Super Powers Collection

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The Super Powers Collection was a line of action figures based on DC Comics superheroes and supervillains that was created by Kenner Toys in the 1980s.

Contents

1 Origin Of The Line
2 A Gathering of Heroes
3 A Collectible Is Born

3.1 Can This Be The End For Our Heroes?

4 External links

Origin Of The Line

In 1984 DC Comics awarded the license of their characters to Kenner toys, hot on the heels of Mattel's "action feature" heavy He-Man toy line. Winning the license away from Mego Corporation and Mattel with their emphasis on action and art, Kenner devised hidden mechanisms within the figures that would trigger an action when the figures legs or arms were squeezed. This emphasis on each figure's "super power" led to the naming of the line "The Super Powers Collection". Once the line was in full force a merchandising frenzy took place, with DC Comics and Kenner slapping a Super Powers logo on whatever they possibly could. Three waves of figures and accessories were released: in 1984, 1985, and 1986. Hanna Barbera also produced two animated series (a refreshing of the venerable Super Friends concept, called Superfriends: The Legendary Super Powers Show and Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians) and three comic book mini-series in support of the Super Powers line. Only the toy line carried the "Collection" tag; all other merchandise would have a solo "Super Powers" logo. Each figure in the first two waves were also packaged with a mini-comic featuring that character's adventures.

A Gathering of Heroes

Based on definitive style guide artwork, with decent articulation and hidden action features, the Super Powers Collection eventually released 33 unique figures into stores with not a single character variation, unlike al of today's popular toy lines. The checklist of figures: Wave One- Superman, Green Lantern (Hal Jordan), The Flash (Barry Allen), Batman, Robin (Dick Grayson), Hawkman, Aquaman, Wonder Woman, Lex Luthor, Brainiac, The Joker, and The Penguin. Wave Two- Green Arrow, Red Tornado, Dr. Fate, Martian Manhunter, Firestorm, Darkseid, Steppenwolf, Kalibak, Parademon, Desaad, and Mantis. Wave Three- Shazam!, Cyborg, Golden Pharaoh, Cyclotron, Orion, Samurai, Mr. Miracle, Plastic Man, Mr. Freeze, and Tyr. Clark Kent was available as a mail-in figure only. Eight vehicles and one playset were also released before the end of the line.

A Collectible Is Born

Highly prized today, Kenner's distribution practices of including up to 18 of one character in a case of 24 led to a glut of the core characters throughout the life of the line, and a rapid demise. Due to this practice, certain figures such as Cyborg, Golden Pharoah, and Plastic Man remain rare to this day while the Flash and Superman are easily found. Another reason the Super Powers Collection is so highly sought after is the inclusion of both popular and little-known characters throughout the line. While the First Wave featured well-known characters, the Second Wave concentrated on figures from Jack Kirby's New Gods Saga, and the Third Wave mixed both DC Comics acquisitions from other companies and figures created solely for the line. On a side note, Kirby received some of the only royalties of his long career for redesigning his characters for Kenner. Artist George Perez also received royalties for his design of Cyborg and redesign of Lex Luthor. Most all other designs (and much of the packaging artwork) is based on José Luis Garcia-Lopez's classic DC Style Guides. Other artwork used appears to be the work of Dick Giordano.

Can This Be The End For Our Heroes?

After three years of production the line collapsed. Many factors led to its demise, number one most likely being the simple fact that superheroes just weren't selling in 1986. The same year, coincidentally, Kenner's Star Wars line stopped shipping to stores. After 10 years of chronicling the history of the Super Powers Collection, in 2003 toy historian Jason Geyer's ToyOtter website revealed the never seen designs for the unmade waves Four, Five, and Six, along with vehicles, playsets and a deluxe "Power Plus" figure line. Even after all these years the influence of Super Powers can be felt in such collections as Mattel's JLU line and DC Direct's Super Friends figures.

External links

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