OK, if you're a Batman Fan then you're gotta totally love this hilarious graphic, even if you hate Garbage Pail Kids, ha ha! This non-sport trading card was part of a series put out by TOPPS in 1986. It features a character named "MATT Mobile", ha! I love the parody on the Vintage 1966 Batmobile & Adam West-style costume. Plus, it looks like he is bursting right out of the Batcave & into Gotham City! The 1st pic shows the actual trading card. Then, the next group of pictures show the preliminary sketch, color test, & original completed artwork... beautiful!
Here's an extremely cool photo I found awhile back while researching some major "Pop Culture Collectibles" auction. In one of their lots they had some original comic art done by Norman Saunders ( Click on it for a larger, sharper, version ). Of course he's the ultra-famous illustrator for many of the vintage trading cards made by TOPPS back in the 1960's & 70's. This photo shows the original art (custom framed) with 2 actual 1966 Batman Trading Cards. This is card #1B & features "The Joker's Icy Jest". The weird thing is that you can see that the artwork is only a little bigger than the actual card, very cool! But regardless of size, it's an incredible piece of art....a total masterpiece! I never checked back on this thing to see what it went for. I mean, what's the use? I knew it would be totally out of my price range, ha ha! Whoever owns it now is an extremely lucky person.
Here's a quick post to sort of promote 2 very cool Batman-related Websites by some friends of the Bat-Blog. They're both brand-new & have a clever twist. The 1st one is called "HOLY SMOKES BATMAN!" & it's main focus is recounting ALL the different times that Robin ( Burt Ward ) said the phrase "Holy..." on the 1966 TV Series. There are actual audio clips of every phrase & if you check out the site then be sure to click on "Play The Entire Library" to hear them all & have a really great laugh! Our friend Jay did a great job on this site & it's a lot of fun. Just click HERE!
The next Batman-Fan website is actually a re-vamp of an older, existing page, except our friend Stephanie changed it around to the blogging format & it's really way better. It's called "BATMAN-CITY, The Ultimate Batman Trading Card Guide on the Web" & it's obsessive focus is collecting very detailed information about all the different Batman Trading Card Sets & Promo Cards from around the world. You know how I am totally goo-goo over "the foreign stuff" so I'm really liking it so far, ha ha! She just recently started this blog but if it become 1/2 as detailed as her other "Reference Guide" website then it should be quite good...keep an eye on it. Just Click HERE!
Here at the Bat-Blog we have a good friend named Zdravko. He recently came across some great Batman-related photos while looking through some old family pictures. The 1st one shows him as a little boy standing next to a special Batman Birthday Cake that his Dad had made for him...that's cool! His Dad did a great job because the cake looks really nice. The 2nd photo is from his Baptism as a small child. His Mother is carrying him in Church. In it, you can see he's holding a Batman figure. Yes, he took Batman with him! The photo is from the mid-1990's & the toy is actually a Topps Bubble Gum Candy-Filled Hard Plastic Figure that was made around the time of the BATMAN RETURNS movie. I have one of those, how funny! Thanks Zdravko for sharing these wonderful photos, they're both very awesome! As always, I want to extend an invitation to all Bat-Blog Fans to please send us your "Bat-Memories". Our e-mail button is always at the top right-hand side of this page.
I just recently met an artist on MySpace who has some really fun artwork. He does "Custom Hot Rod Caricatures" that are done in a cool Retro "Hot Rod" Style that must have been inspired by "Big Daddy" Ed Roth. Here's a piece he did with Batman in his Hot Rod Batmobile Car! His art also reminds me of those Topps Trading Cards from the 1960's & 70's. The artist's name is Ben Mitchell. But he's also known as "Drag Daddy" & you can view more of his awesome stuff on MySpace by clicking HERE! ( Thanks Ben for letting me post some of your work ).
Sometime one problem with being a Batman Collector is trying to find inventive ways to display your favorite items. You want to be able to enjoy it, but you also need to protect it as well. OK, here's a perfect example you might like ( Click on the pics above for larger examples ). Our friend Dallas recently had one of his favorite pieces framed. It's a set of TOPPS 1966 Batman TV Show Trading Cards, still in the original package. Now the special thing about these is that it they are not the "wax wrapper" package but it's another type of packaging that TOPPS did later where you got 3 sets of cards, sealed in clear cellophane, that were placed in a long narrow bag which had a Cardboard Header Card attached to the top ( also, I don't think these came with bubble gum like the others did ). These packages hung on hooks in retail store displays & are extremely rare! But Dallas found a very clever way to display this unusual item. He had it framed between 2 pieces of glass with a die-cut mat background. This way the item has some space around it so it's not flattened & because it's "open on the back" you can remove the frame from the wall to still read the other side...AWESOME! I wanna thank Dallas for sharing the cool pics & great idea. If any other Bat-Blog Readers have come up with clever ideas like this then please be sure to let us know so we can share it! Also, CLICK HERE for some more examples of these RARE BATMAN Topps "Hangers" Cards & other Wrappers and Display Boxes.
