Vintage BATMAN Japanese Tin Toy Robots and Batmobile Cars

OK, This photo is just complete torture for me but it's still great to see some amazing Vintage 1960's Japanese Batman Toys!! The Guy on the right is our Good Friend Yuji who, if I remember right, lives in Dubai. Anyway he recently traveled to Japan to photograph this guy's BATMAN Tin Toy Collection. This Toy Collector has some extremely RARE and insane stuff, "Museum Pieces" actually! Shown here are just a few tiny examples of Tin Toy Robots and Battery-Operated Batmobile Cars. Yuji shot the stuff on Digital Video because he's working on a "Batman Toy Collecting" Documentary. We can't wait to see it!!



One last thing, please click the photo up above for a larger HD version. Warning: YOU WILL CRY!!

New BATMAN Book - BATMOBILE: THE COMPLETE HISTORY

SAN RAFAEL, CA, June 2012:

Since 1939, the Batmobile has been immortalized in nearly every imaginable entertainment medium. Tearing through the streets of Gotham City in pursuit of criminals for more than seven decades, it has remained an iconic crime-fighting vehicle for generations of Batman fans. In Christopher Nolan's extraordinary film trilogy, it was given breathtaking new life-and incredible capabilities-as the "Tumbler". Now, in anticipation of The Dark Knight Rises, the epic conclusion to The Dark Knight trilogy,the entire history of the Batman's trademark ride is captured for the first time in "BATMOBILE: The Complete History" from Insight Editions.



BATMOBILE: THE COMPLETE HISTORY

is the story of the distinct, sophisticated, incomparable car. From its evolution in the pages of Detective Comics, to its unforgettable appearances on the big screen, this book explores each incarnation of the Batmobile with the detail such an extraordinary automobile warrants.

Author Mark Cotta Vaz uncovers insights and stories from creators and conceptualists that reveal the nuts and bolts of putting these dream machines together and explains the philosophies behind each design. With stunning gatefolds, including a large-scale panorama of the Batmobile Cars featured in film and television-and detailed specs, blueprints, and historical comparisons.



Mark Cotta Vaz is a New York Times bestselling author with more than 25 published books, including the critically acclaimed Living Dangerously: The Adventures of Merian C. Cooper, Creator of King Kong, a TLA finalist selection. His "making of" books have documented TV's Lost and such feature film productions as The Spirit and the Twilight saga.



Paul Levitz is an award-winning writer, comics editor, and executive (publisher of DC Comics for two decades; President & Publisher from 2002-2009). He recently wrote 75 Years of DC Comics (Taschen) and teaches at Columbia, Pace, and Manhattanville. He lives in New York City.  



Nathan Crowley is the twice Academy Award® -nominated Production Designer behind Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight trilogy. Crowley's credits include Insomnia, The Prestige, and Public Enemies, among many others. The Dark Knight Rises marks his fifth collaboration with Nolan.



Hardcover, $35.00, Release Date: June 2012

148 pages, More than 100 full color photographs and illustrations

ISBN-13: 978-1-60887-104-9

BATMAN'S ADAM WEST and BURT WARD To Appear at New Jersey SUPER MEGA SHOW & COMIC FEST This Weekend!

This post is a friendly reminder that the SUPER MEGA SHOW & COMIC FEST in New Jersey will be this weekend, June 9th & 10th, 2012. The cool thing is that the Guests of Honor will be ADAM WEST & BURT WARD! 

Yes, Batman & Robin, The Boy Wonder, will make a special appearance! They will also have the lovely Lee Merriwether, who played Catwoman in the 1960's Movie, and Donna Loren ( Robin's love interest on the 1966 TV Series ). But wait, there's more!

They will also have some amazing Batman Replica Batmobiles and bat-Vehicles. Yeah, we're talking about the 1966 Bat-Cycle and amazing 60's Batman Movie Bat-Copter!

This event looks way too good to miss! For more info, CLICK HERE!

NEW BATMAN TOYS - Matchbox Batmobile Car in Canada

A brand-new Matchbox BATMAN Batmobile Car is showing up in Canada in the new 10-packs. It will also be available later as a single pack soon. Not sure if this toy will reach the USA, but I assume it will. This car looks a lot like the Toy Vehicle for the recent Mattel BATMAN Action Figures. But Matchbox is owned by Mattel so that might be why. Stay posted to the BAT-BLOG.COM and we'll let ya know when we find out more info.

New 2012 DC Universe JOKER Hot Wheels Diecast Car in Stores Now!!

OK, you know that new series of 2012 DC UNIVERSE SUPERHEROES Hot Wheels Cars that Mattel keeps coming out with? Well, here are the next 3 new Comic Book Cars: Superman, Green Lantern, and The Joker! Now obviously we're gonna focus on the JOKER one because the Bat-Blog is ALL ABOUT BATMAN, ha ha! But in the 2nd photo you can see the other cars too and they're really great. Personally, I totally love them! These brand-new toys were found by our Ace Bat-Reporter Batmobilly! He said he found them at Wal-Mart but I'm sure they will hit Target stores soon. Hey, if anyone, and that means YOU, sees ANY brand-new Batman Merchandise in the retail stores then please let us know! ( Thanks Batmobilly! )

Brand-New FOUR CARS 4-PACK 2011 HOT WHEELS DC COMICS ORIGINALS NOSTALGIA SERIES By Mattel

OK, Mattel keeps cranking out all these cool Batman products I can't afford to keep up with, ha! But, here's something pretty cool that I might have to go without food for!

Here's a specially Boxed 4-Pack of some brand-new 2011 HOT WHEELS DC COMICS ORIGINALS NOSTALGIA SERIES Diecast Cars. Inside the cool window box are custom rides for Robin, The Penguin, Catwoman, and Batman! The designs are pretty cool, click on the photo above for more detail. Now, I don't really have any more info on these right now. Like, are they in stores now? But they're popping-up on evil eBay so I guess so. No idea on price either, but I'm guessing the retail price is probably around the $25 range.

We featured some of the earlier ones here on the BAT-BLOG.COM and if you'd like to see those then just CLICK HERE!

NEW BATMAN TOYS - HOT WHEELS 2011 DC COMICS ORIGINALS NOSTALGIA SERIES By Mattel!

IN STORES NOW! OK, on your next trip to Wal-Mart or Target be sure to keep an eye out for these brand-new 2011 HOT WHEELS DC COMICS ORIGINALS NOSTALGIA SERIES By Mattel! This wave contains eight ( 8 ) Superhero / Super-Villain Die-Cast Cars to collect: Batman, Joker, Harley Quinn, Superman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Lex Luthor & even Bizzaro! Yes! When was the last time you ever saw some Bizzaro merchandise, ha ha! The cars are pretty cool but what I love the most is the use of the retro-style graphics, very 1980's! Thanks goes out to our awesome Bat-Reporter BATMOBILLY for letting us know about these, they're great!

THE DARK KNIGHT RISES Batman Movie News - Video of 3 Tumbler Batmobile Cars in Pittsburgh!

Yes! THE DARK KNIGHT RISES Batman movie is really getting underway! Here's a video showing the "Camouflage Version" of the Tumbler cruising the streets of Pittsburgh! Actually, there are 3 of them. I guess they either have back-up ones or they each perform a different function...cool!

New BATMAN SHAKE 'N GO DC Super Friends TOY CARS By Fisher Price

Just released in stores right now are some extremely super cool BATMAN SHAKE 'N GO Toy Cars by Fisher-Price! Of course they're a part of the never-ending DC SUPER FRIENDS Toy Line. There's a Brand-New BATMOBILE for Batman, a JOKERMOBILE for Joker, and even a MR. FREEZE CAR too! Our Bat-Reporter Friend, Batmobilly, got some amazing shots the other night while he was shopping. I really like the look of these cars, but the packaging is so beautiful it could make you cry. No, I'm not crying, it's just that some ceiling fan blew some dust in my eye... really. ( Thanks Batmobilly! )

The Wacky ARTWORK of CHRIS MASON - 1966 BATMAN TV SHOW George Barris Custom Cars Tribute

OK, Even if you're not a BIG FAN of the '66 BATMAN TV Series then you still have to admit that this artwork is pretty AWESOME!! These "1966 BATMAN" Drawings were done by our ultra-talented friend Chris Mason. He was actually commissioned by another friend, Jim Edwards.The 1st one features Batman & Robin, The Boy Wonder ( Adam West & Burt Ward ), riding in the Classic "George Barris" Batmobile! The 2nd one shows The Joker ( Cesar Romero ) in his Jokermobile!! Just in case you're not familiar with this Joker Car, it was featured in the TV show & I posted a reference photo showing how it looks today at the Petersen Automobile Museum in Los Angeles, CA.



One last thing: BOTH of these graphics are placed here as BATMAN WALLPAPERS so please be sure to use them to brighten you desktop today! Oh yeah, and a special THANK YOU to Chris & Jim for allowing us to post these Masterpieces of ART!

New Eaglemoss BATMAN AUTOMOBILIA Die-Cast Batmobile Series

Eaglemoss Collections, the UK company that brought us the cool "DC Superhero Figurines", is now coming out with a new collection of Batmobiles! These new cars are die-cast, 1:43 Scale, & come inside a presentation case that has a 3D lenticular backdrop. Also, each car comes with a collectible 12-page magazine that gives the history of the vehicle. The 1st car in the BATMAN AUTOMOBILIA Series will be the Batmobile from the 1989 Batman Movie! Then, they're making the 1966 Batmobile from the Classic TV Show!



Here's a list of the five cars in the 1st wave:

1. 1989 Batman Movie
2. 1966 Batman TV Show
3. 2005 Batman Begins Movie
4. 2009 Comic Book Version
5. 1944 Comics Version

They plan on continuing the collection & those cars, in the 2nd wave, will include: 1992 The Animated Series, 1985 Comic Book Version, 1939 Comics, 1995 Comics, & 2008 The Dark Knight Movie Bat-Pod!

Oh man, these sound really great! Plus, the production photos of the 1st five cars so far look really really good, I'm totally excited!! Now the bad news: I gotta say that these cars will take a little trouble to find in the US. You see, they're made in the UK exclusively for the European Market & will only be made available in the USA through special outlets. One rumor I've heard is that they might be distributed through Diamond Distributors, they supply American Comic Book Stores with product. So, you might check one of those. Another source will be a few online stores that do ship in the US. Once I get that list compiled I will be doing another post here so be sure to stay tuned to the Bat-Blog!

THE EVOLUTION OF THE BATMOBILE

Here's a graphic image that has become pretty popular lately on the internet. The images are very BIG so you will have to click on each individual graphic to see the whole thing. I mean, this thing is HUGE! It's called "The Evolution of The Batmobile" & it's brought to you by both the BATMOBILE HISTORY and CAR INSURANCE websites. I kinda know the guy who does the "Batmobile History" page & it's great! It's been a favorite of mine for a long time & is an awesome reference for every Batmobile ever made. Now, back to this picture. Basically, it covers the entire history of the Batmobile car & besides being sort of educational, it's actually a lot of fun... check it out!

New Hot Wheels Batmobile Cars - 2010 Mexico Convention Exclusives

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!

BATMAN WALLPAPER - Pixar CARS Movie 1989 Batmobile

Here's a great Batman picture that a friend sent me & as soon as I saw it I knew it had to be a Wallpaper Background, check it out!! This artwork was done by an extremely talented Graphic Artist who wanted to see what the 1989 Batmobile would look like if it was a character in the CARS Pixar/Disney movie...AWESOME!