THE FIRE AND WATER PODCASTThe official podcast of THE AQUAMAN SHRINE and FIRESTORM FAN
Episode 46 - Super Powers Collection, Part 2: Vehicles, Cartoons, Comics and Merchandise!
This episode Shag and I revisit one of the most beloved superhero brands of all time - Kenner's Super Powers Collection! We continue our coverage with: vehicles and playsets from the toyline, Super Powers around the globe, the cartoons, the comic books, and tons of tie-in merchandise!
For more on the Super Powers Collection action figures, visit Jason Geyer's Super Powers Archive:
http://www.actionfigureinsider.com/archives/sp/
Also, be sure to visit the Hall of Justice Super Powers website:
http://www.kennersuperpowers.com
Have a question or comment? Send us an e-mail at: firewaterpodcast@comcast.net
Also, you can leave a comment on our sites:
THE AQUAMAN SHRINE - http://www.aquamanshrine.com
FIRESTORM FAN - http://firestormfan.com
Subscribe via iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/podcast/the-fire-and-water-podcast/id463855630
Outro music by Daniel Adams and The Bad Mamma Jammas!
http://www.facebook.com/BadMammaJammas
Thanks for listening! Fan the Flame and Ride the Wave!
8 comments:
1. I never had any of the Super Powers vehicles, or very many toy vehicles in general. Being poor, I only bought figures, and even then, typically only discounted ones. The rare vehicle was usually reserved for holidays. My fresh store bought figures were Green Lantern, Hawkman, Robin, Darkseid and Wonder Woman (girl figures were so uncommon then.) My cheapie bin dives were Doctor Fate, Martian Manhunter, Parademon, and Plastic Man. Many others were 2nd hand/trades, which is how I got the Penguin, a capeless Batman, Desaad, and capeless Superman (did not want, but I was forced to swap under duress for my Secret Wars Doctor Doom.) I recall wanting Steppenwolf and Tyr, but never getting them. I almost got Cyclotron, because I loved removable masks, but passed for some other toy. None of them survived the great 1980s juvie/summer camp theft under my brother's watch, which is how I ended up with all his Masters of the Universe toys in restitution.
2. Rejected April Fool's Day post: Unreleased Super Powers Vehicle- Red Planet Defense Shield = Martian Manhunter figure in a water-filled condom.
I loved, and still do actually, my Super Powers toys! We didnt have a lot of money growing up, but I still managed to get a lot of these figures AND 2 vehicles! I still have them all too! Aquaman, Batman, Robin, Superman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkman, Cyclotron, Samurai, Red Tornado, Doctor Fate, Plastic Man, Green Arrow, Shazam, Darkseid, Joker, Penguin, Luthor...and the Supermobile and Lex-Soar 7 (which does look a little Star Wars-esque)
And I still have a carded Green Arrow too (even though the bubble is all yellow now...and he has a bright orange mark down sticker on him)
Not to mention the ToyBiz knock offs Aquaman, Superman, Batman, Joker, Two-Face and the "Robin Hood:Prince Of Thieves" Green Arrow/Kevin Costner mash-up (I worked part time at a toy store when I got these)
Grumpy old man time...why don't they make toys like these nowadays?
Yesterday was Super Powers day! I will admit, I'm not a regular listener to the Fire and Water podcast, only because I don't buy most modern comics, but I couldn't resist a Super Powers episode! I even went back and listened to the first one, that I had somehow missed!
A few points on this new episode:
The Super Powers Skyscraper game has one-colored, figural game pieces of Superman, Batman, Robin, Wonder Woman and Green Lantern, and the Joker, Penguin, Lex and Brainiac. The heroes each have their own color, and the villains are all gray. It comes with neat card stock buildings you assemble and use as the game board. The coolest thing about this game is a hidden gem for comic geeks: the building artwork is by Marshall Rogers and Terry Austin! Yes, THE classic Batman team of the late 70s! Rogers was an architectural student before breaking into comics, so it makes sense.
The Play-Doh Set included a small plastic Batmobile (no Play-Doh required), a Metropolis city play mat, and 3 molds, with two characters on each mold. The characters you could make were Superman, Batman, Robin, Wonder Woman, Lex and Joker. My daughter still plays with my childhood set today, and I have a minty one in the box!
The comic series: Without a doubt, the second series is the best. I do feel that Theakston's inks maybe "Over-Kirbyed" the artwork. I know that sounds weird, but I think Theakston tried to redouble Jack's efforts a bit too much, here and on 99% of his Who's Who entries. The artwork became somewhat stiff and lost a lot of it's energy due to this. I've seen Kirby's SP pencils over the years, and aside from incorrect costume details, the pencils contain a vitality lost in the printed books.
As for Super Powers in general, this line came along at the just the right time for me. I was 9 years old in 1984, and I'd been dying from the drought of super hero toys left by Mego's demise. When I saw that comic ad on the back covers of DC's line, I flipped. To think I cold own the Flash, Hawkman and Green Lantern! I originally thought they'd be Mego-sized, so when I first saw the TV commercials, I was a BIT disappointed, but I got over it REALLY quickly.
I was able to get most of the line over the next three years, with only a few figures and vehicles escaping me. Delta Probe One, the Batcopter (I never saw one in stores), Mr. Freeze (again, never saw one) and Cyborg. I DID see Cyborg...once. But I had to choose between him and Captain Marvel. It was tough, but the good Captain's historical significance won out. I still regret that move!
It's funny that you guys rip on the Kalibak Boulder Bomber. I received it Christmas Eve 1985 at my grandparent's house. When my family came home late that night, I rushed into my parent's mud room to grab my Kalibak figure so he could try out his sweet ride. There I saw a mountain of gifts covered by several blankets. My Dad quickly shut the door and escorted me down the hall. I had found Santa's secret stash. Darkseid's agents had officially destroyed Christmas for me!!! Santa was dead!!!
Another shameful moment involving SP was one I'm not proud of at all. I rarely tortured or destroyed my toys, but in the waning days of my toy playing days, I succumbed to peer pressure. I actually blew up my Golden Pharaoh figure with an M-80. I never liked him, and felt he kept me from getting REAL characters like Nightwing, Batgirl, etc. I told my wife about it years later, and she still gives me grief about it from time to time. I did buy the DCUC Golden Pharaoh to kind of make up for it!
Great shows guys. Thanks for the stroll down memory lane. And Shag's Darkseid voice is still killer!!!
Chris
That Justice Jogger makes me wish for a wind-up Chang Tzu figure.
And the Delta Probe One reminds of Space Ghost's Ghost Ship. Oh, for a Space Ghost Super Powers figure... For that matter, a Blue Falcon figure would have been great too.
I had the Play-Doh set. I hated it, because the little constructs didn't do anything. I couldn't figure out what the point of having them was.
Y'all need to watch it with the Penguin bashing. He had THE best weapon in the entire line! That firing umbrella was pimp! The figure was so awesome, they didn't just reuse it for the DC Superheroes line, but also for the Batman Returns line (repainted black, of course).
It's no surprise that this is my second favorite episode of the podcast so far. I really wish you guys would review all the mini comics in an episode (or two). I know they weren't the best things ever, but they're THE reason I began reading comics in the first place. I vaguely remember the Hawkman comic being pretty awesome, because Hawkman and Hawkgirl were being attacked by robot birds Hitchcock style. I also seem to remember something about Red Tornado being torn asunder. Freaked me out as a kid, because I didn't realize he was an android at first.
3. Shag tries to diss the Martian Manhunter SP figure and leads his mentions of series 2 figures with Red Tornado? You're fooling no one.
4. Based on the vehicles, "Super Powers" was an elaborate metaphor for BDSM. "It's Super-Tops versus nasty bottoms in the skintight spandex clash of the '80s!" Suddenly, the Justice Jogger makes more sense when you factor in Brainiac's foot fetish. "WRK--THT--STK--KAL----RRRRRR"
5. I must remember to steal that Stocking Stuffer image from wherever you stole it from for my blog.
6. I have a fascination with obscurities like El Capitan Rayo and the Protector. I want to write little Triumph/The Sentry retcons for all of them.
7. I've long thought that DC lacks for a second super-team even half as good as the JLA (discounting the Legion of Super-Heroes due to their being in the future.) One pipe dream I had was to take all the characters of former grandeur like Captain Marvel and Plastic Man and have them headline an actual in-continuity Super Powers team to truly rival DC's greats. I also wanted to do a more legitimate Global Guardians that incorporated the multicultural Super Friends. None of this will ever, ever happen. Poo.
8. I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before, but I first learned Aquaman's origin from some sort of carrying case from around this time period. Super Powers? Pocket Heroes? Dunno.
9. I think a Super Friends episode is too great an undertaking. How about launching a regular segment with a spotlight episode on the overall history of the show, then cover a cartoon per episode so we can follow along. It'd be like a book club, except without any book or words or rational adult exegesis.
10. Martian Manhunter was a longtime Super Friend-- just under his alias as "El Dorado," who was clearly a precursor to Bloodwynd. They even both appeared in "The Death of Superman."
11. The 2010 DC Originals Men's Sleep Pant, which I'm currently wearing with an unlicensed Israeli Superman shield/Magen David t-shirt, has a Martian Manhunter logo... Shag. (To be read in the punctuation of Jesse Pinkman. B---h.)
12. If I'm not invited to the Total Justice episode... well... I know where you both live, and it would be a shame if you forced me to show you my drawings from the Super Powers Anti-Coloring Book. They're worse than my rendition of "Download Me Maybe."
Right up there with Spidey's dune buggy!
Post a Comment