I love when Bat-Blog Fans share their personal stories & this one is kinda fun. This is a picture of a "New Adventures of Batman" Quarter Ride that Mike & his Son spotted on vacation at an Outlet Plaza in Rohoboth Beach, Delaware. Mike's son has always been a very big fan of "New Adventures of Batman" and this was an extremely cool thing for him to see. It's also pretty RARE. I think out of all the different Batman character-related vending machines this one is the most obscure. You just never see it anymore! ( Thanks Mike )
OK, everybody should already know about this Coastal "Batman Redemption" Vending Machine Game because we reported on it here at the Bat-Blog before it even came out. But, here's an interesting "sales brochure" video I found the other day. It shows the game in action & it's even cooler in person, check it out! ( I want one of these for my bathroom or kitchen )
You gotta love this recent comic book cover for SIMPSONS COMICS # 164 where they feature Homer Simpson totally hogging a 1966 Batmobile Car Vending Machine Ride in front of his local Springfield Grocery Store! The other kids all look pretty mad, ha ha! I also love that one kid is all geeked-out in a Robin, The Boy Wonder costume....funny! So, I decided to show the cover of the comic, all complete, & then use a part of it to make a Batman Desktop Wallpaper.
The real main focus of the Bat-Blog is to share the love of collecting all the cool Batman Toys, especially the Vintage Memorabilia! Here are a few examples of some Gumball Machine Header Cards featuring OFFICIAL BATMAN Character Rings. They were made by the Lawson Novelty Company in 1966. It looks like these rings were made out of rubber & there were 4 to collect. Two of them are sort of a Bust of Batman and Robin. The other two look like a Batmobile Car & Bat-Symbol Logo...awesome! These cards were what you would have seen inside the Gumball Machine to advertise the prize you could get. I don't remember seeing these as a little kid but I know I would have gone totally batty wanting one, ha ha! In fact, I would totally love to have these now! ( Thanks to Jimmy for sending the cool pics ).
Check this out! if you live near Australia then you might have seen one of these Batman Rides in your local Retail Store! It's a Vending Machine with Ride-On Toys of the Batmobile, Batcycle, & Bat-Jet Ski!! Plus, it just has incredible graphics all over it...I want it! This photo was sent in by a good friend named Belinda & I'm trying to get her to steal it for me. I hope she's able to get away with it. I'll keep you updated on that, ha!
Here's some amazing photos from our good buddy Chunky B. who writes the excellent ECLECTORAMA Blog. His real work involves vending machines & he recently went to a special convention called the IAAPA ( International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions ). It was in Las Vegas and while there he came across this awesome new game based on the "Wack a Mole" Machine concept. It's the Official BATMAN WACKER GAME!! He also grabbed a flyer and scanned it for us ( that's the 1st pic ). As you can see, the premise of the game is to put on some HUGE Batman Gloves & when a Super-Villain pops-up out of a hole, you wack 'em! The villains include: The Joker, Harley Quinn, Mr. Freeze, Riddler, Two-Face, & Catwoman. The game has incredible graphics all over it, from ever angle! In fact, this is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen in my life, ha ha! And that's saying a lot because when I'm not writing the Bat-Blog I spend most of my time at Major Art Museums & Galleries. I wanna thank Chunky B. for sending us the cool pics & thinking about the Bat-Blog, I appreciate that very much. I also want to invite you wonderful readers to check out his blog sometime. It's all about toy collecting & pretty funny. Also, once in awhile, there's some great Batman-related stuff. You can do so by clicking HERE!
The other day while surfing the Internet I came across a website for a toy company named "Tommy Bear" in Taiwan that makes large & small figures that are prizes inside vending machines. I think the small ones are for gumball machines & the larger ones are the crane-operated ones ( The Claw! ). Anyway, back in the day they made some for the Batman Begins movie. There were 6 to the complete set. The figures are actually very well sculpted & look great! The weird thing is that 5 of them are extremely realistic & 1 of them is sort of goofy-looking. I first discovered them by seeing the 2nd photo. It was taken at some trade show in Taiwan. Be sure to click on that one because you can see a larger pic where the details are really nice. The other pics are advertising-promo graphics from the company. Speaking of them, I contacted Tommy Bear & it appears they still make them but they are not for sale in the USA. I guess I'll have to check other sources to get some but I thought they were pretty cool.
The Batmobile has been spotted in Pennsylvania...at a TOYS R US in Cheltenham, PA to be exact! A friend to the Bat-Blog, named Michael, just recently saw this BATMAN FOREVER MOVIE Vending Machine Toy Ride-On Batmobile & had to send some pics to us. I like how it looks sort of "cartoony" ( I just invented that word ). Plus, it's always fun to see one of these things. Now I know a lot of people totally hate this film but I actually kinda like that it is so bad. Now obviously I would have prefered for the film to be good, or even great, but since it's not we might as well accept it. "Don't cry over spilled milk", my Grandmother used to say. I wanna thank Michael for taking the pictures for us, I really appreciate that, it's a very cool car!
While surfing the internet the other day I came across this photo of some Batman Vending Machine Figures. There was absolutely NO information about these & I'm wondering if any readers know anything about them. I seriously don't remember ever seeing them before so I think they're totally new & maybe not even out yet. It looks like they're gonna have 7 pieces to collect: Modern Batman, Retro-Style Batman, Robin, The Joker, Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn, & The Penguin. If ya ask me, I think they look pretty AWESOME! If anyone has ANY info on these then please contact me...thanks.
Every single time I look at this awesome photo I totally crack up, ha ha! A friend named Scott sent me this pic he took last year at the West Midlands Safari Park in England. They had one of those 1995 BATMAN FOREVER BATMOBILE CAR Vending Machine Rides outside. You know what I'm talking about. You see these sometimes at Grocery Stores. I really like the inventive creativity of some of these. I almost consider then ART! He looks to be a little too big to ride this but he did it! Thanks Scott for sharing this wonderful pic, I appreciate that...and needed a good laugh.
Shown here are some brand-new THE DARK KNIGHT Batman Movie Vending Machine Prizes that should be coming out soon. There are 3 different styles: Figurines, Danglers, & Keychains. I think these are pretty cool. There are 5 of each, 15 total. Well, it looks like I gotta go hit the truck stops, ha ha!
Awhile back we reported here about a company named STERN INC that is coming out with THE DARK KNIGHT Batman-Themed Pinball Machine. Ever since then I have been doing some research trying to get some nice photos of it, especially what the "game board area" looks like. Well, I got a few pics & they were pretty good but later I opened my e-mail & a loyal Bat-Blog Reader named Logan sent some amazing photos! He had this to say, "I just got back from camp and we had a trip to Toronto. When we were there we went to an arcade. There, they had the TDK Pinball Machine from Stern Pinball Inc.!! I took some pictures with your site in mind so here you go!!" YES!! Thanks Logan, these are really wonderful. I really appreciate that! Yeah, I'm gonna have to track down one of these babies & play it! Also, I think I would kill to have one of these in my living room, ha ha! I checked eBay & they're usually around $5000+, a little out of my budget. Thanks again Logan for sending the pics & I am just gonna let them speak for themselves, a very cool looking pinball game for sure! Oh yeah, while researching this post I also came across more totally brand-new photos at the Official STERN website so be sure to click on the link button below for those:
Yesterday we received an e-mail from a loyal Bat-Blog Reader named Dave who wrote, "I went to a new restaurant last Friday. It's called YESTERDAY'S in Bridgeport, Texas, and is basically full of nostalgia. Attached, you'll find a picture that really peaked my interest. There's a sign that says it is original and authentic from 1966, but DO NOT TOUCH. Oh yeah, and the food was great also!" Thanks Dave for both the information & the photo. I checked out the URL you sent & it looks like a really cool place. The 1966 Batmobile Vending Machine Ride is always great to see. I really love those & want one badly! The other memorabilia they have is cool too. ( Click the photo for a larger version ). There's a '66 Life Magazine on the wall with the famous Adam West cover, some Batman Movie Posters ( not sure if those are real ), 2 Batman Pennants, some misc photos, a Red Bat-Phone ( that's funny ), & they even painted a "Bat-Signal Art Mural" on the wall....awesome! I love "Mom & Pop diner-type" places like this. They're usually way better than the corporate chains. I do go to Texas every now & then so next time, if I'm near there, I'm gonna have to make a visit to Yesterday's! ( Thanks Again Dave ). If any readers live near here & are interested please check it out, looks fun. Here's a link button for more info:
Posted here for your viewing pleasure are these 3 extremely funny BATMAN HUMOR photos. The 1st one was sent in by our friend Brian & shows a nice assortment of lovely Catwomen. It looks like a very vintage photo, maybe 1940's, so that's cool. ( Thanks Brian ). The next two pictures are ones I found on Flickr. This is a home-made Folk Art Yard Statue of Batman made out of scrap metal & accessories, like a real flashlight, clock, & toaster on his bat-belt. I have seen this before because this guy's artwork is a very famous landmark in southern California. He does all kinds of great stuff like this & it's always funny & extremely creative. The last photo is more cute than funny. It shows a precious little girl dreaming about being Batgirl while riding in the BATMAN FOREVER Movie Batmobile ( Vending Machine Car ). Oh man, I would love to have that car for my collection ...but where would I put it? It's HUGE! Yeah, I would find a place for it, Ha ha!
I wanna thank Anne for sending us this very cool photo, Thank You! This is a Coca-Cola Vending Machine she saw while in California. Thank god she had her digital camera with her, ha ha! This is an awesome pop art-style graphic with Batman & I like the Classic Coke Bottle too! Thanks again Anne! If any other Bat-Blog Readers have cool Batman Photos to share then please send them today!
