Jerry's Photos: CUSTOM BATMAN 12" HOT TOYS FIGURES

Our good friend Jerry, who lives in Taiwan, sent us some amazing photos the other day. He recently went to a store at some shopping mall in Taipei City called "Taiwan Figure Union". He said he saw a lot of awesome stuff, such as these 12" Batman Movie Custom Figures that some Bat-Fans got to display in the front store windows. I have to say that they are all very impressive with really great head sculpts. I mean, some of them look just like the original actors! The main focus for most of the dolls appear to be the 2005 BATMAN BEGINS movie, but in photo #2 we get to see a version from an earlier Batman movie, maybe 1992 BATMAN RETURNS-inspired. They made one of the "R'as al Ghul" character & it looks exactly like Liam Neeson, ha! They also made a more Modern Day "Comic Book JOKER" but used the body from THE DARK KNIGHT Heath Ledger figure by HOT TOYS ( in fact, I think all these customs were made using HOT TOYS bodies and it was just the heads & clothing that were customized ). The one of Police Sergeant Jim Gordon is one of my personal favorites as they did an amazing job on Gary Oldman's face. They did a few variations on Bruce Wayne's character which are pretty interesting. Overall, I would have to say that I'm very very impressed with all of these. As a side-note: I'm not really sure if they were all done by one artist or many different ones, but either way, very great work! Also, I wanna thank Jerry for taking the time to shoot these pics & sharing his love of the Batman Character with us. It's really neat seeing what goes on in Taiwan & it's so cool that there are serious Bat-Fans there too!!

ARGENTINA: 1978 DC SUPER HEROES Pepsi-Cola Soda Pop Bottle Caps Promotion

In Argentina, in 1978 & '79, DC Comics teamed up with Pepsi-Cola for a very cool DC SUPER HERO Promotion! They had special Super Hero Bottle Caps placed on their Pepsi Soda Pop Bottles with very cool graphics of a comic book hero or villain. Quite a few of them were Batman-related so that's what you see in the 1st photo, click on it for a larger version. They made ones for Batman, Robin, Commissioner Gordon ( Comisionado Gordon ), Batgirl ( Batichica ), Bruce Wayne ( Bruno Diaz ), The Joker, The Riddler ( El Acertijo ), The Penguin ( Pinguino ), Catwoman ( Gatubela ), Ra's Al Ghul ( Ragul ), & The Scarecrow ( El Espantapajaros ). The next two photos show a special in-store Paper Place Mat that contained a "Collector Board" on one side ( in color ) & a "Checker Game" on the other. These photos also show the other Bottle Caps of Superman, Aquaman, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, Supergirl, Flash, etc...so be sure to click on one of those to see them! I gotta say that I am totally loving the vintage graphics on all of this stuff, great stock art! The last photo is a super close-up of the BATICHICA Bottle Cap. I really love the sound of that word, Batichica! Speaking of her, these photos were all sent in by our good friend Milotik who lives in Argentina ( Thank You! ). These DC Comics Bottle Caps are a part of his amazing Batgirl Toy Collection. You see, Milotik's main collecting focus is on her & that's very cool. He has some very neat stuff, some of it extremely RARE! He even has a great website where he shares his collectable adventures called EL BLOG DE BATGIRL which you can visit by clicking HERE!

Video: Search Story For BATMAN By Google!

This video is pretty funny! It's a Google "Search Story" of Bruce Wayne/Batman, ha ha! In other words it's "How Batman would use Google Search if he used Google"...Hilarious! Check it out! ( Thanks to Gerry for sending the cool linkage! )

RARE Mego 1977 BATMAN'S WAYNE FOUNDATION PLAY SET

Here's a Holy Grail to both Vintage Batman & 1970's Mego Collectors. It's called the BATMAN'S WAYNE FOUNDATION. Basically it's a playset of the building owned by Bruce Wayne that was made by Mego in 1977 for the 8" action figures/dolls. The front looks like a commercial building & the other side shows the "Batcave" that is hidden inside. Both the original box & actual toy are HUGE!! When built the building is over 40 inches tall. I have always wanted one of these because I thought it would be a great item to display loose Mego Dolls of Batman, Robin, Batgirl, Joker, Catwoman, Penguin, Riddler, & Bruce Wayne. This baby is so SUPER-RARE it's what we toy people call a "Museum Piece"!

Be sure to check the BAT-BLOG ARCHIVES for many more Vintage Batman Toys including Mego, Corgi, Ideal, Kenner, Marx, Irwin, etc...

Reader Photos: Awesome ROBIN, THE BOY WONDER Vintage Toy & Action Figure Collection!!

It seems that every day new readers are discovering the Bat-Blog ( I love that! ) but what I love more is the fact that a lot of them send in some really great photos, ha ha! This is a perfect example. This morning I got this wonderful e-mail from a new reader:

Hi, this is my first time emailing you, and I was reading through the archives how readers emailed you pictures that would look cool on your website. I have a picture of some of my Robin figures that I thought you'd might be interested in. Most of it are megos, but a few are DC Direct action figures. The strange looking Robin with the weird outfit is a Lily Ledy one ( the Mexican equivalent of a Mego ). It's a pretty cool piece!

And I also have a really neat Non-Magnetic Fly Away Action Mego Robin with artwork that just pops in the back! This figure is pretty rare and I wanted to share it.

And my last picture is a Secret Identity Bruce Wayne Mego figure. These are pretty rare as well and everything on mine is all original EXCEPT the tie, which is a repro. The deal with the secret identity figures is that they were only available exclusively at Montgomery Wards during a short time in 1974. I'll be getting a Dick Grayson Secret Identity one soon so if you want to see a picture of that one feel free to message me back.

-Francine


Oh yeah, Francine, we wanna see the photos of that Dick Grayson Figure when you get it. Please send it later! Also, thank you very very much for sending these great pics. You have a really awesome collection of Robin Memorabilia here! There's a ton of extremely RARE items & the condition on most of them are very very nice! I appreciate when collectors send photos of their bat-stuff on display. It's really neat to see & I want to invite ALL Bat-Blog Readers to do the same! Oh yeah, Readers, Be sure to click on the photos up above for larger, more detailed, pix!

HA HA! Funny Pictures: BATMAN HUMOR PHOTOS

Here's 2 very funny Batman-related humor pictures. The 1st one shows some major copyright infringement, ha ha! It's a photo of a work truck with a name we all know. The 2nd picture is from a friend named Dave & shows a homemade Go-Kart that is shaped like the Batmobile from the 1989 Batman Movie....Sweet!

BATMAN 1970's NEWSPAPER COMIC STRIP Original Art

Here's a lovely example of some Original Batman Newspaper Comic Strip Art from January 4th, 1971. ( Be sure to click the small picture up above for a larger photo. ) It mainly features Bruce Wayne but one panel has his trusty Butler Alfred...nice art work too!! The BAT-BLOG would like to personally thank Steven for sending us this wonderful picture. It's pretty cool & we're sure the readers will enjoy this obscure piece of Batman History!
Be sure to check the BAT-BLOG ARCHIVES for more Original Art featuring Batman!

Bat-Blog's BATMAN & BATGIRL Wacky Wallpaper Wednesday!

Whoops! I almost forgot that today is Wacky Wallpaper Wednesday, ha ha! So, here are 2 FREE BATMAN Desktop Backgrounds I'm sure your gonna love. The 1st one is a blast from the past! It's Yvonne Craig as Batgirl on her famous Bat-Cycle from the 1966 TV Series. That show was awesome & so was she. The next one is way more "modern day" since it's the cover art for a very recent Batman title. The Comic Book Artist here is Andy Kubert & this is his version of the Dark Knight. This is also from the current storyline, "The Return of Bruce Wayne"! Please remember to check the BAT-BLOG ARCHIVES for many many more Bat-Wallpapers! Our archives are located on the left side of this page, near the middle...just click on a month / year.

Video: PARKER and WAYNE, a Marvel / DC Comics Parody

OK, This video is kinda silly but ya gotta admit it is very FUNNY! Basically, Peter Parker ( Spiderman ) & Bruce Wayne ( Batman ) become partners. It's sort of a "Buddy Cop" movie...Check It Out!

CUSTOM ART: Amazing Sculpture Bust of BRUCE WAYNE From BATMAN BEYOND.

I sort of neglect doing posts about BATMAN BEYOND just because there's not that much to report. But, I do seriously love that cartoon TV show. While surfing the net I found this very cool Sculpture Bust of Bruce Wayne from that show. The artist's name is Walter O'Neal & I think it's an amazing piece of ART. The details are very realistic, like as if Bruce Wayne is a real-life living breathing person. I mean, it's extremely well-done! Later, Walter had a friend named Dan "Danno" Cope paint it. The paint job is also very well-done & the colors are perfect. I also like how he painted the base to look like marble & the "Wayne Enterprises" Logo looks metallic, maybe copper?...a nice touch! It's important to note that these pieces were done purely as personal portfolio pieces and aren't available for sale anywhere. I think it was done as a personal exercise just to see if he could do it & yes, he did a great job!! Plus, I bet he's a serious fan of the BATMAN BEYOND Cartoon TV show....as we all are. As a side note I wanna personally thank Walter O'Neal for allowing us the use of these photos, they're amazing & you, Sir, are a true Artist. Thanks! Also, one last thing. I can't decide which one I like best, ha ha. They're both great like they are. The unpainted one looks like a "real marble bust" & the other one, with colors, looks great too. Please comment below to let us know which version YOU like best.

MORE BATMAN: THE RETURN OF BRUCE WAYNE Comic Book Cover Art by ANDY KUBERT!

From DC Comics, here are the Original Comic Book Art Drawings for the covers to BATMAN: THE RETURN OF BRUCE WAYNE, Issues # 5 & 6. They're both drawn by Andy Kubert & are totally cool! The 1st one shows the Dark Knight as sort of a Detective in a Film Noir setting. Yes, Film Noir! In the 2nd Comic Book Cover he looks like he is closer to being more Modern Day Matman. Please be sure to click on them for larger (sharp) versions!

BATMAN: THE RETURN OF BRUCE WAYNE Comic Book Cover Art by ANDY KUBERT!

This morning DC Comics released the Original Comic Book Art Drawings for the covers to BATMAN: THE RETURN OF BRUCE WAYNE, Issues # 3 & 4. They're both drawn by Andy Kubert & are totally cool! The 1st one shows the Dark Knight as a Pirate. Yes, a Pirate! In the 2nd Book Cover he is a Cowboy, AWESOME! Please be sure to click on them for larger (sharp) versions!

THE DEATH OF BRUCE WAYNE??

In a recent news story at ComicBookResources.com reporter Rich Johnson, who writes a column called LYING IN THE GUTTERS, had this to say. And we quote, "In June/July, DC are killing off Batman. Or rather, Bruce Wayne. Robin will inherit the Batman cowl. One of the Robins anyway. Tim Drake. Jason Todd. Or possibly Red Hood. Hey, maybe Jean-Paul Valley, it has been ten years since Azrael. Either way, the book will relaunch with a nice shiny #1".

What the hell!? DC Comics is gonna kill off Bruce Wayne? This is an outrage. I mea, it kind of pisses me off! Ok, Bruce Wayne is an ICON for Christ's sake! I've read at other sites where they speculate that Warner Bros is doing this to create media hype for the upcoming THE DARK KNIGHT Batman Movie.

What are your thoughts on this, please COMMENT below.

Vintage 1970's 7-Eleven Comic Cups with Batman Characters

Thirty-something years ago there was a set of COMIC CUPS given away by 7-Eleven They as a promotional gimmick. They featured DC Comics superheroes with many different Batman characters like Batman, Robin, Bruce Wayne, Catwoman, The Joker, Dick Grayson, The Riddler, Alfred, The Penguin, Batgirl, & many more. The 1st picture shows a few of the icee cups as an example. But, the 2nd photo is a graphic check list they released in 1974 showing all 60 cups. I know a lot of Bat-Blog reders are collecting these & this list is a great reference, enjoy.

New BATMAN THE RETURN OF BRUCE WAYNE # 4 Comic Book Cover

Just a quick post to share the beautiful artwork of Cameron Stewart for the variant cover to BATMAN: THE RETURN OF BRUCE WAYNE #4. Cue music, "I wanna be a Cowboy, Baby!" ( You know, the song by Kid Rock, ha ha! )

Video: THE DARK KNIGHT Chuck The Movie Guy Interviews The Cast of the New Batman Movie.

Chuck "The Movie Guy" talks with Christian Bale, Aaron Eckhart, Gary Oldman, & Maggie Gyllenhaal about their characters in THE DARK KNIGHT Batman movie.
Christian Bale - Batman, Bruce Wayne


Aaron Eckhart - Harvey Dent, Two-Face

Gary Oldman - Jim Gordon

Maggie Gyllenhaal - Rachel Dawes

Merchandising: THE DARK KNIGHT'S BRUCE WAYNE Giorgio Armani Suits!

Ya know, most of the time when movie companies team-up with other companies for promotion they go to McDonalds or Burger King, not The Dark Knight! Warner Bros & Giorgio Armani have joined together to give Billionaire Bruce Wayne ( Christian Bale ) the finest "Hand Made To Order" business suits available! Here's an example of a real print ad inside a real fashion magazine. Personally, I think it's kinda cool.

Learning Spanish: Batman in the Latin American Culture!

One aspect of the Bat-Blog that I really enjoy is getting to meet people from all over the world who love the character. It's totally crazy to me how Batman is so popular all over the globe. I think that's neat. Now, one thing I like to do here every now & then is cover Batman-related news from other places but a lot of times I totally can't understand the language. Sadly, I only speak English & if a website or other information is in another language ( like German, Spanish, Japanese, etc...) then I'm screwed! It mainly happens when I talk about brand-new bat-merchandise ( Toys, Comic Books, etc ) I have found outside the USA. Now of course I don't mean for this to be offensive in any way. I'm just an idiot who only speaks one language, ha ha! Well, the other day a friend of mine who lives extremely far away sent me a wonderful list of a few "Batman Words" that are in Spanish. I thought it was pretty interesting so here it is ( Hey, You didn't know you were gonna learn something new today, did you? ):

• Bruce Wayne is Bruno Diaz
• Dick Grayson is Ricardo Tapia
• The Joker is El Guason
• Catwoman is Gatubela
• Batgirl is Batichica
• Gordon is Fierro
• The Riddler is El Acertijo
• Mr Freeze is Capitan Frio
  

THE DARK KNIGHT: Ben Lyons ( The E! Channel ) Interviews Christian Bale About BATMAN

Ben Lyons, over at the E! Channel, interviews Christian Bale about his role as Batman in The Dark Knight movie. He talks about how great Heath Ledger was as The Joker, among other things. A nice interview!

Video Interview : Comic Book Artist ALEX ROSS Talks About the BATMAN: WAR ON CRIME Graphic Novel

This video is a short 2-minute interview with the famous comic book artist Alex Ross. In it he's discussing the graphic novel he painted called BATMAN: WAR ON CRIME. The main focus, really, is how he approached the visuals of Bruce Wayne. Alex's artwork is very realistic & highly detailed. ( Thanks Michael for sending this ).