This set was issued by both Topps (or T.C.G.C.) in America, and licensed for sale by A. & B.C. Gum in the United Kingdom. Our card is easily proven to be the A. & B.C. Gum version because if you look along the right hand side there is a blurry blob, which is the trademark of A. & B.C. Gum, being their initials inside small cube shaped boxes.
There are several variants of this set, which appear in our original British Trade Index part II. There they are catalogued as :
"BATMAN" Grouping (A). Md. 81 x 55-57. Nd. ... ... ABF-2
1. Front with caption in black, "bat" outline. Titled "Batman" on back below number (55)
A. Full length picture of Batman on R of text
B. Abbreviated picture of Batman on R of text, with inscription "Join the official Batman Fan Club" with details in panel below
2. Front with caption in red, "bat" outline. Sectional back. Nd. 1A to 44A. (44)
3. Front with caption in blue "bat" outline. Sectional back. Nd, 1B to 44B. (44)
4. Front without caption, red number in circle. (55)
A. Sectional back headed "Bat Laffs".
B. Sectional back headed "Batman" in "bat" outline.
5. Front without caption, red imitation corner mounts. Back in black, "The Riddler`s Riddle" in lower half, with answer in code requiring paper "Secret Decoder" slip packed with wrapper (38)
Most collectors call this the "blue bat set", because the title on the front is in a bat shaped emblem which is a solid in blue, and to be fair that does distinguish it from the cards with the black bat and the red bat. It is also known as the "B Series", because on the back of the cards the number is followed by the letter "B".
You must also be careful because this sectional blue bat "B Series" was reprinted in 1989, when the live action film of "Batman" was released. These reprints are relatively easy to spot though because there are additional wordings. The most noticeable is right beside the sectional picture on the reverse where it adds "1966 DELUXE REISSUE EDITION", but it also changes the other wording to read "THE TOPPS COMPANY INC. BATMAN TM & (C) DC COMICS INC. 1966. REISSUED 1989"
Now for even more confusion, because Topps produced two different back designs for the original cards. The most easily available one has a sectional back making up part of a puzzle, and, as we showed you above, it is the only version mentioned in our British Trade Indexes.
However, once these sectional backed cards had been issued in America in 1966, Topps released a totally different second back, showing here. These are most often known as "cape" cards, because of the back design, but they are also sometimes known as "blue bat back" cards. However they are also known as "descriptive cards" or "story cards" which is rather confusing because the puzzle cards that we show as our main picture already have descriptive text to one side of the image and it tells a story.
To add to the fun, Topps Batman cards were also issued by O-Pee-Chee in Canada, and by Scanlens (Australasia). You really only know which they are when you look closely at what follows that bit, which is easy enough for O-Pee-Chee as it says "(C) T.G.C PTD CANADA". However the Scanlens cards all seem to just say "(C) T.G.C.PRTD U.S.A" which is exactly the same as the Topps American cards - I have spent a great afternoon looking at the Australian version of eBay, and though the listings all say Scanlens I have not found a single one that does not have "(C) T.G.C.PRTD U.S.A" on it. So if there is anyone out there who can do a spot of confirming or denying, please do.