FIRST LOOK: The Groovy 1966 JOKER Playset You’ve Waited Decades For
EXCLUSIVE: This Mego-style release is a real laugh riot… It’s been a little while since we’ve shown off one of Anthony Durso’s customized 8-inch-scale, Mego-style playsets — but we’ve got your EXCLUSIVE FIRST LOOK at a doozy: The newly available Joker Ho-Ho Hideout, based on a conglomermation of villainous lairs enjoyed by Cesar Romero’s Clown Prince of Crime on Batman ’66. This is the second Joker set Anthony’s company The Toyroom has produced over the last year or so. The first one, The Joker Ha-Hacienda, is devoted to many versions of Batman’s greatest adversary. (Click here to check it out. You’ll be glad you did.) But this one is a three-dimensional love letter to Romero specifically and may have more Easter eggs than any other Toyroom playset. It also joins a number of other Toyroom sets based on the show and its villains. Dig this: “The last of Gotham’s “Fab Four,” the Joker, finally gets his own TV-centric displayset,” Anthony said. “While researching (i.e watching each Joker episode multiple times), I was struck by the fact that the Joker’s crimes usually involve art or technology (or both) in some way or another. It reminded me of Batman’s assessment of Jack Napier in 1989’s Batman, courtesy of his Gotham police file: “Aptitudes in science, chemistry and art”. The Joker had some unique schemes over the three seasons of the series and this is an attempt to acknowledge most of them in one way or another.” Here’s Anthony’s rundown: — The main exterior is the Ferguson Novelty and Magician’s Supply Company from The Joker Trumps an Ace. In the actual episode, we never see the real exterior. Only a black-and-white production drawing stuck in a binder in the Batcave. Also from that episode, the Gayfellows Cleaners sign makes an appearance. (See below.) — In The Joker’s Last Laugh, his headquarters is at Penthouse Publishers, printer of comic books. It’s adorned with all sorts of signs, comic art and book covers. I figured that with an interest in art, the Joker would appreciate all sorts of graphic design and would be a collector of signs as souvenirs from his various escapades. — And speaking of the The Joker’s Last Laugh, his card-suits entranceway (the back wall) comes from there, as do his two robot controlling machines. — The Zodiac Crimes is referenced...
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