My Toys: Batman Returns

I wanted to write a couple blogs for our summer vacation highlighting my toy collection.  None of these are worth anything monetary wise, but they're worth their weight in gold to my mental well being.  Having them around just makes me happy.  They're totems that contain moments of my childhood, moments that define me.  What good is having them if I can't share them with you all?  So tonight I'll share the toys I have from the summer blockbuster of 1992, Batman Returns.

Released June 19, 1992, it would be the crazy hit of the summer. After Batman was released in the summer of 1989, we had Dick Tracy in 1990 (Which I wrote about here) the Rocketeer in 1991, and finally our long awaited sequel.  My dad took me to see Batman Returns for my 10th birthday, on the Saturday after my birthday.  We went to the 1:40 showing at the then AMC Tilghman 8 (the theater is still open and thriving, Enchantress and I see everything there)

Let's rewind a couple of weeks.  My timeline may be off on this, but I was 10, so sue me, but the memories I have about this are so vivid, I see them as clear as day in my mind.   My dad was at a work conference in San Antonio, roughly around the same time the movie first came out, but not at every theater.   When he came home, he had a surprise for me, the official Topps souvenir magazine for Batman Returns.  I don't think a kid has ever been so excited in his life to get a freaking magazine.  I poured over every printed dot on this magazine, it was my bible, my holy book.  This would guide me to my promised land.

Okay, let's got back a few more weeks to the day I got my first Batman Returns action figure.

Now, remembering this story means a lot to me, not that I didn't know my dad was special, he was amazing, but thinking about all the things he did for me that summer (and my whole life) really makes me grateful.  I was a lucky kid.  He took me to see the movie, which probably wasn't child appropriate, and afterwards got me an official pencil that had a strong from the top of it attached to the Penguin's red umbrella.  Before that, while he was away for work, he stopped and grabbed me a copy of the official souvenir magazine, just because he knew how excited I was for Batman Returns.  BUT a few weeks before that, I was at our local Clover department store, and we saw the new line of Batman Returns action figures, and I was immediately obsessed with the penguin figure.  It was just a dark repaint of the Kenner Super Powers penguin, but it looked so awesome, and he bought it for me.  I remember taking that figure everywhere that entire summer.  That is the first toy I'm showing off here.  I'll always cherish this the most.  This picture isn't of my original one my dad bought me, but one I re-bought off eBay.  

Moving on, I have more stories.  So I collected a lot of the line that year, not everything, but as much as I could.  My mom bought me the die-cast Penguin duck mobile "matchbox" style toy from Kiddie City.  I few years ago I got the whole collection off eBay.

The first Batman I got from the line was Deep Sea Dive Batman.  Such a cool figure, and card artwork.  I remember camping in my friend Matt's yard and playing with our Batman figures.  This was my go-to, I loved this guy.  I was able to get a case fresh one a few years ago from the time traveling toy dealer himself Zombie Sailor Toys (check him out on insta, it's worth every second of your time)

I was obsessed with the Penguin Commando toy's but wasn't sure I would get them ever.  But Santa Claus came through for me that Christmas, and I loved that two pack.  Again, I picked this carded set off eBay.

The line had longevity because that following spring I remember searching everywhere for a Catwoman figure.  She was a late addition to the line like Robin.  I got Robin at our local KB, but could never find Catwoman.  One day we were at the Franklin Mill Outlets in Philadelphia, and they had a KB ToyWorks store there.  My mom didn't take us in, and I asked once we got into the car if we could check to see if they had a Catwoman, my Mom said they wouldn't because all the KB Toys by us didn't have them.  I said to her "but remember when you were looking for clothing at one store and they didn't have it, but you called another and they did, so we went and got it, maybe the same thing works with KB Toys"  My parents were dumbfounded.  I was 10, and just won an argument.  So they took me in, and low and behold, they had the Catwoman figure.  They had to buy it for me after all that.  I remember driving home, feeling like I was the luckiest kid in the universe.  This is mine from my collection, not my original.

Finally, one more story.  Our family would always go to Rehoboth Beach in Delaware for our summer trips.  In August of 1992 we went to the beach, and I became obsessed with this Applause Batman Returns Penguin doll for sale in the Candy Kitchen store.  I wanted it bad, but it was almost 10 bucks, and my parents were gonna drop that kind of money on such a creep looking toy.  My mom tried to make up for it.  We went to the candy store again, and they had the "peachy penguin" gummies.  They looked like penguins, the animal, but were peach flavored.  Well I loved peach flavored anything, and penguins and gummies, so she bought me a bag.  The last day at the beach, we went to the same candy store,   The sold Cokes there with extra fine crushed ice that my Dad LOVED.  While he was getting his Coke, he saw me staring at the floor, like I usually did, but I guess I looked extra sad, so he took me down to the Candy Kitchen and bought me the Penguin doll.  I carried this thing around like it was my freaking teddy bear, and it was a gross mutant version of Danny DeVito.  A few years ago, I tracked down a mint condition one on eBay, and I love this thing!

Thanks for reading about my toys, let me know what Batman Returns toys you had in the comments below, and I'll be back tomorrow for more on the Rad Years Summer Vacation.

-RK