BATMAN DAY FUN

Did you do anything fun as part of Batman Day? DC Comics marked Saturday, September 21, 2019 as the day it officially commemorated Batman's 80th anniversary. The Caped Crusader's first appearance was in 1939 within the pages of Detective Comics.  Since then Batman has become a pop culture icon that has been featured in movies, television shows, video games and much more.  To commemorate this milestone year, there were a number of ways people could celebrate Batman Day.

My family participated in a number of Batman Day activities for some weekend fun starting off with a visit to Time Travelers Comics, Cards & Collectibles. Participating comic book shops were handing out free commemorative issues of BATMAN: NIGHTWALKER and THE BATMAN WHO LAUGHS #1 in honor of Batman's 80th birthday. THE BATMAN WHO LAUGHS special edition also included a cut out mask of the issue's villainous version of the Dark Knight.

Next we headed over to the LEGO STORE at Somerset Collection. They were hosting a free LEGO vehicle building session where you could build a Batmobile to take home with you. While these LEGO toys looked more like a mini-van with bat wings than the sleek vehicles seen in Batman's adventures, my kids were still geeked about this experience.  My son said his LEGO Batmobile was AWESOME because he could adjust its wings to be a walking mech robot, an airplane or a car with turbo boosters. While my daughter appreciated her mini Bat-vehicle was a challenging puzzle to put together because building with LEGO is half the fun of playing with them.

While at the mall, we stopped by the Grand Opening of BROWN BAG POPCORN.  We bought a mixture of their Cocoa Popped, Double Dribble and Caramelicious gourmet popcorn flavors to bring home and snacked on them while watching the Batman and Robin episodes of THE NEW SCOOBY DOO MOVIES television show which we have on Blu-ray. Brown Bag Popcorn is a perfect treat for a family night in watching classic cartoons.

From our taste testing experience, have to say Brown Bag Popcorn is delicious! Plus all the profits from this store support a charity called Say Detroit founded by newspaper columnist and novelist Mitch Albom. Following the example of Newman's Own Foundation, Albom has created businesses that support the community through creating jobs and funneling 100% of profits to charitable causes.  So not only does Brown Bag Popcorn taste good but by buying it you are helping people do good works too!

Before we watched those Scooby-Doo cartoons I mentioned though, we spent some time playing the BATMAN THE ANIMATED SERIES LEVEL PACK FOR LEGO DC SUPER VILLAINS VIDEO GAME. While most of the LEGO DC SUPER VILLAINS video game focusses on playing through an adventure from the perspective of super villains from the DC Comics universe, this level lets you play as the Caped Crusader in a setting with characters and locations based upon BATMAN THE ANIMATED SERIES. We always have a super time playing LEGO video games!

While playing LEGO Batman on our Xbox One, we also were blasting some Gothem City themed tunes on Spotify. DC Comics worked with Spotify to compiled the Ultimate Batman Playlist of music from Batman-related films, television and games for the super hero's 80th anniversary. From songs by Prince and R.E.M. to orchestral tunes by Danny Elfman and Hans Zimmer, these are perfect tunes to put you in a Batman frame of mind.

Holy Scooby Snacks Batman! This dad blogger had a great time on Batman Day. Best of all it involved spending some quality family time making for a super day of weekend fun.

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Batmobile in the Spotlight at Detroit Auto Show

Startled Detroiters were abuzz as the night sky over the city glowed with an iconic symbol.  Emblazoned against the top of the city's towering Renaissance Center landmark was the Bat Signal.  Was the Joker on the prowl and would the Caped Crusader be on his way to save the day?!  Actually the signal displayed against the backdrop of GM's corporate headquarters was to alert us all that the batmobile was on its way ... to the Detroit Auto Show the next day.



Holy Plastic Bricks Batman there's a life-size LEGO Batmobile at the Chevy exhibit! Yes its true! Chevrolet unveiled a life-size LEGO® Batmobile to correspond with the first day the 2017 North American International Auto Show being held at COBO Center in Detroit, Michigan was open to the public and will be on display until the conclusion of the event on January 22.

Measuring 17-feet long and featuring exclusive stud shooters, the LEGO Batmobile from Chevrolet was designed to strike fear in the heart of any villain. The vehicle was inspired by Batman’s Speedwagon featured in “The LEGO^® Batman Movie,” which hits U.S. theaters on February 10, 2017.  In this exciting new animated LEGO^® adventure, Batman, DC’s iconic Super Hero who famously prefers to work alone, must learn to cooperate and connect with others to save Gotham City from the villainous Joker.

Designed and assembled by a team of LEGO Master Builders at the LEGO Model Shop in Enfield, Connecticut this real-life plastic brick Batmobile took 222 hours to design and 1,833 hours to build.  This life-size model weights 1,695 pounds with each of its tires weighing just over 100 pounds.  While Chevrolet humorously promotes the vehicle as being available in 12 different shades of black to appeal to aspiring Dark Knights, the model actually consists of 17 different colors of LEGO plastic bricks. In total 344,187 LEGO bricks were used to construct Batman's Speedwagon.

Chevrolet has created a funny mock up of a vehicle schematics page promoting the "All-New LEGO Batmobile from Chevy" that promotes it to potential buyers as "perfect for a night out saving the town."  Filled with information about towing capacity, horsepower, and wi-fi connectivity, this website even compares the Batmobile's features to The Joker's Notorious Lowrider and The Riddler Racer.  You really need to check this out! If you aren't scared off by a $48,000,000 price tag please CLICK HERE to find out more info about LEGO Batmobile from Chevrolet.

In addition to being displayed at the Detroit Auto Show and shown on the big screen in "The LEGO Batman Movie," this Batmobile will also appearing in Chevrolet’s “Real People, Not Actors” campaign. In the new spot, real LEGO^® Minifigure^™ figurines discuss what kind of person would drive the all-new LEGO^® Batmobile from Chevrolet.



The LEGO Batmobile from Chevrolet is a partnership between General Motors, LEGO, and Warner Brothers to celebrate the upcoming release of "The Batman LEGO Movie."  For more information about the movie, please visit legobatman.com