1966 Topps Batman The Mermen #10B Raw Batman Blue Bat B Series

Description

1966 Topps Batman The Mermen #10B Raw Batman Blue Bat B Series A giant red fish with jaws like a trap, a second monster lurking in the surf, and Batman and Robin caught mid escape. That is the 1966 Topps Batman The Mermen #10B Raw Batman Blue Bat B Series, card number 10 of the 44 card B Series, and one of the most colorfully strange scenes in the entire set. The front banner reads Amphibious Attackers, and the illustration stacks the oversized fish head against the heroes with a dynamism that makes the card pop in a display case. The back story explains the menace, a legend of the mysterious and menacing mermen of Volcano Island, who turned out to wish to sink all the earth's continents. It is peak 1960s adventure fantasy, the kind of over the top threat that the era did best, and it makes this card a favorite for collectors who want something visually loud and unmistakably 60s in their Batman collection. This 44 card B Series was issued by Topps in 1966 under license from National Periodical Publications, Inc., the copyright holder of the Batman properties, during the height of the boom around the Adam West and Burt Ward television show. The set was printed in the Black Bat, Red Bat, and Blue Bat border variations, and this copy wears the Blue Bat frame with its light blue border. The right edge of the reverse is marked T. C. G. PTD. IN CANADA, which identifies the Canadian printer, the Toronto Card and Game Company, and confirms the Canadian printing. To be explicit for buyers, this is not an O-Pee-Chee bilingual back, and the reverse text is English only. The back uses the standard story back layout of the series, with the title, a short narrative, the collect all 44 line, and a large color art panel, the design that modern checklists refer to as the puzzle back. The mermen of Volcano Island are the kind of exotic villain threat that defined the 1966 Batman television show, where every other episode seemed to ship the Dynamic Duo off to some new impossible location. That adventurous tone is what made the show a cultural event, and the trading cards that rode along with it have become the most accessible entry point into 1960s Batman memorabilia for a new generation of collectors. The wider market tells the same story. The Black Bat version of the #1 The Batman has reached record prices at Heritage, while the Blue Bat and Red Bat variations, like this #10B, trade at a fraction of the cost and give collectors the same vintage feel without the premium. The Amphibious Attackers art is also among the most colorful in the set, with the red fish dominating the frame, which helps the card hold its value and its place in display cases next to the more famous Joker and Penguin cards. the front is the straightest of the mid sheet cards, with only a few thin white surface scratches, one crossing the large fish's eye and another through the center of the card, a small white scuff on the lower left border, and a small nick on the top edge near the upper right corner. All four corners are rounded with light edge wear, and the outer margins are whitened on every side, while the red fish, the blue water, and the green banner all retain their vivid 1960s color. The card is flat with even centering inside the blue border. The reverse shows light surface scuffs on the merman hand art, a faint vertical crease on the right side of the art panel, a frayed and whitened lower edge, and rounded corners, while the story text stays fully legible. This is the classic story back, a Canadian printing marked T. C. G. PTD. IN CANADA, and not an O-Pee-Chee bilingual back. With no creases and only light surface marks, we grade this copy conservatively at raw EX 5. Grade Estimate: EX 5