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1) There is a company that will make you a custom Batmobile.
2) That company is getting sued by DC.
The company is called Gotham Garage, and right now, it’s getting into a little bit of hot water over its merchandise: Warner Bros. and DC Comics have filed a copyright and trademark law suit. DC’s reasoning is that it’s easy to confuse the unauthorized Batmobiles as licensed products, which they’re not. Part of me kind of goes “really, DC?” at this– aren’t they worried about the massive amounts of fan-made artifacts you can get on Etsy?– but another part of me does see the problem. I suppose the difference between the stuff available on Etsy and the Gotham Garage’s Batmobile workshop is the fact that most of the stuff on Etsy LOOKS like it’s fan-made. In fact, the POINT of it is that it looks like that. It’s a tribute to the quality of Gotham Garage’s work that their Batmobiles look so good that they could conceivably be confused for licensed gear; but at the same time, it’s not nice to trick people into thinking something is authorized when it’s not. And also very bad business practice.
Gotham Garage actually produces an impressive variety of vehicles. Not limiting themselves to simply a generic Batmobile, they market the Batman Forever Batmobile, the 1989 Tim Burton Batmobile, the 1966 Adam West Batmobile, and the Batboat; looks like the only one they’re missing is the Tumbler. Furthermore, they also build replicas of the Mach 5 and Herbie the Love Bug. Watch out, Gotham Garage! Speed Racer might be coming for you next!
Then again, if there’s such a huge demand for Batmobiles, maybe DC just needs to buckle down and find a way to bring licensed ones to its fans (or the ones who can afford them, at least). What do you guys think?
[Via The Hollywood Reporter via The Mary Sue]
Ok new news Fiberglass geeks and Mark R
Built such a crap car that he used a mold buck instead of a body ,and it had door troubles ,Paint ,engine,over heating oh yeah and he didnt even use a car body he screw that guy good and hard
Good choice Dc Comics
Racop you are a joke fat man You were offered to show your car against Towles and and you wimped out
The facts as I see them are that DC Comics has started perpetrating bullying sessions on the small guys on the playground, now if the kid is like Mark Racop the Bully gets his way and Mark Racop as he now does daily gives the Bully his lunch Money. Now the Bully gladly getting all the small kiddies monies from scare tactics turns to Mark Towle demanding his lunch money as well. My estimation is that if Towle stands up to the Bully long enough to make it to the principals office where the facts are heard and the truth of the matter is exposed (Court), Mark Towle will not be the one getting detention…. and don’t be surprised if that Bully finds he gets a swift kick to the nuts from his smaller victim after the fact….as in a multi million dollar counter-suit!.
Saw a video Mark Racop himself on TV telling the interviewer with his Lawyer next to him about the cease and desist and his legal problems with DC, or was it Warner Brothers . If they never filed it they sure as hell laid it all out and gave him a cease and desist. Now who’s lying about who? If DC never filed it’s cause he took down his Web site and buckled under their mega thumb before they had to. In fact it’s probably this act that has them thinking they can stomp all the other builders into the dust without proper due legal cause. Now that’s the truth. And what will he do when his licensing gets pulled? Build more golf carts? Lets see what happens gentleman….. Lets see what happens. More than likely Fiberglass Freaks will get their licensing pulled by DC for exaggerating their claims and prices and Towle will go on buliding his replicas of Public domain vehicles that neither DC Comics nor Warner Brothers have any legal ownership of. I suppose you also condone a Monopoly given to one car builder? The suit names unfair competition….WHAT? I say a Batmobile for $150K is unfair and giving a license to one builder is a MONOPOLY and against the LAW! Yeah that’s real American. DC has a bonehead case riddled with holes, it’s nothing but harassment by a megalith against a small business owner. The only thing they could possibly lay claim to is the word BATMOBILE, and that is not going to stop car builders from building a car that’s patent has expired, and is in the public domain. Get real. Get some knowledge! I would say DC Comics is looking at a very expensive counter-suit that they will likely lose! If they go after one builder they better police the world and get them all cause if they don’t their case is already lost by the mere fact of singling one shop out. They will not win.
, Fiberglass Freaks was sued by DC Comics more than a year ago and harassed and pressured into accepting licensing. They broke under the pressure. Their cars don’t drive well and are filled with problems they are more like big pretty models than driving cars. They are inaccurate sculpted models. You don’t see a single one out on the open road and their prices are absurd. Do your homework before you post. Read some forums….. They laid over and took it in the rear from DC showing no backbone and their business is failing because of it. DC will pull their licensing after they complete 8 cars. Licensing is nothing any builder or replica owner should ever want.
DC Comics licensed my company, Fiberglass Freaks, to build officially licensed 1966 Batmobile replicas: http://www.fiberglassfreaks.com