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With the BATMAN LIVE World Arena Tour opening pretty soon in the UK ( The very 1st show, I think, starts next month ) the advertising hype is starting! Shown here, in the very 1st photo, is the Official Marquee Poster that will appear in front of theaters. Then, in the 2nd pic, is a French Advertising Poster at a Bus Stop Terminal in Paris, France. Then, a HUGE Giant-Sized Vinyl Billboard in Liverpool, England! ( Please click on it, it's a really BIG Photo ) WOW! OK, I'm asking all of our friends who live in Europe to please send us some photos of this kinda stuff when you see it. You guys get to experience this event a full year before we Americans do & I'm totally jealous, ha!
This post is a shout-out to all our French-Speaking Friends out there! A Bat-Blog Fan named Damien just told us about a very cool Batman Fan Message Board called "BATMAN EVOLUTION". Now, the thing is, it's totally in French. Damien is French but lives in Australia and decided to creat this forum for sharing "Batman" information. So, if you live in France, or speak French, then please be sure to check it out, just click HERE!
First off, this image is actually a BATMAN WALLPAPER Background, give it a try! But the real reason for this post is to show this Vintage French Magazine advertisement for the Citroën Dyane, a, economy car from France. It's funny, they're sort of saying that this car is so great that Batman and Robin would choose it for a Batmobile, ha! This automobile is pretty cool & unfortunately you don't see them much in the US ( They were only made from 1967 to 1983 ). For more information just click HERE!
OK, today I'm on sort of a "foreign kick"! That means I'm focusing on some of the extremely cool Batman Merchandise & Toys made in other countries. But trust me, this stuff is pretty cool to see so you'll like it, ha!
The 1st example is an extremely RARE item. This is a packaged Bat-Ball Toy made in Italy in 1966. This Italian Toy is almost non-existent in the US. It's probably even hard to find over there! I love the vintage-style graphics. Plus, this is one of those toys where the packaging is "everything". I mean, once you open it & there's just that generic rubber ball, then it's no longer a "character item".
The next item is fun because it's Japanese & we all know that some of the coolest Bat-items come from Japan! It's a Video Game Disc for the Sega-Saturn by Aklaim. It's also tied-into the BATMAN FOREVER Movie.
Third, is this BATMOBILE Diecast Toy Car from the UK. It's a Hot Wheels Colour Shifters Car made by Mattel.
Now, the last photos, these are really great! I really love these! This is a complete set of 6 BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES Jelly Glasses from France. I think these might have been for the UK market too. If anybody remembers those Welch's Grape Jelly Glasses we have here in the US then I think these are a little smaller. Now, you might be looking at the photo & saying, "Hey, There's 12 Glasses?!" Yes, this photo shows both the front & back of each glass. The 6 on the left are the "front". The "fronts" have Batman & the "backs" have villains. Well, one of them has the Batmobile, ha, but you get the idea.
OK, I'm hoping somebody who reads this either learned something or at least enjoyed it! What do you think? Do YOU have any wacky Batman "foreign items" you would like to share? If so, then please shoot us a pic, or pics! Remember, the main focus of the Bat-Blog is to share the love & joy of collecting.
Here is a snapshot of a Custom Batmobile used for a kid's ride in Rouen, France ( near Paris ) that our good friend Stephane saw last weekend. OK, first of all I am so jealous she is in France, ha ha! I've always loved that part of the globe & I will visit there someday. Second, thank you Stephane for sending this wonderful photo...it's the French Batmobile, how cool!! You must have freaked out when you saw it & I appreciate that you thought of the Bat-Blog.
One aspect of doing the Bat-Blog that I really love is getting to meet other Bat-Fans from around the globe. It's a really neat experience. Here's a perfect example: Here are some drawings sent in by a girl named Biadza, who is 21 years old & lives in France. Oh man, what a beautiful place. I have always wanted to go there. Anyways, she was kind enough to send some Batman-related artwork he did of Batman & the Joker. Both pieces are extremely original & I really like them. Now, I wanna thank Biadza for sending these in, they're wonderful. And, as always, I want to invite any other creative people to send their work in too. Remember: Sharing the love of the Batman Universe is the main function of this site.
Lately I've been kind of obsessed with the study of Batman merchandise in foreign places. I don't know but you never see this stuff here in the US that much & it's sort of cool to think that people in far away places love the Batman character too. I like to think that maybe there's a little kid right now, in Japan or England, fixing a cloth towel around his neck as a Batman Cape & yelling, "I'm Batman"! It's kinda corny, I know, but with this blog I meet people from all over the globe who are Batman Fans & it's always neat to think about how the character is "world famous". I'm also curious how they "learned about the character". I know it's probably the movies, comic books, or cartoons but I bet some of the toys have had an influence also. So, here's a few pieces of Batman Memorabilia I have found from France. Not everything here is totally exclusive to the French but it's neat none the less. The 1st item is actually from Euro-Disney. I guess they did some kind of promotional tie-in with Warner Bros. This is a metal lapel pin of Jessica Rabbit ( Who Framed Roger Rabbit ) dressed as Robin, The Boy Wonder ( Is it wrong to think she looks HOT? ha ha! ). Next is a "Return To The Batcave" DVD, French Issue. It's titled "Dans La Grotte De Batman". This was the documentary made recently about the 1966 TV Show except it's probably subtitled in French. ( Thank you Andrew for sending the DVD photo ). The 3rd item is sort of weird & wacky! It's a ride-on toy of the Batmobile. I really like it because it's so gosh darn cute & it was made during the craze of "The Batman" animated TV cartoon so it's something recently made. The 4th photo is actually an extremely RARE vintage item. It's a set of stickers from the 1960's that were prizes in gumball machines. I love the vintage graphics, very cool. The last photo shows some kid's shoes with a Batman design. It's hard to tell if these were "the real deal" or just bootleg. The fact that the design motif has both the "comic book version" of Batman & some design elements from "Batman Beyond " ( black & red bat-logo ) makes me wonder. Anyways, just a few items from France. If any readers have some cool "foreign stuff" ( both old & new ) to share then please send us some photos.
OK, anybody who has been reading the Bat-Blog for awhile knows that I am a pretty serious Batman toy collector & one of my favorite things to collect is the "wacky foreign items". So, this post shows a few Batman items from around the globe. The 1st item is a photo sent in by a Bat-Blog Reader who lives near France. This is a set of THE BATMAN Playing Cards made during the time of the TV cartoon series. I really love the cool graphics ( Thanks Andrew for sending this, it's awesome! ). The 2nd pic is something that is in stores right now! In Malaysia, a bath products company that I think is called "Eskulin", is making Batman Talcum Powder, Shower Gel, & Shampoo plus Conditioner. Most Bat-Fans might recognize Jim Lee's artwork on those, very cool! Another item that is out right now, in Argentina & Brazil, is this box of Batman Band-Aids, ha ha! I love the graphics on this packaging too, especially the side with the Joker. The last item is a Nestle Zucosos Cereal Box that was sold in Bulgaria to promote the Dark Knight Batman movie ( I don't think these are available any more ). Anyway, as you can see these are all really wonderful "foreign items" that you can't get here in the United States. Their rariety & wackiness is one reason I really love this kind of stuff. Hope you do too! If you happen to live in another country beside the US then please report to me about Batman goodies in your area. Sharing the love of the character & the joy of collecting is what this blog is ALL about!
A friend to the Bat-Blog, named Andrew, wrote that he was excited to know that The Dark Knight had finally hit France ( he lives near there ) because he saw this ad in a French Newspaper! It shows some of the Batman Action Figures & the Tumbler Batmobile with Bat-Pod...very cool! The next picture is a TDK item from the Philippines that was sent to me by Billy, a friend who lives in my hometown. He won this item on eBay. It's a really neat "Tumbler Batmobile Cereal Bowl with Batman-Shaped Spoon" you can get as a give-away premium in a Nestle KOKO KRUNCH Cereal Box. I'm gonna have to get one of those...the box design is really cool. Thanks guys for sending these wonderful photos, I appreciate that! I want to invite ALL Bat-Blog Readers to do the same, no matter where you live!
In response to a post we did recently about some "Foreign Batman Memorabilia" our friend Andrew sent these wonderful photos of some current Bat-items available in France. The 1st picture is my favorite & it's a box of Batman Cookies. The graphics are awesome! Oh yeah, in Europe they call cookies "Biscuits", so I guess this is a box of biscuits, ha ha! The next 2 sets of photos are the magazine covers to, what Andrew calls, "Baby Magazines" that are probably marketed to small children. They feature THE BATMAN & The TEEN TITANS cartoons. He said he gets them because they come with cool premiums like stickers, cards, watches, keychains, etc...Thanks Andrew for taking the time to photograph these & send them. I really appreciate that & I know my readers will enjoy seeing this rare Batman stuff. I wanna invite ALL Bat-Blog Readers to send photos, no matter where you live!
A nice guy named David, who lives in France ( Lucky! ), sent us this very cool graphic he made of BABY BATMAN ON HIS BATMOBILE RIDE. I think it's a graphic for a T-Shirt he plans to make. Wow! The artwork is really great stuff! I like the minimal colors & the simple graphic-style, sort of "cartoony". I love getting e-mails from Bat-Fans in other countries. I really think it's cool that Batman is so huge everywhere. Thank you David for sending this picture, good job on the artwork!!
