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!
Check out these wonderful photos sent in by our friend Bruno! They were shot at the Six Flags Theme Park in Mexico City. The 1st pic shows Bruno, & a very cute girl, posing next to a life-size Batman Statue they saw in the gift shop. That's pretty awesome! Then the next pic was taken during the special "Batman Show" they have there. It looks like Six Flags went crazy building a massive stage with buildings & everything, that's cool! ( Please remember to click on it for a larger version ). Then the very last photo shows the 1989 Batmobile that they have on public display. Now, Bat-Blog Fans, please keep in mind that this picture of the movie car is also a "Batman Wallpaper Background" you can use to brighten your desktop! Also, I wanna say, "Thanks Bruno for sending the great pics!".
OK, This video is just surreal! It's kinda fun to watch even though I can't understand one single word, ha ha! It's all in Spanish & is a TV Comedy sketch/parody of a convention of Batman characters. Later, an English-speaking Superman comes by & starts a fight.....weird!
OK, It's time again for a wacky BATMAN BIRTHDAY CAKE photo! This one was sent in by Debbie. She said, "I know you have some weird fixation with Birthday Cakes so I'm sending this pic to you, enjoy!". Ha Ha, OK Debbie, be nice. Yeah, I think these pictures are funny & readers like 'em...so, what's the problem? Ha Ha! The next picture comes from a friend in Mexico & it's a really funny comic strip about Batman that is also very surreal & kinda creepy. Thanks Juan, you rule! We want to invite ALL Bat-Blog Readers who have a funny photo or Batman-related comic strip to share to send them in today, thanks!
Check out these really great Custom-Made Batman Figures! I got these photos from a new friend who lives in Puebla, Mexico. It looks like he made 3 different versions... cool!
Here's a wonderful photo just sent in to us from our friend Monica who saw this set of Ceramic Salt and Pepper Shakers of CATS dressed as Batman & Robin at a Department Store in Mexico. Oh man, I totally love these, they're hilarious! I'm pretty sure that they are meant to be a parody of the characters & are probably not licensed but they're still great. I like the mod design. Thanks Monica!
In the world of serious Toy Collecting there's a small niche of Collectors known as "Bootleggers". They are people who mainly collect knock-off bootleg toys. These toys usually come from China, Hong Kong, & other places, but Mexico is one of the most popular. Here are 2 examples of "Mexican Bootleg": The 1st one totally cracks me up. It's a vinyl figure of both Batman ( sort of a "Dark Knight movie" version ) and Homer Simpson from the Simpsons TV Show cartoon... hilarious! I mean, if you're ripping off one company's trademark then why not do two, ha! Then, there are these 2 Egg-Shaped Bendy Figures of Superman & Batman... crazy! I actually really like this Batman Toy, it looks cool. Now, I gotta ask, do YOU have any weird Bootleg Batman items in your collection? If so, then please send us some pics, thanks.
Shown here are some fun comic books collected by a good friend named Tomas who lives in Puerto Rico. You might remember a previous post where we featured photos of his amazing Batman Toy Collection. Well, he is also a major fan of Neal Adams ( who isn't? ) & has collected all the issues of Batman comics with Adams' artwork. Then he discovered that a lot of these were reprinted in Mexico with different covers in Spanish. OK, different covers but the same art. So now he's collecting those. Shown here are just a few examples. In the 1st two photos you can see the Mexican version on the left & the actual American one on the right...pretty cool! Thanks Tomas for sharing these. If any other Bat-Blog Reader has some interesting Bat-Info to share then please do. It can be about New Merchandise, Vintage Toys, Comic Books, anything Batman-Related! Our e-mail button is always on the top right-hand side of this page, thanks.
Awhile back a good friend to the Bat-Blog, named Andreas, sent us a few photos of his "Bootleg Batman" Collection. I posted some back then but decided to wait a little bit before releasing more. You see, he collects both new & Vintage Batman Toys but one thing he likes to focus on are the wacky-crazy bootleg toys that get made all over the globe. The 1st toy is actually a pin-back button with candy attached. I think he got this in the UK where they don't say "pins" but call them badges. ( Or was it Mexico? Sorry, forgot ). It's a rip-off of the Bat-Signal Symbol. The 2nd photo is a "Super Heroes" Action Figure. The Blister Card features graphics with DC Comics, Marvel Comics, AND Power Rangers characters...strange. Also, if you make Batman RED & SILVER, then I guess it's not copyright infringement, ha ha! The next photo is also an action figure but this one is from Greece. They gave him a trident which is more of a weapon for Aquaman, ha ha. The 4th pic is sort of an action figure. Well, it's a "Marble Shooter". Which is kinda weird because kids don't really play with marbles much anymore. This bootlegger must have been in his 80's, "Kids love them marble games, aahhhh". The other weird thing is a Power Ranger makes an appearance on the card & isn't that small picture of a monster a villain on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles? The figure is kinda nice though, an "Animated Series" Batman. The last picture is the best. Yeah, I saved the best for last! This is a Batman Theme Song Tribute Vinyl Record with AWESOME Batman Graphics. If I remember right these were made in France, or maybe the UK, & they're extremely cool! Plus, these are great quality unlike most bootlegs. Now, the main reason for posting these, other than a good laugh, is to show the history of the Batman Toys. I love the bootleg stuff but don't go out of my way to hunt it down or pay for it. If I come across it at a flea market or garage sale really cheap I'll get it for a funny display piece. I wanna thank Andreas for taking the time to shoot these photos & for sharing, that's great, thanks!!
Here are some photos sent in by a Bat-Blog Reader who is collecting the Hot Wheels "2010 Mexico Convention" Cars ( Thanks Cam ). Basically, there was an event held in Mexico by Toy Collectors & Mattel sent some of their Designers who brought a ton of Exclusive Promo-Batmobile Cars. Here's a "Brave and The Bold" car with Mexican flag graphics, a VW Drag Bus with a mural painted on the side to create the illusion that the van is actually the 1966 Batmobile ( that one is pretty cool because it's kinda weird ), and, finally, another Chrome '66 Batmobile. It's crazy now how many different variations we have seen. In fact, here's a post we did awhile back with other Mexican Convention Batmobiles... Just click HERE!
Just the other day I received some extremely cool photos from a Bat-Fan named Andreas. He likes to focus a part of his Batman Collection on the crazy bootleg toys that are made in other countries. His pictures show some really great examples! The 1st one looks like it's from China & it features imagery from the 1989 Batman movie. There's The Caped Crusader, Vicki Vale, The Joker, The Bat-Wing, & The Batmobile Car. But wait! Who's that villain-goon with the eye-patch? I don't remember him in the movie, ha ha! The second toy comes from Sweden & it's one of those "Water Maze" trinkets. I really love the "bat-shape" design, very cool! The 3rd piece, also from China, is a Set of Spiderman & Batman Action Figures It looks like they're ripping off TWO movies at the same time, ha ha! The last item is one of my favorites. I think so because it just has a great vintage look about it. It's a kite with an image of PINK Batman...pink! I wanna thank Andreas for sending these these in, they're all wonderful! Thank you. I also wanna invite any other readers to share any kind of Batman Photos, Information, Ideas, or whatever! Our e-mail button is always at the top right-hand side of this page.
Here are a few brand-new items for Batman "Batmobile Collectors" to keep an eye out for. Recently, in Mexico, they had a major Hot Wheels Car Collector Convention. Now the cool thing for this event was that Mattel made a few special cars that were EXCLUSIVE to the show. They made a few new versions of the 1966 George Barris Batmobile. By "versions", I mean, different colors. Shown here are: Red, Blue, White, & even Chrome. Now I'm not sure if they made even more than that but after doing some research these were the only ones I heard about. If anyone knows about another variation then please let us know. Most of these were sold on a "Blisterpack Card" but the "White Batmobile" came inside a bag with a header card.Now, I'm not sure how many of each they made but these are usually very limited.
