I Was Doing The Batutsi Recently

I haven't been purchasing much for myself lately as money has been pretty tight. However, I did have a Amazon gift card I got for Christmas had been saving for a rainy day.  As of late, I haven't had a whole lot to smile about, so I decided to rectify that and placed an order with Amazon. My order came a couple days ago and I started to giggle like The Riddler as I opened the box.

I finally decided to pull the trigger and picked up the Diamond Select 1966 Batman Bust and I am so thrilled to finally own this piece. It's my first Batman statue of any sort and I'm happy it's of my favorite Batman of all time.

As you can see, the front of the box has a great image of the statue you are getting as well as the 1966 Batman logo in the upper right hand corner and a great picture of the Bat Signal signing above a silhouette of Gotham City. The box alone was enough to get strange stirrings in my utility belt.

Both side panels of the box had just about the same image as the front did, sans Bat Signal.

The back as the same imagery as the side did, except there is a brief write up about the Batman. If you don't know who the Batman is, please leave your address down in the comments below and I will have the geek police stop by and pick up your geek card.

The top of the box features a nice artist rendition of my favorite car, the George Barris Batmobile. I swear, if I ever win the lottery, I will be having the guys at Fiberglass Freaks build me a Batmobile.

And here is the Piece De Resistance. When I took this out of the box, I was blown away with how good this bust looks. This is 6 inches of pure Adam West Sexiness. This bust was designed by Barry Bradfield and sculpted by Jean St. Jean and limited to 3,000 pieces. I am just amazed at how much this bust looks like the Adam West Batman. The facial features and body type are dead on to how Adam looked on the TV series.

One of my favorite parts of this bust is the base. The base has been carved to depict the closing of the TV show. The shadows of Gotham City, the dark blue of the night sky as the Bat Signal cuts through it, alerting Batman and Robin that treachery is afoot and they are needed right away in Commissioner Gordon's office. The base is genius.

The back looks great. I love how the cape is scultped with folds and the paint is spot on. The colors are perfect to how they looked on the classic TV show. The base continues with more shadows of Gotham City in that dark blue sky. I'm glad they didn't stick another Bat Signal here.

The bottom of the base gives you the trademark info as well as who and where the bust was manufactured. This base also gives you the number it is. Mine is a high number, 2,676 out of 3,000. I know a lot of collectors would rather have a low number in their collection. I'm just happy I was able to get this bust in my 1966 Batman collection.

Plus, I get a Certificate Of Authenticity which tells you this is an authentic Diamond Select Toys Batman Bust. It shows off another picture of the bust as well as the numbering of the bust you have in your possession.

So, no doubt you practically read me drooling over this bust as I reviewed it. It's a fantastic piece and I'm so proud that I can own one. Do I recommend this? YES, YES, Oh HELL YEAH! OK, got my wrestling catch phrases in there as well. Not only do I recommend this piece to a fan of the TV show, but I would tell any Batman, pop culturist, comic book fan to race out and grab this piece before it is gone. Diamond Select has also released a Robin, Joker and Riddler and I plan to pick up all of them. I do hope we get a Batgirl and Catwoman soon as well.

This bust has bought me the same amount of joy I get whenever I get to watch the TV show. Yeah, I know it's campy and not the serious, emo Batman we are all used to, but this show celebrated how comics were at that point and I think we can be thankful Batman didn't go into outer space like he had in the comics earlier in the decade. I love the show and always will. This bust will become a featured piece in my collection for a long, long time.

And just because I feel generous, here is the greatest opening to a television show, ever!

Must...Resist...Urge...To...Spend!

Every time I hit a Target or Toys R Us or even a comic shop, I always find something I want to pick up. It never fails. I'm at Midtown Comics, I see a statue that I want. I'm at Toys R Us, I see a figure. Even at the supermarket I see a box of Amazing Spider-Man 2 fruit snacks that I want to add to my Spider-Man collection. Being a compulsive buyer can be a pain sometimes.

Because I have a bad habit of buying and the fact that I have little room, I had to have a discussion with myself. I had to be honest and really think about what I really want to have in my collection right now. Maybe go quality over quantity. This approach helped me make my decision to put back the 2 DC Multiverse 1989 Batman and unmasked Batman figures easier. I may still own them at some point, but initially I wasn't impressed with the size or likeness.

Since I decided to go this route, I have been keeping an eye on some upcoming releases that I would love to own when they come out:

Ever since Figures Inc. released photos of it's 1966 Batman line, I have been wanting to add this Batman to my 1966 Batman collection. I have always wanted a Mego-like Batman figure and now that this is available, I will do what I can to have one to display with my NECA Batman and my custom 12 inch Batman.

Sticking with the 1966 Batman theme, this bank is definitely going to be added to the 1966 Batman collection. This awesome piece won't be released until November, so I will be eagerly awaiting for this to be released. This may be released around the same time as the release of the 1966 Batman TV series on Blu-Ray. November is shaping up to be a awesome month if your a Batman fan.

About a month ago, my buddy George and I went into a Disney Store in NJ. I saw a really nice Rebellion fleet t-shirt that I was thinking of picking up when I saw a 12 inch talking Han Solo figure, which I thought was pretty cool. I told George if they ever came out with a Luke I would buy it. As Biff Tannen famously said, Well looky what we have here. A 12 inch talking Luke Skywalker. I cannot wait to get my mitts on this. The cool thing about the Han Solo figure was it had phrases from the movie. It wasn't a lame actor reading lines. It was the voice of Harrison Ford. I can only assume this one will have actual dialogue of Mark Hamill from the movies as well. This makes it a must have for me.

Ever since I first saw this gigantic 31 inch Spider-Man figure at Toys R Us I have been conspiring to get one. Each time I see it however, I am low on funds. I will be picking up this behemoth at some point real soon. Yeah, I know I complained about lack of room. I don't care. I want it, I want it.

When I saw this picture I shrieked like a 10 year old. I cannot wait until October comes around. This is a must have for my Spider-Man collection. I will probably hit up Dr. Mego for two bodies so I can have all three displayed at the same time. I love the old school Spidey outfit with the webbing under his arms. Very John Romita-ish. This will look great on display.

Unlike many of you, I actually enjoyed the Amazing Spider-Man 2. I went to see it multiple times in the theaters. Although it made a lot of money, word of mouth about this movie wasn't the greatest, but whatever. I think it's the best Spider-Man movie made, edging out Spider-Man 2 for that honor, in my opinion. I haven't bought a lot of Spider-Man 2 merchandise just yet. This bust is something I do want to have at some point. It comes out in October and if I can, I will pick it up. I'd like to build a Spider-Man statue collection and this is one I'd like to add to the small collection I have so far.

Finally, and most expensive of the bunch, I really want this Hot Toys Amazing Spider-Man 2 figure. I do not own a Hot Toys figure. I would love to make this one the first I pick up and then try to add the other Spider-Man Hot Toys figures as I go along. At $200.00 a pop, that will be difficult for me to pull off, but that also won't stop me from trying. If I have to sacrifice a few figures and comic books to make this happen, then I will do it.

With all the cool stuff coming out, I had to make a list of the goodies that I really wanted above all else. It was hard to do, in the end, I think I did a good job targeting the really nice items that I think would look great in my collection. Like I mentioned earlier, quality over quantity will be the mantra for a while as I have other personal things I need to take care of. But, if I can stick to the plan, then I can take care of everything I need to and still pick these up. Once I do, you can be sure to look here for reviews.

Oh, and I do accept donations.

Sometimes, Awesome Comes In Small Packages

Alex Ross is one of my all time favorite artists. I'm sure I am not the only one who says that. Alex Ross's work is amazing. I have loved his work on such classics such as Justice League Justice, Marvels and Kingdom Come. Plus, I love his takes on Battle Of The Planets, Batman, Superman, Captain America and of course, Spider-Man.

Alex Ross is one of my top 5 favorite Spider-Man artists. I have always wanted to own a piece of Alex Ross Spider-Man art, but at the prices his work commands, I doubt I will be able to own one, unless I go for a lithograph at some point. Marvel has yet to make a Alex Ross inspired Spider-Man figure, so I'm shut out there as well.

A few years ago, Marvel and Dynamic Forces released a life sized Spider-Man bust. It is the coolest thing I may have ever seen. The bust captures Ross's work perfectly and I wanted one. Still do in fact. The lowest I have seen this bust go for is $400.00 and I don't have that kind of cheddar lying around right now. But, there was the next best thing and I got it off eBay for a steal.

Lucky for me, a mini version of the bust was released and it now has a proud place in my Spider-Man collection. When I received the package and opened it, I was blown away by how cool this thing really is, despite the smaller size. Through the cellophane on the front of the package, you can see Spidey staring right back at you.

On either side of the box you get the same Alex Ross drawing of Spider-Man, without my flashes glare.

On the back of the box, you get a picture of the bust plus a write up about the statue. I'm actually not too crazy about the Spider-Man lettering they chose for this. Being that this was inspired by John Romita Sr's art, couldn't they have used the classic Amazing Spider-Man lettering? Maybe I'm nitpicking just a bit, but the new, modern Spider-Man lettering seems out of place on the packaging.

Here's the bust out of the package and what else can I say but this bust is awesome. It measures about 4 3/4" tall and is limited to 5,000 pieces. The statue was sculpted by Mike Hill. I'm not a statue collector, so I am unfamiliar with Hill's work, but he did a fantastic job on this piece. The bust looks like it jumped out of an Alex Ross piece. I love the eyes on it. It's not painted white like a lot of other Spider-Man busts and statues, but has that mirror like lens. Makes me wonder why the producer's of the 1970's TV series couldn't have done something similar.

Here's both profiles of the statue. I love how it looks like a mask. You can see the wrinkles on the neck and Peter's ears, nose and chin underneath the mask. Hill's attention to detail makes this bust even better than I could have dreamed.

Here's the back of the bust. It always freaks me out how the bust just ends into nothing like what you see where. Creepy.

An here is the certificate of authenticity that came with the bust. Mine is numbered 2059. I wonder if that is an actual John Romita Sr signature. I am leaning towards not, but it's still cool to have.

This actually might be my favorite Spider-Man piece in my Spidey collection. Owning this piece may actually get me to start picking up more statues and busts if I can find them at decent prices like at what I found this one for. I still want the full sized version and I will own one at some point. But for now, I am more than content to own this awesome bust and I'm really in no rush to grab the full sized version. It's funny how you can get attached to something so small, yet so awesome.