Oh yeah! If you're lucky enough to live in, or near, England then you know that today is the day that the very 1st BATMAN LIVE World Arena Tour show starts tonight! It will be in Manchester & I am already totally super-jealous, JEALOUS!! It will run for 6 nights from July 19th - 24th at the Manchester Evening News Arena. Check out this TV Commercial Advert showing in the UK right now!
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!
Shown up above are the 1st five Issues in the "Batman Automobilia" Series by Eaglemoss, in the UK. You should be familiar with these toys, the BAT-BLOG was practically the 1st website to report on them. Basically they're highly detailed Batmobiles with small dioramas set-up inside clear-plastic display cases that were sold with it's own special magazine that told the history of that particular Batmobile. Well, the Eaglemoss Company had 10 cars already planned, but now there is very recent news that they now plan to only make the 1st five & the rest will be cancelled. This is sad news because these things are totally cool. We're not quite sure why they have been terminated but hopefully things will turn around. Stay tuned & we'll let ya know.
Here's a short video from the UK production team bringing the BATMAN LIVE World Arena Tour to life. It's main focus is on the choreography of the fight scenes.
Yesterday, here at the BAT-BLOG.COM, we featured a few videos of the unveiling of the Batmobile Car that will be used in the BATMAN LIVE World Arena Tour. The event happened in the UK & you know people there must have went insane. Well, today we decided to share some amazing photos of the BATMOBILE CAR! ( Please click on them for larger versions ) For a Batmobile Prop Car I think it looks pretty cool! I don't know, what do YOU think about it? Please share your comments on Facebook or Twitter. Also, if you're a member at one of these social networks, but not yet a friend of BAT-BLOG, then please join us! The buttons for finding us there are always on the top right-hand side of this page. Thank You.
The Bat-Blog has a friend on Facebook who sent this amazing photo! Scott said, "My sister in law sent me this, apparently they're shooting the Dark Knight Rises outside of her office in London." In the photo we can see a Gotham City SWAT Van... AWESOME!! ( Thanks Scott ).
This is a very quick post to share some extremely cool Batman Collectibles from the UK. These wonderful pics were kindly send in by a good friend named Kevin who is lucky enough to live near there. What are they? These are beautiful display boxes for Batman Easter Candy ( Milk Chocolate Eggs with Fruit-Flavored Gum ). One is in the shape of the Dark Knight's head & his eyes are die-cut open so some happy kid can see the goodies inside. The next one is more of a "box shape" with a great scene of Batman and Robin in Gotham City. Both of these boxes came out during the existence of the "Animated Series" cartoon on TV so that explains the cool graphics. I have a few of these UK items in my collection & they're different ( They would be added here if they were not so deep in storage right now ). So, that makes me wonder how many variations they made. But that's what is so great about being a Batman Toy Collector. There seems to be a TON of stuff out there to find & you can stay busy for 2 lifetimes, ha! ( Thanks Kevin for sending in these photos ).
Well, it looks like the BATMAN ARKHAM CITY Video Game is showing up, like crazy, on covers of some UK Gaming Magazines in England. Here are 2 examples: Playgamer and 360. Of course each magazine covers different consoles, the Playstation 3 ( PS3 ) and XBox 360. If anyone, anywhere in the world ( ha ), sees some other covers soon then please let us know.
I guess this post is sort of a "photo reference". These are some pics I collected awhile back where it's the Vintage 1966 BATMAN TV SHOW and MOVIE Paperback Books, but these are all "foreign-issued" copies. The 1st five are from England & were reprinted by Four Square Illustrated. These special UK editions have slightly different covers than the US versions. My favorite one is THE JOKER with all the weird "Pop Art" colors. I'm not sure about THE CATWOMAN Book & I'm wondering if it's from the UK too. It looks like it was reprinted by some other publisher. Now, the very last photo, is THE PENGUIN Book that was made in Argentina. It appears to be wayyyy more thin than an actual paperback. What's up on that? OK, I'm wondering if anybody has any other versions of these. If so, then please let us know. I think it would be cool if there were German, Spanish, or French editions, ha!
You're not going to find these BATMAN AND ROBIN Mugs ( Coffee Cups ) in any retail store today. These babies were made in the 1960's by Washington Pottery of the UK... probably around 1966, to capitalize on the popularity of the TV Show. In fact, they were only sold in England & are kinda hard to find. Well, thanks to the Internet they're not extremely rare. Here are some pics sent in to me by a friend of mine who collects pottery. He knew that I would love these. I do, they're great! Now all I have is one mug & somewhere I have a small platter. Unfortunately they're in deep storage. Yes, they also made Batman Plates, Patters, Bowls, and ( I think ) even an Ashtray! But for now we have these photos to drool over ( Thanks Dave ). The graphics are totally vintage & completely wonderful. Seriously, I love the sharpness & color. The one with the Batmobile car is just beautiful.
Here's a recent newspaper advertisement run by a company called "Circus Space". They work with the BATMAN LIVE TOUR that will be starting in England & they need both Aerialists & Acrobats for their show. If you have these skills & live in the UK, then this is THE job for you! For details just check out the ad.
BATMAN LIVE is a new all action live arena show - with Batman and Robin fighting The Joker, Catwoman, Penguin, The Riddler and a host of other top villains. It begins it's world tour in the UK next summer, 2011. Watch The Star's exclusive chat at the world launch press conference, at DC Comics, New York, with Executive Producer Nick Grace, DC Comics co-publisher Jim Lee and DC Entertainment's Chief Creative officer Geoff Johns.
I know that some Batman Memorabilia Collectors like to focus on collecting magazines with the Dark Knight on the cover. Well, here are 2 great examples: The 1st one is totally vintage & is also pretty dang RARE! It's the June 1966 issue of HOT ROD Magazine & the cool thing is that they did an exclusive interview with George Barris, the Custom Car Designer who created the Batmobile car for the 1966 Batman TV Show / Movie. I have never seen an actual copy of this in real-life but imagine that it's gotta be very interesting. The next cover is wayyy more recent. OK, it's totally "modern-day" but it's gonna be sort of hard to get because it's sold in the UK. This is a recent issue of 360. It's cover story is about the brand-new BATMAN: ARKHAM CITY Video Game. I hope you have enjoyed seeing these. Do you have any RARE Bat-Mags? If so, then please send us some pics, thanks.
Awhile back the Bat-Blog reported here that the TUMBLER BATMOBILE BATMAN MOVIE PROP CAR ( From Batman Begins & The Dark Knight ) was going to make an appearance at the London Film & Comic Con. Well, our friend Dan went to the event & shot us some wonderful photos! be sure to click on them for larger versions. He said it was very interesting to see the actual car in real life. I could only imagine. I wanna thank Dan for thinking about the Bat-Blog & sharing these pictures. I wish I could have been there, ha! Oh yeah, if anybody wants to read the original post, then here's a link - just click HERE!
This post goes out to all the readers who live near the UK. Warner Bros and DC Comics are pleased to announce that they will be bringing the Tumbler Batmobile Car from Batman Begins and The Dark Knight movies to the London Film and Comic Con at Earls Court 2 in England on July 17th and 18th, 2010. Yes! The Batmobile is LIVE ON TOUR in Europe! For more information be sure to click HERE! ( Thanks Dan ) Oh yeah, if anybody goes to this event then please be sure to send the Bat-Blog some photos.
OK, it's no secret how I am totally goo-goo over Vintage Batman memorabilia & some of the best items, or at least the hardest ones to find, are from countries outside the United States. Check these out!! The 1st RARE item shown here is a 1966 BATMAN School Writing Tablet from Holland. Yes, it's Dutch! I totally love the graphics on the cover, great stuff! The 2nd pic is a newer item ( 1980's ) & comes all the way from Japan! The Japanese are known for their love of the Caped Crusader so it's no big surprise that they marketed a few pieces of merchandise to capitalize on the 1989 Batman movie craze. This is a Store Display offering Batman Keychains....how cool is that?! The last item is kind of weird but I totally love it. It's a Batman and Robin Candy Box from 1997! This was made in England, or the UK. On the back of each box were some Character Trading Cards you could collect. This one features Mr. Freeze. Also, it's the "Animated Series" version, so I love it even more now, ha ha! Do you live outside the USA? Are you a Batman Collector? Please contact us & let us know. We always love meeting other people from around the world who like the Dark Knight.
OK, This post is mainly for our friends who live in the United Kingdom, Australia, & New Zealand. The TITAN COMICS Company will be publishing a BATMAN: THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD "Comic Book" Magazine. The neat thing is that the very First Issue #1 will come with a few special gifts included ( I guess the thing will be poly-bagged ). The items include: a Stationary Set, Batman Mask, & Stickers. The "Stationary Set" looks like it includes a Pencil, Ruler, Paper, & Pencil Case...AWESOME! Now, I'm pretty sure they sell these at Grocery Stores but since I don't live there I have no idea, ha! The local Comic Book Shops there will probably carry them too. But, from their website, you can subscribe for a year & get 13 Issues for only £27.60. But the thing is, you have to live in the United Kingdom, Australia, or New Zealand. Bummer! Here's the link for their website, just click HERE!
OK, This is a really really great, very heart warming, story! This photo is of the Hughes Family who live in the UK. They recently sent us this picture. Now at first I thought they had dressed-up for Halloween ( Do they have Halloween in England? ) but they did not. To help explain everything I'm just going to quote the letter they sent & it will give you a way better idea. Here it is:
The reason we were all dressed up was because my Mum hadn't been feeling very well, she is disabled and gets very down a lot. So we thought we would cheer her up by dressing up and going out in broad daylight to see her. My Mother had never seen us dressed like this before, but she has heard that my husband Richard loves Batman and owns a Bat-Suit. My Mother has never laughed so hard and we got so many strange looks from people on the drive over there! Batman with his mask on in the car, with a little Batman and two Joker villains...Yes, very funny!
I agree! Yes, Very funny indeed! See, I told you it would be a great story!! This is completely wonderful! I wanna thank the Hughes Family for sharing their photos. It's great that good things like this still happen from time to time. I bet your Mum will NEVER forget that special day, ha! If any other Bat-Blog Readers have similar events to share then please do. Send us some pics & your story!
