual switch/dial detail on the bat computer, instead of going cheap with a sticker.
That alone makes this set weak. It's a $25 set at most, not a $40 set. The dichotomy of the accessories is what trips things up. A bat computer but with stuff to outfit Bruce Wayne's study......., but with gear that belongs in other vehicles, not just the cave itself. It's like the set started out thinking it was going to be one thing, and then they realized they couldn't cost out what the set actually needed, so they threw in a bunch of other cheap-to-cast stuff.

They could have done two sets here. A Bruce Wayne/Batman's study, with Bruce and Dick in casual attire. Dick with a algebra text book, and a model plane, the Shakespeare bust and the batphone. A desk and two chairs.
A card-stock floor and back drop to complete the diorama. Make it a store exclusive if they have to.

A second set of the cave, with Batman ( and Robin, OR Alfred). The bat computer, the bat sprays, all the other gear the current set comes with, but also with a work table, and if we include Alfred, his feather-duster or a tray with a sandwich and a drink. Ask $5 more for it, and I'd still jump.

But AS IS, there's enough here to start doing two diorama displays. Doll-house scale stuff can provide all the parts for a study display, and a fair chunk of stuff like tables and chairs for a cave display. Some of the computer and lab stuff can be built out of styrene stock.
The beauty of it is that a fair amount of doll-house stuff is 60's-ish era looking, and most is 1/12th scale anyway.

[Webslinger]

I think that the Buffy the Vampire Slayer library from the TV show would make for a great start there for a Wayne Manor "To the Batpoles" diorama.

[Idiot Savant]

Those are all fantastic suggestions and I really hope they do something like this for us...I also never knew about the animated movie; can't wait for that