Is anyone else this crazy? Or How I came to Own ALL the Versions of Batman '66

General goings on in the 1966 Batman World

Moderators: Scott Sebring, Ben Bentley

Post Reply
User avatar
AndyFish
Posts: 0
Joined: Mon Sep 03, 2012 6:42 am

Is anyone else this crazy? Or How I came to Own ALL the Versions of Batman '66

Post by AndyFish »

I don't know if I'm the only fanatic who bought almost all the versions of Batman The Complete TV Series, although give me a second to explain;

When they announced the series I was instantly in for the DVDs-- I didn't even have a Blu Ray player and had no desire to get one.

As the release day got closer- I opted to run out and buy a Blu Ray player because I reasoned, it will be like seeing the show for the first time (and it was). I'd already ordered the DVDs and I figured I'd keep that order coming to compare to the Blu to see if it really was worth it.

As for the Blu's-- as you all know, there were several options. The Red Box Set with the Adam West Scrapbook, episode guide, the Batmobile and the repro trading cards along with the digital video UV code.

The Red Box set Comic Shop edition which is all of the above plus the hardcover first volume of Batman '66 or the collection of stories which were later the basis for episodes (I think it was the latter).

The Green Box set which included the Blu Rays, the episode guide and the bonus discs for Batman the Movie and Adam West Naked (bad choice for a title Adam, I said it then I say it now).

This doesn't even get into the DVDs which were being released as Season Sets in sharp looking boxes, and as a complete set also nicely packaged.

The problem I had with both the Green and Red sets is the box is useless to use to store your Blu Rays with the rest of your collection unless you don't mind it taking up nearly a full shelf. So I opted to make my own box holding all the discs.

I had a hard time deciding between the red or green box and finally opted to go with the Green. I didn't have Adam West Naked, I really wanted the Adam West Scrap book and the repro cards but the Green box also offered a payment plan rather than shelling out $150-$200 for the set all at once. I also SLIGHTLY liked the design of the green box better.

I didn't need another copy of Batman The Movie, I had 3-4 DVD copies which I would loan to friends over the years and I'd bought multiple copies when it was first release because I have a problem. But I wanted to see Adam West Naked (ok that sounds bad).

Adam West Naked is fun because it really captures Adam's wacky sense of humor. It's also KIND of fun to listen to him wax poetic about all the episodes even if they are just cursory comments.

Initially I had no interest in the UV copies, that wasn't an area I was playing in yet.

Flash forward a couple of years and I have a pretty impressive UV collection including most of the Universal Monsters. I love the idea of being able to access these movies in the cloud. I was able to watch them on the flight to Japan and even in my studio there.

So when I got back I decided I needed Batman up in that cloud too. A good friend here on the boards had offered me access to his digital codes but I didn't want to impose, another friend sent me MP4s of all the episodes which was phenomenal. But I still wanted to have a set in my UV collection.

Amazon Prime of which I am a member had the Red Box set for $91 shipped. Through a program with Emerson College where I teach comic art part time I had a $50 credit which meant I brought the cost down to $41 which is extremely reasonable for the whole set-- and I will be donating the duplicate Blu Rays to my art studio buddies who auction them on eBay to support our youth art classes so it's all good.

But how about the sets? First, anyone else get both? Second, here's my opinion on them:

Both sets I stand by my initial reaction that the boxes are way too big and nowhere near practical to store your Blu Rays.

The quality of the Blus? Outstanding. Good enough that I gave away my DVD set because although it looks fantastic, I can see the difference with the Blu Rays.

The episode guide, which is in both of them, is small and just a basic episode guide. Good if you need this kind of thing. Not as good as the in-depth episode guide Fangoria did with that standalone Batman issue many years ago which included a lot of behind the scenes trivia.

The Green Box-- Adam West Naked is as I said, fun. The movie, always a good time. Other than that, there's not much else to the set except the discs and a "personalized" letter from Adam West which is actually just a form letter.

The Red Box-- The Batmobile seems to be the regular Mattel issue with trailor hook. The trading cards are smaller than the originals and the quality on them is disappointing. The resolution isn't as sharp as the originals, the cardboard is thinner and in my case they were slightly warped. Probably nice if you've never seen the original cards, but even those were too small, making them smaller is worse.

The Red Box pops more than the green box does. Press a button and hear the Batman theme. Fun the first time, but really I don't see myself standing there pressing it over and over again.

The Adam West Scrapbook is fun but there's very little to it, and even less text. It's so small it's hard to flip through and it's a shame because I had the chance to look through Adam's actual scrapbook and he has some amazing behind the scenes stuff in there.

The UV codes? Priceless. Already watching them on my iPad even as I type this.

So if I was doing it all over again, I'd probably buy the Red Box set and sell all the extra stuff that isn't needed. I still think it would have been nice if the discs were housed in a case that was displayable. You can just put the sleeves up on your shelf but there is no protection for them and Blu discs are even more delicate that DVDs.

So that's my report-- I am crazy, and I have a problem.
chetchumley
Posts: 0
Joined: Wed Sep 05, 2012 4:43 pm

Re: Is anyone else this crazy? Or How I came to Own ALL the Versions of Batman '66

Post by chetchumley »

bought limited edition BLU-RAY..day came out....bought season 2 pt 1 ..this xmas...$4.99....thats my plan...when the individual seasons drop in price...i will buy em,,,,simple as that...i can wait....i may look like BRUCE WAYNE ?? but i sure don't have his $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
User avatar
Lord Death Man
Posts: 0
Joined: Mon Dec 02, 2013 7:03 pm

Re: Is anyone else this crazy? Or How I came to Own ALL the Versions of Batman '66

Post by Lord Death Man »

I have all of the sets available in both DVD format and Blu-ray. Red, Green, the bundles, the individual season boxes, the comic shop set. So do not feel bad, Andy.
He flies and fights-BATMAN!
Purity and virtue-BATMAN!
Cowards run away!
Batman saves the day!
Also, Boy Wonder Robin.
Batman and Robin-caped crusaders at night!
BIFF! POW! BAM! BATMAN!
Post Reply