Batman action figures

Batman action figures have been produced since the 1940s.

The first Batman figures were lead figurines of Robin and Batman which were given away as carnival prizes at local fairs during the 1940s.

The Marx Toy Company produced the first ever poseable Batman action figure in the mid-1960s. It stood about 4" tall and came with a multitude of accessories among them bat - cuffs, batarangs, and a fire extinguisher. Very few remain in existence and it is one of the holy grails for any Batman toy collector.

In 1966, the Ideal Toy Company launched a line of super hero action figures called Captain Action in response to Hasbro's popular G.I. Joe line which followed the standard scale of 12". The Captain Action figure came dressed with a cloth super hero costume, hat, ray gun, and sword, ready for kids to enjoy. But parents could also buy additional super hero costumes that were sold separately. Kids could take Captain Action's costume off and replace it with one of several super hero costumes based on famous comic book characters.

Also in 1966, the ABC Television Network launched a live action Batman TV series . Because of Batman's growing success in the mid '60s, a Batman costume was included in Captain Action's arsenal. This Batman costume was detailed with a horizontally striped cape as well as a black and gold chest emblem (the costume set was available with both metal and decal chest emblems). Batman's accessories included a blue Batarang, flash light, and drill, which could attach to the utility belt.

In 1967, Ideal released a partner figure for Captain Action, his youthful sidekick, Action Boy. Ideal Toy's released only three costumes for Action Boy to change into, one of them being Robin, Batman's sidekick.

In 1972, the Mego Corporation, made a landmark deal and secured the licenses to create toys for both National Periodical Publications (later DC Comics) and Marvel Comics. Similar to Ideal Toy's Captain Action line, these figures featured cloth costumes that fans could remove. Unlike Captain Action, however, the costumes came with the figure, and were not sold separately. The bodies were a smaller 8" size and the heads and clothing were interchangeable. During this time period, Mego released the very first ever comprehensive line of DC and Marvel character action figures and coined the term "World's Greatest Super Heroes!" to umbrella the name for all the figures released in this line. The popularity of this line of 8" figures created the standard scale for the 1970s and featured many Batman characters, including Batman, Robin, Catwoman, The Penguin, The Riddler and The Joker. The earliest Batman and Robin figures had removable masks but they were easily lost and Mego noted that it was less expensive to create a new sculpt for Batman with a molded on mask and simply painted the mask onto Robin. Mego was a true pioneer in action figure development, responsible for creating the first carded action figure (for S. S. Kresge's), The first exclusive figures (Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson for Montgomery Ward's) and expanded their line to include the 1966 Batman TV series-style Batmobile, the Batcycle. and the Batcopter, as well playsets for Batman characters such as the Batcave and the Wayne Foundation. They were offered for an entire decade from 1972 until 1983.

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Wikipedia