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!
Here's a wonderful photo sent in to us by our friend Yuji. He had a BATMAN Birthday Cake with a graphic of his favorite Vintage Toy, a 1970's Batman MEGO Doll... I mean, Action Figure! This cake looks goooood & it's making me hungry, ha! Plus, I totally love Mego Toys so this is great stuff! ( Thanks Yuji for sharing your pic ).
OK, I know that this is really not "Batman -Related News" but I'm a HUGE FAN of the Christopher Reeve SUPERMAN Movies from the 1970's, so, here we go! HOT TOYS has just released a teaser photo of one of their next major figures they're going to release. It's the SUPERMAN THE MOVIE Figure, a Classic Christopher Reeve version! The pic doesn't show his face, but knowing this Toy Company, it's gonna be awesome! Now, let's just hope they do every single character in the film, "KNEEL DOWN TO ZOD!"
OK, ya gotta admit that even though this Custom "Batman Stormtrooper" Toy is very unusual, it's extremely well done! It's a work of ART. In fact, I think it's totally hilarious! This large figure was part of the recent "Sideshow Collectibles Art Trooper"custom project. It's a mash-up of the 1966 Batman TV Show & 1970's Star Wars Movie! It's like Adam West meets George Lucas, ha ha! I only have one picture here but a photographer named Tim Hanson did an amazing set of photos of this doll that you can see on Flickr, just click HERE!
Over at the MEGO MUSEUM they recently thought about the idea of "What if the Mego Toy Company had NOT gone out of business & they had created a 1978 Toy Catalog?". What would it look like & what sort of products might they have come out with? Well, here's the answer! The Mego Museum has made an extremely cool "fake catalog" of "1978" Mego Dolls & Accessories titled "1978 REIMAGINED". It's loaded with a ton of beautiful color photos showing many Custom Mego Dolls of items we all wish they would have had the chance to make. What if they extended their line of Superhero Toys? What if they made some 8" KISS Dolls? How about if they made Cartoon Characters like Scooby Doo? What about the early SUPERMAN Movies? My favorite is the idea of making dolls based on the 1966 BATMAN TV Series. They also ask the question, what if Mego had got to do Star Wars figures back in the day? The list goes on & on. This looks like a pretty cool product & a great idea. If you would like more information on this then be sure to visit their website today by clicking HERE!
Awesome! It looks like the Tonner Doll Company is going to feature an EXCLUSIVE Deluxe Figure of THE HUNTRESS for this year's 2010 Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo known as "C2E2". The Doll will be 17" tall, very limited ( only 200 made ), & will come with an autographed certificate signed by Doll Creator Robert Tonner. At the convention you'll be able to find it at booth # 425. The retail price will be about $150.00. Now, for people living near the Chicago area, this show will be April 16th-18th, 2010. For more information, click HERE!
Straight from the 2010 TOY FAIR here comes this awesome set of photos showing some of the brand-new RETRO-ACTION DC SUPER HEROES Action Figure Dolls!! Anybody who grew-up in the 1970's will totally remember 8" Mego Dolls & these are designed to be just like them...AWESOME!! I played with the original ones as a little kid! These are made by Mattel & in the 1st photo you can see the whole wave. There will be Superman, Sinistro, Green Arrow, Green Lantern, Aquaman, Lex Luthor, Black Mantis, Two-Face, & Batman/Bruce Wayne. For the next few pics I'm just showing the Batman-related ones because that's what the Bat-Blog is all about...Cool Batman Toys!! But I am totally loving these figures & can't wait to get them all!!
More News from TOY FAIR 2010: OK, you know the toy company named FUNKO? They make those awesome Wacky Wobbler Nodders. I really love those things. Well, now they have another division in their company that makes cute Character Plush Dolls ( or Plushes ). They're doing the Wizard of OZ, Alice in Wonderland, & the Justice League of America! To get things started here are Batman, The Flash, Green Lantern, & Superman. Now this totally makes me wonder since they finally ( finally! ) got the right to do DC Comics comic book characters then maybe, just maybe, they might start to make a few Funko Bobblehead Nodders. That would be so awesome!!
OK, This Custom Mego Doll has "WIN" written all over it!! Our friend Ken, who we know from the Mego Museum Forum, sent us these wonderful pics of an action figure he recently completed. His idea was "What if the Mego Toy Company were making their World's Greatest Superhero Figures at the time when Batman 1st came out in 1939, what would the toy look like?"...well, here it is! I don't think I need to post any vintage graphics from the Golden Age Comic Books to show how accurate this thing is. It's so cool! It not only represents "1939 BATMAN", but it also follows the general "design rules" of Mego. I totally love this thing! Thanks Ken for sending the pics & you did a great customization here, keep up the good work! If there are any other Bat-Blog readers out there who like to get creative every now & then please send us some pics. It can be Drawings, Paintings, Custom Toys, anything Artistic!
OK, since today is "Wacky Wallpaper Wednesday" and the Bat-Blog is mainly all about the love of collecting Vintage Batman Toys, I thought that today's Desktop Backgrounds would be "Retro Bat-Toy" related. The 1st one is the totally beautiful BOX ART for the 1970's MEGO BATMAN BATCAVE PLAYSET! This is one of those vinyl case toys that open-up to become an environment for dolls or figures. In this case, it's the Mego Doll 8"Action Figures...CRAZY! The next wallpaper uses the graphics found on an original package of 1966 BATMAN TV SHOW VIEW-MASTER REELS. I used to completely love these things as a little kid & would stare at them for hours, ha ha! Now, if you don't like these backgrounds then please keep in mind that we have hundreds more here at the Bat-Blog! Just click the button down below for the most current ones ( around the last 20 or so ) or be sure to check the BAT-BLOG ARCHIVES ( located at the lower left-side of this page ) for many many more!
Here are some very cool videos showing some of the functions of the BATMAN DX 02 Figure by HOT TOYS. Of course it's the Christian Bale version from THE DARK KNIGHT movie. The doll has a lot of new technologies that are very clever. The 1st video is a demonstration of the Hot Toys-invented PERS ( Parallel Eyeball Rolling System ) function. Basically, the eyeballs move around in his head in a more realistic fashion. It's kinda creepy, but it also makes the figure look really awesome!
The next video shows off what I call the "Change-a-Face" feature. He has Interchangeable "Face Parts" that have different mouths. I guess you can make him happy or angry, ha ha!
Then, there's the "Sonar Eye Light-Up" feature...very cool! You replace an item inside his head that replicates the special "Sonar Cowl" he wore in one part of the movie. The eyes light-up & everything!
OK, whew! here's the final video & it shows how the "Transformable Gun" works. It's just like the movie where it was all compact & then it would transform into that weapon that shot "sticky bomb" charges on that building in Hong Kong. I think they went a little too far with this, ha ha, but it is great that HOT TOYS cares about ALL the small details. They make some really amazing collectible figures!!
Everybody who grew-up in the 1970's has fond memories of a toy line called MEGO. They made a lot of Superhero Toys that have now become classic. These things are getting a lot harder to find now. But something that has happened in the last few years is that people are totally into customizing them. Well, they're not ruining ones that are in good shape, that would be bad, but on occasion you find them totally wasted & that's what they use. I think it's really cool. I love when people are creative like this & sometimes the result of these custom figures is extremely cool & very clever. Here's a very good example: Our friend Jason sent us some photos of an Adam West 1966 Batman TV Show MEGO Doll he put together. He got the fake Blister Card from one source, the clothing from another, & so on. Then he made this awesome Batman figure!! The details are wonderful. It's a total fantasy-piece, because MEGO TOYS never made this, but it would have been so great if they did! The figure measures about 8" tall & comes with a Bat-Suit Costume, Head Cowl, Boots, Gloves, & a Bat-Belt!! I also love the packaging. It looks so authentic & seeing the photos of the characters is really cool. I wanna thank Jason for sending these incredible photos & if any other Bat-Blog Fans out there are into making Custom Toys of any kind then please sen us your pics. Our e-mail button is always on the top right-hand side of this page.
OK, Some Readers are gonna ask, "What's the PERS System?". Well, in the newer Deluxe Versions of THE DARK KNIGHT Movie Figures made by HOT TOYS the heads now have a special system where you can make the eyes move very realistically. In fact, PERS is an abbreviation of "Parallel Eyeball Rolling System". It sort of reminds me a little of the "Eagle Eyes" that Hasbro put on their 12" GI Joe Dolls toward the end of that line ( Yes, I call them dolls & NOT action figures, ha ha ). But this new PERS invention is way more advanced. So far they have added this new technology to their 2 brand-new DX01 Batman & Joker figures. It's really cool!
Here's an interesting video of a Foreign TV News Story about the HOT TOYS Doll & Action Figure Company. It shows a lot of great shots of The Dark Knight Tumbler Batmobile Toy with the Batman Figure. Also included are the Joker Action Figure ( Heath Ledger, Version 2 with Rolling Eyes & Policeman Uniform ). Plus they cover some of their other movie properties very briefly. That list includes: Terminator Salvation, Watchmen, Ironman, The Godfather, & many more! But really the main part of the story seems to be Batman!
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!!
Here's a pretty cool video I came across & I can't help but think this is our old friend Martin from the UK. He was really into collecting Custom Dolls & Action Figures, especially ones that were related to the 1966 Batman TV Series. Hmmm, I need to contact him & see. Either way this video is very interesting. In it this toy collector showcases his collection of Custom Toys that were made to resemble 4 Bat-Villians who were known as THE UNITED UNDERWORLD in the BATMAN feature film of 1966. The evil group included The Riddler ( Frank Gorshin ), Catwoman ( Lee Merriwether ), The Penguin ( Burgess Meredith ), & The Joker ( Cesar Romero )! Now, before you freak-out & start asking, "where do I buy these?", ha ha. These Mego Dolls are all custom made, even the display boxes. But you have to admit they're all extremely well-done. The head sculpts of each character look almost exactly like the real-life actors. The costumes are very accurate too & the display boxes are just a total bonus! Martin, if these are yours please contact me.
Oh man, check out these crazy photos! A cool company called Classic Plastick, famous for making extremely awesome model kits, made this Prototype Action Figure ( Doll ) of Adam West from the 1966 Batman TV Show. Actually, it's more like a Custom Toy since I don't think they actually sell them but did it for fun! Anyway, they did an incredible job on it & I totally love all the details, even the Display Box design is great! My favorite parts are the super-detailed Bat-Belt & the accessories, the Bat-a-Rang & Bat-Radio, very cool. The head sculpt is really great too as it looks exactly like the real person. I really wish this figure was available at Wal-mart or Target, ha ha! I mean, I would buy TWO of them: One to display, unopened, mint in original box. Then another one to play with, ha ha!
