Observed Impulse: Remco Magic Magnetic Gotham City and Superman City Playsets from 1966

Greetings, Comics-fans! Today, we’re diving into not one, but TWO dynamic playsets! Behold: the Superman City Playset and the Gotham City Playset. Both are from 1966 and brought to you by the masterminds at Remco Toys! Licensed by none other than DC—Detective Comics—they capture the heroic spirit of a bygone era in glorious cardboard! So, grab your utility belts and prepare for a nostalgic tour of these vintage treasures!

Both sets are very rare and seldom become available on eBay or other auction websites. Also, there are very few pictures of them online and seemingly no videos or in-depth descriptions so I jumped at the opportunity to create them. I had an eBay notification set to alert me about any postings related to the set for years before this one became available. Here is theYouTube video I made about the sets.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VshunM7sqeU

Here is the box cover for Gotham City:

And here is the box cover for Superman City:

The sets were designed as interactive toys, bringing the iconic cities of Gotham and Metropolis to life with bold and colorful artwork typical of mid-century comic art.

The simple lines and limited color palette make them visually appealing and nostalgic for collectors.

Because the base can elevated with the included plastic stands, kids could use the magnetic wand to drag the figures around creating the illusion that the characters were walking about without being touched. The cardboard figures sit on an orange piece of plastic with a magnet on one side. It helps to have the character facing the side with the magnet because this is where the character will pivot.

Full disclosure, only the Gotham city set here is authentic, I built the Metropolis set from a scan on the Hakes auction website. This scan can be found below. I used a scissors and razor to cut it out and then used tape to piece it together. I did this to demonstrate what it would have looked like to have both sets side-by-side. I did not have a scan for the inside of the buildings meaning that the representation here is incomplete. The interiors of the Metropolis set were relatively sparse but from the box cover you can tell that we are missing things like paintings in the museum and a writing desk within city hall.

The boxes measure 18 x 24 inches. The playset base is made of thin particleboard and is also 18 x 24. The unpunched cardboard is found on a single sheet with the same dimensions. You punch out the buildings and characters, fold them and interlock their attachments. The cardboard itself is around 1/16 of an inch thick.

The Cover of the Boxes contains the following play features:

USE THE MAGNETIC WAND! SEND BATMOBILE THRU SECRET BATCAVE

• FOIL SINISTER PLOTS OF SUPER-CRIMINALS • SAVE NUCLEAR PLANT FROM DESTRUCTION • PURSUE ARCH VILLAINS IN BATPLANE • STOP JAIL BREAK • CHASE BANK ROBBER THROUGH STREETS OF GOTHAM CITY

USE THE MAGNETIC WAND TO CHANGE CLARK KENT INTO SUPERMAN. FOIL SINISTER PLOTS OF SUPER CRIMINALS • SAVE THE DAILY PLANET FROM DESTRUCTION • PURSUE ARCH VILLAINS. STOP JAIL BREAK • CHASE BANK ROBBER THROUGH STREETS OF METROPOLIS

The Gotham playset features key locations like a nuclear power plant, the Batcave, the Police Department, City Hall, the Gotham bank, and a small guard station.

The Metropolis set features a museum, a police station, City Hall, the daily planet, the metropolis national Bank, Hotel Metropolis, a subway entrance, a newspaper stand, and a giant statue of Superman.

The campy and colorful Adam West Batman television show debuted in January of 1966 a few months before these were released. The show clearly prompted this toy as the box mentions the TV show front and center, saying, "Batman with Robin the Boy Wonder: The Exciting TV and Comic Book Hero." However, the character art and scenery do not necessarily emulate the show, and in most ways are closer to the comics.

Here is the Superman City set from above:

And here is the Gotham City set from above:

Both sets come with some molded plastic objects. These include the Remco thimble city magic power wand with a magnet at one end and a handle at the other. Also included are small plastic desks, tables, chairs, a nuclear reactor console, the opening to the Batcave, a Batman call line phone booth, a filing cabinet, lamp posts, and street signs. Finally, we have these large orange triangles used to lift the base of the set so you can get that magic wand underneath it.

Each set comes with six cardboard characters around 1 inch tall. Superman city comes with Torgo, Metal Monster, Clark Kent, Funny Face, Lois Lane, and Superman. The Gotham set comes with Batman, Robin, the Joker, the shark, penguin, and Catwoman. There are also some vehicles, including the bat plane and the Batmobile.

Another picture with all of the vehicles:

Here are the instruction manuals that detail the contents and assembly instructions. I would say that each set would take an adult 5 to 10 minutes to construct. It’s easy to disassemble, and even though the box is large, it transports and stores well.

Some of the roads are asphalt and some are concrete. You can see sewage drains, and manhole covers. The bank has a large yellow vault which I’m sure is enticing to Gotham’s criminals. The police station has a jail cell with a sink and toilet. The tallest building here, City Hall has a courtroom with a flag as well as a map of Gotham city. As you can see each building has a unique floor. The Batcave contains the Batman message center which seems to be a large computer. The Gotham city nuclear power plant also seems to have a computer, various instruments, nuclear radiation meters and power controls.

The daily planet contains an office for Clark Kent and Lois Lane. The museum was dedicated by Superman. There is police parking in front of the police station. And a one-way roundabout around the daily planet. Here are the sets from above.

Gotham was first identified as Batman‘s place of residence in Batman number four from 1940. It is depicted as one of the most crime ridden cities in the world. In the comics, Gotham is commonly located in the US state of New Jersey, and Metropolis in nearby Delaware. They are even sometimes depicted as twin cities on opposite sides of the Delaware Bay.

The look and atmosphere of Gotham are primarily influenced by New York City. Some comic book writers like to think that Gotham represents New York at night and that metropolis is New York during the day.

Creator Bill Finger said that he chose the name "Gotham", rather than New York, so that all readers in any city could identify with it.

Batman artist Neil Adams has long believed that Chicago has been the basis for Gotham stating that New York does not have alleys, but Chicago has many back alleys and that’s where Batman fights all the bad guys.

Here’s the Bronson cave used as the shooting location for the Batcave in the 1966 show.

Remco, the manufacturer of these sets, was founded in 1949. The company was first known for early remote-control toys. It expanded during the 1960s by introducing popular licensed toys and science kits, providing children with interactive experiences.

Other things we might’ve liked to see depicted in cardboard include: Gotham Cathedral, Wayne Manor, Arkham Asylum, crime Alley, the Gotham Clocktower, black gate penitentiary, amusement mile, and Gotham Harbor.

Interesting locations missing from the Metropolis set include the iconic LexCorp tower, suicide slum, Stryker’s Island penitentiary, Metropolis University, and Metro Tower.

In 1964 Carmine Infantino placed a yellow oval behind the bat symbol on Batman’s chest. This marked Batman‘s “new look” era in the comics and was used in the 1966 show. The depiction in this set has the oval, but no yellow. The yellow oval made the bat symbol more trademarkable. It also distinguished Batman from his darker, detective-focused iteration. Which do you prefer? Me, I’m just happy to see him in grey and blue.

The figure with a tommy gun, red suit, and shark mask is unfamiliar to most people. His name is the shark, also known as Gunther Hardwick, a member of the terrible trio, three Batman villains that first appeared in 1958. They’re actually inventors who turned to crime in search of a challenge. They have shown up since in multiple Batman animated shows.

Superman, Clark Kent and Lois Lane generally need no introduction. But the other three characters of the Metropolis set are very obscure. Here, from left to right, we have Torgo, funny face, and metal monster. Metal monster is a robot antagonist of the justice Society. Funny face is another masked villain inventor, who created a ray beam which can bring drawings to life. He used this ray to animate characters from the funny strips, such as Torgo, and had them commit crimes on his behalf.

Here’s a list of the characters, their creators, and the year of their first appearance. Interestingly, the only character in either of these sets with super powers is Superman.

Here you can see both DC playsets with the cardboard Amsco Marvel World playset from 1975 in the background. The Marvel set was probably inspired by the DC sets. They seem to go relatively well together, although interestingly, the DC playsets from nine years earlier are brighter and more colorful. The actual marvel playset is much bigger, but the one seen here is a small version that I created from scans. In front you can see the cardboard figurines that came with it.

Here is the full size Marvel world playset that I’ve also done a video on. I made the scans of the set and its characters available for people that want to print them out. You can find that on my blog at a URL that is linked below in this video’s description. I also prepared these 200 additional characters. I set a roster, wrote each character’s name below their feet, placed them against a grey background, and created draw lines around them so people, like you, can print them out.

Here are some similar play sets, including the ideal sets for Superman, Batman, and Spider-Man. Spider-Man mini car city. The Hulk adventure city. And the Milton Bradley superhero strategy game. Here they are rolled out. As you can see, they use cardboard figurines from the Marvel world playset. I think they’re great, but I also think they don’t hold a candle to the Amsco or Remco playsets. Now one could place all these sets together to make a much larger play space. Am I too grown-up for all that? Only time will tell!

And there you have it folks— Our caper through the Remco Magnetic DC comics playsets has come to its thrilling conclusion! We’ve uncovered the hidden wonders of these relic cardboard cities where heroes and villains clash in two-dimensional, crime-fighting splendor! Perhaps, like the Batcave itself, their true value lies not in the materials, but in the adventures they inspire, because as we all know, imagination is the greatest superpower of all!

“But the question remains, dear Gothamites: Is this playset a nostalgic triumph, or a just a glorious piece of Batman memorabilia? As always, the choice is yours to decide, in the comments of course.