Hodge Podge Haul August 2017-February 2018

Oh, y'all thought because I haven't done a haul post in a while that I haven't been accumulating a ton of new Batman stuff all this time? Oh how wrong you were. AHAH!

Well, I'm sure nobody actually thought that. I've just been slacking on my haul posts, but this is a catch up post! I realize how ridiculously behind I am because a lot of this stuff is from my birthday last August. I'm sure I'm missing something here, but better late than never and better something than nothing. Right? I'll start with my favorite thing I've purchased over the last (almost) year!

Hot Topic Justice League Batman Leather Jacket

This is from Hot Topic's Justice League collection and I absolutely love it! They had some really amazing pieces. I always recommend checking out Hot Topic for your nerdy needs. I bought this a while ago, but it looks like it's still available in very limited sizes on the website still if you're interested!

I've already gotten plenty of use out of this jacket, but the weather is getting pretty warm here in Texas so I'll probably have to wait a few months before I can actually wear this out in public again. I love that the Bat symbol is relatively subtle and, at a glance, you wouldn't notice immediately that it's Batman apparel.

Fun fact, I forgot to take photos of these earlier on in the year so I was modeling this jacket in 90°F for this blog post. I had to do it quick. I was getting sweaty very quickly. Hah.

DC Bombshell Funko Pops

I found most of these Bombshell Funko Pops on Hot Topic. The batch shown includes Bombshell Poison Ivy, Batwoman, Catwoman, and an exclusive sepia Catwoman from Books-a-Million. The exclusive looks exactly the same, but the coloring is just different. 'Tis the fate of a Funko Pop collector, paying for essentially the same toys multiple times.

These are additions to the rest of the Bombshell collection I already own which consist of Harley Quinn, Batgirl, and the Joker. The 1940s inspired designs on these are unique and can be really cute. Of the Batman-affiliated Bombshell Pops I own, I really love Batwoman and her hat! Batgirl happens to be my least favorite. I love her aviator cap, but I wish her hair was sticking out in the back like her costume from Batman: The Animated Series.

I'll be sharing individual photos of a lot of these Funko Pops in future posts when I do specific Funko Pop posts by line (e.g. Justice League, BTAS, Arkham Asylum, Suicide Squad, etc.). I'm sure I'll get around to sharing ALL my Bombshell Funko Pops... eventually.

Batman: The Animated Series Funko Pops

These were part of a giant batch of Funko Pops that Mickey bought for me for my birthday last August. He's an enabler. 😘If there's a Funko Pop line that I would collect all of, that is if they don't create some exclusive completely unattainable ones, and that I would keep forever, it would likely be this collection. I love all of them! AND I CAN'T WAIT FOR THEM TO COME OUT WITH MORE!

This batch includes The Phantasm, Clayface, Scarecrow, Bane, Catwoman, robot Batman from the Batman: TAS episode titled "The Enemy Within," and the Chase (read: limited edition/more rare) robot Batman with his robot face fully exposed. Catwoman is the cutest. I've always super adored the Batman: TAS Catwoman costume because it's subtle but so different from the all black (or heavy purple) treatment she often receives in the comics.

These are additions to my existing Batman: TAS Funko Pop collection, which you can see in a previous post here. I think some other BTAS characters I would love to see as Pops are Alfred Pennyworth for sure, Ra's Al Ghul, Talia Al Ghul, Nightwing, and Commissioner Gordon. Actually, thinking about the sheer quantity of Pops they could create with this 25+ year-old series is lightweight giving me anxiety so we're just going to move on now.

I'll be sure to share individual photos of these in the future when I do a blog post on my BTAS Funko Pops. I'm just concerned that the BTAS collection will never be complete because they'll just keep them coming. We'll have to see!

Classic '66 Batman TV Show Funko Pops

This batch of Pops was also part of the birthday gift Mickey purchased for me last year. I didn't grow up watching the classic '66 Batman TV show, but as I always say, I absolutely appreciate its place in Batman history.

I'm going to be 100% honest and tell you that I have no idea who King Tut is from the TV series or otherwise. I AM familiar with the other Pops in this batch though which include Batgirl, The Penguin, Mr. Freeze, the Riddler, and the Chase Riddler (with bowler hat). I cannot get enough Chsae Riddler's bowler hat. It's so friggin' cute.

Justice League Batman Funko Pop

This was the last of the Funko Pop batch that Mickey purchased for my birthday. I believe this completes my Justice League Batman Pop collection, which is AMAZING! I love knowing that this and the Bruce Wayne Funko Pop I purchased at SDCC 2017 are the only ones. I love small sets and I love this Batman's goggles. I hope this Justice League Batman collection stays this small.

Legion of Collectors Nightwing and Bane Funko Pops

Mickey actually bought these for me too! These are Legion of Collectors exclusive Bane and Nightwing Funko Pops.

I didn't know that the DC Most Wanted Legion of Collectors themed box came with TWO Funko Pops. I haven't purchased a LoC box in a while and didn't do much research when this one came out last year. I just assumed Lex Luthor was the only Funko Pop in the box, which I wasn't interested in. It was a pleasant surprise when Mickey came home with this Bane that he purchased off eBay. The eBay purchase also came with a Joker luggage tag which I'm very excited to use and a Black Manta patch. I can't seem to find where these other items are in my house. I think the tag is already attached to a carry on bag somewhere and I think I stored away the Black Manta patch, but you can see all the items together on my Instagram here.

The Nightwing Funko Pop came with the Teen Titans Legion of Collectors themed box. This box is still available for sale directly through their website. I thought about buying the box, but I really didn't want to purchase all the other items that came in the box because I really wouldn't ever use them, even the shirt. Not that I ever really "use" Funko Pops, right? I was just being really frugal at the time and Mickey came through with another eBay purchase. He actually bought 2 off eBay because he got one for himself too. 😂 Nightwing is his favorite DC Comics character.

Hot Topic Exclusive Diamond Harley Quinn Funko Pop

Okay, it occurs to me that Mickey has purchased a lot of the items on this list. 1) I am very spoiled and 2) He is super duper a mega, ultra enabler and is not helping me quit Funko Pops. 😂He surprised me with this Hot Topic exclusive Diamond Harley Quinn Funko Pop a while ago. I didn't even know she existed. She's sparkly so that's pretty dope. It's still available on the website here if you're interested! I realized recently that I missed out on the Hot Topic exclusive Diamond Batgirl Funko Pop, though, and am patiently waiting for those to get back in stock. Womp womp.

NYCC Fugitive Toys Exclusive Yellow Lantern Batman Funko Pops

Mickey ALSO purchased these Funko Pops (I thought I did until I checked again) a few months prior to New York Comic Con last year. These Yellow Lantern Batman Pops look exactly the same (ugh) except one is glow-in-the-dark. If I really sit to think about it, glow-in-the-dark Funko Pops are really creepy. Those big, round, glowing eyes would just be staring at you blankly through the darkness.

These were NYCC exclusives, but fans had the opportunity to pre-purchase them as part of a package with a Mickey Mouser Dorbz prior to the show. It was worth it to not think about having to buy these during the show. Mickey's a Mickey Mouse fan so the purchase was really for both of us. You can see the above Funko Pops with the Mickey Mouse Dorbz that they came with on my Instagram here.

Teen Titans Go! Robin Funko Pops

Mickey surprised me with these too! He actually bought all of these for himself as well since, as mentioned before, he's a Nightwing fan. This batch includes Robin as Nightwing, Nightwing as Red X, Nightwing as Red X unmasked, and Nightwing with baby. I haven't actually seen all the Teen Titans Go! episodes that these Pops reference, but I at least remember the episode featuring Nightwing with the baby!

I loved Teen Titans and I love Teen Titans Go! They're completely different shows in terms of look and feel. Teen Titans Go! gets so much flak due to the less adult themes and much more animated art as compared to its predecessor , but I enjoy it for what it is: silly fun. People who compare it to Teen Titans and get their panties in a bunch over a cartoon are so uptight. I recommend it if you want to just sit back and laugh.

To wrap up this section, I give you my favorite gif of all time from the show: Robin getting down to some hip hop in the car while waiting for his driving instructor. Still cracks me up every time.

Hot Topic Exclusive Harley Quinn and the Skull Bags Funko Pop

I BOUGHT THIS ONE! Ahah! I like how this is the first one on the list that I've purchased for myself since the Bombshell Funko Pops mentioned at the very beginning of the list. I hope Mickey reads this and is shocked at how much money he's spent on me and my obsession.

This rockstar Harley Quinn Funko Pop is a Hot Topic exclusive and is still available for purchase on the website! I have not read the comic book that inspired this Funko Pop, but I have to say that Harley Quinn can pull off so many looks.

Entertainment Earth Exclusive Batman Silhouette Glow-in-the-Dark Funko Pop

I did NOT buy this one, Mickey did. Of course. Surprise, surprise. 😳 This one is an Entertainment Earth exclusive and I don't even know when or how he got this for me. He's very sneaky (yet very sweet) about it. Like I've mentioned before, some girls get flowers and chocolates, I get Funko Pops. I don't care too much for the glow-in-the-dark feature on Pops, but I do like the all black and blue design on this one.

Some reading material...

I've purchased some comic books over the last year as well. I'll start with the non-Batman-related comic books.

I'm mostly caught up on Descender! I've purchased the above issues (#23-29) over the past year. Also pictures are our copies of Descender Volumes 1-5. I say I'm "mostly" caught up because I'm actually waiting for my issues of Descender #30 to come in at my local comic book shop. Seeing as how one of the covers (I purchased both covers a couple weeks ago) is taking forever to come in, I told the comic book shop to go ahead and pull both covers of Descender #31 for me when it comes out next week so I can just pick up everything at once. Hah. I'm not usually very good about buying things day-of. What do comic book readers use to keep track of release dates?

I posted some prints of Dustin Nguyen's Super Sons variant covers last year that I purchased at San Diego Comic-Con. I actually started picking up the comic book because of the variant covers. I picked up both tradebacks above (I believe the third is coming out later this year) and all the variant covers I could get my hands on. I missed several (mostly from earlier on before I started reading it), but I tried to grab whatever Dustin Nguyen variant covers I could. Always happy to support him!

Batman Annual #2 above came as a recommendation from my friend. I haven't read Batman Annual #1, but I was told this is a must read as a Batman and Catwoman shipper. This is a quick read and super cute!

I picked up this Batman: The Man Who Laughs tradeback as its been on my to-read list for a while. I read it much earlier this year and it was surprisingly not as memorable for me as I thought it would so had to get a refresher off Wikipedia. Hah. It's a story about Batman's first run-in with the Joker. Overall, not a bad read... despite my not remembering it.

   

 

I already own Batman: Hush, but picked up the gorgeous Batman: Hush 15th Anniversary Edition pictured above during SXSW in March for Jim Lee to sign. The photos show the book with and without the jacket cover along with Jim Lee's signature on the first page. More on the signing in my SXSW 2018 post!

Derek Fridolfs and Dustin Nguyen came out with Secret Hero Society #3, Detention of Doom, at the end of last year. I picked it up ages ago, but haven't read it yet. I'll get around to it! I'm excited to read it because I really enjoyed the first two even though they're written for a much younger audience. They're just fun, quick reads. Again, always happy to support Dustin Nguyen and these make for great recommendations for my friends who have kids.

Some viewing material...

I added a couple of movies to the collection since my Blu-Ray and DVD post as well.

I was super excited for Batman: Gotham by Gaslight to come out as a movie! I kind of forgot how the comic book ended so it was nice to be surprised by the plot twist again. I personally thought it was great. How can a story that involves Jack the Ripper and Batman not be exciting?

I also purchased Batman Ninja recently. If you've been following the blog, you saw that I had a whole post on Batman Ninja. So much fun! Check out all my thoughts here.

Batman Blender Bottle Protein Shaker

This was my latest purchase! I was going back and forth between this Blender Bottle or the Performa Perfect Shaker, but ultimately went with the Blender Bottle because I liked the design better. I'm not going to lie, though, I might just end up buying the Perfect Shaker at some point, too, anyway. I've been using this Blender Bottle a lot so I'd say it was a good purchase!

It seems the major takeaway of this super extensive and Funko Pop heavy haul post is that Mickey enables my Funko Pop addiction. Hope you enjoyed it! I'm glad I finally got around to this one before I made any new purchases! Let me know what your favorite items are from the above. SDCC is coming up in a few weeks so I'll hopefully have an SDCC-inspired post coming up in the next month. Check in again soon!

P.S. I was a bit stressed putting this post together which has been in the making for MONTHS. I realized pretty last minute that a lot of the photos I needed were accidentally deleted off my phone. I may have accidentally deleted a bunch when trying to make space on my phone. I was able to recover some of the deleted photos but the quality wasn't quite the same so you may notice some lower quality photos in this post. I also ended up having to retake some photos right before this blog post went live. Apologies for the quality on some of these! I've already put way too many hours into this post in particular so I figured I'd just get it out and finally move on!

Batman Ninja Review and Reaction

It's been a few weeks since Batman Ninja was released! The digital version was available on April 24, but I held out for the Blu-Ray on May 8. I watched it as soon as I purchased it and had tons of thoughts. Overall, I really enjoyed it for what it was, a crossover of Batman and anime. I've been seeing a lot of mixed reviews on Twitter with a lot of people talking about how they absolutely hate it and think it's the worst Batman animated movie ever. If you're considering watching this movie, just understand that it's not for everyone. The style is very unique and, if your'e not a fan of anime, you may not appreciate all the references. I grew up with some anime and even I saw many things that I couldn't fully appreciate. If you can get past that this isn't your typical Batman art style or storyline, you can definitely enjoy it, which several of my friends and I did.

The following goes into more detail on my opinion and reaction to the movie. It contains plenty of spoilers so read on at your own risk if you have not seen it yet!

***SPOILERS AHEAD***

I had so many reactions to this movie that I had to jot down all my thoughts immediately after so I wouldn't forget anything for this blog post.

To start, the plot is based on time travel (and spacial travel in this case), which is how all your favorite Batman characters end up in Feudal Japan. Right off the bat (no pun intended), I'm already hesitant because any storylines that have to do with time travel and magic have never truly appealed to me including the recent Avengers: Infinity War story line. I always think time travel and magic are cop outs and can leave stories with so many plot holes. Maybe that's why I'm drawn to a superhero like Batman or maybe it's the other way around where I lean toward non-magical stories because I already love Batman so much. Despite the premise of the story, I thought it was fun. It's actually ridiculously and purposely over the top so you really do just have to sit back and enjoy the ride.

There were so many Japanese and anime references that there was no way I could catch them all, but I'll describe what I can! If you're a big fan of anime, you will absolutely appreciate the art style. Toward the end of the movie, there's a huge fight scene (go figure) where Batman and the 4 Robins (Nightwing, Red Hood, Red Robin, Robin) are running into battle. I really half expected them to start running like the characters from Naruto with their arms behind them. 😂

Spoiler, they didn't. Based on everything else I saw, it wouldn't have surprised me! I think the way the running was portrayed is still pretty common for anime ninjas, though. I definitely do not look this cool when I'm running.

 

Also in the final battle scene, all the villains are controlling giant robots, which is a very prominent anime genre. Their robots combine to make an even bigger robot. Sound familiar? Think Power Rangers and Voltron. It was pretty obvious the design of the villains' combined robot was inspired by the design of Voltron. I thoroughly appreciated that bit.

So at this point, if you're not familiar with anime, you're probably thinking this all sounds crazy. After all, GIANT. ROBOTS. BUT it gets crazier... or better. Both. We'll say both. To combat the bigger robot, Batman's side of the fight ends up with a GIANT BATMAN made out of, get this, ACTUAL BATS AND AN ARMY OF MONKEYS. You can't make this shit up, people. Japanese people are amazing. 😂 It's so extra and I am here for all of it. You really have to watch to see how the bats and monkeys get together. I can't give away ALL the fun stuff.

Wait, there's more. At one point, Batman needs to get to the head of the villains' robot and ends up making an entrance via a colony of bats (low key, I had to Google what a group of bats was called because I forgot). Picture this colony of bats flying very closely together into a room and then dispersing only to reveal Batman right where they just were. Okay, my initial reaction to this was "WHY DOESN'T BATMAN TRAVEL BY BATS ALL THE TIME?" That's just a great party trick.

With regards to Batman as a character in this movie, to be honest, I thought he was a little soft. He was too quick to forgive Gorilla Grodd and Catwoman. Actually, I think Batman in any other storyline wouldn't have let Grodd get the better of him in the first place and he wouldn't have cared to include Catwoman as much as he did. I still ship Bat and Cat, though. Forever. Any place, any era. Also, this Batman wore the bat symbol too freely outside of his costume. I get they were trying to provide additional nods to the character, but it was out of character (i.e. SUPER NOT STEALTHY) and a bit unnecessary. Luckily, at this point, I've already realized how far removed this storyline is from everything I know about Batman that I really just have to let it slide.

As far as art style goes, I really loved all the character designs. Nightwing, Red Robin, Eian (leader of the Bat Clan), and the Bat Clan ninjas were my favorite designs! Nightwing had that quintessential Dragonball Z hair. I adored it. These character designs give me a cosplay itch. I would love to dress as a Bat Clan ninja! They look so bad ass. In terms of villains, I personally thought they were all well designed especially the Joker. He was a great mix of the psychotic, insane Joker that we all are familiar with, but with this amazing Japanese inspiration that I warmed up to surprisingly quickly.

Deathstroke was hot, I loved that they made Bane a sumo wrestler 🤣, Poison Ivy reminded me of Queen Beryl from Sailor Moon, which I 100% approve of. I just love that they included so many characters. On top of these characters, we also had Harley Quinn, The Penguin, Two-Face, and Alfred! I love that they somehow incorporated Alfred.

A couple of things that I didn't quite understand was Robin's hair and the basket that was meant to replace Red Hood's helmet.

 

After viewing some of the extra content that came with my steelbook Blu-Ray copy from Target, I learned that these elements are very specific to Japanese culture. I can't speak to the hair style as much, but the basket is a nod to Japanese buddhists!

What we REALLY need is an explanation for why Damian (Robin) is so nice! I know they traveled through time and space, but I can't imagine that would completely change Damian's snarky, arrogant personality. It certainly didn't change Jason's (Red Hood) hotheadedness. It was nice to see Robin being so adorable, but it didn't make me believe it was Damian. His disposition in this universe did give us the ridiculously cute relationship he had with a monkey named, Monkichi, though. Shout out to Sanrio.

Robin's little monkey pal was so cute! I could not stop gushing every time Monkichi was on the screen. At the end, they introduced another random monkey for no reason named Monmi. Her introduction served no real purpose for the storyline, but I don't even care. I love them both.

I did have qualms about the change in art style when Red Hood was finally introduced, when he finds Harley Quinn and the Joker on a farm. In the extra content, the creators do mention that they wanted to change up the art, but didn't go into detail into exactly why. I don't feel like it was necessary. I thought it was distracting because my eyes and my mind were trying to adjust to the new art style while still trying to follow along with the story. It also made me wonder whether or not that scene was real or even part of the same timeline. If they were to change the art style in any scene, I suppose I understand why they did it here. At the same time your mind is trying to figure out whether or not the scene is real, this part of the story also makes you wonder whether or not Harley Quinn and the Joker are lying.

Speaking of the Red Hood, his introduction happened very late in the movie and I wish they included him earlier on. I don't think there was any reason to leave him out at the beginning when you meet the rest of the Robins. It's so much fun to see all 4 of them together! I would have loved to see that throughout the entire movie. I also wish you got to see Jason's face more. He does glance out of his basket in the scene where the art style changes, but the fans demand more Jason. Always more Jason.

I saw the movie in English and intend to re-watch in Japanese with English subtitles at some point. I want to compare the English and Japanese voice acting. I don't have any strong opinions about the English voice actors at this point, but I didn't hate it! A friend of mine mentioned they were not a fan of the English Joker (Tony Hale, aka Buster from Arrested Development), but it wasn't as bad as I thought given he told me this before I watched the movie. Roger Craig Smith was fine as Batman for me. I know he voices Batman in some of the Batman Arkham games, which I don't have a lot of experience with, and I surprisingly haven't seen too much of the other animated content he voices Batman in so I'll withhold any judgment until I've seen a bit more of his Batman work.

OVERALL AND IN CONCLUSION, Batman Ninja is a dope movie. I would recommend it if you're a fan of Japanese culture, anime, Batman, and/or cute cartoon monkeys. The things I didn't like definitely didn't take away from how much fun I had watching it. Check it out if you haven't already or, if you've already seen it, let me know if you agree or disagree with my thoughts above.

And Happy Memorial Day Weekend, Bat Fam!

Celebrate International Tabletop Day 2018 with Batman

Happy International Tabletop Day 2018! This day was brought to you by Geek & Sundry. Check out their site to learn more about the history of ITTD and how you can celebrate. Also, conveniently, happy national Superhero Day! What a perfect day to share and review my Batman tabletop games including two I (semi) recently purchased, Batman: The Animated Series Almost Got 'Im Card Game by Cryptozoic and Batman Fluxx by Looney Labs, and one I've had for years, Batman Uno.

Batman: The Animated Series Almost Got 'Im Card Game

This game was created by Cryptozoic. They have a pretty cool selection of nerdy games that you should check out here if you're interested. I've seen some of their games before without even realizing it.

With regards to Almost Got 'Im specifically, if you're following me on Instagram, you saw my post from last year when I initially purchased it. Since then, I've played this game a couple times. It is a bit time consuming to explain and relies on the patience of participants to understand how to play as is the case with most werewolf-style games in my opinion. The contents of the box include plenty of information for you to read and reference during the game as seen below. "The Brains" token refers to who is going first in a round.

Related, I only learned the meaning of the phrase "werewolf-style" game after I purchased this game. They're the type of game where you receive a role and your goal is to uncover a hidden character among the players (e.g. a spy, a rebel, Batman in this cast). I realize they are the type of games that I am awful at because I am an awful liar with no poker face. And of course BTAS Almost Got 'Im is a werewolf-style POKER game. 😂 Double whammy. I admit I'm a sucker for buying a game that I knew I'd probably be bad at because it was inspired by Batman: The Animated Series. I am who I am! Hah. If all else fails, since poker is involved, the game at least comes with a full deck of cards so I can just use those cards on their own.

With that said, this game can be pretty fun if you have a lot of patient friends. Each person gets to be a villain in this game and is also assigned a special role with unique abilities. Abilities are activated based on specific poker hands which you build as the game progresses. All possible villain and role cards are pictured below.

The goal is to figure out who is Batman before he takes out too many villains. There are some really interesting details. For example, Catwoman is a unique character in that she can win with or without the other villains whereas all other villains must win as a group. Catwoman's character has always toed the line between good and evil so this game definitely takes that into account. The larger the playing group, the more characters, roles, and thus abilities can be used. With a large enough group, the Homicidal role can be dealt which tosses an additional wrench into the villains' plans because then both Batman and the person with the Homicidal role have the ability to take out villains. "Some men just want to see the world burn" as Alfred Pennyworth would say (The Dark Knight). There's also the opportunity for some one to take on the role of Healer, which is pretty self-explanatory and gives the villains additional opportunities to keep the game going and potentially win.

The catch with this game is that there is always one person who has to be the dealer who doesn't participate in the actual game, but helps to keep it moving along by moderating and informing all parties of actions and events that take place.

It is a lot to explain as you can imagine given the type of game it is, but hopefully I did it some justice and gave you enough information to judge whether or not you'd like to give it a try yourself. I think the game is well done and appreciate the art and little details that provide a nod to the original series. I want to thank my friends Jonathan and Lindsay who hosted Thanksgiving last year where I was able to play this game in its entirety! Appreciate everyone giving it a try with me. If anyone is curious, Catwoman won that particular game. 😀

Batman Fluxx

 

This game was created by Looney Labs. I've had my eye on this game for a while and received it as a gift this past Christmas from my coworkers!

This is much easier to teach and play than Almost Got 'Im for sure. If you've ever played any of the many versions of Fluxx out there, this isn't much different except the art is inspired by The New Adventures of Batman, which I love.

If you've never played any version of Fluxx before, it's only difficult to explain in that there aren't really any set rules because the rules are always in flux (thus the name of the game). The starting rules are draw one card and play one card.

The quantity of cards that can be in your hand, drawn, played at one time can change throughout the game. When initially learning, most people might ask what the goal of the game is. There are actually goal cards that can be played as well, which means the goal can be a moving target. These goal cards indicate what combinations of character, location, or item cards are needed to win. A good strategy is to play character, location, and item cards that might match a goal card you already have in your hand and then play the goal card once when you have everything you need on the table. There are also special action and surprise cards that add an extra element to the game.

The character, location, and item cards come in the form of Keepers and Creepers, which sometimes have their own rules attached to them. The Creepers (Batman's villains in this case) can actually prevent players from winning, but luckily there are more Keepers than there are Creepers.

If you already have one version of Fluxx, I wouldn't necessarily buy this since they're all pretty similar. However, if you're a Batman fan, this is the version you should be playing! I do understand the temptation to buy more Fluxx versions, though. I've been eyeing the Firefly version just because of how much I love that show, but I really don't need a second version of Fluxx. Must resist.

Batman Uno

This game was created by Mattel and this particular version is actually years and years old. I can't remember exactly when I purchased this, but it's no longer on sale and can only be purchased for way too much from Amazon and eBay resellers. Mattel does currently have some other Batman-related Uno card games, though, if you're in the market and they're only $6! Check out the Batman v Superman version here and the Justice League version here. I do like that this version comes in a tin case, though.

Uno is easy to learn and makes for a great family party game. The goal is to get rid of all your cards and you shout "Uno!" when you're down to one card or you must draw additional cards. To get rid of cards, players match the card in the discard pile by number or color. Pretty simple.

There isn't anything particularly special about the Batman version other than the art, which is really all the reason I need to buy something, isn't it? 😬Heh. If nothing else, I get to enjoy looking at the cards when playing a game of Uno.

I haven't played this one in a while, but definitely should break it out more now that I've brought it to Austin from San Jose where I had it in storage.

Bonus: Batman Heroes Playing Cards

Bonus! I purchased these playing cards a few years ago from Austin Books & Comics. They're still readily available at most locations so check out your local comic book shop (or online as a second option). There's also a Batman Villains deck if that's more up your alley. I might actually grab the villains deck for myself at some point.

It's always handy to have a deck of cards around to keep the game options plentiful and, of course, I wouldn't be me if I didn't have a Batman-inspired deck. The great thing about this deck is that every single card features different art.

And I mean EVERY. SINGLE. CARD.

I love it! 😍😍😍

Out of all of the above, let me know if you have a favorite or perhaps if you've tried any tabletop games lately that you really enjoyed whether or not they're Batman-themed. Hope my explanation of the games above inspired you to celebrate International Tabletop Day this year! Have fun!

P.S. If you're interested in yet another Batman tabletop game, I blogged about the Batman: The Animated Series dice game last year in this post here.