Hot Wheels Elite “Batpod”

Hot Wheels Elite “Batpod”

It took a small army of special effects people, an adventurous stunt driver, and a couple cubic yards of hard drive space to make the Batpod escape sequence in The Dark Knight Rises convincing on screen. From the look of it, Hot Wheels Elite’s take on this breakout hero bike took a little doing, too. This down-scaled version of the 1:18 ‘pod we reviewed in the Fall 2013 issue is a good-looking bit of business with many of the same visual cues of its larger linemate, and once freed from its plinth-mounted harness, it rolls on the same massive meats, scaled to a convincing nubbiness. The parts count is down, but the metallics, mattes, and well-placed weathering effects are all here, with a decent relief wash applied to the castings to give them depth. The cannons and guns up front are especially cool and menacing, despite their size, and the topside of the machine is done with delicate struts, elbow rests, and even a smattering of soft vinyl cabling to the hand controls. All in all, a neat effort, and a model that will fit the bill for collectors of smaller-scale Batmanania. — Joe Kelly, Jr.

1:43 | $70

hotwheels-elite.com

Updated: June 4, 2014 — 10:31 AM
Air Age Media ©
WordPress Lightbox Plugin