Batman Trading Cards

According to Old Bubblegum Cards.com three sets of Batman trading cards were released in 1966 by Topps. My small collection of TV trading cards includes quite a few Batman cards, all from the Series 1 set, known as “Orange Backs” or “Black Bat” cards. I also have a few from the set based on the 1966 feature film.

Scan of the front of a Batman trading card depicting Batman and Robin in the Batmobile

Batman Series 1 – Card #3 Front
Scan of the back of a Batman trading card

Batman Series 1 – Card #3 Back
Scan of the front of a Batman trading card depicting Batman watching some bad guys through a window.

Batman Series 1 – Card #5 Front
Scan of the back of a Batman trading card

Batman Series 1 – Card #5 Back
Scan of the front of a Batman trading card depicting Batman and Robin researching Cat Woman.

Batman Series 1 – Card #25 Front
Scan of the back of a Batman trading card

Batman Series 1 – Card #25 Back
Scan of the front of a Batman trading card depicting Batman caught in a whirlpool.

Batman Series 1 – Card #54 Front
Scan of the back of a Batman trading card

Batman Series 1 – Card #54 Back

Did you collect Batman trading cards back in the 1960s? How many did you have? More importantly, do you still have them?


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8 Replies to “Batman Trading Cards”

  1. Boy, were these trading cards popular! {the sticks of gum that came with it were quite tasty as well} 1966 was “The Year Of Batman”, and these cards were just ONE example of that. The idea behind this series of cards, as with virtually every other Topps trading card set dealing with TV characters, was an ongoing “serialized” story on the backs of all 55 cards; in this case, there were also 5 “mini-series” of 11 apiece, within the main story, featuring Batman & Robin fighting their famous “rogues gallery” of villains. The cards were conceived BEFORE the TV series began {the “Cat Woman” is obviously patterned after the one featured in the comic books}. These cards originally cost 5 cents apiece (several in a pack, with one stick of gum), and if one was lucky, it probably would have cost a dilligent fan a few dollars to collect all 55. Today, collecting the entire series now costs several hundred dollars [depending on the dealer offering it to you].

  2. I remember the cards that went with the TV show and had scenes not only from the show but stills from the movie based on the TV show.

  3. Those were the later series, ‘Cee Jay’. These examples are from the first set; nobody at Topps knew exactly “how” the TV series looked at the time these were first issued, so they relied on earlier comic book images.

  4. Is it just me or does the Cat Woman illustration look like it was originally a painting of the Flash, retouched into Batman colors and pointed ears?

  5. I had all the cards – the first set with the orange backs, and the next two sets with blue and white backs. I also had the ones from the movie. Unfortunately they went missing (probably Mom eventually threw them away, but I can’t be sure). In 1989 my wife bought me the Topps reissue set of the first three series, and I still have those.

  6. I’ve got all 3 sets with every card…
    But which maker/country is the most sought after?
    I see them going for vary different prices on eBay
    Anywhere from thousands to hundreds.
    I’m confused

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