DC Comics | Vintage Action Figures

Let’s twist again… with Kenner Super Powers Red Tornado!

It’s been a while since I featured any of the figures from one of my all time favourite 1980s toy lines – Kenner’s Super Powers. Hands down one of the best crafted action figure series ever, these sturdy 4 inch superheroes, with their accurate paint work, near perfect comic book likenesses, and their built in “super power” action gimmicks, continue to be loved by collectors today. I plan to collect them all!

Kenner’s Super Powers had a short, but sweet shelf life and ran for only two series from 1984 to 1986, with our Red Tornado here first appearing in the second series in 1985,

Kenner Super Powers: Firestorm!

Andy over at Action Figure Blues wrote a great review of two recent DC Direct Brightest Day figures – Mera and Firestorm. This has inspired me to take a look back at another classic Firestorm figure from one of my own absolute favourite vintage action figure lines – the Kenner Super Powers.

Kenner’s utterly cool version of Firestorm first appeared in 1985 as part of the second series, and was closely based on Al Milgrom’s designs in the comic book. Compared to other DC Comics characters in the Super Powers line, this character was somewhat of a new kid on the block back then,

Kenner Super Powers: The Joker!

After last week’s look at Morpheus from The Matrix, here’s another iconic figure who looks awesome in a purple suit – Batman’s arch-nemesis himself, The Joker!

Released as part of the first wave of Kenner’s 4-inch Super Powers line from 1984, this is one of the finest renditions of the “Clown Prince of Crime” ever made, which brilliantly captures the maniacal expression of the villain from the original Silver Age DC Comics universe. This groundbreaking Kenner line remains a firm favourite with collectors to this day and it isn’t hard to see why with such excellent attention to detail – from the mustard waistcoat, green shirt cuffs, molded pin stripe in his suit, down to his spats, this Joker is spot on from head to toe!

Kenner Super Powers: Hawkman!

Any regular readers of this blog will know that my big collector’s crush of the moment is on the vintage Kenner action figures known as Super Powers. Produced for a mere two years from 1984 until 1986 when the line folded after only three series, these 4-inch action figures starring DC Comics superheroes with built-in power action features, are still hugely sought after by many toy fans. Let this post serve as a warning – buy just one of these figures and you’ll soon find yourself wanting each and every one of them!

Kenner released this impressive Hawkman figure, for example, in its initial 1984 first wave of Super Powers.

Mego Superman: Putting the Super into the World’s Greatest Super Heroes!

We can rebuild him, we have the technology is a phrase we know and love from old The Six Million Dollar Man episodes, but if you’re a collector of vintage Mego 8-inch action figures the expression could easily apply to any toy you are hoping to restore – it is by no means uncommon to come across loose uncarded vintage figures that have been cobbled together with spare limbs from various different figures or restored with repro parts and accessories. Late in the run of their World’s Greatest Super Heroes series even Mego started producing a few oddities of its own, putting random heads on bodies which might explain this Superman gem I picked up the other day in an online auction.

Kenner Super Powers: Aquaman!

Ever since I picked up a vintage Kenner Super Powers action figure of The Flash last year my flirtation with this line has grown into a full blown love affair, accompanied by an inkling sensation that I’ll surely give in to weakness and end up collecting every figure in the series!

First released in 1984 and enjoying the briefest of runs until 1986, these 4-inch DC Comics superheroes action figures remain some of the best looking sculpts ever – this version of Arthur Curry aka Aquaman, King of the Seven Seas, is a fine example of all that’s great about these figures, with a near perfect Silver Age comic book likeness.

Kenner Super Powers: Green Lantern!

Recent years have seen a huge escalation in the release of superhero movies and 2011 will be no exception with yet more additions to both the X-Men and Transformers franchises, not to mention Kenneth Branagh’s Thor. The movie I’m most curious about, however, is Green Lantern, directed by Martin Campbell of Casino Royale fame. Ryan Reynolds will star as the DC Comics hero in the Hal Jordan version of Green Lantern and whilst the release of this blockbuster is slated for June 2011, the actor has already started appearing on the covers of film magazines – is 2011 going to be Green Lantern’s year?

Robin: Mego and the World’s Greatest Super Heroes…and Sidekicks!

As promised in an earlier post, here’s another vintage Mego 8-inch action figure that was found in a recent loft exploration at my parents’ home. Like Batman, the Lizard and Cornelius, this was another of my sister’s childhood toys, but of all of them, this Fist Fighting Robin probably made me smile the most when I first set eyes on it. Once again, this is a figure in almost perfect condition with only one immediate defect – the original paper logo glued to the left side of his tunic is missing and instead the letter “R” has been carefully drawn in its place! What made me smile was the thought that very probably, as big sister, I was more than likely the guilty culprit who had wielded the felt tip pen all those years ago, although I honestly can’t remember!