RETRO TOY FLASHBACK # 89: The Super Powers Collection (Kenner; 1984 - 1986)

In keeping with my Super Friends theme from yesterday, today I'm looking back at a famous DC Comics Super Friends toy line from the decade of Regan. The Kenner Super Powers Collection was sold in toy stores from 1984 - 1986 and featured a full range of vehicles, action figures and even a play set.

In terms of action figures, the Super Powers Collection consisted of the 3 3/4 inch size popularized by Kenner's Star Wars line, and included three waves.

The first wave of figures included twelve iconic figures: Superman, Flash, Batman, Robin, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Hawkman and villains such as Brainiac, Luthor, Penguin and Joker. Joker came with a green, overzied Joker mallet, and Penguin was armed -- of course -- with an umbrella. So he could battle Superman, Luthor wore a "power suit."

Second and third wave figures in this Kenner line included Green Arrow, Martian Manhunter, Red Tornado, Dr. Fate, Darkseid, Kalibak, Plastic Man, Shazam, Samurai, Mr. Freeze and more. There was even a mail-away Clark Kent action figure that today is highly prized amongst collectors.

In terms of vehicles, the Super Powers Collection offered several. There was a blue batcopter and blue Batmobile (two-seater) and a rocket-like "Supermobile" (though why Superman would need a vehicle is a question I need answered immediately...). Other vehicles were a bit more unfamiliar.

For instance, Lex Luthor had his very own plane/car combination, the Lex-Soar 7. This purple rocket was described as his "assault ship" and came complete with a Kryptonite Crystal, laser cannons and action figure "gripper claws" so Luthor could "use Kryptonite to weaken Superman!"

Another villain's conveyance was the Kalibak Boulder Bomber Vehicle, the "Cruel Crusher's Massive Machine." It came pimped out with spring-launched maces, grinding teeth (!) and removable spearheads. The box advertised that "No one gets in the way of Kalibak as the teeth of this vicious vehicle grind into action!"

Perhaps the coolest to associated with the Kenner Super Powers Collection was the very large, cast-in-yellow Hall of Justice Play set. Once opened, this huge toy revealed several internal computer rooms, two jail cells for villains, a trap door mechanismon an upper level, and a storage center for Super Friend equipment. Opened up, this great toy featured three over-sized rooms, one in blue.

As you might have guessed from yesterday's posting, I've got a Hall of Jusice, Lex-Soar 7 and Kalibak Cruiser (plus Superman, Green Lantern, Batman, Lex Luthor and Penguin...) waiting for Joel come his Christmas morning. Can't wait to see his face when he opens up the boxes...

Now if only Kenner had produced a Legion of Doom HQ in this series...

RETRO TOY FLASHBACK # 88: Prehistoric Play Set (Marx; 1971)

To this day, I cherish memories of an early birthday (I must have been four or five years old...) when I received this glorious "Prehistoric Play Set" sold and marketed by Louis Marx & Co., Inc.

In particular, I have very distinct memories of opening up the huge playset box in our living room at Clinton Road, seeing the contents, and playing madly with the dinosaurs (and cave-men) inside for hours, even as my granny visited. I seem to remember that my granny gave me the set, but my memory could be confused in that regard. As a child, I was absolutely obsessed with dinosaurs, so this was the perfect gift.

This huge prehistoric Marx playset (tagged as Style 3398 on the box -- whatever that means...) comes "complete with Cavemen * Animals * Mountains * Ferns * Trees."

There are probably about thirty-six dinosaurs or prehistoric creatures included in the set, plus a cave-person dwelling (reachable by ladder...) and plastic mountains (complete with a ridge and a small lake...). Populating the set are ten or so plastic cave-men molded in various action-oriented poses (some poised to throw rocks at the nearby dinosaurs, no doubt...)

Among the dinosaurs included (molded in green, grey and brown...) are the Allosaurus, the armored Ankylosaurus and Stegosaurus, a Dimetrodon, an Iguanadon, the duck-billed Trachodon, the horned Triceratops, a Brontosaurus, and a Styracasaurus. There was a T-Rex, a Woolly Mammoth, and even a sabre-toothed tiger too. Now, you may realize that these creatures didn't actually all exist in the same time period (and certainly not concurrently with cave-men...or Jesus), but as a kid I didn't care much about the scientific accuracy of the toys.

Simply put, this was Skull Island, the Lost World, the Land of the Lost, Monster Island, and the Valley of the Dinosaurs all rolled into one great toy, and I spent many a day sending in "modern" plastic tanks and soldiers to battle these small plastic behemoths.

Somehow, I had managed to hold on to one squatting plastic caveman (!) from this set for over thirty five years, but I recently acquired a complete playset on E-Bay.

Don't tell him yet, but this is going to be one of Joel's birthday presents this October. I figure Age 3 is the perfect time to introduce my little boy to Marx's "Prehistoric Play Set."

I hope he likes it as much as I did...

RETRO TOY FLASHBACK # 84: Big Jim Sky Commander (Mattel; 1973)

Who is Big Jim? Well, he's not a porn star, I assure you that. If, uh, that's what you were thinking.

Instead, Big Jim is a globe-hopping adventurer and boy toy icon of my favorite decade: the dazzling 1970s. Big Jim was Mattel's alternative to Hasbro's popular G.I. Joe, a less overtly military, war-oriented action-figure line that endured for much of the decade.

Instead of being a soldier in the Army, Big Jim was what in you might call an "all rounder" -- an athlete, a secret agent, an astronaut, a scientist and even an outdoors man...a true renaissance man, I guess. His buddies included Big Jack, Big Josh, Big Jeff, Dr Steel and Chief Tankua. Many of these figures featured karate chop arms: you'd press a square in their backs and they'd deliver a karate chop to an enemy...like your brother or sister.

For the avid toy collector, there was a whole universe of Big Jim toys to collect back in the day. Big Jim had a very cool brown camper/van, for instance, one perfect for jungle expeditions. Big Jim also had a dune buggy, a rescue rig, a Corvette and even a Safari House, a green camping tent and his own Kung Fu Studio. He was also known to tangle -- occasionally -- with gorillas and sharks.

However, my favorite toy from the Big Jim line (after the ubiquitous camper...) was his aerial HQ...the Big Jim Sky Commander (1973).

This massive toy is four-and-a-half feet in length with when fully opened. It could also be folded up into the form of a compact carrying case, which makes it perfect for quick transportation in the event of an afternoon at granny's house.

The Sky Commander features four compartments overall. There's the cockpit (with chair and steering wheel...), the situation room (replete with maps, Morse Code device, navigation table, and tools), the bunk room (with bed, sink, food supplies, a storage unit on the floor and a rest room), and finally, the tail section.

The tail section is decorated with a cool Big Jim logo (a soaring eagle...) and you can make out the details of the engine technology too.

This "around-the-globe jet headquarters" transports Jim from one secret assignment (or vacation, I guess...) to another. To help with ultra-high-speed pick-ups, the Sky Commander also comes with a working winch and rescue basket/litter. So you can actually reel action figures up into the plane...

The Big Jim Sky Commander (according to the legend on the back of the box) was perfect for "air search and rescue," "ecology," "trouble-shooting" and even "science" as Big Jim "jets around the world."

I had one of these toys when I was a kid. I was at a garage sale with my parents when I was about five, I guess. For sale was an array of Mego Batman figures (good grief!) and also the Sky Commander plane...alongside a similarly-designed Barbie plane. My sister got Barbie, I got the Sky Commander (and Batman) and we were both happy for days.

I realize that in 2009 this toy probably looks pretty darn primitive (most of the cool equipment is merely drawn on the vinyl), but I had hours, probably months of fun imagining stories for Big Jim and this thing. The Sky Commander was a passport to great adventure for a young mind.

I found one of 'em recently on E-Bay , and bought a Sky Commander for my two-year old, Joel's Christmas. He's already running around the house shouting "Big Jim!"

RETRO TOY FLASHBACK # 83: The Six Million Dollar Man Mission Control Center (Kenner; 1976)

Ever have one of these?

In the Christmas of our Bicentennial year 1976 -- the last Christmas before Star Wars (1977) arrived -- Kenner's "bionic" toys dominated the market...not to mention the imagination of children like me.

These were the prized toys that every kid in the neighborhood wanted and hoped that Santa Claus would bring.

An avid fan of The Six Million Dollar Man (1973-1978) or The Bionic Woman (1976-1978) could choose from any number of really fine toys in this line, including large-scale action figures (Steve Austin, Jaime Sommers, Oscar Goldman, Maskatron...), huge vehicles (like Jaime's sports car, or Austin's space vehicle...), and cool play sets galore.

The Bionic Woman had a salon/repair center, for instance. Oscar had his Washington D.C. OSI office (not to mention an exploding briefcase...), and Steve himself had a space capsule/repair station.

However, one of the most exciting and sought after play sets in Kenner's stable was The Six Million Dollar Man "Mission Control Center," the very place, according to the box legend, "where all the bionic adventures begin!"

This huge, impressive toy included a "giant inflatable dome, 17.5" high and 26" wide."

Since the dome was inflatable by air valve (9 for strength and durability...), the toy even came with a repair kit.

In case, I guess, Big Foot (Ted Cassidy) happened by hoping to puncture it with a pin or something.

And inside (or rather beneath...) that huge dome was the HQ for OSI agents Colonel Steve Austin and Jaime Sommers. It was protected, according to the dome specifications, by a "laser force field."

Another exterior section of the dome was a computer, a "retrieval storage unit."

The Six Million Dollar Man Mission Control Center also contains (from the bulleted points on the box): "radar scanner," "TV Monitor," "radio headphones" "bionic check-out panels and cables," "command chair and command console" and "mission control vinyl floor."

At the "Bionic Check-Out Panel" you could "plug cables into your Six Million Dollar Man's modules" and "pretend you check out his bionics for special missions."

At the communications console, you could "change pictures in the T.V. monitor to communicate with Oscar, Jaime Sommers, Maskatron and outer space."

And there was even a "secret escape hatch" designed "for those times when the Six-Million Dollar Man must get out of the Mission Control Center in a hurry without being seen."

Designed for kids ages five and up (and I would have just turned seven that year...), this Kenner Bionic Headquarters was never featured on either TV series that I can recall.

But it's such a truly awesome toy that it certainly should have been.

Now, if I could just get my bionic action figures out of remote storage...

RETRO TOY UPDATE: More Colorforms

Way back in 2005, the first year I began writing this blog, I displayed some of my prized colorform sets (including Flash Gordon, Star Trek and Space:1999). I've been going through various closets, attic and crawlspace storages lately and weeding through old (and forgotten...) collectibles, and I discovered this: my Batman Cartoon Kit/"colorforms toy" from the year 1966.

Produced in Norwood N.J. and licensed by National Periodicals Publications, Inc., this Batman colorform set allows you to put the Dynamic Duo through their paces while battling the Joker and the Penguin (with a backdrop of Gotham City and the batmobile by moonlit night).

"Now! Your favorite hero in colorforms plastic!" reads the box. "Colorforms plastic pieces stick like magic. Easily lifted to put away, ready to play over and over again. No scissors, no paste, no muss."

RETRO TOY FLASHBACK # 80: Golden Books' The Black Hole Collection

I still remember the day that my grandfather (who passed away in late 2002), purchased this sci-fi movie collectible for me.

It was a hot day in the late summer of 1980 (August, I think...) and my family was spending a week's vacation at the Jersey shore with my grandparents. I was sun-burned, and wanted to play inside.

We all went out to a local five-and-dime store, and my grandfather instructed me to buy anything I wanted...within reason.

Well, I wanted this:

...The Golden Books' The Black Hole omnibus of officially licensed items, which included in one rectangular collectible box a potpourri of goodies including a little Golden Book, a Golden Poster Storybook, a Golden Book of Things to Do, a Press-out Book, a coloring book (with crayons), and two robot puppets.

All of these treasures -- naturally -- related to Gary Nelson's The Black Hole, the notorious and expensive 1979 Disney sci-fi bomb...which I happened to love. And which, beyond all reason, beyond all explanation, I still love. So sue me.

The Black Hole Press-Out Book was my favorite item in this collection. It was a giant over sized book constructed of heavy paper. You could perforate and punch out the various components of the unique space ships seen in the film (including the probe ship, the Palomino, and the mysterious Cygnus), and then put them together to have good-sized replicas.

You could also punch-out paper "stand-up" figures of the movie's primary characters: Captain Holland (Robert Forster), Dr. Kate McCrae (Yvette Mimieux), Joe Pizer (Joseph Bottoms), Dr. Alex Durant (Anthony Perkins), Harry Booth (Ernest Borgnine), and even the evil Dr. Reinhardt (Maximillian Schell).

The robots were also represented in the Press-Out book, and you could stand-up little card-board figures of V.I.N.cent (voiced by Roddy McDowall), Maximillian and even Old B.O.B. (Slim Pickens). Once you were finished poking out the figures, you could put all of these cut-outs against an accurately illustrated backdrop of the multi-story Cygnus command center. Reinhardt's vast command chair and console was also included.

The "Press Out" Robot Puppets were fun too. They were ostensibly "easy to assemble" and the set came with two characters. First was Maximillian, "the sinister robot," and the second was V.I.N.cent, the "lovable" robot from The Black Hole. I remember I did a particularly botched job of assembling V.I.N.cent, which disappointed me no end. He ws my favorite character.

The "Golden Poster Storybook" was this gigantic poster which told the story of the film in glorious, colorful photographs. In the days before VCRs and DVDs, this was priceless (especially as the Black Hole comic-book featured really bad art in which the characters bore no resemblance to their on-screen counterparts).

Yep, this Golden Books toy set was truly "an astronomical assortment of fun that's out of this world." Hard for me to believe I've had the bloomin' thing for about twenty-eight years now.

Jeez, I feel old; like my youth got sucked into a black hole along with that probe ship...