Mattel Secret Wars | Vintage Action Figures

Secret Wars: Spider-Man

Whilst Super Powers will probably remain my first choice as winners in the great superheroes action figure stand-off during the mid 1980s, when the mighty Mattel joined forces with Marvel to produce the Secret Wars line in direct competition with the DC Comics branded Kenner Super Powers product, I have to admit that I’m growing to like the Secret Wars figures more and more.

Bright colours, solid sculpts and accurate comic-book costumes and likenesses made these figures popular at the time and if you can pick up a figure that has survived with its paintwork intact like Spider-Man here, they make fine display pieces for any vintage collector today.

Secret Wars: Falcon

One of my favourite action figures from the vintage Mattel’s Secret Wars 4 ½ inch series featuring superheroes from the Marvel Universe is, without a doubt, the Falcon. He may not have actually featured in Marvel’s tie-in Secret Wars limited series of comics, but fans seem more than happy to overlook that detail when faced with an action figure that looks this good!

The Falcon had, however, starred in his own 4 issue miniseries from November 1983 to February 1984, so maybe the powers that be at Marvel thought this was as a good a time as any to slip a Falcon figure into this series.

Secret Wars: Captain America

2011 looks set to be another great year for superhero action movies – Thor, Green Lantern, yet more in the X-Men and Transformers sagas, and the hotly awaited Captain America: The First Avenger, starring Chris Evans (no stranger to Lycra after his turns as Johnny Storm in the Fantastic Four films) will all be hitting the big screen this year. Superhero flicks, of course, bring with them a slew of merchandising and a deafening kerching! as the tie-in products fly off shelves…or gather dust if they bomb at the box office, only to land in the bargain bin months later! Personally, I’m looking forward to seeing a Chris Evans as Steve Rogers aka Captain America action figure, but in the meantime here’s a vintage Captain America from a classic line – the Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars by Mattel.