Dabs Superhero Watch - 1977

This is the outer box for a Batman "Superhero" Watch, made by the Dabs company in 1977.

As you can see, the box features stock art shots of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and the Joker. But open the plastic case holding the watch inside, and:

Holy Moley--I mean, Great Neptune!--what are Aquaman and Captain Marvel doing in there? Despite the Dabs company not offering Aquaman or Captain Marvel style watches, there they are on the inside of the package. Curious, no?

When I saw that Aquaman and the Big Red Cheese were pictured, it gave me hope that maybe, just maybe, there was an Aquaman Dabs Watch out there, but if you take a look at the ad they ran in various comics at the time:

...we can say for sure they weren't produced. Maybe Dabs couldn't put Spider-Man on the packages, so they had some space to fill. Like I said, curious.

I could be wrong, but this might be one of the last times you saw the DC and Marvel heroes intermingling on merchandise. Mego got there early, but as the 70s wore on, you saw it less and less.

The watch I bought (Batman style) does come with a 90-day warranty, but I think we're past that by, oh, 31 years or so.

(I scanned this ad off the back of Aquaman #60--oh, the bitter irony)

El Juego De Los Superheroes - 1977

Amazing.

As I have said many times before, the one piece of childhoodus nostalgiacalus that has eluded me over the years is the Super Heroes Checker Set, featuring Aquaman (and, admittedly, some others) as the game pieces. All I've ever been able to find of it is a catalog ad of the item.

And yet, here's a foreign edition, in pictures as big and clear as could be!

These photos were sent to me by F.O.A.M. member Ramiro, who has sent me all kinds of wonderful AquaStuff over the past year or so.

As you can see, various members of the DCU got their own game pieces--Aquaman (using an image cribbed from Dick Giordano), plus the usual suspects--Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Arrow, and Green Lantern.

But since there were a lot of pieces to spread the love over, the makers of the game went deep into the DC bench, and used very off-brand choices like Dr. Light, Captain Boomerang, Cheetah, and Black Canary! Cool-o!

This version, which hales from Argentina, differs from the American version in the use of a different piece of stock art on the cover--in this case, Kurt Schaffenberger's fun Super Friends montage.

If you look closely at this shot of the American version:

...you can see some different characters not seen above in the foreign version. So either this Argentinian edition uses some different characters (unlikely) or the photo up top is missing some pieces.

In any case, thanks so much Ramiro!

Kraft Mac And Cheese - 1998

I remember seeing this on the shelf back in the late 90s, but never felt quite compelled enough to pick them up, Aquaman's involvement notwithstanding.

Luckily F.O.A.M. member Shag Matthews did, and generously sent me a scan of all the various boxes (there were three different designs). Thanks Shag!

As I've said before, I never really warmed up to the hook-for-a-hand version of Aquaman, but the Animated Series-style version is the one most attractive to me. Plus you could eat macaroni in the shape of Aquaman's "A" symbol!


Post Script: No mention of these DC Superhero Mac and Cheese sets would be complete without Evan Dorkin's...unique take on them, via his Eltingville Comics Club characters in the brilliant comic book Dork!

So please click here to read the relevant passage, but be warned--it gets rough.
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Reminder: You have until this Sunday, 10/12, to get in your "Aquaman Shrine" pictures so I can post them on the Shrine's 2nd anniversary, October 13th!

It can be as many or as few items as you like--however it is that you choose to honor the King of the Seven Seas!

DC Style Guide Art by Jose Luis Garcia Lopez

What's there to say? Another beautifully iconic shot of the stars of the DCU courtesy Jose Luis Garcia Lopez.

As usual, I wish Aquaman was a little more prominent (behind Plastic Man? Really?), but there's a lot of heroes to fit in the space, so I can't be too upset.

I can't recall some of the characters depicted here--like Mary Marvel, Raven, and Changeling--ever making it onto any American merchandise.

The "Checkers" Speech

Ok, so this is me, on my 7th birthday, exactly thirty years ago today. It was quite the birthday haul, so much so that it left me plum exhausted and passed out on the floor of our cabin in the Poconos--a Shogun Warrior (Mazinga), some Star Wars items not pictured, and a DC Superheroes Checker Set. And therein lay the tragedy.

Over the years, I have been able--if I ever wanted to--repurchase all the wonderful toys I had as a kid, except, for some strange reason, this DC Superheroes Checker Set. I have never seen it on eBay once, or at a convention, ever. The only evidence I have of its existence outside the above photo is this shot of it from a catalog:

...as you can see, its way cool. Its got little pieces featuring the usual suspects like Superman, Batman, Robin, Wonder Woman, and Aquaman, but also The Cheetah, Gorilla Grodd, Dr. Light, Hawkman, and Black Canary!

Over the years, my desire to own this thing again has grown in direct proportion to my inability to find it. If I saw it on eBay all the time, I'm not sure I would even want it all that bad. Its because I can't find the damn thing that its become one of the Holy Grails of Aquaman Collecting.

So, basically, what I'm saying is, if one of you out there ever finds one of these, can you please let me know? You'd make the seven year-old me--and the + thirty years older version--very happy.

Dick Giordano Week, Part 2 - Super Heroes Bingo

This is probably the only way you could've gotten me to play bingo as a kid--Super Heroes Bingo!

This was made in 1976 by Hasbro, and uses an assortment of stock art for the box (strange that Robin gets more of a spotlight than Superman, no?), including Dick Giordano's shot of Aquaman from the cover to the Justice League of America Treasury Comic:

On the inside, the stock art is all swapped out for different stock art, this time using Murphy Anderson's classic Aquaman icon.

Bingo!

Supergirl Cookies - 1984

I'm still hungry, even after yesterday's Hostess run, so let's talk about something F.O.A.M. member Ilke Hincer sent me: these photos of a box of Supergirl brand cookies, something I had no idea existed! Thanks Ilke!

On the back of the boxes were stills from the movie, so I guess it only makes sense to try and market some solo Supergirl merchandise. But having looked at this kind of stuff for so many years, it looks so odd to see Supergirl placed in front of Superman, on anything.

Surprisingly, Aquaman made it onto the front panel of the Supergirl cookies, something he couldn't quite pull-off on the regular Superheroes brand from 1982:

Super-Stickers - 1978

Everybody loves stickers!

This is a sticker set featuring the stars of the DCU(Batman, Wonder Woman, Robin, and the Joker are on the flip side), using mostly classic stock poses with art by Curt Swan, Jose Luis Garcia Lopez, Carmine Infantino, Mike Sekowsky, Murphy Anderson, and more.

Obviously, they didn't think that was enough, so the makers of the set (Our Way Studios of New York, NY) added some cute catchphrases to some of them.

Superman says "This is a job for Superman!" (makes total sense), Wonder Woman says "Great Hera!" (fine), Batman says "To the Bat-Cave!" (ok), Flash says "Gotta Run!" (er, well...), and of course Aquaman has his famous catch-phrase:

...if I was ever going to get an Aquaman tattoo, this would be it.

Super Heroes Invitaciones - 1982

Who wouldn't want to go to a party if these were the invites?

That top row of heroes is definitely a Kurt Schaffenberger drawing that's been traced over(poor Green Lantern, merchandisers seemed to have a lot of problems getting his costume colored right), but as to the awkwardly added Captain Marvel and Flash...

Bonus! If you A)have a party coming up, and B)want to teach your invitees some Spanish, click here where you can download a full-size version of the invitacion, along with the flip side with all the party info.

DC Super Heroes Dominoes - 1980

Hey kids! Rememer dominoes? Little thin blocks that you knock over--way better than a Wii! Hey, kids--where are you going? Kids?!?

This is one of those items that I'm surprised Aquaman made it onto, since all they had room for was a headshot. The manufacturer would've had a good reason to drop him for someone more obviously superhero-y, like Green Lantern, Hawkman, or Plastic Man even. But there he is, and boy am I glad!

The stock art is a mish-mash of styles--that's obviously the iconic Infantino Batman, and Robin looks Irv Novick-ish. I don't recognize Superman, Wonder Woman, Flash, or Batgirl, but Aquaman...Murphy Anderson?

Superheroes Paint By Numbers Set - 1980

Another Paint By Numbers set, this one giving you the chance to color the classic Aquaman stock art pose!

I like how the kid colored Green Lantern(lower left) in mostly flesh tones, and how the classic Infantino/Anderson Batman and Robin pose(bottom-most right) has been rejiggered to where they're fighting robots!

Aquaman Curtains and Towels - 1970s

I don't own either of these items(damn), so these photos were generously provided by F.O.A.M.er Chuck "D.C." Dill, who sent the 1978 DC Comics Calendar page, along with a whole bunch of other stuff that'll show up here eventually.

Of the curtains, Chuck says: "These curtains are hanging in my room. I also have sheets that match them." Chuck, you have one understanding wife, that's all I'll say. They feature classic Super Friends stock art, but go a little further by also using The Flash, Green Lantern, and even Hawkman!

The hand-towel is even more unusual, if not for the inclusion of the relatively obscure villains(I mean, how much merchandise did Heat-Wave make it on to?), then certainly for the fact that Aquaman is horrendously mis-colored. I mean, how do you get that so wrong while coloring everyone else correctly? (Even more strange is that it features Wonder Dog, but not Wendy and Marvin. Huh?)

Anyway, thanks again Chuck!

Superhero Cookies - 1982

Since I posted the DC Superhero Cookbook last monday (and my bitter feelings toward it), I thought I'd highlight another food related item today.

I had forgotten all about these cookies until I saw the Aquaman box on ebay last month, and then the memories all came flooding back. I remember begging--begging!--my Mom to get them for me, and rifling through all the various boxes looking for different characters.

It's amusing to me that DC has some villains that are so merchandisable that they can get their own cookie boxes. Could Marvel have ever done that? Dr.Doom's Chewable Vitamins? Red Skullables?

Nice art by Dick Gioradano (of course), too bad Aquaman couldn't quite make it onto the front-of-the-box-group-shot. This box via ebay came empty, so I cannot confirm whether or not the cookies remained yummy over time.