A couple of weeks ago, F.O.A.M.er Delmar Osborne sent in a pic of some "mystery" stand-ups that were eventually identified as a mid-1970s Colorforms "Color and Play" set.
A few days ago, Delmar found a set of the stand-ups, along with the package, on display at the Hollywood Americana Museum in Metropolis, IL. Unfortunately for Delmar, it wasn't for sale, but he was kind enough to snap a picture.
Via an eBay auction, here's a better shot of the stand-ups in their original form:
Its a darn shame neither Aquaman or Aqualad are pictured on the box--if I was that kid I would not look as happy!
This collection of Mystery Stand-Ups was sent in by our newest F.O.A.M. member Delmar Osborne!
I call them "Mystery Stand-Ups" because I've never seen them before and don't know when or where they hail from. These are from Delmar's personal collection, and he sent me the pic asking if I could identify them, but I can't!
What's unusual about this set was the inclusion of Aqualad, definitely not a character you saw on merchandise very much in the 1970s and 80s:
(Delmar apologizes for the incorrect coloring; a combo of his being color-blind and a Crayola-inspired prank by his sister)
Anyone ever seen these before? Is this the whole set? Who made them, and when? Questions, questions!
Thanks for the pic Delmar, and welcome to F.O.A.M.!
This awwwwwesome ad is from the catalog of Our Way Studios, who produced oodles of stationary and stickers emblazoned with DC and Marvel Comics' stars in the 1970s.
As you can see, the Aquaman stand-up (drawn by Neal Adams) is dead center, as it ought to be. Interesting to note that, while the two companies' characters do appear in the same ad, they pretty much stay to their respective sides (except for Wonder Woman, who, considering her DC sales figures, might have been considering jumping ship).
Jeez, I really miss ads like this--they made the product (whatever it was) look like so much fun.
As you maybe could guess, this ad is courtesy F.O.A.M.er Brian Heiler, who did a whole post on the Our Way Studios catalog over on his blog Plaid Stallions. Thanks Brian!
I had this cool Aquaman cardboard stand-up (drawn by Neal Adams, no less) for a while, but had yet to post it, when my pal and F.O.A.M. member Damian "Tiny Titan" Maffei generously sent me the whole complete set of 'em! Thanks Damian!
These stands-ups(made by the same company that made the Super-Hero Stickers put up here a few weeks ago) each measure around 6" high, and use some classic stock art to represent the characters. We've got a Neal Adams Aquaman, Flash, and Captain Marvel, plus a Curt Swan Superman and a Dick Giordano Wonder Woman. But no Batman, oddly enough.
Neat as they are, I never could understand what the appeal of these were, exactly. Even back in the mid 1990s, when I was working in an art studio designing products for Comic Images and we actually made Marvel character stand-ups, I didn't see why anyone would buy them, at least in the quantities we were producing them. After you pull out the little perpendicular base support, there you were. Put in on a shelf and don't touch it.
That said, these are still pretty nifty, so maybe you should just ignore the previous paragraph. _________________________________________________________
Coming Tomorrow: Our first-ever AquaShrine Contest! The contest will involve identifying the artist whose work is shown, and the first person to submit the correct answer will receive any one of the Super-Hero Stand-Ups shown today. (I presume you'd want Aquaman, but you can pick any of 'em!)
Be advised Tuesday's post will go up around 12:15am Tuesday. Good luck!
This is a nifty die-cut promotional "shelf talker" that were made by or for someone called Dino Comics for international use that stands around 5" wide.
I don't remember much more about it than that, but I know the previous seven in the series were Superman, Batman, Superboy, Nightwing, Dark Claw, Super-Soldier, and Catwoman. It seems like there had to have been more, right? Wonder Woman, Flash at the very least.
This image is taken from an early issue of JLA, with solid art by Howard Porter and John Dell.
