Item #0016 – Batman: The Animated Series 100 Piece Puzzle (1993)

I got this puzzle at one of the most unorganized thrift stores I’ve ever visited. It’s one of those where you just need to shift stacks of items around and try not to make (more of) a mess. When one of the employees/volunteers come by with their judging glares, you try to tidy up your piles with a smile to assure them that they aren’t going to have to shut the place down in order to clean up after you. (How do you do that? By making more piles that are smaller? I don’t know. This is the world of thrift.) Having our kids rummaging around probably made it seem more chaotic, but in the madness, I found this “Blast From My After-School TV Zone-Out Time Past.”

I don’t really remember having much homework in elementary school, but maybe I blocked that out to focus on the really important stuff that 10-year olds prioritize in life…like watching some of my favorite Fox Kids weekday afternoon shows! After a humid Miami school day, I cooled off at my grandmother’s house and immediately powered on the TV so I could watch Tiny Toons Adventures, Animaniacs, and, my favorite, Batman: The Animated Series. Even though the 1992-1995 series was animated, aired at 4:30pm alongside other kid-geared shows, and promoted the triumph of good over evil, this Batman show still delved in some rather mature themes such as abusive relationships, organized crime, and child poverty. Pretty heavy stuff, I know; however, probably not as bad as what I watched on MTV on the weekends. (One of the many reasons why we don’t have cable at our house.)

In addition to receiving two Emmys, the series produced other “accolades” that were collected in kids’ rooms in the form of merchandise. Toys from the series can fetch a pretty penny nowadays especially in the original packaging and depending on their rarity. On eBay, Kenner branded action figures such as Scarecrow with his Trashing Sickle are still somewhat affordable at about $20 each, but the vehicles like the Bat Plane and Batmobile are listed at prices starting at about $75 and going way up from there. Then there’s your novelty merchandise like bed sheets and our neat-o puzzle (also serves as an eclectic art piece when put together and sealed…wink, wink) that pop up sporadically. Whatever your budget, there’s still a treasure trove of items for fans of the show.

Some of you may be astonished that all the pieces of this puzzle are present. Well I actually found two of these same puzzles at Messy Messy Thrift Stores Inc. that day. When I put both puzzles together, each one needed just one piece…a different piece…which meant one was going to be incomplete. (Again, this is the world of thrift. I’m lucky I got one.) The saddest thing is that I threw the other puzzle out BEFORE my mind was flooded with upcycling craft ideas for those pieces! AAAAAHHH!

Do you have any collectibles from TV shows you watched as a kid? Would you ever part with them…or turn them into an upcycled craft project? 😀

Status:  Find my Batman puzzle on Etsy.

Random For You:

Mark Hamill (you know, Luke Skywalker) does the voice for the Joker in the series. WHAT?!?!?!?

The series was also responsible for introducing the character of Harley Quinn. Her popularity lead to her first appearance in DC’s The Batman Adventures #12 (September 1993) which sells for a couple hundred dollars to almost $2000 on eBay depending on condition.

After a two year absence, the series was rebooted as The New Batman Adventures and moved to WB Kids. I’ve seen NONE of these. Seriously.