The Top Ten Coolest Batman Toys of the 70's How did Bruce Wayne make his millions? Merchandising! No Superhero is a bigger pimp in the toy aisle than Batman, his complusion for gimmicks means everything with his face on it makes some sort of sense. The Seventies were the second round of "Bat-Mania" for children, all hopped up on syndicated runs of the 1966 Television series and the added gut punch of Batman being on two Saturday Morning series at the same time. This made for a dumpster full of "Batchandise" (it's a word, I swear...) and here are the ten best pieces from that era. If we missed your favorite, drop us a line and tell us why. 10: Remco Bat CSF Copter When the good people at Remco decided to knock off Mattel's Verti Bird, they went all out mixing the most famous hero to fly a helicopter (Sorry Jan Michael Vincent but it's true) with a deliriously fun toy. Now you can pick up the Penguin, take him as high as you can go and send him plunging to his death for being my least favourite Bat Villain.... 9: Janex Batman Clock Holy Snooze Alarm! Talking toys are commonplace now but the Janex Talking Batman Alarm clock was a pretty amazing invention in 1975. What better way to start the day than to be motivated by the dynamic duo? As an adult I can think of a few (all filthy) but as a child, there was no better.. 8: Mego Batlab The seventies were such a gentler time, allowing Batman and Robin to hit the open road in their converted VW camper van. Probably to do some fishing and possibly catch some criminals with their ridiculous net device that looks to have been inspired by the game mouse trap.If you're thinking of hitching a ride, remember that Batman and Robin have an "Ass, Grass or Gas" Policy. 7: Batman Play Suit You can blame Hank Venture for making the Batman playsuit popular again. As a child, I had to settle for a Collegeville "The Bat" costume, despite being an obvious rip off, it was always cool to wear those creepy masks. The one pictured is by Berwick. 6: Batmobile Peddle car Unless your dad was George Barris, chances are you didn't get to careen around in the Batmobile. This pedal car, which was exclusive to Sears was the next best thing and if you lived on a hill, it probably went as fast as the original Batmobile anyway. 5: Remco Batman Utility Belt It's almost like Batman's Utility belt is a character in itself, the essential tool for a crime fighter spawned a whole series of toys for Remco, who tried to pattern it's success onto other characters. OK, maybe Spider-man made sense but Remco went too far with Hulk and Mickey Mouse... 4: Batman Communicators Although they were a clever repackaging of their Star Trek communicators line, Mego did a sweet job making the coders anc command console look like they'd blend right into the Batman Universe. The command console is especially sweet as it can double as a TV Bat Computer (ie: designed by someone who has no idea what a computer is) for your action figures. 3: Batman Desk Set The Dark Knight is not something you normally would follow up with "office supplies" but this set produced in 1977, manages to do the impossible and made this interesting to children. It must be the figural interpretation of that Joker Stapler, each time you go to use it, you can make "Ka-Blam" sounds then laugh maniacally. How much fun would your boss be if they had one of these on their desk? 2: Corgi Batmobile It's much easier to find a child who had one of these than somebody who didn't, Corgi didn't stop making these things for well over a decade. One of the coolest things about this car were the tiny features such as the working rocket tubes (remember that *ping* sound?), the little figures of Batman and Robin and of course that blade that swung down. A kid in my second grade got his taken away because the teacher thought it could be used as a weapon, she was a nice lady but that was just nuts.. 1: Mego Batman If you grew up in the 1970's and had a Batman doll (Ok, Action Figure, you big babies) chances are it was this. With his positive expression, oven mitts and wonderful cloth outfit. The Mego Batman doll wasn't alone either, he was joined by both Robin and Batgirl as well as the upper tier of his rogues gallery. Not to mention the staggering amount of vehicles and playsets that Batman received, he truly was the alpha male of the Mego Superheroes (sorry Superman I still love you...). More Top Ten Fun