You know we love us some cool Vintage 60's BATMAN Toys, especially the ones from Japan! Here's a great example of the crazy wacky kind of stuff made for the Japanese foreign market. No, it's not a Batmobile car. This is a Tin Toy JEEP with a Batman and Robin design, and it has awesome bat-graphics all over it, POW!
Here's a very well-made video featuring our friend Yuji Ueda. He's a big Batman Toy Collector & his main focus is the Japanese items from the 1960's. In fact, the video is sort of a tour of famous Vintage Toy Shops in Japan ( Yes, that would be my dream vacation, ha! ). But, as you'll see from this interview, he also likes the modern day stuff as well. OK, get ready to drool!
OK, This week's "Wacky Wallpaper Wednesday" is gonna get really really weird, ha! First off we have a very nice piece of art sent in to us by our friend Gary. It's an image of one of the strangest Super-Villains in Comic Book history, COMPOSITE SUPERMAN! This weird character has developed sort of a cult following over the years & keeps making appearances from time to time. Basically, his costume is half-Batman and half-Superman. I don't know, I've always thought it looks pretty cool! If ya wanna learn more about this guy then just click HERE, it's pretty interesting stuff. Also, a special "THANKS!" goes out to Gary for sharing his awesome artwork with us, good job!
Next up, the Bat-Blog is mostly known for being a place where Serious Batman Toy Collectors show-up. The history of merchandise for the Caped Crusader is vast & we love all the cool vintage stuff that's been made over the years. One area of collecting that I have always loved are the Mego Dolls from the 1970's. In this wallpaper I used a simple clean photo of THE RIDDLER Figure. Go ahead, try it as a background, you'll like it, ha!
OK, The more I look at this image, the more I want to cry! The Bat-Blog has a cool friend over at facebook named Jean Baptiste. He lives in Belgium & is also a major Vintage Toy Collector. His main focus are old Japanese Tin Toys & Robots from Japan. He recently sent me this photo the other day of a beautiful 60's Batmobile Tin Toy Car from his collection. Now, I'm not sure if he was just sharing to be nice, or if he was trying to torture me ( ha ha! ). But either way, thank You Jean for the great pic. I love this old toy so much that I made two BATMAN WALLPAPERS out of it! Just choose the color you like, then POW! You got an awesome desktop background, ha!
Down below is an awesome Vintage 1960's Toy TV Commercial for the 1966 BATMAN AND SUPERMAN SPARKLE PAINTS Play Set made by Kenner Toys! It also includes an advertisement for another Kenner's Product, the See-A-Show! Now, up above I've included a reference photo of a different Kenner SPARKLE PAINT SET. This one featured just Batman. These babies are extremely RARE to find now a days because, back in the day, kids totally destroyed them, ha! I wish I had one of these because I totally love the vintage graphics on the original boxes.
If you have ever read the Bat-Blog for a few days or longer then you know I love the Batman Toys, ha! I like everything from the 60's all the way to today. But the stuff that's the most special to me is the merchandise made in the 1970's. You see, I was born in 1964 so I remember most of the bat-products on the shelves around that time. I guess you could say they were "the toys of my childhood". So, I'm sort of nostalgic for them. Now, in the 70's there was a "retail-marketing thing" called RACK TOYS. They were usually extremely cheesy plastic toys that were sold inside a clear bubble-pack on a thin-cardboard header card.
You would see them all the time at Grocery Stores, Drug Stores, & especially 7-Eleven! They were inexpensive & some modern-day Toy Collectors call them "Shut-Up Toys". You know, you would whine that you wanted it & Mom would say, "OK, here, get this one & be quiet!", ha ha! So, this post is dedicated to those wonderful collectibles from the past. Most of the photos are pretty self-explanatory so I'll just let you check them out. Also, if you have any special memories of this stuff then please share.
Here are some wonderful photos sent in by a Bat-Blog Fan named Neal who has some extremelty cool BATMAN items in his Toy Collection. Shown here are just 3 shelves of his stuff & it makes me wonder what other cool stuff he has, ha! But I really like this collection & love how it's all displayed, looks cool! ( Be sure to click on these small pics for larger, more detailed versions ).
There are some 13" Dolls, Misc Action Figures, Hot Wheels Batmobiles, & even some Vintage Toys like the 60's Vinyl Hand Puppet & Ideal Bat-Helmet Mask. Oh yeah, and the last photo should make you drool for days because it mainly features those beautiful MEGO 8" Dolls from the 1970's, plus a few more modern-day Custom Figures. ( Thank you for sharing this Neal, great stuff! ) If any other readers want to share their pics then please send us an email. That offer is always OPEN because the Bat-Blog is all about the joys of Bat-Collecting!!
One of the main functions of the Bat-Blog is to celebrate the joy of collecting Batman toys and memorabilia, both old & new. So, it was really great to get an email from a reader named Robson who wanted to share a few pieces from his Vintage BATMAN Toy Collection. Shown here is the 1960's Aurora Batman Model Kit, a couple of 1966 Coloring Books, and a 1966 Twistable Batman made by Marx Toys. The Coloring Books are kinda common but I have always loved the graphics on them. The Marx Figure is so extremely RARE that it's almost what Vintage Toy Collectors call a "Museum Piece". ( One last thing, I made the photo of the Model Kit into a BATMAN Wallpaper Background you can use to brighten your desktop - Click on it to see it's full-beauty! ). Robson, Thank you for sharing these cool pics. If any other Bat-Fans out there who have any pieces they would like to share then please send us some photos too!
I have been meaning to post these picture for awhile but here they are at last! Shown right here on the Bat-Blog is this totally amazing Vintage 60's Batman Toy. This is the BATMAN ACTIVITY BOX Play Set made by Whitman in 1966. Basically it's a very large paper place mat (you can color) that comes with cardboard punch-outs of Batman characters, building pieces, & vehicles. Oh man, this old toy is so beautiful!! The graphics are really great. Just look at all the photos and you will start to cry, ha! I love the stand-up people here, characters like: Batman, Robin, Alfred The Butler, Commissioner Gordon, Joker, The Penguin, a Policeman, & even Batman and Robin as their alter-egos, Bruce Wayne & Dick Grayson! There are some pieces for the Gotham City Police Station, the Bat-Cave, Wayne Manor, and also the Batmobile Car and Bat-Plane!! They just don't make toys today with this sort of imagination & quality. Especially since this thing was meant to be sort of inexpensive. So, I gotta know, what do you think about it? Please leave comments.
Here is a cool vintage Corgi Action Toys TV commercial from 1981 from Australia. It features popular heroes like Batman, Buck Rodgers and James Bond. It shows the Batmobile on the verge of falling off a skyscraper ( How did that car get up there? ). But don't worry, it's saved by the Bat-Copter!
The Bat-Blog became friends with a Batman Memorabilia Collector in Thailand known as "The BAT-CAT" & he has one of the very best Vintage Batman Toy Collections I have ever seen! He sent us a few photos to share & they feature just a part of his collection of Vintage 1960's and 1970's Batmobile Tin Toy Cars, a few Ray Guns, & even a Batman Robot or two. Yes! Robots!! Most of the vehicles are from Japan but there's also some from Italy & Argentina. I gotta say that my favorites are the older Japanese Batman Toys. All of them are in really great shape & some of them still have their original box or package. Please take a good look at each picture. They will make you totally cry & drool for days! I think the most unusual piece is the "Batman Cowboy Gun". Made from tin metal, it's extremely RARE & very exotic. BAT-CAT also owns a few Tin Toys of the Original LINCOLN FUTURA Car that the Custom 1966 Batman TV Show Car was based on ( 1st pic ) and that's pretty cool!! I wanna thank Bat-Cat for taking the time to shoot these wonderful pics & let him know that I am totally jealous, ha ha! but all kidding aside, I really appreciate it & you have some amazing stuff here, thanks again!
Do you remember those wonderful Mego Dolls from the 70's? Do you collect them? Well, the Mego Museum is having their annual MEGO MEET again this June. I know, that's about 3 months away but I thought I would report it now so many of you can make travel plans. I will probably remind everybody closer to the time it actually happens but it's good to know early. Now, for people who have never been, MegoMeet is a chance for the Mego Toy Collectors Community to get together in person to trade and buy parts and action figures, sit in on sessions designed to educate and answer questions about the Mego Corporation and the Toys they made, but more than anything a chance to hook up with friends and fellow collectors live and in person, instead of over the internet. This year it will be in Wheeling, West Virginia at the Kruger Street Toy and Train Museum. The date for the event is June 11th & 12th, 2010. OK, this thing is always way too far for me to go so if any of you go please send us some cool pics!
Check out these great photos from a Bat-Blog Reader named Dave who wanted to share some of his Batman Toy & Memorabilia with us. He has a really nice collection going here ( Please click the small pics up above to see larger, more detailed, photos ). I like how it's displayed & I also love all the vintage stuff. It's neat that he blends a lot of new pieces with the older items. I sort of crack-up a little bit every time I see that Official "Batman Television". I have the DVD Player ( love the design ) but never bought the TV. It's a really cool item that I'm gonna try to find someday! My favorite piece has got to be the Mego JOKER VAN, that thing is RARE! Plus, I guess for sentimental reasons, I had it as a little kid. I also like the "Batman Executive Set", 60's Soaky Bottle, Action Figures, Ideal Helmet, the Die-Cast Corgi Batmobiles, the "Carmine Infantino" Statue, Autographed Photos, the Vintage Halloween Costumes & Masks, the 1966 Coloring Books...the list could go on & on, all GREAT stuff! Thank you to Dave for sending the wonderful pics, I appreciate that a lot. If any other Bat-Fans out there would like to share pics of their collections then that would be great! Our email button is always on the top right-hand side of this page.
Here's a pretty cool video that was featured on an eBay posting ( I always think that's a really great idea to do that ). It's a Japanese ( Vintage 1970's ) ALPS Batman and Robin BATMOBILE TIN TOY that is one of those fun Battery Operated Cars! Now, this is a bootleg toy ( not licensed ) but still, it's a lot of fun & very very RARE! Plus, it's really neat to see it in action, ha!
The real main focus of the Bat-Blog is to share the love of collecting all the cool Batman Toys, especially the Vintage Memorabilia! Here are a few examples of some Gumball Machine Header Cards featuring OFFICIAL BATMAN Character Rings. They were made by the Lawson Novelty Company in 1966. It looks like these rings were made out of rubber & there were 4 to collect. Two of them are sort of a Bust of Batman and Robin. The other two look like a Batmobile Car & Bat-Symbol Logo...awesome! These cards were what you would have seen inside the Gumball Machine to advertise the prize you could get. I don't remember seeing these as a little kid but I know I would have gone totally batty wanting one, ha ha! In fact, I would totally love to have these now! ( Thanks to Jimmy for sending the cool pics ).
