THE BATMAN in ITALY - Cartoon Network Promo in Italian

OK, I'm probably the only person who thinks this is cool, ha ha! But here are some Italian television channel "Bumpers" for THE BATMAN CARTOON in Italy. They're short promo video clips announcing the TV show.

The BATCAT'S Vintage BATMAN Batmobile Tin Car & Toy Collection from Thailand!

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!

Vintage Batman Toy : Foreign BATMOBILE CAR Made in Italy!

Here's a bat-treasure from Italy that shows both the Batman toy car & the original box. It's the "Italian-Version BATMOBILE" by the REEL Toy Company ©1980. It had lights that actually work & while it's not completely remote control, it does have a steering wheel knob on a handle with a cord that goes to the car. Both the box & toy have really great graphics all over them. I'm sure the following photos will totally torture all the Vintage Batman Toy collectors, enjoy!

Another Comic Book Artist Pays Tribute To Heath Ledger With Personal Artwork of The Joker

In response to a previous post made today about a piece of "Heath Ledger Tribute Art" by Jim Lee a Bat-Blog Reader from Italy wrote, "Hi, I'm an Italian reader of the Bat-Blog. I've seen the great tribute by Jim Lee to Heath Ledger and I think you may appreciate this tribute by Massimo Carnevale, cover artist for Y The Last Man, Northlanders, and a lot more. Bye, Bapho. P.S. Sorry for my English, I know it sucks a bit :)" Ha Ha, No Bapho, your English is very very good & we sincerely appreciate you sending us this very beautiful piece of art, it's wonderful. Please tell your artist friend that he has done an incredible tribute. Thank You.

Foreign BATMAN TOYS: Mexico, Argentina, and Italy

One of the types of Batman Toys I personally like are the "Foreign Toys". They're usually very very wacky!! Plus, it's neat to see a foreign language on them (I think it's great that the character is loved all over the world ). Yeah, I'm kinda weird, ha ha! Anyway, here's some very cool examples: The 1st photo is a "Bootleg" Inflatable-Toy of Batman. He looks kinda pretty with that bold red lipstick, don'tcha think? The 2nd picture is an extremely RARE Slot Car Race Set made by Polistil. I think it's from Italy or Poland. Either way the graphics are awesome! The weird thing is the Batmobile looks like the one from the 1989 Tim Burton movie but the graphics on the box of Batman & the logo are retro 1970's! The next 2 items are from our friends in Argentina. The 1st example is a plastic ring toss game that I have never seen before ( Thanks Paulo for sending that pic, appreciate that! ). The 2nd item is a small packaged puzzle. I think it's a carnival prize or something. It has some really nice graphics that look like they were swiped from Dick Giordano artwork. Whew! We just went around the world. OK, if any readers in "foreign lands" have some photos they would like to share then please send them in today. Thanks!

BATMOBILE Italian CODATRONCA CAR - TV Commercial : This is Not Gotham City!

Here's an Italian TV Advertising Commercial from Italy. It's a short ad for the Italian CODATRONCA Car Company. The basic message, I guess, is that their new automobile looks like Batman's Car, but it is NOT the Batmobile! Ha Ha, enjoy.

VIDEO: BATMAN - The Animated Series TV Show Theme Song Intro in Italian : Cavaliere Della Notte

When I came across this video the other day I knew it had to be posted, it's so RARE & AWESOME! This is actual footage taped off of Italy TV for the Batman: The Animated Series ( Actually, The New Batman Adventures, but same thing! ). The theme song is in Italian and it's very interesting! I don't know why but I love to see unusual stuff like this. It's great that Batman is so popular all over the world. The show is titled "Cavaliere Della Notte" which, I think, means "Knight of The Night"...enjoy!

Andy Warhol BATMAN 60's LOGO PAINTING Art Exhibit Poster

Everybody who knows me personally knows that I am a total Andy Warhol Fan. So when my friend Jeffery sent me this pic of a cool poster with "Warhol AND Batman" I was pretty happy, ha ha. This is an extremely RARE Art Gallery Poster for an exhibit of Warhol's artwork in Torino, Italy. The event happened in 1989 & the actual graphic is a large painting that the Artist did in the 1960's. I love that they chose his "Batman Logo" painting for this. It was an early piece where he was still trying to be a little bit like an Abstract Expressionist. It's a famous piece of art that you really don't get to see very often. Awesome! Thanks Jeffery!

Vintage Foreign BATMAN Movie Poster & Books

As a totally obsessed ( yes, crazy ) Batman Toy Collector one of my favorite areas in the genre are "foreign items". They're pretty hard to find here in the US & they're always interesting. Here's a few examples: This 1st item is a Vintage Movie Poster for the 1960's BATMAN film. But what make it unique is that it's from Italy & the language is completely Italian...awesome! I love the graphics on this thing. Now, the next 2 pictures show some cool Batman books from around the globe. The 1st book was published in France ( Yes, it's all in French, ha ha ) & it reprinted some Golden Age stories from 1943-44. It was released as a hardback around 1989, during the Tim Burton movie craze. The next book is a paperback & one of the things that make it extremely interesting is the size of the book is very very weird. It has a standard width, but it was made to be extremely tall ( or very long ). The next great thing about it is that it's from Uruguay! It was published around 1968 & is extremely RARE! So, I guess I'm gonna ask all Bat-Blog Fans who live outside the USA if they have any "foreign bat-books or toys" in their collections to please send us some photos. Thanks!

Italian RAT-MAN Comic Book Does Detective Comics #27 Homage Cover!

In Italy there's a popular comic book by Leo Ortolani called RAT-MAN which is a silly cartoon parody of Batman. For one of the covers he did an homage to the Classic Golden Age Comic Book Cover ( Detective Comics #27 ) which was the very 1st appearance of Batman. Most of the language is Italian so I can't read it but the artwork is really great. I love this parody, it's hilarious!

BATMAN THE MOVIE 1966 French Poster & Italian Lobby Cards

Here's some really cool Vintage 1960's Batman Memorabilia. The 1st picture is a photo of an original movie poster of the 1966 Batman Movie for the French market, Made in France! The 2nd two pictures are Lobby cards for the same movie, Made in Italy! If you, the BAT-BLOG Readers, have any cool pictures of RARE items from your personal bat-collection then please send them to us....we would love to share them with everyone! Also, Be sure to check the BAT-BLOG ARCHIVES for many more versions of the Batman Vintage Movie Posters & Lobby Cards!

Strange Unlicensed BOOTLEG Vintage Batman & Robin Toys

One of the most unusual Batman items I like to find while on the hunt are unlicensed "Bootleg Toys". I mean, they are usually not done very well & are always extremely weird. Plus, they make nice "filler" for display. Here's a few examples: The 1st pic is a Vintage 1970's Batman & Robin Motorcycle Bat-Cycle Toy from Italy. I actually love the detailing of this item. It's alot nicer than most other cheesy bootlegs. The 2nd picture is from the 70's also & is a photo taken at some county fair of a Batman Carnaval Game. I guess you throw a bean bag or ball into his mouth to win a prize, looks like hours & hours of fun! The 3rd pic has got to be the weirdest one. It's a pull toy Bat-Phone & Batmobile combo. It reminds me alot of the Classic Fisher Price Pull Toy. This would be great for display just because it's so wacky!! The last photo is an unopened package of Batman Fireworks that I think were made in Hong Kong. I love the vintage style graphics & the face on Batman is kinda funny. I also like how the word "Batman" is written in a chinese-style font...cool!

Vintage 1960's BATMAN TOYS and MEMORABILIA From Around The World! ( Japan, The UK, & Italy )

OK, The Bat-Blog has been reporting a lot on the Dark Knight Batman Movie lately & to be honest it's getting a little old, ha ha! Don't get me wrong. I'm totally excited about this movie & can't wait till it comes out, but I also love the vintage toys too! So, I thought I would post a few Super-RARE pieces of Batman Memorabilia from around the globe. We start in Japan, where in the 1960's, some Japanese company produced this wonderful Batman Action Figure (Doll?). It must be kinda boot-leg because the colors are wayyyy off! But I think that gives the piece a lot of charm & it does make it a variant figure, something different for the collection. The next item comes from England, or as I like to call it, The UK! It's a Batman Ballpoint Pen shown on the original blister card...beautiful vintage graphics, a favorite item! The 3rd photo is also an item from the UK. It's a RARE Corgi Car vehicle from their "Husky Extra" line #1003. It's a Bat-Boat with Trailer from the 1966 TV Series. This was sold to go with their 1966 Batmobile from the same Batman TV Show. Oh my god, look at the price! It was only 59 cents, ha ha! The last photo is a very obscure item from Italy. It's a Batman Costume Playset in original bag with header card. I love the vintage Bat-Logo on the card & the "toy" itself is pretty cool too. It was made by Il Giocattolo, an Italian company. OK, I should not have "went off" at the beginning of this post about being tired of The Dark Knight Movie News but I just wanted everybody to know that we have not forgot about the people who love the vintage toys. Mainly, because we love them too!

Video: THE BATMAN - TV SHOW OPENING THEME SONG ( Italian Language Version )

Our friend Andrew sent us this link with a translation too. ( Thanks Andrew! ) Ya see, the video is the opening sequence for THE BATMAN Cartoon TV Show but it's in Italian. They must play this animated series in Italy. He wrote this nice piece of information, "Thought the Bat-Bloggers would get a kick out of this. Anyway, I think the song is strangely catchy, so I've translated the chorus for your readers' amusement so they can sing along. It's repeated lots towards the end.

Batman,
Batman of the Future,
Grande amico della verità,
Gotham City ti ringrazierà,
Batman of the Future,
Sei tu!

...which means...

Batman,
Batman of the Future,
Great friend of truth,
Gotham City will thank you,

Batman of the Future,
Is you!

FAT BATMAN - The Art of Francesco De Molfetta

Right now there's an Art Show titled "New Idols" at the Don Gallery in Milano, Italy. The show features 1980's Pop Icon Sculptures by Francesco De Molfetta. He's done a few that are a parody of E.T., Transformers, Barbie Doll, Superman, etc... Most of them are sort of political & all of them have a lot of humor. This is the one he did of Batman, or I should say, "Fatman", ha! For more info on the event, click HERE!

Ivan's NEW Vintage-Style BATMAN T-SHIRT Retro 1970's Graphics

Here's a quick post to share a nice photo sent in by a Bat-Blog Fan from Italy. This is Ivan & here is a Batman T-Shirt that he just bought in an Italian Store. Yes, BATMAN is popular enough in Italy that they actually market products there... and that is so AWESOME! I also think it's cool that the graphics look very retro-style. Check out the Bat-Logo, just like the comic books from the 1970's & 80's. I wanna thank Ivan for sharing his pic. Plus, if any other readers from outside the US come across ANY brand-new pieces of bat-merchandise then please let us know.