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Batman has come in many shapes and sizes since his comic book debut and that is certainly true when looking at the never ending amount of merchandising build around DC’s iconic superhero. One sixty year old item made in the likeness of Gotham’s protector recently sold for a massive $25,000 and is one of the more bizarre toys that you could own as a Batman fan.
A Batman tin wind-up robot complete with its original box, which was produced in Japan in the 1960s went under the hammer has part of Heritage Auctions’ latest entertainment memorabilia sale. After seeing bidding quickly pass the $10,000 low-end estimate, the last hours of bidding delivered a constant stream of new bids to push it to its final price of $25,000 including buyer’s premium. Not bad for a Caped Crusader oddity.
The Bat and the Box Make a Heroic Valuation
The toy was made for the Japanese market by Tada during the height of Batman’s 1960s television popularity. For that reason, it bares little resemblance to any other toys put out during the same period in America or Europe. Rather than a sleek action figure ready to battle his foes, this is a long-legged mechanical Batman that stands around 13 inches tall. He comes with a cylindrical tin body, painted vinyl head that is based on Adam West’s iteration of the character and comes with a wind-up action that allows him to majestically walk across a flat surface. It is not surprising that Heritage described the piece as “the Caped Crusader at his strangest and most international” in the auction blurb.
As with so many pieces of vintage memorabilia, this Batman’s box is doing almost as much heavy lifting as the item itself when it comes to that $25K price tag. Having survived in reasonable condition for over 60 years, the box includes Japanese Batman title graphics, painted cityscape artwork, Atom/Tada branding, and broadcast text promoting the show’s Sunday-evening slot on Fuji TV and Kansai TV. While the figure itself would be worth a decent sum, the scarcity of its packaging has elevated it to a height that only serious collectors can ever reach.
The result of this auction fits a wider pattern in the general collectibles market, where oddities and original packaging ensure five-figure sales. A rare 1966 Batman playset has changed hands for around the same $25,000 figure, a single mint-carded 1990s Batman figure sold for close to $8,000, and the Adam West Batmobile still holds the Guinness World Record for the most expensive Batman memorabilia at $4.62 million.
This robot was certainly not in mint condition, with the auction describing paint-wear and scuffing, as well as storage wear on the box. Heritage also pointed out that the wind-up mechanism has not been tested so there was no guarantees it would actually still walk. None of that seems to have impacted the bidding on the DC front, though, because condition tends to matter less when an item is this scarce and this weird. It isn’t something that is going to come up for sale very often.
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