Batman

Holy Frickin’ Dinero Batman! Is A DVD Collectors Set really a “Collectors Set”? Batman 66 & Lord of the Rings

/ ds barrett / Leave a comment

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For Christmas I got the most awesome gift of the Batman television series (or Batman ’66) in a Blu-Ray collectors set. The kids and I watch together and laugh a lot and when the subject matter gets ridiculously misogynist as it did in Season 3 with its “straw feminist” depiction in “Nora Clavicle and the Ladies’ Crime Club” we use it as a teachable moment. Even before we started talking about it my eleven year old son was yelling “this episode is horrible – girls don’t act like that!”

Anyway, it’s a pretty cool set that has in addition to the blu-ray discs booklets, playing cards and a Hot Wheels Batmobile. BUT – is it worth anything as a “Collector’s Set? Actually, are any of these DVD/Blu-Ray sets worth anything more than the cost of viewing admission?

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If we go back to the Lord of the Rings and their extended editions collector sets we can take a look at popular item amongst fans.

If you bought the gift set that came with replicas of Gollum, Minas Tirith or the Argonath bookends AND you “didn’t open it” it’s worth near a $100.00. However, if like me you own the extended four disc set and watched it many times – you would be lucky to get the price of a cup of coffee. So it’s just best to enjoy the experience of viewing it over and over again.

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Then we have Batman 66. The first thing you need to realize about this “Collector’s Set” is that they made 95,000 of them; which means they are about as rare as seeing a minivan stuck in highway traffic. In fact, the regular set, which was actually selling for more than Collector’s set over the holidays (on Amazon) might actually qualify as ‘more rare’ than it’s better packaged sibling.

Of course, in both cases, it doesn’t stop people from trying to make a few bucks. While Amazon.ca is selling Batman for $200.00, E-Bay has it listed from $180 up to and above $385.00. The same goes for those Lord of the Ring “Gift Sets;” which go for anywhere between $35 and $155 on E-Bay.

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My conclusions on the whole subject – these things are only worth as much as the sentiment you have for them.

 

Holy Bat-Signal Batman; Is that a vinyl record or a ‘baterang’? – Where to buy S#!t vol. 2 – Mondo

/ ds barrett / 6 Comments

With a quicker step than usual Tristan and I would beat a hasty retreat from the ugly Mackinnon Building to the drafty basement of Johnston Hall; not because the food on campus was any better there than anywhere else, but because there was a TV.

The opening notes of Danny Elfman’s score would begin and then the greatest superhero show of them all would start – Batman: The Animated Series. A show so cool it didn’t even bother putting the name of it on during the opening theme.

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During that first season in ‘92, it was on right after class and we wouldn’t say a word until the commercials. To this day, the debate over who is the best ‘Batman’ is so frickin obvious I scoff at anyone who denies it.

Kevin Conroy (the voice of the Bat & Bruce). You may never see him in the costume… but he is the Bat!

The official series may have finished many years ago, but to fans, it lives large in the psyche. So imagine my fan-boy glee when I’m looking at different types of collectibles and this appears…

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The opening and closing themes on bat-shaped vinyl! Bat –shaped and with grey splatter on the variant limited edition. ( http://mondotees.com/products/batman-the-animated-series-die-cut-12-single?variant=967910731)

Now, that is the thing about Mondo (http://mondotees.com/), the good people who have released this glorious single, everything they do is limited and outstanding and is collectors gold. In fact, this isn’t even the first time they’ve released the theme on vinyl. Others in the series include covers of the Joker, Harley Quinn, Clayface and Man-Bat.

In terms of vinyl, they pretty much only release soundtracks. So, in addition to my bat-vinyl I also picked up the Jon Brions’ original soundtrack to Paranorman.

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However, they got all kinds of wonderful things for those geeky folks who seem impossible to buy for. Iron Giant t-shirts, Fargo knit-wear, and a Gremlins Christmas sweater are hi-lights of the clothing, but it’s the posters and original artwork you really want to see.

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Coinciding with the 75th anniversary of Batman, there is certainly a lot of material for fans to choose from, but honestly, that just scrapes the surface. Big with Mondo is variant movie posters released in limited edition. They are mostly based on cult horror or sci-fi/fantasy films, and are absolutely incredible. Here are a couple examples…

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The other thing that is a little on the insane side is the resale value, or at least what people are selling them for on e-bay.

This Guardians of the Galaxy poster originally sold for $60.00 and was limited to 750 copies.

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On e-bay sellers are now asking for more than $750.00 for it. Oh, and don’t for one second think this is an anomaly.  In ten minutes of research I could literally find dozens of examples. Just this week I tried to order an X-Men: Days Of Future Past poster and the damn thing sold out in the 45 minutes I was away from the computer. So, if you’re looking for a unique gift for that crazy super-fan or collector… keep an eye on Mondo. Now, maybe I could call Tristan up for a Batman: The Animated Series marathon. In fact, I think maybe a whole party or something… I am such a geek.