Yes and no. Like I said, there's some justification for the figures costing what they do. I remember once when the belt came off my "First Avenger" Captain America's rifle; it took me over an hour to thread the belt back through the clip, so I can't imagine how long it takes to manually dress their super-intricate figures. The Batmobile could likely be ran off a standard toy assembly line like any toy you find at Toys 'R Us; there's just not a whole lot to it.
A metallic paint job is the most obvious omission to me; I wouldn't want it to be Returns glossy, but there's a difference between a metallic black and black plastic. We got unpainted black plastic, as far as I can tell. After that, I would say it comes down to the little details that make Hot Toys figures so incredible. By comparison, their vehicles feel way behind, like they'd be better suited for a Hot Toys figure circa 2008. Aside from the dashboard and the browning machine guns, which are both fantastic, the detailing of the car just feel soft and toylike. Much of that has to do with the inherent design of the car itself, but I would expect Hot Toys to go above and beyond where they could. Take for example the seats of the car; they're nice, but they don't look like 1:6 scale seats - they look like toy car seats. The front headlights, when turned off, look pretty toylike too. How about some bolts and rivets where it makes sense? How about some painted grime and imperfections around the edges where a real car would have them? More beveling and chamfered edges where the panels meet, or where the windshield and canopy meet together. Those kind of small details that a real car has, and that Hot Toys would sculpt into their figures. By comparison the sculpting feels like an oversimplification of the actual car, which is what gives it that "toy" vibe to me, and what makes it feel like a $300 product instead of a $600 one.
Don't get me wrong, I don't regret my purchase at all and I admire it constantly; it is my holy grail collector's item and the highlight of my collection. But its not at the same level of detail and intricacy as Hot Toys figures have, and it doesn't look like a 1:6 scale automobile in the same way that you could mistake some of their figures for the actual actors or costumes; instead it looks and feels like a really blown up toy car, and that's where the "value" falls apart for me.
I don't think there will be another version. Maybe they'll re-issue the exact same thing in 5 years when the Returns figures begin shipping, but no extra features. They certainly wouldn't make it better for the same retail price.
I just unscrewed and took off the center panel (Printed with "TM & (c) DC Comics") in the chassis floor right in front of the turntable area. I wanted to see how much space they had to spare in there after the electronics and front steering was put in. The thick tandem steering bar that connects the two wheels might have interfered a bit with the bottom of a pull out engine. On the other hand, the 1:18 Hot Wheels was able to pull off both steering (linked to the working steering wheel!) and a pull-out engine with no problem.
Also there is definitely a LOT of wasted potential legroom in there. HT could have easily extended the passenger compartment to make it that much easier to seat an unmodded DX09 and other figures inside. Beside the bullet belts (which would have been easily routed to the side) a whole lot of nothing is in the way between the passenger compartment all the way to the front wheel wells. Theres about 2.5 - 3 inches of empty space, and they just needed about 1/2 inch to an inch to make a world of difference seating the figures. It baffles me why they didn't use it.
Hey for sure! And like I said I'm absolutely in love with the thing, don't get me wrong. And honestly, compared to the cinemaquette batmobile it's an incredible value. Actually, I find the hot toys version to be superior to that $2,000 version in nearly every way, from the photos I've seen.
