Thanks to our good friend Marcio we got some news that, right now in Brazil, they're starting a 2011 BATMAN: THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD Happy Meal Toys Promotion at McDonalds ( In Brazil they call it "Mc Lanche Feliz" ). But the cool thing is that the toys are completely different than the ones we just had here in the USA. For Brazil, it looks like they have gone back to the regular-size toy & there are 4 of them to collect: The PENGUIN in his Penguin-Submarine, a PLASTIC MAN Figure, BATMAN in his BAT-COPTER ( or Bat-Gyro! ), and the JOKER'S Jokermobile Car! Oh man, from the photo up above you can tell that these are completely beautiful. But wait, there's more! Please be sure to view the official McDonald's TV Commercial video down below. ( Thanks again Marcio! )
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!
It's time once again at the Bat-Blog to post a few photos of some extremely RARE Batman Toys & Merchandise for Bat-Collectors to totally drool over! So, start drooling now. The 1st item is the 1966 BATMAN FLYING COPTER by Remco. It's shown here in the original box & I completely love the retro-style graphics. Next up, is the 1966 BATMAN FLIP-FLASHLIGHT. Now, talk about amazing graphics....this thing is beautiful!! It's amazing that it is still on the original blister card & never opened. As a little kid I would have ripped this puppy open at the store! You know, I have been an Antique & Collectibles Dealer for over 20 years, mostly toys. One day, along time ago, I bought an extremely rare toy, in the original box still shrink-wrapped, from a lady at a garage sale. I thought it was totally crazy that it had never been opened. I asked her about it & she said that she had bought the toy for her son for his birthday way back in the 1960's. She said that she had hid it from him, in the very back of her closet, & when it came time for her to give it to him she had totally forgot where she put it, ha ha! She said she panicked & ran over to Sears to buy duplicates of the toy she had previously bought! Then, about 35 years later ( around the time of this garage sale ) she found it. So, this sort of explains how items like this end up existing after all these years. Speaking of MIP ( Mint in Package ) items, our last item in the list is super rare to find unopened! This is the 1966 BATMAN BELT BUCKLE made by the Morris Belt Company. I've seen this buckle "loose" many times but I've only seen it like this maybe once or twice. Do you have any super-rare Batman Toys in YOUR collection that YOU would like to share? If so, then please send us some pictures, thanks.
OK, I gotta admit that I'm pretty proud of this post. Mainly because it's a great example of the positive synergy created by the Bat-Blog, plus it made a Batman Fan's dream come true! Now, how cool is that? Please let me try to explain, ha! We did a post the other day about the original 1960's Batcopter being at the Meadowlands Fairgrounds in NJ. Our friend BatDave had sent some really great photos & we thought it would be news worthy. Especially since the 60's Bat-Copter is so cool! Well, one Bat-Blog reader, named John, saw the post & totally freaked out! I mean, he had no idea about this thing going on & he lived close by so he could actually go! He almost jumped off the computer & ran to the car, ha ha! Long story short, he did go & he said it was an incredible day in his life. He got to fulfill a lifelong dream of riding in the actual Batcopter! Now, when he watches the Adam West / Burt Ward BATMAN movie, he can say that he has actually been inside that famous bat-vehicle. He took a lot of photos that he posted at his Flickr account. Here's a link to see them, just click HERE!Now, I hope he doesn't mind, but I stole a couple to use as an example here at the site, ha ha! The 1st one shows John sitting in the famous bat-vehicle. That smile on his face is priceless! The 2nd pic shows the inside of the cockpit where the real-life actors from the TV Show & Movie have signed it. The autographs include: Adam West ( Batman ), Burt Ward ( Robin, The Boy Wonder ) , Yvonne Craig ( Batgirl ), Julie Newmar ( TV Catwoman ), and Lee Merriwether ( Movie Catwoman ). The last photo shows John coming in for a landing. Oh yeah, here's a video he took of the Batcopter taking off, it's pretty cool to see! Thanks to everybody involved for making this happen.
Shown up above are some amazing photos sent in by our friend BatDave. He recently went to the New Jersey State Fair where they have the Original 1960's BATCOPTER from the Batman TV Series Movie!! He said he didn't ride it this year but he did get some great pics of this classic bat-vehicle ( As always, click on them for larger versions ). He even came across a wonderful Freak Show Banner with "The HUMAN BAT", that is a total parody of the character, AWESOME! The NJ Fair is actually still going on right now until July 5th, 2010. The cost of riding in the helicopter is $30.00. I once rode in one of these bell-copters ( not the Batman one ) and the experience is well worth the price. Seriously, it's incredible! Here's a link to the NJ Fair website, just click HERE!
Here's some freakin' sweet photos of the Original 1966 Batman TV Show & Movie BATCOPTER!! This is NOT a replica but the real deal! I got these photos from a friend named Amanda. In one pic you can see her standing next to Eugene Nock, the Owner & Pilot of the '66 Batman Helicopter. You see, after he bought the original TV & Movie Prop he totally restored it & now goes on tour visiting State Fairs & Auto/Comic Book Conventions allowing people to go for a ride. I know a few people who have done it & they all say it's a total blast! Because of the design of the copter's canopy you get an extreme view of the ground. A lot of people say it's almost like you're flying in the air like Peter Pan & not just looking out of a window. I know what they're talking about. I have not had a ride in this helicopter but one just like it ( a Bell Army one ), as a kid at the Oklahoma State Fair, many many years ago. It's a totally cool experience! I wanna thank Amanda for sharing these wonderful photos. She's very nice, I appreciate that. If there are any other Bat-Blog Readers who have taken a ride on the Famous Bat-Copter then please send us some pics & share your experience. Also, about Amanda: She is the Model from the "Superhuman Experiment" so please be sure to check it out sometime by clicking LINK!
Starting February 4th & running until Feb. 15th, 2010. The SUPER FAIR in Tampa, Florida will have the original helicopter used in the 1966 Batman TV Series ( & movie ). Yes! You read that right, the '66 BAT-COPTER!! This is a RARE opportunity you do not want to miss! For more information, click HERE!
The very split-second I saw this beautiful piece of BAT-ART I knew it had to be posted at the Bat-Blog, ha ha! I just recently met this guy named Dave who likes to customize toys. He loves the 1966 Batman TV Show & Movie so he likes to make toys that they never made back then...sort of like "fantasy toys". Shown here is a replica of the 1966 Batman Movie Bat-Copter for a Custom 12" Adam West Batman Figure. Now of course the Bat-Copter is in perfect scale for this doll because he really used the Vintage 1970's GI Joe Adventure Team Helicopter! Yes! The one you got in the "Search For The Stolen Idol" Play Set. Now, I had this exact GI Joe toy as a little kid & totally loved. I mean, I really loved this toy! In fact, this was probably one of my Top 5 very best childhood memories. So, as soon as I saw this custom toy, I knew what he used to make it!! Now, on to Dave's '66 Bat-Copter. I've posted a few additional photos of the original GI Joe AT toy & a photo of the original Bat-Copter from the 60's movie. Looking at then both you can sort of see how he worked out all the details. Then you'll realize how great his Custom Job really is! He's got all the colors down pretty accurate. There's a Bat-Symbol on the gas tanks, a bat-shape on the lower front windshield, the famous "Bat-Wings", etc...Great Job Dave & thank you for allowing me to share your photo with everybody. I know that many people will totally love this thing!!
This post is all about continuing the "25th Anniversary Celebration" of Kenner's Super Powers toy line! It came about because our good friend, The BATFAN, sent us some photos of Original DC Comics licensing production art he owns that was used for the Kenner SUPER POWERS figures & vehicles. You might recognize some of it from the toy packaging or promotional material. He says that the picture of The Riddler is the graphic they were gonna use on the Unproduced US-Version Riddler Figure. Now, Like a complete moron, I totally forgot to ask who the comic book artist is ...but I'm making an educated guess that it's either Dick Giordano or Jose Luis Garcia Lopez! Thanks BATFAN, I totally love these great drawings & they do bring back some fond memories.
I hope this post brings back a lot of fond memories for many readers. I grew-up in the 1970's & was totally into comic books at that time, a super-collector! I even liked toys & action figures too but was not really a big toy collector like I am now ( In hindsight I WISH I would have bought a bunch of stuff then, ha ha ). I remember one day, in the mid-1970's, I saw an ad in the back of one of my favorite comic books. You could get a catalog for, I think, 50 cents + postage that promised to be filled with all kinds of superhero goodies. Because I was a big fan of this kinda thing I mailed away for one. WOW! Was I ever happy I did! This is the 1st Issue of The SUPERHERO CATALOG OF GAMES, BOOKS, TOYS, & PUZZLES!! This catalog was pretty unique for 3 main reasons. One, It was published in a comic book format. Two, instead of photos for all the products they were hand-drawn like comic book art, and Three, it was jam-packed with tons of very cool superhero items that, at the time, you would NEVER SEE at all the department stores or even the best-stocked comic book shops. Now, I'm mainly sharing the pages that are "Batman-related" but this baby was filled with Comic Books, Specialty Books about Comics, Star Wars Toys, Super Hero T-Shirts, Action Figures, Micronauts, Novelty Clocks, Mego Dolls, Clothing, and many many other pieces of merchandise with all the DC & Marvel Comics Characters you could ever dream about!! And, oh man, I used to totally drool over every single issue. It was just filled with magic & I would fantasize about buying everything in it. I remember that I did buy a few pieces from it. I used to (still do ) totally love those HUGE Treasury Comics that DC made. I collected them & the ones that were harder to find I would get here. I bought a few weird Star Wars items. I fondly remember getting a Star Wars Stormtrooper Costume Helmet. I also remember buying a few Mego Dolls ( in the original boxes! ). One neat thing about the art was that the whole catalog was done by art students from the Joe Kubert School of Comic Art ( still in business today ). Kubert even drew a lot of it & the stuff he didn't was still sort of drawn in his style. I was a big fan of his artwork at the time ( really loved his Sgt. Rock books ) so this was just a bonus! So, does anybody else remember these? If so then please leave a comment & share your stories. I know there's gotta be a lot of people who loved these as much as I did. Also, I guess, if you have never seen one of these RARE catalogs before then there are some really great collectible toys to drool over, ha ha!
Oh Yea! I knew that I had to start this off with a showing of the 1980's Batman & Robin Action Figures, but that's not all!! In the Kenner's SUPER POWERS line of toys there were 5 that were what I'm calling "Batman-related". There was Batman, Robin, The Joker, The Penguin, & The Riddler! Wait! The Riddler? Some Americans might not remember the Riddler as one of the characters because he was only made as a SUPER AMIGOS figure for the South American market. In fact, he was made in Argentina! His name was "El Acertijo"...I love that! He's super-rare / very hard to find today & usually sells for quite a lot. OK, now, back to the US releases we all know & love! The figures were originally sold on large blister cards with a bubble, just like today's figures. But, they also sold these on very narrow cards later that toy collectors call "short cards". There's also some other buzz words but where I live that's what we always called them, ha ha! I've tried to show examples here & there, when I have pics of them. This 1st post will feature a few characters & then later posts will show others...so please follow along! Also, in this post, are some pictures of the 2 Batman-related vehicles they made. One, of course, is the now-classic Batmobile!! This car is a fan favorite & I have always loved it. It just has great style!! Now you're probably thinking, "Hey! I only see the original box here, where's the toy?". Well, that's gonna be shown later, I promise. The next vehicle is the Bat-Copter. This helicopter toy is a little harder to find then the Batmobile but just as cool ( I wish I had a better photo of the original box, sorry. But this pic does give you an ok example ). The funny thing is that Kenner had kept the mold for this product & re-issued it later in total black for one of the later Batman movies...funny! Now - I'm gonna be featuring more Kenner's SUPER POWERS 25th Anniversary goodness so just keep going!!
