Jada Nano Metalfigs- Batman the Animated

I was caught by surprise this past weekend by these 1.75" die-cast figurines by Jada Toys! Among the different character themes covering Suicide Squad, Batman v Superman, and others, this Batman is officially the animated Justice League Batman, but that's essentially Batman the Animated with Kevin Conroy doing the voice work. Check out the video:

Yes, that Hot Wheels Batmobile is from another animated version of the Caped Crusader, Batman: The Brave and the Bold. Be sure to check out my Super Fun Hot Wheels Blog!

More Later- Make It FUN!

The Batman Adventures Annual #2 1995: Demons

After demolishing a building in Gotham, late working citizens within among the casualties, R'as Al Ghul and his men locate an ancient Mayan tablet the villain had searched over two centuries for. Batman attempts to apprehend R'as, but is beaten unconscious and left among the rubble. Escaping with his life, Batman finds his way to the high rise condominium of occult expert Jason Blood, who'd helped Police Commissioner Gordon solve the tarot murder case. 

Blood's experience in the supernatural led the Dark Knight Detective to him, where the famed demonologist recant the tale of his first battle against fellow immortal R'as Al Ghul for possession of the Mayan tablet. The two are abruptly interrupted by Talia, who tranquilizes them so her father's evil scheme to release the pestilent demon Haahk upon mankind will not be foiled!

Finally alone with the tablet, R'as summons the dreaded Haahk from the depths of Hell, who promptly kills the henchmen present. R'as can barely control the demon under possession of the profane tablet, who reluctantly agrees heed the villain's bidding.

When Batman and Jason Blood finally recover from the tranquilizer and race to the scene, Haahk grabs Blood, who begins to rot from the pestilent demon's grip! Batman quickly recites the chant that transforms Blood into Etrigan, the demon bonded to him centuries ago by Merlin the Wizard: "Change, Change, O' Form of Man- Rise the Demon Etrigan!" Together, Batman and Etrigan attack Haahk ...!

 While Etrigan exuberantly blasts away at Haahk, Batman seizes the Mayan tablet from R'as, stopping him from banishing both the demons back to Hell. Hurt by the Dark Knight's attack on her father, Talia slaps her beloved, who says nothing, charging off to assist Etrigan...

After Etrigan uses the tablet to banish Haahk, the demon snaps the evil relic in two, knowing that while his alter ego would have treasured it's rarity, the danger it poses to mankind is far too great.

This spectacular annual ends as Jason Blood revives from his transformation, questioning the whereabouts of Talia, who escaped with her father. When Batman laments in dealing with her hurt feelings the next time their paths cross, Jason Blood offers, "We each have our own demons." A panel at the bottom pays tribute Jack Kirby, the legendary comic artist and author who created Etrigan back in 1972. Artists Bruce Timm and Glen Murakami adopt elements of Kirby's unique style in several panels throughout this issue- undoubtedly making it a special treat for author Paul Dini, as well as us fans of a certain vintage!   

Happy Hallowe'en! 

Thanks For Reading!

DC COMICS PRESENTS: BATMAN ADVENTURES #1

Picked up this unexpected 100-page spectacular of DC Comics Presents: Batman Adventures #1 last Wednesday at my local comic shop! This is a really collection of reprints from Batman Adventures #2 and 27, Batman: Gotham Adventures #2 and 4, and short from Adventures In the DC Universe #3, but fun nonetheless! The giants of Batman the Animated are all here, including artists Bruce Timm, Ty Templeton, Rick Burchett, Mike Parobeck, and writers Kelley Puckett and Paul Dini. My favorite story was "Survivor Syndrome", about another vengeance driven vigilante dons the cowl in bitter memory of his murdered wife, whom Batman takes under his wing to temper the fallen athlete's anger. Catwoman, Poison Ivy, and Two-Face also make appearances- great stuff!

With Batman's 75th Anniversary in full swing, the more popular treatments of the character are being celebrated again, including our beloved Animated version. BTATB's own Bubbashelby gave us a peek at a couple of DC Collectible's forthcoming action figures in the Animated style back in February, and I recently picked up their Summer Fall Portfolio 2014-15, which gave a nice clean shot of things to come...

More Later- Make It FUN!

NEW Batman Animated action figures coming in 2014 from DC Collectibles!

DC Collectibles just released to the media a sneak peek at all of their 2014 releases, and probably the biggest surprise is the following two action figure reveals:

Holy in my wallet that pours my money directly into DC Collectibles' bank account, Batman! In 2014 DC Collectibles will be releasing all new action figures based on the preeminent in Batman on screen: Batman Animated action figures with multiple points of articulation and screen accurate sculpts! This Batman Animated Catwoman action figure WILL BE MINE...

...as will this GORGEOUS The New Batman Adventures Batman action figure. These are simply incredible looking action figures - no word yet on scale (I dare assume 6") or price etc. etc. but I will update you as soon as I find out because I am buying these on day one! And according to MTV.com Two-Face and Mr. Freeze have also been announced! To see more DC Collectibles reveals, check out my other blog Toyriffic.

Mission Masters Mountain Pursuit Batman

I'm not exactly sure where this strange, green Batman came from. He was found loose in an old tote of toys I decided to sell awhile back, but whatever disdain I had for him before was replaced with curiosity and enthusiasm, now that I'm a toy enthusiast and official staff member of Batman the Animated Toys Blog  :D   It looked familiar to me upon rediscovering it because I had just bought Kenner & Hasbro Mission Masters Glider Strike & Knight Assault Batman toys from the same New Adventures series not long before! So I did some hunting and found it was a Mission Masters 3 Mountain Pursuit Batman.  All the multicolored Batman figures from the animated TV show that used to bore me now delight me for some odd reason. I love them!

Initially appearing to be some type of scuba dive wetsuit, it soon became apparent that it was in fact rappelling gear strapped to his left shoulder and chest. Mountain Pursuit Batman is equipped with a pick-axe and grapple gun, so that makes sense. The grapple gun on mine doesn't fire, but it sounds as though a spring might be encased within the barrel. Some of the other figures in this line share the hooked left hand sculpt.

I went stark raving mad for the Batman: The Brave & The Bold toys in 2011, which share a lot of similarities with these figures: simple articulation, a cloth cape in this instance, somewhat ridiculously oversized accessories, and fun, exaggerated  characters. Like the Brave & The Bold toys, there are several outrageous incarnations of Batman throughout the Animated line, in a delightfully absurd assortment of inappropriate colors. Again, what bored me before I now love   :D

Oddly enough, I happen to have a few other Batman figures with green paint, so I guess that makes this a collection of sorts. This probably has a lot to do with my fascination/obsession with Batman as Green Lantern, and to the ever-elusive, highly valued DC Direct figure of the said character (which I finally scored last Labor Day weekend for the unheard of price of $14.99!).  For your pleasure, I present my burgeoning collection of Green Batmen:

Batman: The Brave & The Bold Deluxe Skyshot Batman, Mission Masters Mountain Pursuit Batman, EXP Camo Tech Batman, &  Justice League Unlimited Batman (Tech Suit Variant w/gas mask).

This is a great toy I'd reccomend to any Batman the Animated fan! Like I've said before though, in this age of environmentalism, green is the new black!

(originally posted at The Super-DuperToyBox, Sept. 8th, 2011)

*Visit the database of Batman: The Animated Series toys at Legions of Gotham!

More Later- Make It FUN!

Incoming!

I have been a busy little Gotham Ghoul this October. Cleaning house at my other blog, busting butt at work, and taking care of business at the house. So this is more of a heads up for the fine citizens of BTATs and my partners in crime... I just gots me some goodies I am dying to crack open and shoot some pictures of. So, please be patient, enjoy some of the other offerings at BTATs and I will be back in the swing of things hopefully in a week or two.



This fine little kitty joined my packaged collection about a week or two ago, Pretty decent package, some flaws but for 99¢ I couldn't beat it.



This one was almost handed to me, not so much of a great deal, but better than what I have seen these go for. He arrived in the most impressive packing job I have ever seen, and that says a lot because I used to work for the old brown shipping company in college and I know a few people that ship stuff for the eagle now, Anyway I have full plans to add this guy to my loose Batman collection so I will be opening Batsy here. Hey bubba I know it's not to your usual toy liking being a he man doll hater, but you have to admit this is one minty looking Bat Dolly!

I now return you to the further adventures of BTATs!

Fuga Dalla Prigione Di Arkham

What? Oh I'm sorry Arkham Asylum Escape, two pack from Kenner. I have been on the prowl for this two pack or for that matter the four pack that included the Arkham Asylum entrance gates for a long, long time. How long you ask? Lets see the two pack was released in 1997. So about that long.

Notice Batman is "Batman" in all languages represented here? He's the Batman that's why!

Now, I remember seeing both the two packs and the four packs in stores back then and I always thought "those will always be around" Boy was I wrong. The four packs disappeared over night, the two pack hung out for a while longer, but in the back of my head I kept thinking "get it next time, you need these other toys now!" I hate budgets.



All that being said I have been relentlessly searching for these gates at every toy show, flee market and ebay listing ever since... well relentlessly searching for an inexpensive set ever since. Finally the gates broke wide open and out rushed a super inexpensive two pack. I guess no one wanted this one, the package was rough, but I wanted to open it anyway so I didn't care. I could have went the rout of buying the gates loose, but where is the fun in that? I wanted the whole experience, plus I needed a loose version of Two-Face for the shelf and I could always use a different Batman.



I will admit that I did feel a little weird opening up this 14 year old package, plus to make matters a little worse it was a trilingual version and by the looks not the usual English, Canadian English, French I am so used to seeing in toy shops and on Star Wars figures, no this looks like the Queen's English, Spanish (guessing here) and Italian. But I decided to open it up anyway, if not for the gates (personal reasons) than for the good readers of Batman the Animated Toy.

First up is the Gates. Not much going on here but man are these going to look awesome on the shelf with all the baddies busting out of them.



Oh no it's Dos Caras! Due-Facce! Two Face! This would be the Batman Adventures version of the character, a more stylized version than what appeared on Batman the Animated Series in the first two seasons. he comes with some really nice guns, a pistol and what looks like a sub-machine gun.



Two -Face also comes with a straight jacket that wraps around the figure and fastens in the back to keep him behaving. the package calls this a "harness".



Batman, again from The New Adventures, comes with the molded flowing cape, a first for my collection. Oh I have a silver suit Batman from Mattel, but not this one from Kenner. I will admit I would have liked to have seen a more "natural" looking bat here, but he is a nice addition and I welcome new Batman with open arms. He comes with a grappling hook type device, described on the package as "weapon", that is of course over sized.



Here's a pretty fun item, you can fasten the projectile end of the "weapon" to the "harness" and string Two-Face up on the Asylum Gates for the staff or Police to find later. Hey it shows this on the package, I did't make this up.



I guess if anything this shows if you are patient enough and stick to it you will find the item you are looking for for the price you want to pay, or better, in a matter of time. Oh and this was less than 9 bucks with shipping included, if I am not mistaken these were retailing around 9.99 plus tax back in the day, possible a little more, so not bad in my opinion.



Hope you enjoyed the Gates of Arkham, I am certainly glad to get a hold of these. I had planned a totally different post (and it's still in the works) I was just pretty excited to finally get these in hand and wanted to bust them out for you to see... speaking of busting out, looks like Bats has some work to do! See you next time.

Alfred Pennyworth

I can't think of Salinas, California without thinking of Alfred Pennyworth. Why? Glad you asked.

Way back in 1999/2000, back before I, or most people for that matter, had discovered eBay, the only way to get a newly released toy was (gasp) from the stores that sold them. And then, like now, it was often hit or miss if a store was actually carrying something, even if it was a store exclusive.

Thus was the case with a Batman Animated four pack being sold exclusively at Toys R Us. I had found a picture in Toyfare or Wizard or some other nerd zine of a new set featuring the first ever Batman Animated Alfred Pennyworth action figure! I had to have it!

I cut the picture out and ran with it to my local Toys R Us, and of course they did not have it in stock nor did they have any intention of stocking it ever. Sadface.

Shortly thereafter I was traveling through Salinas and stopped in at their Toys R Us looking for the set. They did not have it on the shelves, but a friendly associate looked all over the store for it (their computer said one was in stock!) and was finally able to locate the set for me! I never got that woman's name, but she was obviously an angel sent from heaven.

Anyways, Alfred was later released with a Batcave/Wayne Manor set, but this version, as the box so excitedly puts it, includes a serving tray! Batman and Robin shall never go hungry again!

"What's for dinner tonight, Alfred? We're famished!"

In addition to Batman and Robin, the set also came with a recolored Clayface.

"Lobster? You know I'm allergic to shellfish!"

"Indeed, sir."

The set also included an accessory for each character. Alfred of course had his serving tray and lid, Robin had his Robin jet car thingamajig, Batman has a projectile firing gun doohickey, and Clayface has a load of dynamite and a 'breakable' safe.

"And guess who gets to clean it all up."

I believe this set was the first set Hasbro released with recolor/re-releases and one 'exclusive' figure. Later sets included such fan favorite characters as Commissioner Gordon, Talia Al-Ghul and Ventriloquist/Scarface. But I will always remember Alfred and my trip through Salinas as the high water mark of my Batman Animated collecting career.

Batman Related

Some more filler for you. Not sure if anyone was following the "Battle for the Cowl" on my other blog, to some this may be old news, but I just realized I left the audience over here at Batman the Animated Toys just hanging. Sorry about that. Anyway here is my current "just Batman" collection that I threw against my challenger.

click image to see larger

Hopefully durning the upcoming holiday break I will be able to dig out my BTAS collection and do some photo shoots for this blog. I am thinking about taking the above Batman shelf down and rotating out the army of Batman for some BTAS villains. If I do you will be the first to get the news. Oh and just in case you don't already now, I won the contest between myself and Reis at Hey, Look at my Toys!

Enjoy

Combat Belt Batman

As Bubbashelby would put it, this is a "cheat post" since it was ran on my other blog sometime ago here. Though I think it was time to migrate it since it was the inspiration for this blog. I had enjoyed photographing this toy so much that I took one of the images and made a header, then that lead to setting up a little blog for fun and then contacting my blog buddy and brother from another mother Bubbashelby to see if he was game to talk about some BTAS stuff. Here we are, so I hope you enjoy this post and I look forward to more.



Back when Hasbro held the Batman license a little cartoon made a debut called Batman the Animated Series. Hasbro not missing a beat released some of the best all around Batman figures ever. These things were spot on to the cartoon, well with the exception of all the multi colored bat suits with skis and jet packs and the like. Combat Belt Batman was the only way you were getting a "regular" looking Batman from the cartoon in the sea of goofy Suit Batmans.



This Batman not only combines the look of the show, but has a pretty cool play feature, that actually makes sense, the utility belt! If you didn't feel like wearing the Combat Belt, you could remove it and not ruin the look of the figure.

So what comes on a Combat Belt. You get the standard issue humongous grappling launcher with rope and hook, you also get a bat-a-rang that fits into the launcher and has a storage loop on the belt, plus you get a neat little set of Bat-Cuffs for apprehending Gotham City's Goons.



Combat Belt Batman is by far my most treasured Batman in my collection. You know that question people ask, what is the one item you would grab in an emergency? Well besides the Family and Pets, Vintage Boba Fett, and the family pictures. Combat Belt Batman is right there with them. Of coarse I might have to grab his Batmobile as well, especially if that's were he is at at the time, no time to stop and think about these things...

Battle for the Cowl

Not necessarily Batman the Animated Series, though I will have some of my BTAS collection in the upcoming photos, I thought I would post this here as well just in case anyone is interested in seeing to geeks go head to head in a battle royal of Batmans.

From the Eclectorama post:

So, some of you may have noticed that my buddy Reis made a comment on my last post that I was flaunting my Batman Collection and he pretty much challenged me to a face off, de hombre a hombre. Apparently Reis fancies himself a Batman collector, oh how cute. So let it be known that I accept your challenge Reis, and as soon as we agree on some terms to the competition we will be having a Batman face off, a Battle for the Cowl. Which will end with one of us giving up a Loose Batman from our collection and a custom illustration for the winner. Oh wait I should say I will be getting one of Reis' Batmans and he will be drawing me something when I win.

More later as the terms and the spoils are settled on. Plus I will post more on my efforts to thin out my collection soon.

Update: The Rules have been agreed upon and are as follows:

1) Toys/Statues/Etc. have to be open, not sealed on a card or in a box.

2) Batman has to be 3-D and head-to-toe, meaning PEZ dispensers and busts are out.

3) Variations count, meaning Reis's Pink Foo Foo Batman can be used, as well as all the countless color variations that Hasbro and Mattel have made.

4) No repeats, so Reis will not be able to use his fifteen bootleg Batmans he went and picked up at the dollar store an hour ago. Just one, buddy, sorry.

5) I guess that means Bootlegs are allowed... if you have to Reis.

The prizes, well the loser has to draw a picture for the winner declaring that they are indeed the champion and they also have to give up an agreed upon loose figure from their collection. Reis is putting up a 1978 Mego Pocket Heros Batman, I have a Campbell's Soup Mail Away Batman on the chopping block (Really? I can't believe you do not have that one.) We will both be posting a collection photo and close up photos of the collection along with our figure counts on the morning of Friday, October 29, 2010. So be there and witness my victory!

Wish me luck!

I AM BANE!

Of all the villains to appear on the Batman Animated Series, Bane was one of the biggest surprises. First appearing in Batman: Vengeance of Bane #1 (January 1993,) Bane's first ever animated appearance occurred not long after in the episode titled simply "Bane," which aired in September of 1994.

As if the animated appearance wasn't surprise enough, Bane even made Kenner's action figure roster!

Bane comes complete with his signature Venom tube, which is attached to the back of his head and runs to his wrist gauge. The wrist gauge can be removed, but the tube doesn't come out of the back of his head.

Bane has an action feature - his arms lock upright and with the flick of a switch he can "throw" objects, like the plastic girder he came with (not shown,) or Batman himself.

Oh SNAP!