The Finnish Batman Blitsdrink!

Any good Batman collector will tell you, the late 1960's arguably was the "Golden-Age" for collecting The Caped Crusader, Boy Wonder, and the host of other characters that inhabited their universe. Encouraged by the successful television series and the number of different Bat-merchandise it inspired, "Batmania" swept through the United States at a feverish pace. No area of merchandising was left untouched, so it came to be that certain food products were created with Batman as it's main enticement.

We all have a general familiarity of the food products that came out at that time: the "Slam Bamm Vanilla" Ice cream, apple jellies, orange and chocolate flavored drinks, popsicles etc. But were you aware that food related Bat-products also were made outside the U.S.? In countries like Japan, England, & Finland, a number of products were made for their populace that never reached their American counterparts.

The Finnish Batman Blitsdrink was one such example.

As the accompanying photo's would attest, the drink appears to have had an auspicious introduction to the thirsty masses of Finlanders in 1966. With much apparent pomp and circumstance, parades heralded the entrance of the newest addition to the then increasing world of Batman; The Batman Blitsdrink!

(Of special interest to collectors should be the inflatable promotional bottle pictured in some of the photos; A piece that would most certainly command a premium price if not for the sheer oddity of it today.)

A carbonated lemonade concoction, the drink itself sold for the U.S. equivalent of a quarter, and could be purchased in single bottles or in six packs. A promotion was tied to the product whereby four labels and 40 cents could get you a Batman tumbler similar in size to that a tall beer glass. Later, 2 types of Robin and another Batman was added to the possible glasses one could have obtained in the set. These glasses are easily distinguishable by the extremely thin glass they are made of. As such, they are prone to chip or crack easily; making mint examples of these glasses expensive.

During the revival in 1989, examples of Batman drinks surfaced yet again. Australia had it's "Batman Cola" while once again a Finnish cola was made in a black, emblem emblazed can. Given the difficulties and cost of importing these and other food items from abroad, they were only available in their respective countries.