Batman handcuffs

In the movie Batman Forever, there were two really cool sets of chromed out space-age looking handcuffs on Batman's "gadget wall" (they can be seen within the first 30 seconds of the movie).....does anyone own a pair of these? Or does anyone have a photo of a pair? I thought someone told me that Ian had made a couple of pairs of these for collectors, some years ago, but I may be mistaken. If anyone has any info or a picture, I would most greatful if you would be so kind as to share.

Cheers, Mike

I have a pair of these, but haven't yet grasped the tecnology to put pictures up on the site! I could email a picture to anyone and they could post it here. Just give me an email address. I know Ian has pictures, and he may be able to help, but I know that pretty soon he's moving home and workshop, and I figure he might be a tad busy!

Mine are now in a frame with Ian's letter of authenticity.

In the movie Batman Forever, there were two really cool sets of chromed out space-age looking handcuffs on Batman's "gadget wall" (they can be seen within the first 30 seconds of the movie).....does anyone own a pair of these? Or does anyone have a photo of a pair? I thought someone told me that Ian had made a couple of pairs of these for collectors, some years ago, but I may be mistaken. If anyone has any info or a picture, I would most greatful if you would be so kind as to share.

Cheers, Mike

This is a picture of one of the Stainless Steel cuffs Ian made. It is in my collection, and the picture is from my handcuff CD. I don't know how many were made.
Stan

www.handcuffsandbadges.com
click on CD ROM button for info on the CD

In the movie Batman Forever, there were two really cool sets of chromed out space-age looking handcuffs on Batman's "gadget wall" (they can be seen within the first 30 seconds of the movie).....does anyone own a pair of these? Or does anyone have a photo of a pair? I thought someone told me that Ian had made a couple of pairs of these for collectors, some years ago, but I may be mistaken. If anyone has any info or a picture, I would most greatful if you would be so kind as to share.

Cheers, Mike

Stan and Mick, thank you very much, I really apperciate the quick response. =)

Stan, do your's fold together flat? Also, they do not appear to swing-thru....is that correct?

Mick, if your's are different than Stans, I would love to see them. You can e-mail a pic to [email protected] .

Thanks again to both of you!

Cheers, Mike

In the movie Batman Forever, there were two really cool sets of chromed out space-age looking handcuffs on Batman's "gadget wall" (they can be seen within the first 30 seconds of the movie).....does anyone own a pair of these? Or does anyone have a photo of a pair? I thought someone told me that Ian had made a couple of pairs of these for collectors, some years ago, but I may be mistaken. If anyone has any info or a picture, I would most greatful if you would be so kind as to share.

Cheers, Mike

Stan, after I took a second look at your cuffs, I can see a tiny bit of what looks to be a swing-thru opening, and upon further examination, the bow arm looks like a Bud-K fantasy knife! LOL!!!! Very cool, very unnique! Thanks again!

Cheers, Mike

In the movie Batman Forever, there were two really cool sets of chromed out space-age looking handcuffs on Batman's "gadget wall" (they can be seen within the first 30 seconds of the movie).....does anyone own a pair of these? Or does anyone have a photo of a pair? I thought someone told me that Ian had made a couple of pairs of these for collectors, some years ago, but I may be mistaken. If anyone has any info or a picture, I would most greatful if you would be so kind as to share.

Cheers, Mike

They fold flat in both directions. The bows swing thru. Key is standard cuff key, but there is no keyway center post on the cuff. They are very heavy.
Stan

In the movie Batman Forever, there were two really cool sets of chromed out space-age looking handcuffs on Batman's "gadget wall" (they can be seen within the first 30 seconds of the movie).....does anyone own a pair of these? Or does anyone have a photo of a pair? I thought someone told me that Ian had made a couple of pairs of these for collectors, some years ago, but I may be mistaken. If anyone has any info or a picture, I would most greatful if you would be so kind as to share.

Cheers, Mike

I just noticed they are not symmetrical. The two bows are different, and the right one in the pic looks like half the teeth have been left off. Am I correct that they don't double lock?

My best guess is that they are toolroom models. One offs or maybe a few identical ones made. They were probably cut out with a computer numerical controlled waterjet cutter. Notice they're held together with hex head cap screws. That's a good toolroom technique, easier than riveting, and they won't show up on film at any distance. I'm guessing they don't double lock, by the lack of pins on the cuff plate. They probably have a very rudimentary lock - adequate for a movie prop (especially since they apparently never were used) but not for a duty cuff.

Fascinating pieces. They must be worth a prince's ransom.

In the movie Batman Forever, there were two really cool sets of chromed out space-age looking handcuffs on Batman's "gadget wall" (they can be seen within the first 30 seconds of the movie).....does anyone own a pair of these? Or does anyone have a photo of a pair? I thought someone told me that Ian had made a couple of pairs of these for collectors, some years ago, but I may be mistaken. If anyone has any info or a picture, I would most greatful if you would be so kind as to share.

Cheers, Mike

Dennis:
You seem to be a real expert. I should point out that the bows are actually symmetrical. One is open and one is closed. Maybe that is why they appear different. The notches are identical on both bows. The cuff does not double lock. The cap screws are actually pop rivits. This was made by Ian McColl. and it was not made for or used in the Batman movie. It is just a unique design inspired by the movie cuffs.

In the movie Batman Forever, there were two really cool sets of chromed out space-age looking handcuffs on Batman's "gadget wall" (they can be seen within the first 30 seconds of the movie).....does anyone own a pair of these? Or does anyone have a photo of a pair? I thought someone told me that Ian had made a couple of pairs of these for collectors, some years ago, but I may be mistaken. If anyone has any info or a picture, I would most greatful if you would be so kind as to share.

Cheers, Mike

Actually,
The bows are symmetrical. The teeth have not been filed off
but the cuffs designed that way. They are not one-offs.
But, the production was not high. Ian designed the cuff
from a model which didn't function, (I think he told me that), and then drew up patterns and had them laser cut in steel. He then assembled them (hand made) with the parts. I also have one, and talked to him about the process. He's made several other recent items by laser cutting, including
a thumbcuff and the "Flash Action" cuff he made a few years ago.

In the movie Batman Forever, there were two really cool sets of chromed out space-age looking handcuffs on Batman's "gadget wall" (they can be seen within the first 30 seconds of the movie).....does anyone own a pair of these? Or does anyone have a photo of a pair? I thought someone told me that Ian had made a couple of pairs of these for collectors, some years ago, but I may be mistaken. If anyone has any info or a picture, I would most greatful if you would be so kind as to share.

Cheers, Mike

Michael...Mine are identical to Stan's. Ian made a few and numbered them. The number is difficult to find, and as mine is now in a box frame, I can't locate the number easily.

The key does not rest on a pin in the cuff, but I modified mine slightly, by drilling thru the keyhole into the baseplate, and making a key with the stem extended very slightly to create a pivot point. The original keys had to be held vertically to prevent them "wobbling" about in the keyhole. Hope this makes sense.

If you'd still like a picture, let me know and I'll take it out of the frame.

In the movie Batman Forever, there were two really cool sets of chromed out space-age looking handcuffs on Batman's "gadget wall" (they can be seen within the first 30 seconds of the movie).....does anyone own a pair of these? Or does anyone have a photo of a pair? I thought someone told me that Ian had made a couple of pairs of these for collectors, some years ago, but I may be mistaken. If anyone has any info or a picture, I would most greatful if you would be so kind as to share.

Cheers, Mike

I'm in no way an expert, but I have some knowlede of machineshop techniques and metal fabrication. There are plenty of clues in the photos. I obviously wasn't observant enough to notice that the right hand bow was partially closed obscuring that big, prominent cutout. <Pouring self another cup of coffee>

CNC laser cutting or water jet cutting is really a boon to projects like this, and the more fanciful the shepe, the more of a boon it is. Once you have the prototype working, it's no big deal to order another dozen sets cut out. The work is all saved on a floppy disk. In the old days, you could do a one-off with milling and grinding, but turning that into two pieces meant you had to do all the work all over, and they might come out different. Making two pieces was a lot harder than just making one. Now, you just push the button and sign the check. The down side is you have to work in CAD, or have someone who can convert your sketches to CAD to drive the CNC.

Adding those little cross pins and key posts is a surprisingly finicky job, unless you have a CNC machine. The chances of something going wrong probably goes up as something like the square of the number of individual critical operations, so minimizing those is a real boon.

In the movie Batman Forever, there were two really cool sets of chromed out space-age looking handcuffs on Batman's "gadget wall" (they can be seen within the first 30 seconds of the movie).....does anyone own a pair of these? Or does anyone have a photo of a pair? I thought someone told me that Ian had made a couple of pairs of these for collectors, some years ago, but I may be mistaken. If anyone has any info or a picture, I would most greatful if you would be so kind as to share.

Cheers, Mike

I am an escape artist and a major comic book collector. Batman is one of the main ones i collect- books, cars, suits, weapons, etc. And a set of these would be a great addition i think.
so my question, since Ian made those, could he (would he) make another pair?

thanks

In the movie Batman Forever, there were two really cool sets of chromed out space-age looking handcuffs on Batman's "gadget wall" (they can be seen within the first 30 seconds of the movie).....does anyone own a pair of these? Or does anyone have a photo of a pair? I thought someone told me that Ian had made a couple of pairs of these for collectors, some years ago, but I may be mistaken. If anyone has any info or a picture, I would most greatful if you would be so kind as to share.

Cheers, Mike

You can contact Ian and ask him... if he is not interested,I believe that Mark Cannon still has a set of them for sale, you might contact him at cannonsgreatescapes.com

In the movie Batman Forever, there were two really cool sets of chromed out space-age looking handcuffs on Batman's "gadget wall" (they can be seen within the first 30 seconds of the movie).....does anyone own a pair of these? Or does anyone have a photo of a pair? I thought someone told me that Ian had made a couple of pairs of these for collectors, some years ago, but I may be mistaken. If anyone has any info or a picture, I would most greatful if you would be so kind as to share.

Cheers, Mike

Hi, I will check my rcords but I think I have made about 15 Batman handcuffs and still have a few pairs, some I have sent to Cannon's Great escapes for ease of purchase.

The original metal cuff used in the movie was sold several years back on Ebay and fetched $5000.00. another prop from the same movie was a solid non functioning rubber copy (painted in two tone gray) which I assume the actor could slip on the wrist and allow movement without injury.

My cuff was based on the shape of this cuff and was drawn up directly from the movie cuff photo and even the hinge is copied as same as the orginal. It's an impressive design and for that treason I wanted to make them.

regards

Ian

In the movie Batman Forever, there were two really cool sets of chromed out space-age looking handcuffs on Batman's "gadget wall" (they can be seen within the first 30 seconds of the movie).....does anyone own a pair of these? Or does anyone have a photo of a pair? I thought someone told me that Ian had made a couple of pairs of these for collectors, some years ago, but I may be mistaken. If anyone has any info or a picture, I would most greatful if you would be so kind as to share.

Cheers, Mike

That sounds like it was definitely a fun project!