And now for a little flashback to 1995 and the release of Batman Forever – and more specifically, the release of the Batman Forever sticker album.
Back during the 1990s, it was very common for big movie releases to be accompanied with lots of tie-in merchandise, including toys, trading cards, and fast food promotions. In the case of Batman Forever, the movie had all of these tie-ins and more, including a collectable sticker album from Merlin.
Spread across 34 pages, the Batman Forever sticker album cost 65p and included space for 210 stickers. The stickers were available in packs of six for the wallet-friendly price of 23p, and this made them highly desirable (and affordable) for young Bat-fans with pocket money to spend.
Over the 34 pages, the album told a condensed version of Batman Forever’s story. There was a lot of ‘skimming over’ the details, but when accompanied by images, collector’s could get a watered-down take on the plot.
Perhaps most interesting of all was the inclusion of images which didn’t appear in the final cut of the film – such as the three below.
To the left is the first sticker from the book and is production art from the original opening of the movie – a scene that was supposed to feature Two-Face. The image to the right is also from the same opening scene, and is a message written in blood from Two-Face’s empty cell.
The third image is from a deleted scene towards the end of the movie. In the scene, Bruce Wayne has a vision/memory whereby he sees a giant bat.
Although collector’s didn’t know it at the time, these images would not appear in the finished film. It is interesting to see them now.
Collecting stickers in the run-up to the movie’s release really built up excitement for the picture. And swapping spare stickers in the playground was also heaps of fun too!
Of course, even swapping stickers couldn’t fill in all the gaps in the album, so Merlin provided a mail-in service for those unable to obtain every sticker. Collectors were given the option to purchase the final 25 to complete the album by sending in a list of what they needed.
Did I complete the album? Not originally, no.
I filled up most of the album, but never quite made it to the final 25. Over time, that album also got lost in one of various house moves.
The album you see in this post is one I picked up from eBay a couple of years ago. I also picked up a full set of stickers.
I spent a very pleasant evening putting the stickers in the album and it took me back to 1995 and being a youngster again. It was bliss!
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Thanks for stopping by I’ll Get Drive-Thru to read this post on the Batman Forever sticker album. Should you want more Batman-related content, check out one of the recommended reads below.
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