The Holy Grail of Batman Collectibles from the 1960s is this dopey push puppet toy from 1966. A push puppet is a figure with a button on the bottom of the base, when you press the button the figure collapses on itself, then when you let go of the button the whole thing comes back together.
What can I say, kids in the 60s and 70s were easily entertained. This particular piece in MINT condition goes for about $3000-- its not the most expensive Batman toy from the era-- the Ideal Utility belt can command $20,000.00 with all of it's parts and a mint box, but this one is pretty close.
I'm not sure what the appeal is, but I want one and have no intention of paying anything like $1000-- in fact I'm planning on sculpting and building my own-- larger than the 5" original.
There was a Batman craze in 1966 when the Adam West TV Series was a huge hit and merchandisers were anxiously trying to cash in on anything Batman-related.
Prior to 1966 there were only a very small handful of Batman items marketed. Unlike his good friend Superman who was a popular toy right from the 1940s.
