BATMAN ARCHIVES TRADING CARDS CONTEST at BATMAN CITY

I just got a message from our friend Stephane who writes the BATMAN CITY Blog. Her website covers the entire world of collecting Batman Trading Cards & it's a really great reference guide site. Well, she wanted to announce that right now she is having a BATMAN ARCHIVES CONTEST. Yes, you can win a set of the "Batman Archives" Trading Cards! As a side note I should say that I have this set in my collection & they're pretty cool. For more info on how to enter just click HERE!



Attention, Please do not "enter the contest" here at my website, it won't count. Be sure to enter at BATMAN CITY. While there, click on the "Enter Comment" link at the bottom of her posting.

BATMAN AND JOKER 1989 Movie Collectibles

One of my many favorite areas of BATMAN TOY Collecting is all the crazy merchandise made during the 1989 Tim Burton Movie. This film was a HUGE blockbuster & they made a ton of tie-in products. Here are just a few really fun examples: The 1st pic shows a Promo Poster for TOPPS Bubble Gum Trading Cards. The graphics are pretty simple but also very cool! Dealers could find this poster inside a case of cards & it was made available to them to promote the product. The 2nd photo shows a BATMAN Playdoh Play Set. It was made by the, now classic, Kenner Toys Company. The graphics on the box are really great! I love how it combines both photography AND graphic art... nice. Plus, it came with a Batmobile & Joker-Car! Speaking of Joker, the next item is a really nice JOKER FACE Cloisonné Pin. It's more of a "Comic Book" version but still came during the film. Now, the last item shown here is actually kinda hard to find ( Here in the US anyway ) because this was a Magazine published in Canada. It was called TRIBUTE GOES TO THE MOVIES & it's best feature was that it always came with a few promo posters inside. This one as a nice color photo on the cover of Michael Keaton & Jack Nicholson, in costume. I hope a lot of people enjoy seeing this stuff again.

BATMAN BATMOBILE PARODY - 80's Garbage Pail Kids Trading Card

OK, if you're a Batman Fan then you're gotta totally love this hilarious graphic, even if you hate Garbage Pail Kids, ha ha! This non-sport trading card was part of a series put out by TOPPS in 1986. It features a character named "MATT Mobile", ha! I love the parody on the Vintage 1966 Batmobile & Adam West-style costume. Plus, it looks like he is bursting right out of the Batcave & into Gotham City! The 1st pic shows the actual trading card. Then, the next group of pictures show the preliminary sketch, color test, & original completed artwork... beautiful!

Original 1966 TOPPS BATMAN TRADING CARD ART by Norman Saunders

Here's an extremely cool photo I found awhile back while researching some major "Pop Culture Collectibles" auction. In one of their lots they had some original comic art done by Norman Saunders ( Click on it for a larger, sharper, version ). Of course he's the ultra-famous illustrator for many of the vintage trading cards made by TOPPS back in the 1960's & 70's. This photo shows the original art (custom framed) with 2 actual 1966 Batman Trading Cards. This is card #1B & features "The Joker's Icy Jest". The weird thing is that you can see that the artwork is only a little bigger than the actual card, very cool! But regardless of size, it's an incredible piece of art....a total masterpiece! I never checked back on this thing to see what it went for. I mean, what's the use? I knew it would be totally out of my price range, ha ha! Whoever owns it now is an extremely lucky person.

BATMAN - Wacky Wallpaper Wednesday!

Hey Kids, Batman Wallpaper! The Bat-Blog is kinda famous for it's Super-Duper Batman Desktop Wallpaper Backgrounds...so here we GO! The 1st one, just for fun, is an extreme close-up of the 1940's Golden Age Comic Book Logo. I know it looks sort of weird but it does make a neat background, just try it! The 2nd one is a really great photo of some vintage pieces of Batman Memorabilia. This is the original display box for the 1966 Topps BATMAN Trading Cards, 2nd Series. It also shows the mint in package wax packs. I totally love the retro-graphics on them. I hope you have enjoyed these & always remember that we post brand-new ones every Wednesday. Also, if you check our BAT-BLOG ARCHIVES you can see all the ones we have posted in the past. That area is located in the middle of this page, on the left side ( just scan the stuff on the left & scroll down ).

Some Brand-New BATMAN FAN Websites Worth Checking Out!

Here's a quick post to sort of promote 2 very cool Batman-related Websites by some friends of the Bat-Blog. They're both brand-new & have a clever twist. The 1st one is called "HOLY SMOKES BATMAN!" & it's main focus is recounting ALL the different times that Robin ( Burt Ward ) said the phrase "Holy..." on the 1966 TV Series. There are actual audio clips of every phrase & if you check out the site then be sure to click on "Play The Entire Library" to hear them all & have a really great laugh! Our friend Jay did a great job on this site & it's a lot of fun. Just click HERE!

The next Batman-Fan website is actually a re-vamp of an older, existing page, except our friend Stephanie changed it around to the blogging format & it's really way better. It's called "BATMAN-CITY, The Ultimate Batman Trading Card Guide on the Web" & it's obsessive focus is collecting very detailed information about all the different Batman Trading Card Sets & Promo Cards from around the world. You know how I am totally goo-goo over "the foreign stuff" so I'm really liking it so far, ha ha! She just recently started this blog but if it become 1/2 as detailed as her other "Reference Guide" website then it should be quite good...keep an eye on it. Just Click HERE!

Vintage BATMAN TOYS & COLLECTIBLES Eye-Candy!

The main focus of the Bat-Blog is really about the joys of Collecting Batman Toys. So I thought it would be a good idea to get back to that, ha ha! Up above are some photos of a few really RARE pieces of Bat-Merchandise! The 1st item is from the 1970's & is one of the weirdest Batman Products I have ever seen. It's an unopened package of SILLY-SACKS Wastebasket Liners. Yes, Trash Bags! The company that made these printed DC Comics Superhero Characters on white trash bags, ha ha! I guess it tricked a lot of kids to take out the trash? But overall I think these are pretty cool just on the rarity scale! The next picture is guaranteed to make Vintage Bubble Gum Card Collectors totally drool. This is the original Retail-Display Box for the 1966 Batman TV Series Trading Cards made by Topps. This was a later series where all the cards had color photos of the actors instead of painted illustrations...nice! Now, the last photo is sort of weird but when you think about it, it's a really cool toy! This is a BATMAN Inflatable Swimming Pool Toy that was made by Ideal in the 1960's. It's so cool that it is still in the original package with the header card & everything! OK, I hope you have enjoyed some of these & if YOU have any photos of special Batman Toys that you would like to share then please send them in today. Our e-mail button is always at the top right-hand side of this page!

RARE 1966 TOPPS Batman TV Show Trading Cards

Sometime one problem with being a Batman Collector is trying to find inventive ways to display your favorite items. You want to be able to enjoy it, but you also need to protect it as well. OK, here's a perfect example you might like ( Click on the pics above for larger examples ). Our friend Dallas recently had one of his favorite pieces framed. It's a set of TOPPS 1966 Batman TV Show Trading Cards, still in the original package. Now the special thing about these is that it they are not the "wax wrapper" package but it's another type of packaging that TOPPS did later where you got 3 sets of cards, sealed in clear cellophane, that were placed in a long narrow bag which had a Cardboard Header Card attached to the top ( also, I don't think these came with bubble gum like the others did ). These packages hung on hooks in retail store displays & are extremely rare! But Dallas found a very clever way to display this unusual item. He had it framed between 2 pieces of glass with a die-cut mat background. This way the item has some space around it so it's not flattened & because it's "open on the back" you can remove the frame from the wall to still read the other side...AWESOME! I wanna thank Dallas for sharing the cool pics & great idea. If any other Bat-Blog Readers have come up with clever ideas like this then please be sure to let us know so we can share it! Also, CLICK HERE for some more examples of these RARE BATMAN Topps "Hangers" Cards & other Wrappers and Display Boxes.

Vintage BATMAN MEMORBILIA & TOYS From Around The World!

I know that the Bat-Blog has kinda been crazy with the Halloween Holiday lately & we have been neglecting the toy collector aspect of the blog. So, here's a post to make up for it, ha ha! Here's a really nice example of a few pieces of Bat-Memorabilia made in different parts of the world. The 1st example comes from the United Kingdom ( England ) & is the Original Bubble Gum Wax Wrapper for a Set of 1966 Batman Trading Cards. Oh man, I am totally crazy over those vintage-style graphics...awesome! The next item might appear to be French but it's not from France. This is a Batman Board Game from Canada! It was made by Hasbro in 1973. OK, the last 3 pictures are a Set of Japanese Batman Canvas Sneakers. These shoes, of course, are from Japan & came out around 1966. The original shoe box is shown here with the product & it's equally as cool! Again, the graphics are just totally beautiful. Do you live outside the USA? If so then please send us some photos of some fun "Foreign Batman" items you might have. Sharing the love of Batman Toy Collecting is one of the main functions of this fan site. Our e-mail button is always on the top right-hand side of this page, thanks.

New BATMAN, ROBIN, & JOKER T-Shirts To Keep An Eye Out For!

I'm always trying to keep up with Batman T-Shirts Designs & when I come across some that I think are pretty cool I like to share them. Here are 3 new ones that I think are very well done. Now the 1st one is my favorite because it's a graphic of what the original 1966 TOPPS BATMAN Bubble Gum Card Package ( Wax Wrapper ) looked like. That real-life piece of Bat-memorabilia has always been very special to me because I really loved these Trading Cards as a very little kid! The next one has more of a "Pop Art" feel about it & I'm actually trying to figure out who's comic book art they used. I'm thinking it might be the artist Dick Giordano but I'm not sure. Either way, it's the "Silver Age" Batman that I have always liked with the blue / gray bat-suit & yellow-oval bat-symbol logo. For the last example I included this one with split-faces of Batman & The Joker. The reason is because it totally reminds me of all the T-Shirts that were produced during the 1989 Batman Movie craze. It just has a nice "Vintage 80's Look" about it. Now remember, I've included a link button down below so you can see other examples of new shirts offered. So, check it out!!