Comic Action Heroes, 3 3/4" action figures by Mego, 1975
Above is Robin (missing an arm) and Aquaman. These figures are the same as the Pocket Heroes produced in 1979 (shown below) but have bent legs instead of straight legs. Other DC characters in the series include Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Shazam, Penguin, and the Joker. Vehicles included the Batmobile modeled after the 1966 TV series, and Wonder Woman's Invisible Plane made out of clear plastic.
Pocket Super Heroes, 3 3/4" action figures by Mego, 1979
Above are Robin, Batman, and Superman. The skin tone paint on Batman's face has worn off. These figures are the same as the Comic Action Heroes from 1975 (shown above) but have straight legs instead of bent legs. Other DC Comics characters in the series include Wonder Woman, Shazam, Aquaman, Penguin, Joker, Lex Luthor, General Zod, and Jor-el. The Batmobile from the Comic Action Heroes line was reissued as part of this set however the top "dome" section was modified. Rather than having one solid clear lid that flips open, the windows on this version match with how they looked on the 1966 Batman TV series and are fixed in place.
Super Powers, action figures by Kenner, 1984-1986
In other words, this amazing and iconic toy series would never have happened if Mego had never gone bankrupt. As both a life-long fan of Mego 8 inch superhero dolls and a huge fan of the Super Powers series, this bit of action figure history has always made the collector in me feel rather conflicted. Part of me can't help thinking "Wow! Good thing Mego went bankrupt! Woo Hoo!", but then the Mego freak in me immediately feels like I've betrayed my awesome 8 inch Mego collection and am not worthy of basking in it's glory. Gosh, life is hard sometimes!
Unlike Mattel which acquired the rights for Marvel Comics superheroes resulting in the "Secret Wars" toy line, Kenner pampered DC Comics fans by producing a well designed and perfectly sculpted series of figures complete with fabric capes and articulated knees to allow extra posing and playability. Plus, each figure had a built in "Super Power action" based on the specific character's heroic ability. If that wasn't enough, each figure also came with a full colour mini comic book! This made the Secret Wars figures seem lack-luster to kids of the 80's. As such, Kenner's Super Powers series quickly became the more popular superhero toy line, and the rest is history. Mattel wasn't out of the picture though. Two years prior in 1982, Mattel had released their extremely popular He-Man / Masters of the Universe toy series, so they still had a very strong and stable position in the action figure market.
Series 1
Heroes: Aquaman (missing trident staff), Robin, Batman, Superman (missing cape),
and Wonder Woman (missing golden lasso)
Super Power action:
Aquaman - squeeze arms to make both legs kick for swimming action
Robin - squeeze legs to make right arm make a karate-chop action
Batman - squeeze legs to make both arms punch
Superman - squeeze legs to make both arms punch
Wonder Woman - squeeze legs to make arms cross (to use her bullet stopping bracelets)
Heroes: The Flash, Green Lantern (missing lantern accessory), and Hawkman
Super Power action:
Flash - squeeze arms to make both legs move for running action
Green Lantern - squeeze legs to lift right hand (to use the green power ring)
Hawkman - squeeze legs to make both wings flap
Villains: Penguin, Joker (missing coat tails), Lex Luthor, and Brainiac (missing left arm)
Super Power action:
Penguin - squeeze legs to make right arm lift umbrella
Joker - squeeze legs to make right arm clobber with mallet
Lex Luthor - squeeze legs to make both arms punch or chop, removing the green armor limits his powers (by releasing a button on his back, this limits the arm movement)
Brainiac - squeeze arms to make right leg kick (unfortunately, it's common for the left arm of this figure to break off)
The Batmobile
This toy was released with series 1 and originally came in a box without any figures. The car has a spring loaded battering ram on the front which is activated by a lever next to Batman's chair. A yellow button on the dashboard operates the headlights, which simply lift up (they do not actually light up). Another button next to Batman's chair operates a set of spring loaded hooks that pop out from the back of the car to capture the villain. When the car's back right wheel turns it makes a clicking sound.
Series 1 Vehicles and Playsets missing from my collection:
Lex-Soar 7 (spaceship)
Superman Supermobile (spaceship)
Hall of Justice Playset
Series 2
Heroes: Green Arrow (missing arrow accessory), Firestorm, Red Tornato,
Martian Manhunter (missing cape), and Dr. Fate
Villains: Kalibak (missing Beta-Club accessory), Darkseid, and Parademon
Villains: Desaad (missing plastic skirt), Mantis, and Steppenwolf (missing axe)
Series 2 figures missing from my collection:
Clark Kent
Clark Kent
Series 3
Hero: Samurai (missing fabric vest)
Villain: Tyr (missing rocket arm)
Hero or Villain?: Cyclotron (missing face piece)
Series 3 figures missing from my collection:
Cyborg
Plastic Man
Mister Miracle
Shazam
Golden Pharaoh
Orion
Mr. Freeze
Riddler (exclusive to Argentina)
Here is a better view of Samurai's sword.
Although not officially part of the Super Powers collection, I like to include the Kenner figure of Swamp Thing with my figures as he is also a DC Comics character. Kenner did an entire series of figures based on Swamp Thing which was very well done. The figures were made in the same scale as the Super Powers figures which makes the Swamp Thing series seem like an extension of the Super Powers collection.
Additional vehicles in the Super Powers series included:
Batcopter
Darkseid Destroyer
Delta Probe One
Kalibak Boulder Bomber
Justice Jogger
DC Comics, PVC figures by Applause, 1989
Applause made these PVC figures in 1989 as merchandise for the Batman movie starring Michael Keaton. This same figure of Batman was also made with his grey and blue outfit. These PVC figures are much smaller than the Comic Spain figures shown below.
DC Comics, PVC Figures by "Comics Spain", 1988-1992
I found this series of DC Comics PVC figures on e-bay. They are all marked "Comics Spain / 1991" with the exception of Batman and Superman which are marked 1989 and 1992. The majority of these Comics Spain figures were made five years after the Kenner Super Powers series ended, yet I like to think of them as being part of the Super Powers collection.
Shown above are Hawkman, The Flash, Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Aquaman, Green Arrow and a character from the Teen Titans, Starfire.
There is also an earlier version of Superman in a different pose from 1988, and a version of the above Batman figure in a black costume, likely released in 1989 in conjunction with the Tim Burton Batman movie.
In 1992 a third PVC figure of Batman was made based on the film sequel Batman Returns. The figure was detailed to have the same costume as seen in the movie, and was released along with figures of the villains Catwoman and Penguin from the same film. In my experience the three Batman Returns figures along with Green Arrow and Wonder Woman are the harder figures to find from this series.
Flash, Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman
Here's a closer look at each of the figures. This 1992 version of Superman is much nicer than the 1988 version, though I adore this PVC series so I hope to own both someday. Wonder Woman is a more recent addition to my collection. In my experience she was quite challenging to find. As these were originally only sold in Europe the only way I'm able to acquire them here in Canada is to buy them online. Had it not been for e-bay, I would never have known this series existed!
Batman and Flash are very nice looking figures. Alas, it seems that a Robin PVC figure was not made for this collection. :( Unfortunately in the late 1980's and early 1990's Robin was out of vogue as a side-kick for Batman, who was being marketed on his own as a solo superhero. I thought that was unfortunate as Robin has always been my favourite superhero.
Hawkman, Green Lantern, Green Arrow, and Aquaman
I must say, it's nice to see Hawkman included in this set as the character is often excluded from action figure collections. I wonder why his winged cowl was painted brown instead of orange as they already had orange paint for Aquaman? I'm glad to have the figure none the less. In 1991 when the Comics Spain Hawkman, Green Lantern, and Flash PVC figures were made, the three characters had only been offered in action figure form on two other occasions. The first was as part of the very popular Kenner Super Powers series in 1982, shown above on this page, and the next was in 1990 by Toy Biz, which in my view were rather poorly made.
The Mego toy company that had produced smaller 3 inch action figures, bendy figures, 8 inch dolls and 12 inch dolls based on DC Comics characters in the 1970s never included Hawkman, Flash or Green Lantern in their figure assortments. Mego made an 8 inch doll prototype of the Flash but retailers weren't interested, which I suspect was due to the character's costume being similar to Shazam, which Mego had already included in their DC toy lines.
For some odd reason the Aquaman figure for this set was sculpted slightly larger than all the other PVC figures in this series including Superman.
Starfire
As Robin was the leader of the Teen Titans he was still a popular character during the late 80's and early 90's despite his separation from Batman. It's equally as odd that a PVC figure of Robin's Teen Titans co-star Starfire was made for this series without a Robin figure to match (the two characters were dating in the Teen Titans comic books), not to mention any of the other Teen Titans such as Cyborg or Kid Flash. That would have been cool! The Teen Titans characters were very popular at the time, so it's very bizarre to me that a Robin figure wasn't made, very, very bizarre! As a collector I find it extra frustrating that they made two versions of Batman and Superman but no Robin!
Here is the Comics Spain Batman PVC figure (far right) next to a few other Batman figures for size comparison. On the far left is an 8 inch Mego doll, next is the 3 inch action figure by Mego, and the Kenner Super Powers action figure.
