I have always been a fan of the Batman character, though mostly because of the 60s TV show than the comics. Back in the mid 1980s a friend of mine, Amanda Chalkley, collected Batman merchandise when tragically her collection was destroyed in a fire whilst stored in her friend's backyard shed. As you can imagine she lost a lot of unique and original 1960s items in that incident.

Then in 1989 a new film called Batman was released and I was determined not to become a collector after seeing what happened to Amanda’s collection. But the character of Batman in the film was too appealing for me to resist: black, mysterious and with a flowing cape. With an image as strong as this I couldn’t help but at least buy the 1990 Batman calendar … and I used it. I then bought the Batman kids board game … and I used that too.

From then on I slowly (and somewhat reluctantly) started buying a bit more Batman merchandise to be kept in mint condition – and thus my collection was born.

My focus was always on the character of Batman and never the villains or Robin/Batgirl, mainly because these other characters simply didn't interest me. For example when it came to buying figurines I would only purchase the Batman ones. The only time I ever bought other characters is when a particular set was available that looked really good eg: the four sculptured Batman Forever glasses and the Batman Returns neck pen set both of which came from McDonalds. In these instances I own the other characters but they aren't on display.

As fate would have it I was the only Batman collector amongst all my collecting friends, so when it came to Christmas or birthdays I would do really well out of it (girlfriends especially were very accommodating in this regard). In fact I would say that well over 10% of my collection has come from gifts or donations.

Quite simply, my collecting finished after the release of Batman and Robin in 1997 because I deplored the film immensely. Up until that point, despite being disappointed with Batman Forever, I kept collecting merchandise anyway as I was also focusing on Batman: The Animated Series at the same time.

Yet when Batman and Robin was released I found it difficult to spend money on merchandise as I hated the film so much. In fact it was a tumultuous moment when I picked up a small B&R collectable from the store shelf, looked at it, then put it back and walked away. This was something I had not done in all my collecting years and after that moment I never collected Batman merchandise again.

Fortunately my collecting stopped before eBay came into being which proved to be very beneficial as there is a LOT of great stuff there - perhaps too much. If I was a collector shopping on eBay today, I'd probably be living on the street surrounded by tonnes of merchandise looking for something to eat. Still having said that, I did pick up a couple of items from eBay which I loved getting, even though I had officially stopped collecting 10 years before. However, very soon after that I decided to avoid the Batman section of eBay to prevent any further temptation (which was starting to get the better of me) and as of today I still don't go there for fear of heading down the Dark Path.

One major benefit of stopping my collection is how I've long past the days where I needed to grab each action figure as it was released along with yet ANOTHER Batcycle or Batmobile. In fact now it's really easy for me to walk past anything Batman related, which is rather fortuitious because of all the pop culture expos occurring in my town today which are chock full of Batman goodies. About the only time I was REALLY tempted to buy Batman things again was when the 2006/2007 Batman TV, DVD player and tape deck/radio came out, now they were pretty groovy.

Sometimes collecting was fun and other times it was just downright annoying, especially when it came to the never ending action figures and the even more frustrating trading cards.

For example when Batman came out in 1989 there were only two sets of trading cards released (series 1 and 2), by the time Batman Forever came out a few years later there were like 5 or 6 different sets not including rarities, chaser cards and all the other varieties. Trading cards ended up being a painful expense which wasn't helped by the fact they could only be stored in special sleeves within folders no one would ever look at - and of course their value plummeted when a particular film had passed on. Needless to say it was a joyous relief when I didn't have to buy another set of cards ever again.

Batman collecting is too expensive a hobby to continue full time and although a part of me misses the thrill of grabbing everything I could get my hands on, I am rather content with the extra dollars I've been able to save (and storage space in my house) as a result of stopping.

Interestingly one unexpected side effect of not collecting any longer is how my friends reacted. Even though I haven't been a serious collector since the mid 1990s, my friends find they can't help themselves and will still give me the odd Batman item from time to time - in fact my last collectable gift was in October 2016! Yep a full 19 years after I'd stopped collecting!

As a "late start" Batman collector based in Australia with limited resources, I found it very difficult to find items pre the ‘89 film, mainly due to the increasingly rare availability as well as their high cost (alas a mint-in-box Corgi die-cast Batmobile from the 1960s still eludes me). So in the end I had no choice but to concentrate solely on the new films rather than the Batman franchise as a whole - which ultimately made sense considering Batman was the film which kick started my collection off.

With that in mind, I acknowledge and accept my collection isn't worth as much as one would expect - in essence it may have the quantity but certainly not the quality - as unfortunately I barely have anything from the 60s era, which is where the best and most impressive Batman collectables come from.

My methodology was based on the view that I would happily spend money on a number of cheap and nasty items rather than the same amount on one really expensive item. In fact I can still recall how shattered I was when Warner Bros opened up their first Movie Studio Store in my city and literally every Batman collectable they had on the shelves was out of my price range.

Also one area I did not look at were the Batman comics or graphic novels. Due the huge amount in production I found they were an entity unto themselves so I had to choose between just collecting them or concentrating on other merchandise. Because I enjoy the look and feel of three dimensional objects, I chose to bypass collecting the comics unless I could get them really cheap.

One of my collecting laws was never to take anything out of its packaging, ever! Subsequently I ended up buying some great items like the Batmobile telephone which came in a sealed box with no plastic window, as a result I have never seen what these items look like in real life. The same applied to the car racing sets and other cool games which remain forever sealed despite my friends constantly hassling me to open them up and have a play with them. At one point I was really tempted to buy the children's Batman bicycle, however, brand new bikes are shipped in a box so I would've been forced to leave it like that especially if it had a Batman logo on it.

Quite often people look at the collection and remark at how large it is - some have even stated it's the largest collection in Australia which I categorically refute. Despite the initial impression the collection gives off, in the grand scheme of things I’d be lucky to have 0.02% of the entire Batman range of collectables ever produced from 1939 to the present day (and this ratio is getting smaller by the year). In any event in February 2020 I conducted a FULL audit of the collection (with photos) and the total number of items came in at 1,315 which was far more than I thought!

What blows me away is I have an old magazine article written back in the mid 90s about Joe Desris, who at one time would easily have had the biggest Batman collection in the world. Aside from his display cabinets looking truly fantastic, I looked at the pictures and realised I barely had any of the stuff he had. Alas I understand Joe has long since sold his collection so now the biggest collection goes to Brad Ladner and well done to him too I say.

Alongside this were the two large 1960s based collections shown in the Special Features section of the 2014 1960s Batman DVD release, these are truly fantastic and way beyond anything I have. Still to be fair to myself, both of these great collections started when the collectors were little kids as opposed to myself who started when I was 22. Furthermore, these guys are still collecting merchandise today unlike myself who stopped well over 20 years ago.

However, despite my collection being no where near as impressive or as valuable as those mentioned above, this didn't stop Michael Wayne, an Australian film maker, from contacting me in 2014 to make a short film about the collection which he has called 'Batman and Me' (you can view the trailer for it here). Ironically Michael was attracted to it because it started with the release of Batman '89.

Speaking of Michael and his film documentary, as a gift for participating in his production he gave me a brand new mint-in-box Batman board game from 1989 to replace the one I opened (much to my stupidity) 27 years before. It was a truly special gift as I could FINALLY rectify the one major blemish my collection always suffered from, that being a mint version of each board game for all four Batman films made at the time. Now I admit some people reading this will struggle to understand the significance of this, but as far as I'm concerned Michael's gift was extremely gracious and I will be forever thankful to him for it.

This is a good question. I remember buying my very first Batman Forever items which were four jigsaw puzzles for $35 and to top it off I didn't even like them! There were LOTS of impulse spending sprees like this. Unfortunately I had a habit of just buying anything I could find without really thinking whether the item was worth getting or not. Consequently many items I own I should never have bought in the first place which equated to a lot of wasted money.

As for the total cost … who knows (perhaps I don't want to know), but it did force me to keep driving my old 1973 Datsun throughout the 90s because I couldn't afford a new car.

Speaking of cars, of all the items in my collection this is probably the most valuable. As it turned out I once met a collector who was selling the Blue and Red versions, but he wanted $500 each for them ... and this was back in the mid 1990s!

Yes I would. In fact I'm willing to sell it all now if the right offer is made (and I do have a price in mind) but the entire collection would be sold in one giant lot because if I start splitting it up I'll be stuck with heaps of leftover items that wouldn't have a home. As to how it would be transported to its new home - especially the items in the fridge - well that's a tricky one as it occupies around 30 boxes. On top of this moving everything would be a tad costly for whoever is paying the shipping fee.

I do plan to put together a comprehensive visual catalogue for potential buyers and fortunately I'm already half way there as I currently have a photograph of every item, all I have to do now is just compile it.

• I once bought a Batman T-Shirt from a guy at a collector's fair ... while he was still wearing it! Initially he thought I was joking when I discussed it with him but then he realised I was quite serious. He accepted the sale and at the end of the day he took the shirt off and surrended it to me which was then washed and put in storage.

• I once bought this loose Batman figure from a store in the USA only to find once I got home (Australia) I already had one mint-in-box on my shelf. Doh!

• Friends once bought me a mint-in-box Batman frisbee knowing I already had one in the collection. As they egged me on, I was forced to open the packet in front of them as a gag to see if I could physically do it. It felt really weird doing this as I had trained myself never to take items out of the packaging so it was like going against my natural instinct (and for a micro second I did struggle with it). The irony is I kept the frisbee in the back of my car for years so it could be used at picnics (it actually flew pretty good). In fact even as recent as Christmas 2014 it was still being tossed around the place.

• I bought a pre packed set of Batman Animated trading cards from a US collectors fair only to find when I got home one card was missing.

• I once saw a whole stack of really cool Ralph Martin Batman neck ties in a catalogue. When I rang them up to place an order for 8 of them I was informed that absolutely none were available and I've never seen them since.

• To prove that I was always in the collecting "zone", I was walking down a street one day and just happened to glance into a really big variety store and noticed on their back wall was a Batman cooking apron. Now this thing was miles away from the front door but sure enough my collecting eye spotted it immediately. Needless to say it was a "must have" item which I've never seen again.

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• A group in Adelaide were marketing some products called "Gotham City Originals". I have a great T-Shirt from them and really wanted to check out their store, so I made a special trip to Adelaide (approx 800 kilometres/500 miles) only to discover the store had closed down two weeks previously.

• I had a "kid in a candy store" moment when I unexpectantly came across the Batman dressing gown in the Warner Bros Store one day, it really was a case of blubbering at the mouth when I found this (no jokes). So I bought it right there and then, took it home and hung it in my collection room's wardrobe and it has remained there ever since - still with the tags attached. Pretty sad huh?

• I once visited a local Batman collector who was selling some really good stuff, trouble was that he was asking top dollar for it. I bought the few items I could afford - which still cost me a bit - and the look on the face of my wife at the time was simply "you paid HOW MUCH for that?!" (and no this wasn't the reason for us separating)

• My friends saw it as a challenge to buy me things I hadn't seen before. In one instance I saw some really neat mousepads that had just been released so I grabbed them. A couple of days later a friend gave me a gift saying proudly "you won't have this" and sure enough it was one of the mousepads I grabbed two days previously, and I told her so. She was seriously upset about this and admonished "but they only just came out two days ago!" Thinking back on it now, I should've played dumb and pretended they were new to me.

• A girlfriend bought me a box of Batman cookiees which I naturally kept in the box. A few weeks later she broke up with me so in a fit of spite I bought another box of the same cookiees to keep in the collection and ate the ones she gave me. How tragic is that! So from the picture below, can you tell which box was the replacement?

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• When I bought the Batmobile phone, the sales guy insisted I take an adapter so the US plug would connect into an Australian socket. I tried to tell him I was buying the phone as an investment and wasn't planning to use it, but he didn't understand that and kept repeating "it won't work without the adapter, it won't work without the adapter". After a few minutes of this back and forth banter I gave up and said "fine give it to me". Ayyy kurumba!

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• Collectables appreciate in value when less and less of them exist, so whenever I saw kids buying mint-in-box Batman figures at the toy store I'd be saying to myself "go on open it", that way I'd have one less collectable in the world to worry about. Refer to the Batman slime story further down regarding this.

• When Batman Returns came out I went to the cinema to buy the drinking cup. In my serious collecting tone of voice I explained to the attendant behind the refreshment counter that I was prepared to buy the cup at full price but I didn't want anything in it. As you can imagine the attendant simply couldn't grasp the concept of selling an empty cup and kept insisting it be filled with something so a fair bit of discussion ensued, I got my way in the end but geez talk about a saga ... and for what? A stupid plastic cup!

• I was once given a really great Batman birthday card from some friends of mine which featured a design I'd not seen before. Unfortunately my first thought was of sadness as I realised the collectability had been ruined with the birthday message written inside. So imagine my utter delight when I found they had written their joyous comments on a removable Post-It note instead!

• I picked up a lot of Batman bicycle accessories in my time which I really liked, but the one thing I could never find was a Batman bike helmet. I looked and looked for years and years but then I stopped collecting and that was the end of that. Then by complete surprise in 2008 I found a Batman helmet in a toy store which had just been released, woo hoo! At last I could FINALLY complete the bike section of my collection. The problem was that since I was no longer a Batman collector, I simply couldn't justify spending $30 on something I didn't actually need in my day to day life. It was a real battle of my conscious wits, yet ultimately I had to accept that buying this item was a waste of $30, especially as I had a mortgage. So guess what happened? Yep after spending sooo long searching for it, I put it down and walked away. Hmmm, I wonder that decision will ever come back to bite me.

• I own a kids jigsaw puzzle that was made in the 1960s which is one of my more older items. Proudly thinking it was a "vintage" collectable and therefore worth a penny or two, I went into utter shock one day during the mid 90s when I saw the exact same one for sale in a collectors store for a measely $4 - and I think that one was mint in packet whereas mine is loose. I honestly couldn't believe it, it was 30 years old and hadn't appreciated one single cent! I could've cried.

• When preparing to attach all the action figure packets to the walls in the collection room, I used four special clips on each packet to ensure they wouldn't be damaged. Unfortunately the tiny gap in the clip wasn't very big, so I had to sandpaper each one down to make the gap larger so as to not indent the cardboard packet. When looking at the collection photos below, do to math to see how many clips I had to do this too. Honestly, I'm surprised I ever got it finished.

• I kept a spare set of Batman band aids along with normal band aids in my medicine cabinet. The rule in my house was that if you needed a band aid, then the Batman ones could ONLY be used if they were going to be visible (eg on a finger).

• In 2013 a mate of mine was really keen for me to host a 21st birthday party. Whose birthday would we be celebrating? Why my chocolate Batman Returns Batmobile of course which is still mint-in-box living in my fridge (see the second last photo below). Can you imagine how the party invites would've looked? Yep we're celebrating the birthday of a piece of confectionary!

• When Michael Wayne was making a short film about my collection in 2014, he bought a mint-in-box (though it was somewhat damaged) Batman slime from eBay for the sole purpose of having me open it up on camera. Though it felt a little weird doing this, remembering I never open any collectable, in the end I didn't mind because it meant the value of mine increased just a tiny bit.

• In my collecting hey day I really wanted to get a T-Shirt made up that said "Pity me ... I'm a Batman collector".

Finally in late 2003 the collection found a home in a dedicated room in my new house and was unboxed, setup and displayed until the start of January 2020.

At the start of 2020 it was reboxed and put back into storage as I needed the room for something else - and NO it wasn't for a new baby!

It's important to note that when I set this room up I'd actually stopped collecting six years prior. So unlike most collections you see today which are still ongoing and are therefore displayed in impressive glass cabinets with great lighting, I just wanted to get everything out of storage boxes. On top of that I actually got the bookcases for free.

Finally, what you see in the pictures below isn't everything. I have a number of items in storage which couldn't be put on display due to space issues.

My collection in the media!

What this tells me is that even though there are many Batman collections in the world, I still somehow get found by people. As a consequence I've been interviewed for a couple of different sites/publications regarding the collection.

This interview occurred in October 2019, to see it just click on the image and with luck it'll still be accessible.

If the link doesn't work then a transcribed version of the interview can be found here

*** Note this article claims I'm Australia's biggest Batman collector which I definitely am NOT! ***

This interview was particularly interesting as the author was really keen to not only learn about my collection, but also my history in Science Fiction fandom, my involvement in the local fan club scene and even my time as a Star Wars newsletter editor, Star Wars podcaster and Producer of the online webseries Sci-Fi Zone

This is an Italian collectors site which has been translated into English by Google hence the unusual title. You'll find the article from November 2019 in the Articoli/Archivo menu

If the link doesn't work then a transcribed version of the interview can be found here

This interview was fun do to as there were definitely some translation related issues with regards to the questions (in some cases I was referred to as a 'her'), however, the people concerned were really keen on Batman which was good to see. Also some of my answers were truncated down to save space so some of my 'quotes' are said in a way I wouldn't actually say them. In any event I'm just glad they showed an interest in the collection and myself.

This article was from The Guardian newspaper in June 2020 which was directly inspired by the Batman and Me documentary.

If the link doesn't work then a transcribed version of the interview can be found here

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The interesting thing about this interview is it was conducted over the phone and the reporter was a bit of a pop culture fan. Although it's a great article, the only problem with it is some of the photos weren't from my collection, they were from my buddy MPS who also features in the documentary.

This 10 minute podcast interview is from The Pat Kenny Show at Newstalk from July 2020 which was directly inspired by the Batman and Me documentary.

This was an enjoyable interview as Pat was clearly interested in my collecting history, although I think he initially mistook my 'addiction' to be the direct equivalent of a drug addiction (which he mentions at the start) where the person leads a self destructive all consuming lifestyle. Still, I think he enjoyed my fables regardimg the food items in the fridge.

This 4 minute TV interview was from the Today Extra TV show in October 2020 which was directly inspired by the Batman and Me documentary. With me is the director of the film Michael Wayne.

Although this interview was good promotion for the film, both Michael and myself expected it to be longer as we had been given 3 questions each in advance. If there was any downside to the interview it was the fact the TV show hosts hadn't seen the movie so it was easy to understand why they wouldn't have a vested interest in it. In any event it was still enjoyable to do plus it was the first time I'd seen Michael in a couple of years as we live in different cities.

This 14 minute radio interview aired on the ABC's Life Matter's programme in November 2020 which was directly inspired by the Batman and Me documentary

What I liked about this interview is that it wasn't rushed, unlike the TV spots. Moreover, the interviewer knew his stuff and it was clear to me he was keen to talk about the collection and my history. So it was quite enjoyable to do.

Throughout these articles I've made a references about a documentary film being made by Michael Wayne regarding the collection, below is the trailer for it - note this link will take you to another site.

More information can be found at the official website here

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I was fortunate enough to get the special Hong Kong Commemorative figure in the back - don't ask me why they ever made this but it looks good just the same - along with the 100th issue Batman figure which was a big deal at the time. I can't even begin to imagine how many figures they have now!

In the middle at the bottom is a Batmobile in a box that was damaged whilst my collection was being moved around in storage. Not happy Jan, especially as I've never seen this item again.

Next to the Cola can was something weird, a tightly sealed Batman towelette that expands to full size when placed in water. Who thinks of these things?

What's the deal with the little '89 figure on the top left hand corner above the videos?

Speaking of videos, the ones on the left are of the 1949 Batman and Robin serial and next to them is the DVD of the same thing. I also have the 1943 serial but they're not an official release.

At the back is a Batman Returns cereal packet, this was bought for me as a gift from the US but alas it's empty. Imagine the value if it was unopened!

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On the right is the McDonalds release sculptured drinking glass which was made in France at a time when the French were out of favour due to their nuclear testing - a pity because the glass sculpture itself is pretty impressive.

In the front are the only '60s Corgi Batmobiles I own - a pretty tragic menagerie huh? Not a mint-in-box car to be seen anywhere - pardon me while I shed a tear of inadequacy. I did see one for sale at a US collectors fair in 1993 and even THEN it was selling for around $400, which in 1993 Australian dollars equated to $800 bucks!!!

Note the Batman toothpaste at the top right.

Believe it or not, the tall item in the middle is talcom powder, which goes to show they'll market anything for Batman.

Just above the McDonalds glass is a four pack of candy sticks. In the old days these were called 'Fags' (a somewhat non politically correct term now) and were meant to look like cigarettes. Yep, even as kids we were encouraged to look cool by smoking.

The white mug to the left is one of the few "vintage" (ie: pre 1989) items I own. Interestingly this appeared in one of the special collection videos from the 2014 Batman 66 DVDs.

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There's a lot of really nice trinkets here like rings, buttons and so on which makes for a nice little collection. The pewter figure on the left is pretty heavy for its small size.

That pink tube on the right is a whole paper roll full of Batman logos, man that's a lotta logos!

At the top in the middle is a real cheap ass looking Batmobile. Just what I need ... not.

The cufflinks on the right were nearly used once. I was Best Man at a friend's wedding and we thought our shirts would need them, but nup we had buttons instead so these bad boys went right back on the shelf untouched!

At the back is the Animated Series Batmobile. I really wasn't a fan of buying these items as they were quite big and naturally I never got to see what they looked like in real life. Still as a collector what do you do???

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Gotta love the gumball machine on the right.

There are some cool things here, like the Batman floppy disks in the middle which I was rapt to get, even though you couldn't use them now even if you wanted to.

On top of the floppy disks is an example of meaningless merchandise - the Batman figure on the purple base - sometimes you wonder why anyone buys this stuff (I was an obsessive collector so that's my excuse).

Over to the left is the Batman pen from McDonalds. I have the other characters (Catwoman, Penquin) but they aren't on display. I have the Batmobile which is in another pic somewhere - don't ask me why I haven't put them together. I also own the McDonalds poster advertising these for sale too.

The metal figures at the middle-back were something I bought really early on in my collecting days. Over 25+ years later I still have no idea what they look like.

Next to the gumball machine is a toothbrush, you'd think I'd display this with the toothpaste huh?

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The Batman Returns jigsaw puzzles have boxes that can't be resealed once open. In my time I ended up buying a number of jigsaw puzzles which really were a waste as most of them were quite ugly, for example over to the right is the Batman Forever jigsaw puzzle which makes up a terrible picture. I really didn't like the Forever stuff as the colour was always a yucky green/yellow. Yech.

The Visa Bat Cash thing was for $20. Naturally the card hasn't been used and I think I paid more than $20 for it, so yep I got ripped off.

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Bottom left (though you're looking a the white base) is one of my personal favourite items, Batman bandaids!

The white mold things in the centre, I have no idea what they are for.

The Japanese box on the left is a costume of sorts - going by the pictures on the back. Must be damn small!

More jigsaw puzzles. At least the boxes aren't square and the old circular one in the middle allows you to assemble the puzzle then put it back into the container again ... hmm, one day I should check to see if all the pieces are actually in there.

The blue Batman head on the top right still has the candy in it.

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I love the three packs of badges in the back, they made for a really nice set and I was rapt to get them - though I can't remember where or when that was.

The mug set in the box was another good score. Sometimes you buy items because you're a collector and other times you buy items because you REALLY like them. This was definitely the latter.

Note the jigsaw puzzle to the left, one of many ugly and pointless jigsaws I own, it's an example of something I bought simply because I was a collector.

At the bottom on the right are some Batman logo iron on transfers. I actually bought a couple of packs so I could make a Batman toga to wear at parties - see it here.

The Pez dispensers at the bottom are all unopened.

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I have no idea what the flat head Batman is meant to be in the middle. Some items I really should just get rid of 'cause all they're doing is taking up space.

The bottle on the left including the Batmobile in the front is bubble bath. Hmm, washing with Batman bubbles kinda sounds a bit wrong doesn't it?

The big Batman Animated head at the back right is a shower curtain. Considering it's been sealed in the box since the mid 1990s, I doubt it could ever be opened up and used as the plastic has probably fused itself together.

The Batman Animated bottle on the right is shampoo with the bust of Batman wrapped in plastic. In fact I think the black Batman behind that is shampoo too.

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You wouldn't think it, but that playhouse at the back is quite heavy. I have no idea what's in it ... a playhouse I guess.

On the right (side on) are the patterns to make a Batman costume with the most poxy looking cowl you can imagine. Honestly, I don't know how they managed to con the guy and the kid to pose for the cover photos as they are mega embarrassing - I guess it's lucky the masks ensure people "can't pierce the secret of their true identity".

I actually have a bed sheet to go with the pillow case.

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All the candy boxes are full and unopened which I think is pretty groovy.

The pinball game at the back was a great find, but alas I've never seen it outside the box. Items like this are a blast to buy because they are just so different and unique. What I like about this item is that it's in absolutely mega mint condition like it was manufactured yesterday.

The little plastic container in front of the phone has nothing in it. I've got no idea what it's for.

Ironically The Batman Collection box cover on the left is empty. The comics weren't included when I got it.

Do you like the 60's Batman soundtrack cassette tape in the middle? One guess who doesn't have a tape player in their house.

The Batboat on the right is the only Corgi item I have still in a box.

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Notice the great looking clock in the middle. Despite their highly inflated prices, the Warner Bros store did sometimes have some affordable stuff but that wasn't often. In fact I once had a face to face argument with a WB staff member in Queensland after they were selling a towel and face washer set for $90 (probably worth about $40). I said how could they believe this price was justified as it was clearly a rip off! Her off-hand response was "the collectors will buy it". As you can imagine, I was livid!

Sometimes getting a collectable from a friend is a joke at your expense. In front of the clock is a stack of slide strips (about 30 in total) that are designed to go into a small slide projector. The guy who gave them to me laughed his head off when I discovered that all of them had exactly the same picture.

Yes that is a Batman AM/FM radio to the right, they created some weird things with that Batman Forever head piece mold.

On the right hand side is a paper carry bag from a US McDonalds which wasn't released in Australia.

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At the back is one of my two favourite jigsaw puzzles. Unlike most puzzles which were just crap, this one was class all the way - you could almost call it a "mature" edition. I can't imagine making it though, all those black pieces. Yikes!

All the trading card boxes are full and unopened which means all the bubble gum is still there too! I only ever bought these when they were selling cheap.

The tin Batmobile is probably the most expensive item I have. I bought it off my best mate for $40 who didn't realise what it was worth. The car itself is gold in colour even though on the box it's blue. I once met a collector who was selling two of these - a red one and a blue one - at $500 each! Owning three cars of different colours would've been fantastic for the collection but that was just too expensive, especially when you consider we're talking 1994 prices here!

The Batman item above the tin car on the left is a stubby holder. If you're not Australian you'll probably have no idea what that means.

The three motor bike/trike looking things at the front are called a "B Rider with Car" and are essentially a black Batman ... with a TURTLE shell on top. Ya gotta love them unauthorised knock offs.

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The Batman Returns item at the middle-back is a punch out display, I've kept this unpunched but it's really fragile.

Notice the 3D View Master? Well guess where the slides are all kept, yep on the other side of the room. I really didn't plan that out well did I?

I also have a couple of party items here, including some cups on the left and some blowey things on the right.

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The obscured jigsaw at the back left is discussed in my Amusing Anecdotes section.

Viewed side on to the left is a complete party pack which contains cups, a table cloth and other bits and pieces. It's actually quite a groovy little item.

The pile of items in the forground are bum bags (known as fanny bags in the US).

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Did I mention how I really dislike the Batman Forever colour scheme? Isn't it ugly! And what's with the design of Batman himself in the Batman Forever box on the right, seriously how could this poxy design be classed as "official"?

I was always impressed that the Batman Animated neck tie on the left was in a box.

Once again there's another playset, all sealed up never to be used.

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The Batman '89 game I opened and used way back in 1989 (see the History section at the top of this page), and I had never been able to replace it with a sealed one which bugged me no end. Worse than that, when we opened the box for Michael Wayne's 2014 video documentary, we found the innards had become damaged due to mold accumlated sometime during the storage period back in the 90s.

But as a thank you for participating in his production, Michael presented me with a mint-in-box version of the game he was able to find somewhere. So after 27 years this massive blemish on my entire collection was removed and I will be eternally grateful to him for the wonderful gesture.

Whilst on the subject of board games, I made a specific point of buying the Batman and Robin board game just to complete the set, fortunately it was cheap because it wasn't something I wanted at all.

I actually had a second copy of The Batman Game which had been opened up, so I had a go at playing it and it was terrible! Considering the size of the box the game play itself was a real let down.

The Batman head on the right is a View Master. To the right of that is a soft touch calculator from Batman and Robin which must've been given to me as a gift.

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I hate having to display items that don't seem to fit anywhere, so do you think the yo-yo packet on the left side will stand up by itself? Nope!

Along the bottom are a series of ink stamp sets.

I think the Flying Batman is one of the last items I bought before officially stopping the collecting game. Either that or I bought it after I'd stopped collecting because I'm sure I got it in the 2000s.

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Once again the big toys make an appearance. What a waste of space.

It's not hard to see that the Batman figure at the back-right is a knock off, in fact on the cardboard cover there are images of both Batman and Superman and neither have their chest logos ... hmmm, dodgy or what!

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Gotta love the Batman football, another wacky gimmick.

The Bubble Magic at the front is only half full as it leaked at some point during storage/transportation, which in turn damaged the label much to my unhappiness.

The loose Batbike was a gift that was given to me on the proviso that I opened it and used it. Don't worry, I have a second one still mint-in-box. Phew.

Check out the big flagon mug on the left, who would want to drink out of that!

The item on the extreme left is a zippy Batmobile. You attach it to your wrist then pull the thingy and off she goes! As to how well it goes is anyone's guess.

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The remote control Batmobile in the middle was in a showbag from the Royal Melbourne Show way back in 1989. I've never seen anywhere else so for this reason I class it as a prized item.

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As mentioned earlier, I got sick of buying the large toys for the films. They were hard to store, expensive to buy, and took up too much space. By default as a collector you have to get them but they simply don't give you any pleasure, only headaches - especially when you end up with lots of them.

To the left are a couple of simple Batman and Robin items. I'm guessing I bought these just before I finished collecting or they were given to me as a gift, which is more likely to be the case.

At the bottom is some kids stuff from a showbag (a pathetic plastic watch and blue ... thing). As you can see I've kept these in their packet, but you can bet even in 200 years they will still be worthless! Honestly my life would be easier if I just threw stuff like this out 'cause looking at them just irritates me.

Shown side on over to the right are Batman Begins blank CDs. These were given to me as a gift as I didn't buy anything from that film franchise, also being so recent they don't mix in well with the older collection.

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I like how the sunglasses on the right won't actually fit in the case provided, they actually have Batman logos on the lenses too though I have no idea why.

You know I have no idea what the big Animated item is on the right. I THINK it's a picture frame.

The pink badge in the middle has no pin. Go figure.

The torch on the bottom left is something I ended up with two of. A mate of mine bought this for my collection, but he couldn't help himself so he took it out of the packet to see how it worked - meaning it was now useless! So sure enough I had to get another one to leave as mint.

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When Batman Returns came out a number of socks were released for the film, but I only picked up a couple of samples (they're the black and white items on the bottom). The socks in the packet sitting on top of the others actually came from Amway.

Over to the left is a Batman paddle ball, why do I always feel like watching the original House of Wax when I look at it?

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I have both the Batman and Batman Returns slime. Refer to my Amusing Anecdotes section to see why the value of the Batman one increased a tiny bit in 2014. Ya know, I have no idea why these items were made in the first place, I mean seriously, slime???

The plastic items at the bottom are balloons of various types.

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Over to the left are a set of Batman rings. Why you need to wear 8 of them is beyond me.

Over to the right is the Almost Got 'Im book and tape. When Michael Wayne was making a short film about the collection in 2014, I actually discovered I had two of these on display and didn't know it!

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Notice the videos on the left, guess what! None of these feature the '89 film. Woo hoo!

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On the right is a Batman Animated floatie too - always loved that logo.

There is nothing more enjoyable than getting something you've not seen before, as opposed to buying yet another action figure or another vehicle. Unusual items like the pool stuff is what made collecting Batman merchandise truly worthwhile.

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Talk about having a second rate knock-off for a classic. Since I don't have an original '60s Corgi Batmobile/Batboat combo pack, what did I settle for? A plastic version at the top in the middle. Shame, shame, shame.

Fortunately I have enough space on the top of my shelves for the large figures, 'cause some of them are pretty big!

Sculptures like the Batman Forever design on the bottom right were often quite exclusive and expensive so I only ever got them when they were going cheap. They were such a big deal too when they came out, now you wouldn't look twice at them. I still have the original boxes for them so technically they should've remained sealed, but in this instance I didn't see the point of leaving them this way as the box was bland and boring.

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The small radio controlled Batmobile in the middle doesn't have a remote so I can't tell if it works or not.

Yes I'll admit it, both of the Batman '89 movie cups at the top were picked up in the cinema after people left them behind. Hey imagine if I came across their original owners today, wouldn't they be spun out if they knew their discarded cups ended up at my place on display! Either that or they'd think I was mad. Hmmm, I'll let you be the judge of that.

On the left is another Rice Bubbles pack which featured a free drink bottle, though we're looking at the back of the pack here.

The Batman figure in the middle won't stand up by itself, what a pain.

The big Batman item on the bottom left is a lunchbox.

Once again for any overseas visitors, at the top left is a stubby holder. Have you figured out what they're used for yet?

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The Dark Rider Batman was an example of something that was disappointing to get, only because it came in a box. I saw the photo of the figure and was hangin' out to get it, but because there's no plastic window I have no idea what it looks like.

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The impressive sculpture on the right was given to me as a birthday gift from a friend of mine a decade after I stopped collecting. He just walked in one day and said "here ya go, happy birthday". When first released these items used to cost heaps, and this one in particular was quite expensive as it was one of the better designs. Fortunately my mate was able to get this particular one quite cheap.

There's another "once expensive, now cheap" sculpture of Batman and the Riddler on the left. Today you wouldn't look twice at this in a store, and to be honest it doesn't look THAT good, especially when you compare it to the sculpture on the right.

The Batcopter in the middle, though not mint-in-box (in fact the box is pretty damaged), still works really well.

The Room Defender at the top was one of those "what the hell is this?" item. Look at the size of the box compared to the size of the thing itself. Damn ugly too.

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The toy bike was not authorised but came with some awesome stickers ... not that I've actually seen them. Lugging this around in storage was a pain but at least it didn't weigh much.

Refer to my Amusing Anecdotes section regarding the history of the Batman Returns drink cup on the left.

What irks me the most is the flask in the middle with the crooked logo. Argh!

At the back to the left is a Batman toy crime fighting kit. Items like this never display well because they don't stand up by themselves. I ended up getting a whole range of kids toys like this (too many in fact) and if I was to regret anything about collecting it'd be wasting money on this sort of stuff. Totally worthless.

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In the bottom right of middle are unscratched Batman and Robin scratchies. People used to say in shock "there could be $500,000 in there!" but I didn't care, these stayed mint.

Yes that is Batman swimming goggles down the bottom. They're damn uncomfortable to wear which leads me to believe they might be a home made item.

The Batman Returns antenna head band in the middle is something I got from Las Vegas. Believe it or not, this is an officially licenced product ... why???

Unfortunately the packaging for the water blaster at the top was badly damaged when I got it, and I've never seen another one to replace it. Sure I could go to eBay to look for a new one, but that's a no-no as it'd be opening me up to dangerous temptation.

Next to the water pistol/space shooter is the only Batman Christmas decoration I own.

I never knew there were so many Batman viewmaster slides to the right. In case you're wondering, I do have a viewmaster on another shelf, not that it matters as they're all sealed.

Same applies to Batman tattoos in the middle, I didn't know there were so many of them til I got them all together.

You'll notice lots of pens and pencils in the cup, and that's not all of them either as others ended up on other shelves.

Next to the cup with the pens is a Batman Returns nite light, a cool item ... if you have a US power socket, which we don't have here in Australia.

I made a point of displaying one of the loose Batman Band-Aids which I love. It's in the middle at the bottom.

At the top in the back is a Batmobile tent. If I recall this item was quite heavy.

The Road Racing set at the back is something all my friends wanted to play with. Nup. Sorry.

Down the bottom are a stack of kids play kits. I ended up getting a number of different variations even though they are all rubbish, plus they are impossible to display properly. So why did I get them? Quite simply there were days where I really wanted to spend money buying something for the collection and these were all I could find. To be honest I hated them then and I still hate them now. Ahhh well.

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In my travels I ended up picking up a lot of bicycle stuff, most of which is here. Check out my Amusing Anecdotes section to hear the saga about trying to find a bike helmet.

The Batwing at the bottom was a punch out "flyer" that I got from the video store when ... you guessed it the '89 film came out on VHS - did I mention I have a few copies of that?

The water feature thing on the left was something that never really appealed to me. Another example of "well I have to get it but I don't really want it" items.

Shelf 1:

Here is a selection of birthday cards - but just a selection as I couldn't be bothered trying to get all of them as there was just too many (I mean there was a LOT). Funnily enough my girlfriend in 1992 went nuts buying every Batman Returns greeting card released which she then put into a folder that looked really great. Hmmm, shame I didn't think to buy the folder from her when we split up.

Shelf 2:

One thing I thought was really neat was the stamp set. Sometimes you come across a really cool item and then never see it again anywhere else - which makes me feel glad I grabbed it when I did.

Stashed in the back on the left (only the bottom is visible) is a yellow pencil case. This item is something I found ... somewhere and the reason for it being in the back is because the original owner (a kid obviously) wrote his name in permanent texta on the back of it. If I was see him now I'd clout him one for doing that "you ruined my ultra rare collectable goddamn it!" LOL

Shelf 3:

Just a couple of the large die cast '89 vehicles. These are only here as I had nowhere else to put them. Though you can't see it, the Batmobile is actually labelled 'Joker Van'. Obtaining items with manufacturing errors like this is pretty groovy.

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The Batman coat hangers I bought from Coles supermarket in around 2005 because I had never seen them before and they were cheap.

The two logos on the left were made by a mate of mine as a gift.

More jigsaw puzzles on the right, how many does that make now?

Shelf 1:

One of the hardest things about setting up all the pins and badges was getting them to sit straight. As you can see, there's just no room for any more.

Shelf 2:

Believe it or not, one of the watches has some functions labelled on the front, but the buttons for the functions aren't actually there, including the one to adjust the time. Man that's gotta be a cheapie!

I can't believe the watch on the left side came with a brown band. Yuck!

Shelf 3:

At the bottom is a selection of various trading card packs which actually look pretty cool when put together. Some of the sets I actually have complete boxes of which is pretty neat, plus I have complete card sets living in folders on another shelf - not pictured

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Keen observers will note only Batman is featured on display and no other character. For the most part I didn't buy any of the other characters and if I did they weren't put on display. Refer to my Amusing Anecdotes section with regards to the hassle I had with putting these on the wall.

Down the bottom is a vintage blue Batman cowl. This one I got from a friend of mine which was in used condition, but I did see one mint-in-box in a store during the 1990s - for $285! Geez it looked grouse, but I just couldn't afford it!

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The big Batcave was covered in black plastic from the day I bought it, this was because I originally had it on lay-by (lay-away for the US) so the toy store wrapped it like that to protect it. Importantly, I had told the store staff it was for an investment, so they put signs all over it saying it was for a collector and to be careful with it - which I found really impressive.

With nowhere to display it after I picked it up, I opted to leave it in its protective plastic until it could finally be put on display 8 years later. It was only after I took the black plastic off did I discover they had sticky taped a bit of the plastic onto the actual box (right in the middle in fact) which ripped when coming off. This is why the back of the box is featured here and not the front. Unfortunately that one little tear has totally ruined this item's value and I couldn't go back to the store where I bought it to complain as they had closed down years before - now I know why.

On the top left are two cookiee boxes which are still sealed and unopened. The one on the right is mentioned in my Amusing Anecdotes section above.

Off to the right is something a bit odd (and partially obscured), a Batman audio tape deck. Sure, I wanna stick a tape in the back of Batman's head!

Seriously, how cool are those boxed action figures at the top! They're listed as exclusive which means there will be millions of them.

Believe it or not, the conical shaped Batman Forever thing on the top left is actually an inverted popcorn container. Don't ask me how you're supposed to stand it up when it's full.

On the right are more Batman figures. Some of the non film related series looked really good and others not so much. As it turns out I like the series at the top but not the ones on the bottom.

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The steering wheel cover on the bottom middle was the very first thing I ever bought on eBay and it arrived in a pizza box. I was so rapt to get it because even though I had long since stopped collecting it was something I just HAD to have. Since then I've bought one or two more items from eBay (one is the barely visible tray table in the middle), though now I deliberately don't go to the Batman section on eBay anymore.

Not all collecting stories have a happy ending. The large Batman Returns figure on the right was part of a REALLY big cinema display stand. It was given to me as a gift which I really appreciated but it was just too large to keep let alone setup. After lugging it around for over 10 years the day came when it had to get the flick because it just wasn't practical to hang onto. Alas this is the only part I kept, and to top it off, the tip of Batman's left ear is ripped.

The three windscreen heat shield covers in the middle were all bought for me by my best mate for three consecutive Christmas'.

The Batman Returns sign on the bottom left is made of polystyrene and is really fragile. Unfortunately I simply have no where to display it properly.

On the left is some Batman fabric art which features a fantastic design. I also have this fabric loose, but unfortunately I don't have anywhere to hang it.

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Back in the day I thought it would be a hoot to buy foodstuffs and keep them in the collection to see just how long they would last. Well as you can see below, the answer is a LONG time!

Let's just cite this example, these are these mint-in-box Batman jelly figures from 1989 (jello for any American readers). As you can see from the bottom of the packet these went out of date in February 1991 and now they're as hard as a rock.

For many years during their storage I could actually smell the flavour through the packet... but not anymore as you can guess.

I'd love to know if anyone in the world has one of these besides me.

And yes these are still sealed and mint-in-box living in the fridge!

When these came out both my best mate and I bought one. Being chocolate they eventually turned white with age when one day my mate rang me up to say his had just crumbled. In a panic I instantly put mine in the fridge and sure enough it has remained intact ever since.

My mate cracked me up though because after his had broken up he opted to eat it rather than throw it out. At one point he said "I think this is a wheel".

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At one point back in the '90s I considered splitting them up and storing them in friends freezers in the event I had a power failure at my place, but how do you ask someone to store something in their freezer for years that they can never touch nor eat.

I'd seriously love to know if anyone in the world has these besides me. Maybe I should put one on eBay with a $10,000 price tag and see what happens - imagine if it sold! It would have to be "pick up only" LOL

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