[YouTube] Batman Stuff ('70s/'80s/'90s)

https://youtu.be/Oz6ybkYJGrw

I'm not entirely sure who my favorite comic book character was as a kid, though I'd guess a tie between Superman and Batman. Spider-man and Hulk were among my favorite Marvel characters but overall both were secondary to the DC heroes. In the late '80s when I started reading comic books on a regular basis I stuck with Batman; it didn't hurt that the character was getting a lot more attention in that time period with the Batman movies kicking off in 1989 and Batman: The Animated Series launching in 1992. I did purchase numerous Batman action figures and other related products during the '90s which remain sealed in their original packaging though I didn't think those would be too interesting to view in a video. Perhaps in the future I will do something for the blog with those but this video highlights only a few items.

In the video you'll see my Batman cape from Sears, a jigsaw puzzle, Colorforms, and a set of four Corgi toys from the '70s. I also flip through a 1986 pen-and-paper role-playing game book from Mayfair Games, take a look at a Whitman's item, and a Keepsake ornament from Hallmark. Below are photos of each one of those items as well as a variety of other products.

Batman cape from Sears (1977)

Batman Colorforms (1976) - Penguin's hat and umbrella are absent.

Batman Colorforms instructions.

Batman jigsaw puzzle form American Publishing Corp. (1973)

Batcopter & Batmobile Corgi vehicles (1976)

Penguin & Joker Corgi cars (1979)

Batman ornaments. I believe the one on the left is an unofficial
ornament as it has no markings (guessing it is from the '80s);
also the chest logo is updside down! On the right is a 1995
 Keepsake ornament from Hallmark.

Mayfair Games' Batman Source Book (1986); Happy House's
Batman Baffling Brainteasers (1983); Fisher Price's Batman
& Robin the Teen Wonder: The Case of the Laughing
Sphinx book + cassette (1982) 

Mayfair Games' Batman Source Book - Wayne
Manor Floorplan (1986)

Mayfair Games' Batman Source Book -
 Wayne Foundation Penthouse Floorplan
(1986)

Mayfair Games' Batman Source Book - Wayne
Foundation Batcave Map (1986)

Mayfair Games' Batman Source Book -
 The Batcave Map (1986)

Three 1997 items from Whitman's: Batman Surprise Tin;
Batman bust with light, belt clip, and storage full of
chocolates; Batman Assorted Chocolates.

Playskool Batman wooden puzzles that are missing a number
of pieces (1976).

The Batman Game from University Games (1989)

Batman tissues (1991), Hot Wheels Batmobile (2015),
PEZ dispensers, pins, and a ring that likely came out
of a vending machine in the '80s.

Batman Beyond Valentine's Cards (2000);
Justice League Batman toothbrush (2004);
plastic Batmobile (1989) that is a movie
promotion from a box of cereal.

Batman napkins (1989); Kraft foods
promotion (1998); Kemco Dark Tomorrow
video game promotion figurine (2003)

Joker, Robin, & Penguin figurines
from Applause (1989)

A variety of items from Batman: The Animated
Series and The Adventures of Batman & Robin.

Franco-American Spaghettios label
with The Adventures of Batman & Robin
hologram on the flip side (1990).

Batman movie book and calendar.

Batman Returns cereal box (empty),
trading cards, and keychain.

Batman Forever items (there is cereal in the Corn Pops box)

Batman & Robin Eggo box and plate
promotion.

Batman Walkie Talkie (1966); Batman symbol
that attaches to a specific flashlight; half of a
Batman flashlight (1974) though not the one
for the Batman symbol.

The last Batman product is something I really wanted to put in the video but it turns out I no longer have the items, only the box. I'm not sure why that is as I did have them when I was a kid. Unfortunately, I also appear to have stabbed the box with a pencil, though I still think the box is great to look at. It's for the Batman Executive Set from 1977 featuring a Joker stapler, Batman block calendar, and Batman pencil sharpener.

Batman Executive Set box front

Batman Executive Set box top side

Batman Executive Set box bottom side

That probably looks like a lot of Batman stuff but I'm sure many people have huge collections. It's not everything from my collection though, as I have some more books, magazines, trading cards, the aforementioned action figures from the '90s, and, of course, lots of comic books. This will be the largest post of the week since I don't have too many things related to the other Justice League characters. Also, there will be one more Batman video this week! Tune in tomorrow, same Bat-time, same Bat-channel!

DC Comics/JLA Week

The Justice League movie hits theaters this Friday, November 17th, so I decided to do a week of posts related to DC Comics. There is a schedule for the week at the bottom of this post and Batman will be leading the way since he is my favorite comic book character. Most kids are fans of comic book characters and I was no exception, and really, I still am a fan. However, I don't have a lot of comic book action figures from the '80s, probably because I got into Star Wars and G.I. Joe toys during that time. I do have a variety of super hero stuff though, most of it being from the '70s, and then I started collecting a lot of Batman things in the '90s.

As I write this I've got three videos and blog posts ready to go so including this post there will be at least four this week. I'm trying to repair an electronics toy that has content featuring DC characters. If I don't fix it then there won't be a video but I may scan many of the DC items for it since they are fun to look at. Today's post is just some random items that either didn't fit in with the remaining week's posts or have both Batman and Superman who will appear on separate days later this week so I grouped the cross-overs here. The first item up is the highlight of the post as the remaining things consist of two not-so-old food products promoting DC characters and the last photo contains some limited edition action figures.

This first one is a View-Master Cartoon Favorites Super Heroes package with three reels from 1979. I've got a good variety of View-Master reels from my childhood and my first View-Master toy, as well as a more recent PlayStation branded one. It's a great little device that is still made today.

Here is the back of the packaging's story description:

When Professor Nichols' time machine explodes, the Wondertwins, Zan and Jayna, are blown to separate planets.

Wonder Woman, Batman and Robin blast-off for one planet. Superman and Aquaman combine their strengths on another.

Will the Super Heroes find the Wondertwins?

Exciting suspense for all Super Hero fans!

I've scanned the reels as well to provide a close-up and the above story bit should make it easier to follow. Every reel contains two of each image as one would appear for each eye when being viewed inside the toy. Also, the scans are large and I'm not sure if Blogger will display them at the full size so you might have to open each one in a separate window if you want to get the best view.

Reel B

Reel A

Reel C

Second is a Fruity Pebbles box (2003) with a Justice League Power Card promotion. I'm sure I have the trading card somewhere but unfortunately cannot currently locate it or I would have included it with the images. I did eat the cereal when I got it so the box is empty.

Third is Kraft's Macaroni & Cheese DC Super Heroes boxes (1998) featuring hero-related macaroni shapes. One is predominantly Batman while the other has multiple Justice League characters with Superman front and center. These are still sealed with the food inside because sometimes I took collecting too seriously!

Last are two action figures that were mail-away offers from Wizard and Toyfare magazines. On the left is the Superman-like Eradicator that was offered in a Wizard special edition JLA magazine from 1998. On the right is Reverse-Flash that could be ordered using a form in Toyfare Issue #11 (July 1998). I'd say Eradicator, who has a removable cape, is a higher quality figure. Reverse-Flash is very difficult to get to stand up on its own.

The schedule for the remainder of the week:

Tuesday: Batman Stuff
Wednesday: The Joker Cycle (1990)
Thursday: Superman & Wonder Woman Stuff (I probably should have given them separate days but the video is done now and I don't have time to redo everything)
Friday: Possibly nothing but also possibly an electronics toy  (I'll try my best to get something up!)

Gaming Ads: Event Horizon Software and Extreme Entertainment Group

Both ads I have for Event Horizon Software might actually be from each game's distributor. One ad mentions Maryland-based distributor Electronic Zoo and the other Texas-based Interstel. While I cannot find anything specific about Event Horizon Software, it looks like it developed four role-playing games that released between 1990 and 1993.

Extreme Entertainment Group (EEG) was a publishing brand of Absolute Entertainment. Apparently, EEG is the company once known as Bignet, the North American publisher for Micronet, and was acquired by Absolute in 1993. When I posted about Bignet I had not realized it had been purchased by Absolute or I would have mentioned it then. EEG published seven or eight titles in the two years it was in business, including Battletech and Choplifter games.

Event Horizon Software albums: Facebook - Google Photos

Extreme Entertainment Group albums: Facebook - Google Photos

Gaming Ads: Epyx

Jon Freeman and Jim Connelley met in 1977 while playing the pen-and-paper game Dungeon & Dragons. Freeman assisted Connelley during the development of his first game, Star Fleet Orion, and the two of them founded Automated Simulations in 1979 to publish the game. Temple of Apshai was the company's next game and it sold quite well, leading to a number of expansions and sequels. However, Jon Freeman was not involved beyond the first game as he left the company in 1981 following a series of business-related arguments with Connelley. In 1982 the company name was changed to Epyx, Inc., which is a name they came up with after their first choice Epic was already owned by Epic Recordings.

Another one of the company's early big hits was Jumpman (no relation to Nintendo's Mario who was originally known as Jumpman) but it was 1984's Summer Games that took the company to the next level. Summer Games led to a line of popular "Games" titles that includes Winter Games, Summer Games II, California Games, World Games, and California Games II. Epyx developed its own titles, like Jumpman and Summer Games, but also published games for other developers. Other hit titles from the developer and publisher are Pitstop II, Impossible Mission I & II, G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, World Championship Karate, The Eidolon, Street Sports Baseball, and Spiderbot.

Despite releasing more than 100 games and having many successes, Epyx ultimately had to declare bankruptcy in 1989. Epyx did manage to remain open following massive layoffs and the sale of the complete rights to its in-development handheld unit to Atari; Atari was already signed on to handle production of the system that would eventually be named the Atari Lynx. In 1993 the few remaining employees opted to sell off the remainder of the company's assets.

Being a big fan of sports games when I was younger, Epyx was one of my favorite companies during my Commodore 64 days. I played a lot of the "Games" titles, and the other Epyx Olympic games: The Games: Summer Edition and The Games: Winter Edition. Street Sports Baseball and The Sporting News Baseball are two other sports titles that kept me in front of the computer for many hours. Aside from its sports titles, I also enjoyed the Impossible Mission games though I never did get too far in the original (one of my favorite game openings) before completing the sequel.

Epyx albums: Facebook - Google Photos