Batman Basketball

What says Batman more than a Batman basketball?
It is a perfect item for me since I live in the heart of basketball country, Indiana.


I had posted earlier about another unusual item, The Batman Hoosier Cabinet , so this fits me perfectly.

I got this sometime while The Batman series was running on television which was from 2004 -2008.
This Batman was a bit shocking to me at first because they had departed from the square chin Batman to a more pointy chin character.

I ended up liking the show really well and also liking the way they whole show was styled.



The series also made the news for its interactive toys.

When Batman would use Wayne Tech devices in the show the toys at home would interact with the television program. (Pretty cool and scary at the same time. I hope The Joker never gets a hold of this technology!)

I am pretty sure that if you were playing basketball while the show was on you would never miss a basket.

I have no idea what a FOTOBALL is.
Google has no idea either.

To my credit I never used the Wayne Technology to win a game I depended totally on my Hoosiers skills.

This ball was bought just to look at.

Batman, Green Lantern and Martian Manhunter looking at the Bat-Basketball.

This Bat-item is not in my Bat-room but is instead in our game room. (Xbox mostly)



Brian B

Kenner Dark Knight Collection Catalog

When Kenner took over the Batman movie toy license in 1990 from Toy Biz, it was a very welcome change. It's not that I hated the Toy Biz stuff. It's just that it was pretty clear that things could have been done better.... and Kenner delivered.

Kenner used to pack these cool little catalogs in with their larger toys like playsets and vehicles. This one is kind of an "all-purpose" catalog that shows several toy lines (as you can see by the cover of the catalog, above). I still can't believe that Kenner produced a childrens' Robocop toy line... those films were pretty hardcore and deserved the R ratings that they had. At any rate, I thought it would be fun to show these very first Batman movie toys from Kenner's catalog.

Here's the first wave of figures and couple of cycles. Kenner liked to reuse molds from older toy lines and retool them a little bit for new ones. Batman's cycle uses a mold from the Robocop line and I believe Joker's does, as well.

The figures were pretty much all-new. They were based on the Super Powers Batman body but were obviously retooled for this line. I have to give them credit for producing pretty decent masked and unmasked sculpts of Michael Keaton.

Here are some vehicles. The BatJet was originally seen in the Silverhawks line of toys... and I believe the Batcopter is a "repaint" from the Super Powers line. However, the Batmobile and Batwing are all-new sculpts and are fantastic toy-counterparts to the "real" vehicles from the film.

In this page, you can see that Kenner reused a portion of the Star Wars Laser Rifle for the Sonic Neutralizer weapon.

Lastly, I love this kids' costume on this page. That would be a neat set to have in a Batman collection.

Can anyone else hardly believe that this toy line was released over twenty years ago?!!

Justice League Batman Alarm Clock

A few weeks ago, my 12 year-old son walked into my studio and plunked this down on my desk. "You want this?" he asked. "Uh... yeah, are you done with it?" I asked back. Apparently, my son is now too old to have a Batman clock in his room. How Serendipitous! ... because I happen to be the exact age to have one of these sitting on my drawing desk!! Amazing.

So, this cool little item is now in my possession... waiting for the day when my son might want it back. If he doesn't, that's fine, too.

At any rate, this is one of those items that sort of flies under the radar of most Batman toy collectors. At least, it did with me. I didn't even know these existed until my son got this for Christmas, a few years back. It's always fun to have this kind of stuff around to complement the mainstream stuff. This has a copyright date of 2005 but I can't find a manufacturer marked on the clock, anywhere. The middle of the screen says "Hero Tactics." Perhaps, that's a clue to the manufacturer.

Enough of all that, though ... this is one cool alarm clock. It's Justice League branded but is definitely a Batman clock, if I've ever seen one. I just love the look of this thing... from the cool, retro-looking base with the bat-speaker, to the plastic figure of Batman, to the cool view-screen behind him. I like how this kind of looks like Batman is standing in front of the Batcomputer down in the Cave.

Aside from being an alarm clock, this unit also lights up and has several spoken phrases. Just press button one, two, or three and the corresponding panel lights up and a narrator's voice comes booming from the Bat-speaker.

Button 1) "Batman, The Dark Knight, stands guard over Gotham City and when duty calls, the world's greatest detective joins forces with the heroes of the Justice League to protect the World."

Button 2) "Copperhead's venom can incapacitate even Superman, but rare is the time a snake can get so close to the Man of Steel."

Button 3) With Superman's strength, Batman's skill, and the Flash's speed, even a brute like Solomon Grundy can be defeated.

Can you believe I just dusted this thing before taking photos?

Now, that's a fun Bat-clock that's worthy of keeping track of Bat-time on my desk.

Kenner Super Powers Batmobile

This is Kenner's first in a very long line of toy Batmobiles. In 1984, Kenner had begun to produce DC characters in their, now famous, Super Powers line of toys. Vehicles soon followed to complement the figures and add play value. For many subsequent years, Kenner would go on to produce many Batmobiles and vehicles for all four of the first Batman movies. They also produced several nice Batmobiles to accompany various animated television series based on our favorite Caped Crusader.


I recently picked this toy up to fill a long-time hole in my Batmobile collection. Although, I have many of Kenner's toy Batmobiles, this one has been on my "want list" for quite some time. I don't know why I waited for so long! This is a fantastic toy!

Sturdy and packed with features, this Batmobile exemplifies all that a Batmobile toy should be. Although, the styling and design of the car is very 1980's and right in line with the look of Batman's ride, at the time, this car still looks great and would still be a unwelcome sight to Gotham's underground.

There's just something so cool about the "comic book" colors on this car.... bright blue body, orange bubble windows, and bright yellow headlamps. With Batman and Robin seated inside, this car takes on an even more colorful, fun look. The Super Powers line was the last toy line to present Batman and his world in a classic, colorful way that would disappear for quite some time with the merchandising and release of the first Batman movie in 1989. Although I enjoy the dark, black, and brooding Batmobiles that have been released over the years, I also enjoy this more colorful take on the car.

It's interesting to me, also, that the 1966 TV Batmobile was still influencing the look of Batmobile design during the 80s, as evidenced by the split, bubble-top cockpit on the Super Powers Batmobile.


Aside from rolling and making a "whirring" noise as it rolls, this toy includes three main features. On the front, there is a spring-loaded battering ram that pops out with the press of a button in the cockpit.

Also, on the hood, is a set of retractable headlights that can be raised or lowered with a yellow sliding knob that juts from the dashboard.

Lastly, there is a pair of scissor-like graspers that pop from the rear of the car to capture criminals... as Robin is demonstrating in the photo.



I'm not sure why I held off so long on picking up one of these. I guess part of it is due to the Super Powers line being released between my childhood and the start of my collecting Batman stuff as an "adult" around 1989 (although, I did pick up a lone Super Powers Batman figure when this line was still on toy shelves). It fell into a historical gray area for me, so to speak. However, I couldn't be happier with this version of the Batmobile. It's just plain fun and very cool-looking on the shelf... a great counter to all the all-black Batmobiles I've got hanging around.

Mego Pocket Super Heroes 3 3/4" Batman

It's almost difficult to imagine a world when only 4 or 5 Batman action figures had been released. However, this was the case when this figure was released in 1979. He's part of Mego's Pocket Super Heroes line. Mego had great success with their 8" Super Heroes. This success led to things like 12" figures, bendies, and even 3 3/4" action figures like this guy.

With 6 points of articulation, this Batman can't do much but he's still a very cool momento from Batman's action figure past. His head and cape were molded in one piece from a somewhat soft rubber material.

Other figures in the line included Robin, Superman, Wonder Woman, Spiderman, Hulk, and Captain America. The paint applications on these were fairly minimal without small details like eyes or even the yellow portion of Batman's chest symbol. Mego even produced vehicles like the Batmobile for these figures to tool around in.


I picked this guy up on ebay earlier this year. I was surprised that he was in such good condition when he arrived. I'm always happy to add another minty, vintage Batman to the collection.

DC Busy Book

While cutting through the book aisle at Walmart I found this little treasure.

It is a Busy Book featuring The DC Super Friends.

It is more than a children's book though.

Once you flip past the eleven pages you find the busy part of the book.
The back contains three partitions filled with fun.


The main reason I sprang for it was the twelve mini figures!
Batman, Robin, Aquaman, Flash, Superman, Green Lantern, Hawkman and Krypto the super dog.



It also came with four villains to fight!
Joker, Riddler, Penguin and Lex Luthor.



The top partition hold a plastic play mat that looks like a comic book page.

Pretty cool find.

Brian B

Collecton Figure

Look what I stumbled across at Walmart!
A Batman Legacy Edition of the Golden age Batman.

There was only one and I grabbed it up.

I knew nothing about this figure it was pure happen stance that it landed in my possession.
There was only one at the store and there were no other figures like it on the shelf.

I did notice that the manufactures had left holes for fresh air to enter the package.
The containers creator must have been heavily influenced be the Toy Story movies.

Well I thought if this figure needs fresh air. Fresh air it will get.
So I took Batman outside and into the alleyways of downtown Indianapolis.


Batman quickly noticed that some punks had graffitied the walls.


He immediately started to patrol the area.

Okay, so I thought some shots in the dark alleys would be cool looking.
You know. Batman in his element and all.
Turns out the alleys have a lot more foot traffic than you think at lunch hour.

So I rushed every shot I took while trying not to look suspicious waiting for people to clear out.

The pictures turned out okay but I sure felt stupid trying to snap them.
I need to come up with a blogger type press pass lanyard to wear next time I venture out into the alleys.


Nice figure. Lots of articulation.
Stupid looking photographer.

Brian B