It’s been 60 years since The Riddler started causing headaches for Gotham City on primetime TV. On Jan. 12, 1966, “Batman” arrived in American homes in living color as a half-hour series. The episode, “Hi Diddle Riddle,” introduced Adam West and Burt Ward as Batman and Robin. The show immediately captivated many kids, including Scott Brandt.
“We baby boomers all grew up with the same thing at the same time on the same channel, right?” said Brandt, 66. “It was ‘same bat time, same bat channel,’ and we all tuned in. There was just something visual about watching it that I looked forward to as a child, the color and the graphics. It was so kitschy and fun. It was cool that he had an alter ego—Bruce Wayne—and they had all those cameo appearances by guests like Sammy Davis, Jr.”
Six decades later, the Caped Crusader hasn’t lost any appeal for Brandt, who has accumulated thousands of items stored in the bat cave (a spare room in his house that once served as an office). They include Batman figurines, watches, posters and model Batmobiles.
Brandt owns Moto Exotica, the classic and rare collectible car dealership in Fenton. The business started in 1987, by which time Brandt had already acquired many of his Batman tchotchkes. His collection started around his 7th birthday.
ADVERTISEMENT
“My sister Katie and I had our birthdays two years and a day apart, so our parents made our birthday party Batman-themed,” he said. “We had a Batman cake, a Batman helicopter and we handed out Batman pennants. Batman was always cool to me. From then, I started collecting Batman items.”
That was convenient for Brandt’s extended family. His late mother Joyce always knew what to get him for birthdays and Hanukkah. His friends would scour resale shops for unique Batman memorabilia. They enjoyed the thrill of the hunt and locating any Batman item he didn’t already own. It wasn’t easy, since he had almost everything. It is also difficult to place a value on Batman jigsaw puzzles or a replica Batman utility belt.
“I’m not one of those guys who writes down each piece, what I paid, where I got it from,” Brandt said. “I never went that crazy, other than the Batmobile, which I paid close to $100,000. They were never cheap and they weren’t practical, but only a few people can say, ‘I owned a Batmobile.’”
There were about 10 Batmobiles created, each of which was built on a Lincoln Futura chassis. It is a rare item and the holy grail for a Batman collector. The original model used in the TV series sold in 2013 at the Barrett-Jackson auto auction for more than $4.3 million. Brandt has owned a couple of Batmobile replicas and sold each at a profit. While he had the cars, they drew Batman fans young and old to Moto Exotica.
“People would bring their kids in, and they’d take their pictures with it,” Brandt said. “They’d tag us on social media. KSHE did a promo and the DJ asked if he could go for a ride in it. He said, ‘I’ve interviewed all kinds of famous people and musicians, but this car is special—I’ve got to go for a ride in it.”
Brandt obliged the request, but it wasn’t quite like driving a Bentley or a Rolls-Royce.
“The reality was, it was just a plastic car that rattled and shook,” he said. “The mystique is always better.”
The Batman superhero from DC Comics preceded the TV series by several decades. It was created by writer Bill Finger and artist Bob Kane, both of whom were Jewish.
