Alternate Universe Toys, Inc…

It’s Christmas morning, 1978.  It’s 5am and you just can’t sleep another wink so you gingerly open your bedroom door and start down the stairs in your pyjamas.  The welcoming smell of Turkey in the oven hits your nostrils and your excitement goes up another notch.  In the kitchen, your mom spots you, smiles, rolls her eyes and whispers “Just wait for your Dad” before heading back up the stairs.  And then its just you, staring at the tree in the lounge with its mesmerising coloured lights and at its base, two small mountains of wrapped presents.

There’s thumping down the stairs as now your sister is awake, with Dad following close behind.  You wait patiently while sis tears past you, diving right into her pile. “Okay, go ahead” says MomDad takes a seat on the armchair while you kneel down next to the tree and grab the first one, tearing at it in a frenzy.  You draw breath when you see its a Dinky Eagle Transporter from Space 1999.  You grab another, bigger this time – seconds later the paper’s off and you’re holding the Star Wars Escape From the Death Star board game with mouth agape.  Then its three Star Wars figures wrapped together.  Greedo, Hammerhead and Han Solo. Just when you think life couldn’t get any better, out pops the Palitoy Superman figure from the movie dad took you to see only a week ago…

Sadly, this is where I always wake up.  It’s not as if we were completely deprived – the Mego Pocket Super Heroes Superman was a solid addition to the toybox at the time, (with its short cape and metallized ‘S’) pitched against assorted Star Wars aliens and winning every time.  The 12″ Mego Worlds Greatest Super Heroes were, for me, much better, just because they looked more like their cinematic counterparts.  But even as a kid, you got the sense these weren’t actually from the film in the same way the Star Wars toys undoubtedly were.

The reasons for this, of course, are well-known now, with litigation going back for decades only recently settled to the point where the above description may have been a reality.  Indeed, many fans in the US are currently reliving their childhoods this Christmas courtesy of McFarlane Toys, who have just released their fully-licensed Superman: The Movie 6″ Action Figure (which I will be reviewing in a future post!).  Back in ’79 though, this was only a minor issue as the Superman sequels, would surely present the opportunity for an official line of figures?  Were it not for Kenner’s Super Powers line in 1984, fans would have been outraged, but as that line produced arguably the greatest Superman figure of all time, even die-hard fans of the movies were placated, but never truly satisfied.

No Surprise then, when us GenX kids came of age and means, that we sought to plug childhood gaps.  A strange phenomenon to be sure, and while the psychology of this is best left to professionals, when talent yields results that make many people happy, it shouldn’t be underestimated or overlooked –

And that’s where my good friend Chris King comes in – and take it from me, he’s the personification of talent devoted to making people happy.  In the 20+ years I’ve known him, he has endeavoured, time after time and project after project (and at great personal expense), to fulfil these childhood shortfalls and create the toys we were cheated out of as kids.  A lifelong sci-fi fan and collector, Chris decided to make for himself the collectables he always wanted but never got – starting with Flash Gordon – another seriously under-merchandised movie.  Where were the figures in 1980?  How could there not be a toy of Flash’ iconic Rocket Cycle? Cue years of research culminating in both fully realised versions as if Palitoy and Corgi had released both a playset and die-cast model respectively – complete with accurate period style packaging.  Want more?  How about a set of Viewmaster reels indistinguishable from the tie-ins from the era?

The advance of 3D printing over the last decade or so presented no end of possibilities – now you could actually make things vintage toy companies never had the vision to produce.  Chris idea was simple – take a long-expired manufacturer and revive it with not only the Star Wars toys they never made, but any franchise in the Kenner style.  KennerByKing is now one of the most popular shops on Etsy with an enormous range of cardbacks available for figures either of your own creation, or more recent re-releases.  The Superman figure shown above was a special, limited commission by Chris never intended for sale, just to offer a tantalising glimpse into an alternate universe for Christmas 1978…

 

In The Monty Club…

Now that the site has been rebranded and revamped (thank you all so much for your support..!) its time to get back to what SUPERMANIA does best, showcasing rare and obscure collectables –

And they don’t come much better than this amazing curio from the Netherlands – a Superman – The Movie Promotional poster in four parts and over two metres long – making the figure of Christopher Reeve life-sized.  This package was only available as a mail-away for collectors of the Monty Gum Superman Trading Cards – where ten empty packets plus 50p in postage would also enlist you in the Monty Superman Club.

In absence of the Topps trading card sets in some European Territories, local confectionary companies like Monty Fabrieken (of Leiden, Holland) picked up the licence and produced packets containing 3 cards and the obligatory stick of bubble-gum.

Whereas the cards and wrappers (produced in two sizes) occasionally pop up on auction sites, this particular piece of ephemera (complete with card cover and four postcards) is notable for its rarity and few complete examples are known to exist –

The copy above came to be in the SUPERMANIA collection from a folder of Dutch/German clippings, its previous owner obviously passionate Superman devotee from childhood.  This set was pieced back together from the scrapbook with the posters in pristine condition tucked between the (mostly water damaged) pages.  Until recently I had no idea what its origin was until another collector proudly posted his copy on Instagram…

 

65…

Today marks what would’ve been Christopher Reeve’s 65th birthday and forty years to the day where he turned 25 on the set of Superman: The Movie.

One cannot help but wonder what Reeve would be doing now had his life not taken such a fateful turn in 1995.  It would seem (by Hollywood standards) that being of pensionable age no longer inhibits the revival of vintage franchises (see Harrison Ford) so its conceivable that Reeve would still be involved in some capacity with his most celebrated turn – maybe even as a director.  Indeed, just before his accident Reeve seemed to be set on a return to the mainstream again, appearing in the critically acclaimed Remains of the Day alongside cult fare like The Village of The Damned. Tragic, then, on one hand that his best work onscreen may have been to come but on the other, his pioneering efforts on behalf of the disabled community will surely serve to change lives for the better all over the world.

SUPERMANIA is proud to help preserve the legacy with this newest addition to the collection, a significant find that surfaced only recently after more than 40 years.   Many Superfans are aware that lifecasts/masks were taken by makeup supremo Stuart Freeborn for most of the lead actors and that recasts of Reeve’s have been circulating for a number of years (click here).  These reproductions were of an altered cast made for production (where the eyes were cut out for the purposes of adding false ones later) so are more of an SFX curio than a ‘standard’ lifecast.  These, along with a few other variations offered by Propstore over the years (serving as wig mounts and suchlike) were believed to be the only existing examples remaining from the series after Freeborn’s passing.

So imagine the surprise when a complete, almost full-head casting with superb detail appears from nowhere and instantly becomes the definitive source for reference to date.  While some consider lifecasts to be ghoulish, this fibreglass pull is nonetheless a superb impression of the late actor.  Note how it compares in size with the older FX casting (third pic) having shrunk many generations down the line.  Though the newer cast isn’t perfect (suffering from some distortion and lack of clarity around the nose)  its shortcomings are made up for by the inclusion of the ears, a very uncommon feature to survive the process…

We miss you, ‘Toph…

 

L’Art de DC…

 

As a great editor once said – ‘Well if Paris is gonna go kablooey I want my best reporter right in the middle of it’ – and so SUPERMANIA brings you the lowdown on the gleaming new exhibition in France which opened to the public this week.

Quite out of nowhere and “In collaboration with DC Entertainment and with the participation of Warner Bros. Consumer Products, The Art Ludique Le Musee presents “The Art of DC – The Dawn of Super Heroes,” a unique world first exhibition that pays tribute to the story of DC and its iconic Super Heroes and Villains such as Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and the Joker at the origin of a true contemporary mythology. 

An original creation of the Art Ludique-Le Musée team, “The Art of DC – The Dawn of the Super Heroes”, unveils more than 250 original historical plates and more than 300 works of research from the cinema and many Costumes and genuine props from the films

We also present the authentic costumes created for the great DC movies such as the mythical costume worn by Christopher Reeve in Superman and the famous costume worn by Lynda Carter in Wonder Woman in the 1970’s…”

While this may be an all-new installation some of the artefacts shown may look familiar.  Indeed, the Superman costume is the same one remounted from the 75th anniversary showcase at comic-con in 2013.

The Clark Kent ensemble, however (third pic) is more of a mystery and may be comprised of genuine suit pieces over a screenused Superman tunic completed with replacement glasses and hat.

The real finds here though are the miniature costumes for special effects flying models of Reeve & Kidder for the ‘Can you read my mind’ sequence in ‘Superman – The Movie’ (third pic).  These wonderful, intricate creations were never seen in the finished picture but remain a  testament to the ingenuity of the art dept. as the Superman costume, for example, is made form the same fabric as the full-size outfits.  Set in a glass case surrounded by hand-drawn storyboards, its as fine a collection of Super-movie history collected in one place you’re ever likely to see…

  • From  March 31, 2017 to September 10, 2017
  • Address : 34 Quai d’Austerlitz – 75013 Paris (metro station Gare d’Austerlitz, parking paying opposite)
  • Prices : 16.50 € (regular rate), 13.50 € (reduced rate), 11 € (children from 4 to 12 years or group +20)
  • Opening hours : Monday: 11:00 – 19:00, Wednesday: 11:00 – 19:00, Thursday: 11:00 – 22:00 – Nocturne, Friday: 11:00 – 19:00, Saturday: 8 pm, Sunday: 10 am – 8 pm

 

A Sentimental Replica…

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First shown case-fresh over a year ago on SUPERMANIA, Mattel’s DC Comics Multiverse 4″ General Zod action figure returns to Planet Houston having endured the full custom treatment.

Now somewhat more worthy of the ‘Highly detailed and authentic’ promise of the packaging, the discerning adult collector would surely appreciate the subtle cosmetic changes made to match this figure to his screen counterpart as shown in Superman II (and perhaps more literally in the Donner Cut)

In fact as custom mods go, this was a relatively simple task as the sculpt for the scale is rather magnificent and only diminished by a stock paintjob.  If anything the challenge here was to find a paint that would replicate the metallic maroon finish of the actual costume trim and boots (the boots themselves now residing at Propstore, click here for the story). When Mattel correctly emulated this detail on their great 1/6 scale Movie Masters figure in 2010 it was met with derision as the costume was generally perceived to be jet black. There would be no such ‘mistake’ with this later release.

Having tested dozens of colour combinations salvation would come in the form of nail polish of all things – a perfect balance of colour and shine applied to the appropriate areas – (top pic) only betraying hints of the maroon (second pic) just like the original costume on film.

With only a few more embellishments (chest hair and silvered temples) the figure was finished and photographed against the perfect backdrop of the Hot Toys Superman figure and the result when compared to the factory version speaks for itself.

The Superman figure from this line is next to receive the custom treatment but is typically a far more complex and intricate job – look out for him in a future post..!