He and his buddies loved anything to do with the Caped Crusader. In his Somerton neighborhood, the boys played with black-and-blue action figures. They raced toy Batmobiles. They washed their hair with shampoo that came in plastic bottles shaped like the Dynamic Duo.

Suplee's friends outgrew the fascination with all things Batman.

"I didn't," said the 45-year-old Dresher father of two and sales manager for a payroll company. Suplee wore a black T with the familiar logo of a silhouetted bat against a yellow ellipse.

While Batman is as popular as ever - The Dark Knight took in a record $158.3 million at the box office in its first weekend - Suplee likes the character more than most.

He has a Bat Cave, after all.

There in the finished basement of his colonial house, wooden shelves display a vast collection of memorabilia: Batman action figures, Batman mugs - and rugs - Batman posters, Batman snow globes, Batman PEZ dispensers, more then 3,000 items in all. That includes the Batman nightlight. And Batman trash can. And Lenox Batman figurine. And the Batman (and Robin) shampoo. And the Eggo waffle box with the Batman promo.

As the Boy Wonder would no doubt exclaim, Holy collectibles, Batman!

"It's grown greatly as he's gotten older," said Barb, 44, his wife of 14 years. "There's more stuff in the closet, stuff in the attic."

"Batman is just cool," he offered as explanation and perhaps defense of a pursuit that has consumed thousands of dollars.

Suplee, though, can't be all that obsessed. He waited until Friday afternoon to catch The Dark Knight, noting that he likes what he's seen of Christian Bale's take on the hero, though he thought the new movie turned out darker than he had expected. (For the record, George Clooney's rendition of the role got a thumbs down.)

Suplee finds appeal in the good-vs.-evil story, he said. Batman "has no superpowers," he said. "He's just a real person. . . . His parents are killed by criminals, and he wants to fight crime."

His collection, he said, connects him to his childhood. A favorite piece is a 1966 metal lunch box, just like one he had back in the day. "It reminds me of being a little kid," he said.

Nostalgia for childhood often drives the amassing of pop culture toys and such, according to Arnold T. Blumberg, curator of Geppi's Entertainment Museum in Baltimore and contributing writer to Toy Collector Magazine.

"People will always collect what they love," he said. "It sparks that sense of happiness."