Hey readers, I still haven’t completely gotten over Yvonne Craig’s death, but I am coping. Since last week’s column, they’ve announced more new Batman ’66 merchandise featuring Batgirl including Funko’s Vinyl Idolz figures which will include Batman, Robin, the Joker and Batgirl as well as series 5 of FTC’s ongoing line of Mego style Batman ’66 figures. That lineup will include the first ever Chief O’ Hara figure, a Batman with removable cowl, Batgirl and her alter-ego Barbara Gordon. There was also a Tonner Doll revealed of Batgirl a few weeks back which has a soft likeness of Ms. Craig’s features.
We’ve gotten a massive restock of Funko products in the store over the last few days including POP vinyls, ReAction figures, and a handful of Mystery Minis. As we get ready for Halloween, we’ve gotten a bunch of horror-related Funko products back in- including POPs of Jason Voorhees from Friday the 13th, Ash from Army of Darkness, most of the Universal Monsters characters, select pieces from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and more. ReActions of Michael Myers, Jason Voorhees and Freddy Krueger are also back in from Funko. Not everything we got from Funko was stuff we’d had before either as we now have a new POP of Harley Quinn in her roller derby outfit as seen in her current monthly series, the complete series of Firefly legacy figures, Flash, Deathstroke and Dark Archer ReAction figures and more. Definitely come and check out our POP tables to see if there’s something you’ve needed for your collection or something you’ve forgotten that Funko made. There’s more coming within the next few days as well including three pieces from the Rocky Horror Picture Show line and the Vinyl Vixens comics-based Batgirl.
On the Marvel front, we’re expecting figures from the Ant-Man Marvel Legends series to hit any day now- this series features a build-a-figure of Ultron plus figures of Ant-Man, Wasp, Giant Man, Grim Reaper, Bulldozer and Tiger Shark.We should also be receiving more Hot Toys figures including the next series of Cosbaby figures based on the characters as seen in Avengers: Age of Ultron, a few of the artist mix figures and the gorgeous Hawkeye 1:6 Scale figure featuring the likeness of Jeremy Renner and dressed in the long coat outfit as seen during the opening scene of the recent summer blockbuster. Recent Marvel Hot Toys still in stock include Black Widow and Rocket Raccoon.
Not much else of note this week aside from a few DC statues- mainly of the vinyl Kotobukiya variety including Zatanna from the popular Bishoujo series and a classic costumed Superman based on the vintage Super Powers Collection line by Kenner for their ARTFX series. The newest issue of Jem and the Holograms is also slated for release this week which concludes the first arc of the series.
Speaking of the Super Powers line, this past week the birthday of the late, great Jack Kirby was noted on my social networks. Kirby received royalties for doing redesigns of many of his Fourth World characters for the toy series which ran from 1984-1986. Many of his creations were used as the antagonists for the line including Darkseid, Desaad, Mantis and Steppenwolf. Heroic characters like Orion and Mister Miracle also made an appearance in the line though they came out in the scarce 3rd series.
Super Powers was one of the most influential lines in this toy collector’s formative years, helping to solidify my love for the DC Universe in all media from toys to comics to live-action and animation. I remember drooling over the toys when they first came out in 1984 after having seen them at an acquaintance’s house when I lived in Florida. All of the big guns came out in the initial series which featured different built-in action features like power punches or kicks. Growing up I had Superman, Batman, Robin, Wonder Woman, Aquaman and Hawkman from the first series- most because of their association with the Super Friends cartoons that I watched regularly as a kid. The second series featured such luminaries as Firestorm, Green Arrow, Martian Manhunter, Dr. Fate and Darkseid while the third included Plastic Man, Cyborg, Mr. Freeze and Shazam!. I had a few of the figures from the 2nd series including Green Arrow, Firestorm and Red Tornado but sadly never got any of series 3 though I remember seeing the Cyborg figure a couple of times. Cyborg is the most expensive of the entire collection as the chrome finish made him less produced than other figures in his wave. As a kid I of course wrecked all of my figures back then either by losing pieces or too rough play. I’m much more careful with my toys now. There is also a happy part to all this- when I started my first job in 1997, I decided to go back and grab as many of the Super Powers figures as I could to recreate my childhood. I didn’t branch into the New Gods characters or any of the villains but I do have gently used and complete figures of all of my favorites as well as some I never had before.
That’s it for me this week, catch you next week with more toy news and flashbacks.
Val’s Top 5 Super Powers figures-
5. Red Tornado- His power action cyclone spin and his gorgeous red, yellow and blue color scheme made for a memorable figure.
4. Green Arrow- Another beautifully sculpted and painted figure with a unique action feature where he aims his bow.
3. Aquaman- The orange, green and black color scheme along with his fin kick action made this another favorite.
2. Green Lantern- The color scheme and the sculpt again make this a favorite- also the only one on my list that I never had as a kid.
1. Wonder Woman- The Amazing Amazon was my favorite as a kid, I must have gone through at least five copies of the figure back in the day. She was also the sole female in the line which makes her all the more special to me. Her action was her bracelets forming her bullet deflecting pose.