You wouldn’t think that a six pack of repainted Batman action figures had a tumultuous history, but here we are. Early last year, DC almost released this collection of toys based on one of the most infamously absurd covers of Detective Comics — but the set lost out on a fan poll, dooming it to non-existence… until now.
DC Collectibles have been planning a Rainbow Batman set for ages. The set was put into their archives until it re-emerged early last year when the company launched a poll asking fans which cancelled product from their archives they’d most like to see actually get made. People with bad taste Fans of the “New 52” DC comics reboot designs of classic characters ensured that the Rainbow Batman lost out to a set of 9.5cm action figures based on the those comics, and the Rainbow Batmen were seemingly doomed to languish in the vaults.
But, as announced by CNET, the Rainbow Batman set is finally going to come out this year. So, why on earth would people want a set of the same action figure, six times, in different colours?
It’s an homage to classic, ludicrous story “The Rainbow Batman”, from Detective Comics #241. In the issue, Batman starts wearing a different, garishly coloured suit each night… to stop people looking at Robin. Seriously! Then-Robin Dick Grayson had hurt his arm in civilian life, so Batman thought if people noticed Robin had a similar injury, they’d discover his real identity. So he blinded them with fashion!
It’s goofy in all the right ways that the classic silver age of comics could be, so it’s no surprise that the toys have garnered a bit of attention as they have been teased over the year. Sadly though, such fabulous Batmen come with a hefty price: when DC finally releases the set in August, it will set you back $US70 ($102) dollars. That is an awful lot for a box of delightfully-coloured repaints.
[CNET]