Starting with the BATMAN RETURNS Batmobile…
Julien’s auction house and Turner Classic Movies have teamed up for “The Ultimate Batmobile Auction,” which features 96 lots from Batman ’89, Batman Returns, The Dark Knight, and other superhero flicks.
The headliner? The Batman Returns Batmobile, which as of this writing is at $3,000,000 in the bidding.
But there’s a lot more to dig into, so here are the 13 GROOVIEST ITEMS IN JULIEN’S ULTIMATE BATMOBILE AUCTION, along with excerpted official descriptions:
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BATMAN RETURNS BATMOBILE
Julien’s Auctions and Turner Classic Movies are proud to offer the iconic Number One Hero screen-used Batmobile operated by Michael Keaton as “Bruce Wayne / Batman” in the production of the beloved Tim Burton film Batman Returns (Warner Brothers Pictures, 1992). For Batman Returns (1992), “Legendary Automotive King” Carl Casper and Hollywood Productions were commissioned to construct three vehicles based upon this iconic design, including the Number One Hero car offered here. During principal photography, this Batmobile was the first one delivered to set and screen-matched evidence identifies this vehicle as the Batmobile appearing in the majority of the film’s driving sequences.
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BATMAN ’89 CHEST EMBLEM
An original production-made Batman chest emblem from the production of the film Batman (Warner Brothers, 1989). This emblem is the same style that is seen worn by Michael Keaton as “Batman” throughout the film. The emblem is composed of rubber and features yellow hand-painted detailing around the bat graphic. The back side of the emblem shows evidence of being cast with air bubbles that were present in the molding process.
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BATMAN ’89 STORYBOARD
An original storyboard illustration from the production of the Tim Burton film Batman (Warner Bros. 1989). The storyboard features a pencil-drawn scene depicting Batman and Vicki Vale above a variant of the same scene that features both hand-drawn and xerographic elements. Both scenes are hand captioned in ink.
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BATMAN ’89 STORYBOARD
The storyboard features two pencil-drawn scenes one depicting Batman flying the Batwing and the other depicting the Joker (played by Jack Nicholson) aiming a long-barreled revolver both bearing captions handwritten in ink.
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BATMAN ’89 JOKER (JACK NICHOLSON) SMILING FACIAL APPLIANCE
An original unused foam latex facial appliance produced for Jack Nicholson as the Joker in Batman (Warner Bros. 1989).
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BATMAN RETURNS COWL AND CHEST EMBLEM
An original cowl and chest emblem production-made for Michael Keaton as “Bruce Wayne / Batman” in the production of the Tim Burton film Batman Returns (Warner Bros., 1992). The Batman Returns cowl stands as one of the most iconic and recognizable pieces of costume design from Tim Burton’s legendary Batman films.
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BATMAN RETURNS ZIP-LINE GRAPPLE GUN PROP
An original prop zip-line grapple gun production-made for Michael Keaton as “Bruce Wayne / Batman” in the production of the Tim Burton film Batman Returns (Warner Bros., 1992). The grapple gun is composed of resin and features metal detailing. Each of the claws feature brass-tone metal ends and nylon rope attached around the shaft. At the end of the grip is a depressible button, although this piece is nonfunctioning.
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BATMAN RETURNS OSWALD COBBLEPOT CAMPAIGN BUTTONS AND PENGUIN ROCKET
An original group of three campaign buttons from Danny DeVito’s portrayal of “Oswald Cobblepot/Penguin” paired with a penguin rocket from the production of the film Batman Returns (Warner Bros., 1992).
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BATMAN FOREVER PRODUCTION-MADE NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS
An original group of newspaper props created for the production of the film Batman Forever (Warner Bros., 1995).
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BATMAN & ROBIN ROBIN MASK
An original dark metallic blue cast rubber mask produced for Chris O’Donnell as “Robin” in the Joel Schumacher-directed film Batman & Robin (Warner Bros. 1997).
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BATMAN BEGINS MINIATURE MINE PROPS
An original pair of production-made “safe” and “armed” mini-mine props as used by Christian Bale as “Bruce Wayne / Batman” in the production of the film Batman Begins (Warner Brothers Pictures, 2005). The mini-mine props are composed of resin with metal elements. Each metal element is slightly magnetic. These types of props can be seen as Batman escapes Arkham Asylum, and later laid out on a table of Batman’s gadgets.
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THE DARK KNIGHT PRODUCTION-MADE COWL
An original production-made Batman cowl as used by Christian Bale in his portrayal of “Bruce Wayne / Batman” in the production of the film The Dark Knight (Warner Bros. Pictures, 2008). The cowl is composed of a flexible molded rubber material.
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THE DARK KNIGHT BATARANG PROP
An original production-used Batarang created for use in the Christopher Nolan film The Dark Knight (Warner Bros.. 2008). The Batarang is composed of resin and is painted in a silver-tone finish. In the final production of the film, Batarangs of this style were painted in a bronze-tone finish.
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There’s plenty more in the auction — and many other movie heroes represented, including Superman, Captain America, Iron Man, Spider-Man, among others. Click here for more info, tons of additional photos — and to bid.
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MORE
— Dig These 13 Groovy SILVER and BRONZE AGE BATMAN Toy Lots That Just Sold at Auction. Click here.
— The Greatest BATMAN ’66 Auction You’ll Ever See. Click here.
