The Super Powers Collection was a line of action figures based on DC Comics superheroes and supervillains that was created by Kenner Products in the 1980s.
86-477: In 1984, DC Comics awarded the master toy license of their characters to Kenner Products , hot on the heels of Mattel 's "action feature" heavy Masters of the Universe toy line. The initial pitch seemed to be heavily influenced by Kenner's popular Star Wars toyline with multiple playsets dedicated to individual franchises like Superman , Batman , Wonder Woman , Green Lantern , Teen Titans , Lois Lane , and
172-461: A Super Powers mini-series in 2017 as a follow-up to their Tiny Titans and Superman Family Adventures . These comics were separate from the continuity of the regular comics featuring the characters. Hanna Barbera also produced two animated television series (a refreshing of the venerable Super Friends concept), called Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show and The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians . Warner Home Video used
258-504: A Super Powers set of six pennants using art from the line's cardbacks. Later that year, carded Super Powers figures of Superman and Mr. Mxyzptlk are shown in the background of a panel in Action Comics #975. In 2018, peppermints were released in a Super Powers collectors tin. For the ending credits of Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2019), a poster drawn by Jack Kirby promoting the first Super Powers mini-series of comics
344-482: A black variant based on the 1989 film), Aquaman, Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkman, Wonder Woman, Starfire, and Green Arrow. The line finished out with Batman, Catwoman, and Penguin figurines based on Batman Returns . Kenner would use the Super Powers Joker's body with a new head sculpt and different color scheme for its Sky Escape Joker from its 1990 Dark Knight Collection. Elements of that Joker evolved over
430-516: A book called Super Powers for 37 issues, so far as using the Super Powers logo (or a variation of it) for the first ten issues. In 2017, the original Jack Kirby series was reprinted by Panini Brasil in Lendas do Universo DC: Super Powers . Tom Scioli produced a Super Powers back-up series in the pages of Cave Carson Has a Cybernetic Eye in 2016. Art Baltazar and Franco Aureliani created
516-784: A cake topper based on the Super Powers Batcopter called Batman Chase is On DecoSet. Kenner Products Kenner Products , known simply as Kenner , is an American toy brand owned by Hasbro . Kenner Products began as a toy company founded in 1946, going on to produce several highly recognizable toys and merchandise lines including action figures for the original series of Star Wars , Jurassic Park and Batman as well as die cast models . The company underwent numerous acquisitions and mergers throughout its lifetime, starting with by General Mills in 1967, which eventually spun it off alongside Parker Brothers in 1985 as Kenner Parker Toys, Inc. In 1987, Kenner Parker
602-421: A carpet cleaning and moving company. The business name and its logo is a homage to the toyline. In 1998, CustomCon was founded as an online event to display customized action figures as if they were being presented at a Toy Fair or Comic-Con. Since its inception, Super Powers has had a dominant presence as part of the event. In 2003, DC Direct produced a Super Friends line of action figures but they were based on
688-554: A flexible vinyl record called The Darkseid Saga , child-size Superman plastic cape, and an 18" by 24 " color poster. Burger King produced cup holders and meal packs as part of the promotion. I.J.E., Inc.'s Kid Vid Productions produced three See & Read books for Super Powers under their Kid Stuff line named Battle At the Earth's Core ( ISBN 0876601492 ), Darkseid… of the Moon ( ISBN 0876600704 , art provided by
774-460: A line based on Mego's World's Greatest Superheroes called World's Greatest Heroes but with Super Powers cardbacks including the brand's logo. The figures have a switch on their back that makes the arms fling up-and-down reminiscent of the original line. Two series were initially revealed with Superman, Aquaman, Green Arrow, and Shazam and Batman, Robin, Joker, and the Riddler. The line grew to include
860-546: A mini-comic featuring an adventure with a spotlight on that character. The figures also included a cut-out collector's card on the back of each package. With his Apokoliptian New Gods characters like Darkseid judged ideal antagonists for the line, comic creator Jack Kirby received some of the only royalties of his long career for redesigning his characters for Kenner. Artist George Pérez also received royalties for his design of Cyborg and redesign of Lex Luthor. Ed Hannigan had already redesigned Brainiac in Action Comics
946-480: A parody of the Super Friends, the sketch "That's What Super Friends Are For" on Mad features the heroes from the Super Powers toyline created by DC save Firestorm, Orion, and Mister Miracle. Westland Giftware produced a Batmobile cookie jar based upon the Super Powers design in 2012. The Robot Chicken DC Comics Special logo borrows heavily from the Super Powers logo. The Super Powers Hall of Justice
SECTION 10
#17327765420361032-511: A promotion for a coupon for a specially carded action figure from the line for purchasing 25 liters. According to the 1984 Consumer Promotions Catalogue , Sunnyland Refining Co. Superman brand Peanut Butter would offer coupons for action figures, Supermobile, Lex-Soar 7, and Batmobile. However, the jars never appeared to surface with the promotion. Some aspects of the line persist even in recent history, such as in 1993 temporary tattoos and eight pins (featuring Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and
1118-618: A puppet that would later become the Sesame Street character Little Bird . The Bird was phased out by 1974. The company was purchased by General Mills in 1967. In 1971, General Mills merged its Rainbow Crafts division into Kenner, bringing Play-Doh into the Kenner product line. In 1985, General Mills would spin-off both its Kenner and Parker Brothers toy divisions to form Kenner Parker Toys, Inc. The following year Kenner Parker sold off its Lionel Trains division. Kenner Parker
1204-538: A repainted Super Powers Penguin action figure to match a color scheme more in line with the film's themes. Kenner's 1994 The Shadow toyline employed similar mechanisms and scale to the Super Powers figures. Some collectors consider the Lightning Draw Shadow figure to be something of a lost Super Powers addition (similarly to Kenner's 1990 Snare Arm Swamp Thing). Under its P&M brand, Gulliver released action figures for Superman and Superboy under
1290-567: A series of animated commercials depicting Batman and Robin battling their foes in the Joker, Penguin, Catwoman, and the Riddler. The Joker and the Penguin used the Super Powers color scheme notably including the Penguin's red, yellow, and blue umbrella. The Super Powers line, in many ways, inspired the 1989 Toy Biz DC Super Heroes toyline in design. This line, merging with the Batman toyline (where
1376-584: A similar approach with some of their action figure lines, most notably on their 2010 3.75" Spider-Man action figure line as well as some of their 2009 G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra product. In 1998, the Jurassic Park: Chaos Effect line was released but sales were less than expected. The Night Hunter series, the second line of toys based on Chaos Effect , was planned for 1999, but was cancelled due to poor sales. The Jurassic Park series became more of an annoyance to Hasbro rather than
1462-448: A special series of DC Universe Classics-style figures for their online store, MattyCollector.Com, on enlarged Super Powers packaging. The assortment consisted of Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman, now with color schemes matching their Super Powers incarnations, a gold-uniformed Superman, which was reportedly in the works for the original Super Powers line to commemorate Superman's then-50th anniversary, Green Lantern (Hal Jordan) recolored as
1548-422: A t-shirt entitled DC Universe that presented a multitude of DC Comics characters from the style guide art of José Luis García-López. Depicted included the Super Powers versions of Mr. Freeze, Kalibak, Orion, Mantis, Steppenwolf, and Parademon as well as Super Powers characters Cyclotron and Golden Pharaoh. 80sTees.com also produced a variation of the same collage. In 2014, Figures Toy Company announced production of
1634-598: A trademark brand name. Due to this, the overproduction of Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace toys, coupled with low sales, forced Hasbro to downsize by getting rid of the Kenner department in Cincinnati. 100 people were transferred and 420 were laid off. Among these 420 was the Jurassic Park design team (which also designed Batman among other toy lines), who had just started the very early concepts for Jurassic Park III . Because of this, Hasbro assigned
1720-463: Is composed of new highly pose-able figures, with screen-accurate likenesses. Hasbro had done this twice before, with the 2004 "vintage" Original Trilogy Collection and the 2006–2007 "vintage" Saga Collection but this is the first time that their Star Wars line was entirely dedicated to replica Kenner carded figures. Ice Bird with 5 flavor packets Tiny Titans Tiny Titans is a comic book series by Art Baltazar and Franco Aureliani . It
1806-718: Is parodied featuring the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles , Batman, Robin, and Batgirl vs the Joker, Penguin, Mr. Freeze, and Brainiac (the latter two in their Super Powers design). In April 2021, Trident Studios republished the initial twelve mini-comics in Super Powers Mini-Comics Collection - Volume 1 . This was followed in August 2021 with a second volume with the next eleven mini-comics. Based on definitive style guide artwork, with moderate articulation and hidden action features,
SECTION 20
#17327765420361892-562: Is used but is painted white to be more in line with the Super Friends. In 2013, Medicom released an advertisement for its Previews-exclusive DC Heroes Sofubi figures of Batman and the Joker using the Super Powers card art graphics as its background. Packaging and promotion for the anime Wanna Be the Strongest in the World also used a variation of the Super Powers card art for its character backgrounds. Also in 2013, Trevco Child Code produced
1978-518: The Batman Forever movie (1995). Later toy lines expanded beyond the movie series and took inspiration from Batman's animated series and comic book incarnations. Kenner went on to develop lines centered on Superman and other DC Comics characters as well. As with The Real Ghostbusters , most of these DC Comics lines incorporated multi-colored costumes, weapons and action features which were not based directly on any existing storylines, although
2064-533: The Star Wars trilogy from 1976 through 1985. After Kenner acquired the license to produce Star Wars toys when the Mego Corporation rejected it in 1976, Kenner popularized the 3.75 inch action figure that became an industry standard. Kenner also produced toys related to the popular 1970s TV series The Six Million Dollar Man and the 1979 sci-fi movie Alien . In 1981, Kenner belatedly entered
2150-803: The Reverse Flash , Deathstroke , Obsidian , the Black Racer , the Atomic Knight , Howitzer, and variants of Superman ( Robot Superman and Kryptonite Superman). The Power Plus Line featured Superman*, Batman*, Firestorm*, Cyborg*, Rocketman*, Darkseid*, Wonder Twins , Robin, and an unidentified hawk person. Vehicles include All-Terrain Trapper*, Brainiac Brain Ship, Cyborg Crawler (a redesigned Evil Cat Crawler), Fist Fighter, Jump Jet, Snooper Scout, Superman Glider, and Plasticman Car. Further, there
2236-598: The Secret Wars toy line by Mattel, came onto the retail toy scene, it was set up as direct competition for the Kenner line. These figures, similar in scale to the Super Powers Collection, introduced a competing marketing strategy between manufacturers of Marvel and DC action figures. This started the trend of Marvel and DC using competing toy manufacturers to produce their toys—a trend that continues to this day. In 1985, DC Comics named Kenner as one of
2322-465: The Super Jrs. Winning the license away from Knickerbocker and Mattel in 1982 with an emphasis on action and art, Kenner devised hidden mechanisms within the figures that would trigger an action when the figure's legs or arms were squeezed. This emphasis on each figure's "super power" led to the naming of the line: "The Super Powers Collection". Each figure in the first two series were also packaged with
2408-477: The 1984 Toy Fair , DC Comics through LCA (Licensing Corporation of America), Warner Bros licensing company, distributed a fourteen page handout with the heading "Fighting for you in the aisles, on the shelves and at the registers..." to apply the Super Powers brand to a multitude of products. This saw the application of the art and logo to the likes of lunchboxes, 3-D puffy stickers, party supplies, paintable figurines, Underoos , coloring and activity books ( Secret of
2494-693: The Batman and Joker prototypes were Super Powers repaints and some versions of those finished figures borrowed elements from the Kenner toys) would borrow design elements from many of the Kenner figures, most notably Superman, Robin, and Penguin—who were near identical copies of the Kenner Super Powers figures. In Brazil, the Estrela Batman figure was a repainted Super Powers with the Toy Biz card. Coinciding with Toy Biz's line, Ertl produced
2580-641: The Batman doll was repainted black). With the release of Batman Returns , Penguin and Catwoman dolls were also manufactured. Similar to Mego, Hamilton also produced other popular fictional franchises such as Marvel and Star Trek . Miniature PVC figurines were also produced based on those designs of Batman, Robin, Joker, Superman, Wonder Woman, and the Penguin (designs based on the characters in Batman Returns were also made which included Catwoman). Also in 1988, Canadian discount retail chain Zellers produced
2666-587: The Coleccion Super Amigos (Super Friends Collection) brand. Brazilian toy company "Gulliver Juguetes" produced El Capitán Rayo (Captain Lightning, but anglicized simply 'Captain Ray' on the card face), and his unique nemesis 'Hombre de las Nieves' (Abominable Snowman). Though most of the nine Gulliver Super Powers characters were branded 'Super Powers Collection' (the characters that Kenner also made),
Super Powers Collection - Misplaced Pages Continue
2752-903: The DC Comics Justice League & Batman 75th Anniversary MyStamp Collection in 2014 which featured a modified Super Powers logo with the Justice League of America shield logo wrapped in the shooting star Super Powers border. The cover also included images from the DC Comics Super Powers Style Guide. Mexican retail chain Máscara De Látex produced five phone cases of DC characters with Super Powers-inspired packaging in 2014. The cases depicted Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Joker, and assorted DC super heroes, respectively. In 2015, Kotobukiya announced an ArtFX+ collection of statues based on
2838-564: The DC Comics Superheroes line. A La Carte/Saydah also released a beach towel of Batman and the Batmobile which used the Super Powers design of the vehicle. The same year as Toy Biz's DC Super Heroes, Comics Spain began to produce a series of PVC figurines based on their appearance in the Super Powers and DC Super Heroes lines. Released from 1989 to 1992, figurines included Superman (with two different poses), Batman (as well as
2924-492: The DC Comics Superheroes miniature die cast metal figurines line using the same branding and model design. Figurines included Batman (2 poses), Superman (2 poses), Robin, Joker, Penguin, Green Lantern, Shazam, and Supergirl. In a throwback to the Super Powers line, figurines came with a collector card reprinting a classic comic book cover reminiscent of Kenner's mini-comics. Hamilton Gifts produced Christmas ornaments of Superman, Batman, and Robin using their classic designs as part of
3010-681: The Flash) sold by the Warner Bros. Studio Store , a 2009 calendar in Australia, comic strip-like pajamas offered at Target in 2009, underwear briefs and boxers, and school supplies. In 2011, Sideshow Collectibles and Mondo Tees offered a 24" by 36" screen print drawn by Tom Whalen featuring the characters of the Super Powers toyline limited to 250 pieces. In 2015, Huckleberry announced a Super Powers line of Otaku Mini-Posters with sixteen character posters. In 2017, Cryptozoic Entertainment released
3096-550: The Flash, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, Plastic Man, Hawkman, Red Tornado, Firestorm, and Dr. Fate. A carrying case for the figures was also produced for the line. Darkseid, Kalibak, and Desaad have been announced to be in development. By 2015, Figures began production of a separate Super Friends line with dozens of figures. Kidrobot announced Super Powers mini-figures in 2014 of Superman, Batman, Robin, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Arrow, Shazam, and Firestorm. Singapore Post announced
3182-1257: The Frozen City , Superman , Lex Luthor , The Joker , Batman , The Penguin , Wonder Woman , Villains , Superman and Batman , and Superman and the Super Powers ), The Super Powers Anti-Coloring Book ( ISBN 059070494X ) by Susan Striker, Stain-A-Sticker, Justice League of America Skyscraper Caper game, sunglasses, playhouses, belt buckles, sneakers, signature stamp sets, coloring play mats, drinking glasses/tumblers, MPC model kits, soap, stain painting sets, calendars, Play-Doh sets, cube game , jointed wall figures, wrist watches, jigsaw puzzles (Jaymar and Craftmaster), Give-A-Show projectors, backpacks, gym bags, Valentine's Day paraphernalia, kites, pajamas, card games, sticker albums, sleeping bags, wall cling decorations, inflatable punching bop bags, bed sheets, clothes, windsocks, greeting cards, View-Master theatre sets, nut and fruit mix, sidewalk artist sets, temporary tattoos, SunShiners, galoshes, Nerf wrist flyers, duffel bags, lip balm, slippers, crayon sets, planners, school supplies, belts, baseball caps, flashlights, bumper stickers, pins, jewelry, embroidered patches, and posters. Kenner offered several mail-in promotions including
3268-644: The Green Lantern's lantern battery sold exclusively at the 2011 San Diego Comic-Con to tie-in with the Green Lantern feature film features card art based on that of the Super Powers toyline. A Bearbrick in similar fashion was produced for SDCC in 2012 for Batman, Robin, Superman, and Plastic Man, 2013 for Cyborg and the Riddler, and 2014 for Joker and Green Lantern. Also in 2011, Downtown Bookworks released My First Batman Book: Touch and Feel by David Bar Katz in its DC Super Heroes series which employed
3354-588: The Kenner Super Powers Collection eventually released 34 figures, eight vehicles, one playset, and one carrying case. In addition, Latin and South American toymakers introduced three characters not available in the US. In Argentina, toy company Pacipa (and later Play Ful) produced El Acertijo (Riddler) , which was a Green Lantern figure in different paint. It was released in Argentina under
3440-480: The National Association of Retail Druggists commissioned Super Powers: Good Health Activity Book (1986) which promoted fitness and health education for children. This black & white book went through four printings up to 1989 though later editions were titled DC Comics Super Heroes: Good Health Activity Book . The "DC Comics Super Heroes" logo would replace the Super Powers logo on merchandise when
3526-479: The Riddler as he was in the South American line (complete with color variances in the green), and an all-new figure of Mr. Mxyzptlk. There was also a "Collect-and-Connect" figure of Kalibak in his Super Powers color scheme. In 2017, Mattel as part of its DC Comics Multiverse line produced Wal-Mart exclusive Super Friends figures for Aquaman, Batman, Superman, and Green Lantern. A light-up Bearbrick based on
Super Powers Collection - Misplaced Pages Continue
3612-668: The Snare Arm Swamp Thing from the Swamp Thing toyline was made from a figure slated for the Super Powers line but this was shown to be false. The Toys That Time Forgot Volume 2 by Blake Wright featured a chapter on unproduced Super Powers toys. Note: An asterisk (*) denotes a prototype known to exist. Prior to the Super Powers Collection, one manufacturer (in this case, the Mego Corporation) licensed both DC and Marvel characters for action figures. When
3698-544: The Super Powers design of the Batmobile and Batcopter. 2015 brought the DC Super Hero Starter Kit whose logo for the box set used a variation of the Super Powers logo. The set collected four DC Super Heroes concept board books in ABC 123 , Colors and Shapes , Opposites , and Busy Bodies by David Bar Katz. There were two variations of the box set art both featuring the variant Super Powers logo. Subsequently,
3784-519: The Super Powers design of the Batmobile and made heavy use of depictions of DC characters from the DC Comics Style Guide by José Luis García-López. Two years later, Downtown followed this with The Official DC Super Hero Cookbook: 60+ Simple, Tasty Recipes for Growing Super Heroes by Matthew Mead which used the Super Powers shooting stars graphics inside its pages. The next year, Super Heroes: My First Dictionary by Michael Robin depicted
3870-528: The Super Powers designed Batcopter. 2022 brought Colors and Capes, Sizes and Shapes by Morris Katz which featured the Super Powers Batmobile. 86HERO in 2011 produced Super Powers brand covers for the iPhone 4. These include covers with the symbols and colors of Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, and the Flash and clear covers with José Luis García-López style guide art and a symbol stand for Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, and Green Lantern. In
3956-538: The Super Powers line. The Penguin released in the first wave is set to be re-released with a new head sculpt and repaint matching the Super Powers figure. In total, every figure produced for Super Powers has also been produced for DC Universe Classics and associate lines and much of the figures set to be produced for Super Powers prior to the line's cancellation has also been produced for DC Universe Classics (save Mr. Mxyzptlk, Shockwave, Black Racer, Atomic Knight, and original Super Powers characters). In 2014, Mattel produced
4042-595: The Super Powers toyline that included Superman, Batman, Robin, Green Lantern, Flash, Hawkman, Aquaman, and Wonder Woman. In 2016, Monogram produced a Super Powers line of 3D figural keychains featuring Superman, Batman, Lex Luthor, Brainiac, Darkseid, Shazam, Martian Manhunter, Hawkman, Plastic Man, Firestorm, and Dr. Fate. That same year, Huckleberry announced a Super Powers line for its Yubi's Fingerines brand. Announced figures included Batman, Robin, Joker, Penguin, Flash, Aquaman, Darkseid, Parademon, Firestorm, Plastic Man, Mister Miracle, and Samurai. In 2017, Decopac released
4128-637: The Tree House , a six-issue miniseries. In 2010, a 3-issue crossover with Archie Comics , Tiny Titans/ Little Archie , was published with the Tiny Titans creative team. Tiny Titans stars alternate versions of DC Universe characters, primarily those from the Teen Titans series. It is set in a kid-friendly, elementary school environment. Issues typically consist of several individual stories as opposed to one cohesive storyline. Although
4214-520: The Universe toy line as well as Kenner's earlier Super Powers toy line. This idea of basing a toy line on well-known characters but then coming up with original designs that were not based on any published storylines represented a major shift in the design approach to action figure toy lines at the time. In previous years, one major approach to producing toy lines was to base them closely on popular, well-known characters from properties like Star Wars , Marvel Comics , or DC Comics. The other major approach
4300-413: The action figures. In 1985, DC Comics named Kenner as one of the honorees in the company's 50th anniversary publication Fifty Who Made DC Great for its work on the Super Powers Collection. One of the more popular action figure lines in the late 1980s was Kenner's The Real Ghostbusters , based on the 1986-1991 animated series adaptation of the 1984 feature film Ghostbusters . The toy line debuted
4386-486: The addition of the Flash. Mattel's DC Universe Classics line also draws inspiration from the Super Powers figures. Several figures that were redesigned for the Super Powers line (Mantis, Parademon, Steppenwolf, and Mister Freeze) were produced for DC Universe Classics in both comic-accurate and Super Powers-accurate versions. In addition, figures for Cyclotron and Golden Pharaoh were released as part of DC Universe Classics, even though both characters only appeared as part of
SECTION 50
#17327765420364472-442: The addition of the Super Powers bursting stars logo. The same year the first series was published, Federal Comics in Australia also published the original issues and the first issue of the second series but numbered it as the series' sixth issue. Beginning in 1985, French publisher Arédit reprinted the first mini-series to start off its DC Flash series. From 1986 to 1996, Brazilian publisher Editora Abril reprinted various DC Comics in
4558-485: The aforementioned Alex Saviuk), and The Battle for Apokolips! ( ISBN 087660176X ) available as a picture book with audio cassette , vinyl record (reminiscent of Power Records ), or VHS tape (similar to Golden Book Video ). I.J.E., Inc. also released a Listen 'N Look book (which included an audio cassette) for the line called The Adventures of Superman (reprinting the Golden Look-Look Book of
4644-547: The brand Super Powers in 1994. In 1996, Kenner once again began producing an expansive DC Comics toyline with Batman Total Justice . Like with Super Powers, DC Comics published a tie-in comic book. Kenner produced fourteen figures before the line ended but in 1998, several figures from Total Justice (as well as unreleased figures) were re-issued for the JLA toyline. In 1997, Christian M. Lagore opened Super Powers Inc. in Calgary as
4730-521: The character names and likenesses were typically drawn from the source material. This design approach to the DC Comics toy lines was continued to a large extent by Mattel when they took over the DC Comics license and produced lines based on the movies Batman Begins , The Dark Knight and Superman Returns as well as the Justice League cartoons. Hasbro, Kenner's eventual buyer, has taken
4816-549: The comical nature of the stories feature a wide variety of characters, several are part of recurring jokes: The team's catchphrase is "Aw yeah, Titans!", which everyone eventually says, except Miss Martian and Kid Devil , who are infants. The catchphrase has been referenced by many other mainstream comic books. The Tiny Titans versions of Robin, Cyborg, Starfire, Beast Boy, and Raven appear in Teen Titans Go! vs. Teen Titans . They are summoned alongside other versions of
4902-474: The diecast toy car market, with a short-lived range called Fast 111's. The 1980s also saw the release of the "Fashion Star Fillies" line of model horses , a product discontinued by the end of the decade. One of Kenner's most highly acclaimed lines was the Super Powers Collection , produced from 1984 to 1986. These action figures were based on the famed superheroes of DC Comics . What made
4988-585: The honorees in the company's 50th anniversary publication Fifty Who Made DC Great for its work on the Super Powers Collection. In 1986, discount retail chain Zayre produced a Christmas commercial depicting Batman and Robin based largely on the earlier live action television series . However, the costumes the Dynamic Duo wore were almost exact copies of the Super Powers action figures (Batman's powder blue coloring of particular note) during what ended up being
5074-414: The line died out (especially in 1989 when Toy Biz reused many of the action figure molds for their DC Comics Super Heroes line). Only the toy line carried the "Collection" tag; all other merchandise would have a solo "Super Powers" logo. Superman: The Game would acquire the Super Powers logo in later releases. The DC Heroes role-playing modules were advertised under the Super Powers banner and featured
5160-399: The line so successful was that the characters were modeled almost exactly from the style guide of the company; and also, each character performed some "action." For example, if Superman 's legs are squeezed, he would throw a punch. Furthermore, Kenner was able to commission some of the characters' creators like Jack Kirby for his New Gods characters and George Perez for Cyborg to design
5246-546: The logo on its printed materials. Select boxes of Heinz Superman Sugar Free Hot Cocoa Mix with NutraSweet were packaged with a Super Powers sticker. These stickers included Brainiac, Captain Cold, Lex Luthor, and three variants of Superman. Canada Fancy Superman French Fries featured a mail-in offer for the Clark Kent action figure and a sweepstakes to win a figure from the line. Canadian Shell Gasoline Stations offered
SECTION 60
#17327765420365332-524: The opportunity to issue episodes of Superman , Batman , Superboy , and Aquaman produced by Filmation in 1966 on VHS and Betamax video cassette in 1985 under the Super Powers label (and also as part of the 50th anniversary celebrations of their sister company DC Comics), reissuing them again on VHS in 1996 (and were still available into the early 2000s until the end of the VHS format). At
5418-738: The original Alex Toth designs rather than the José Luis García-López art that Super Powers was based upon. The DC Direct line included Superman and Lex Luthor (with miniature Hall of Doom), Batman and Scarecrow (with miniature Batplane), Robin and the Riddler (with miniature Batmobile), Wonder Woman and Cheetah (with miniature Invisible Jet), Green Lantern and Sinestro (with miniature Hall of Justice), and Aquaman and Black Manta (with miniature Manta-Sub). By 2005, DC Direct began re-releasing figures as part of their Reactivated line with Super Friends making up its third wave. Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman were re-released in 2007 singularly with
5504-450: The previous year (June 1983). Most of the other designs (and much of the packaging artwork) were based on José Luis García-López ' classic DC Style Guides (other artwork used appears to be the work of Dick Giordano , who was known to ink Garcia-Lopez' art for the publications, and Mike DeCarlo ). Alex Saviuk provided box art for the line save Shazam. In all, three series of figures and accessories were released from 1984 to 1986. The line
5590-561: The publisher released more books in the series in 2016 in The Big Book of Superpowers by Morris Katz and On the Go! by Julie Merberg depicting the Super Powers design of the Batmobile (as well as the Super Powers Batcopter in the latter). Then in 2017, Awesome Activities for Super Heroes by Sarah Parvis saw the Super Powers design of Mr. Freeze (misidentified as Dr. Freeze) and The Big Book of Batman by Noah Smith featured several images of
5676-486: The same name from 1982). Simon & Schuster produced a series of four Which Way books for the Super Powers line titled Superman: The Man of Steel ( ISBN 0671474634 ), Supergirl: The Girl of Steel ( ISBN 0671475665 ), Justice League of America ( ISBN 0671475673 ), and Batman: The Doomsday Prophecy ( ISBN 0671683128 )/(distributed in the UK by Carousel). DuPont Pharmaceuticals and
5762-483: The same year as the cartoon and continued production through most of its run. Although the initial releases accurately resembled The Real Ghostbusters cartoon designs, unlike Super Powers, the toy line very soon stopped attempting to be faithful to the existing source material. Instead, new, original costumes, weapons and ghost characters were designed by Kenner, many of them centered on unique action features, similar to those popularized by Mattel 's competing Masters of
5848-627: The show's cancellation saw the toyline similarly concluded (Australian company LHT re-released the Toy Biz Flash with a card using Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez' style guide art for the show). Kenner then gained the Swamp Thing cartoon license and made toys for the brand. Separate lines for Batman, Flash, and Swamp Thing would have aligned with Kenner's original pitch to make toylines for DC's different franchises. Kenner's 1991 Robin Hood toyline
5934-482: The source material of licensed toy lines continued with Kenner's Dark Knight Collection, launched in 1990 and the first of their numerous lines based on the Batman character. This initial set was created to capitalize on the phenomenal success of the cinematic version of the character, releasing vehicles (such as the Batmobile or Batplane ) inspired on the highly successful 1989 film . Kenner also made vehicles from
6020-775: The third wave, the set was previewed at the 1986 Toy Fair. After 10 years of chronicling the history of the Super Powers Collection, in 2003 toy historian Jason Geyer's ToyOtter website & collector James "Sallah" Sawyer revealed the never-before-seen designs for the unmade Series Four, Five, and Six, along with vehicles, playsets and a deluxe "Power Plus" figure line. Proposed action figures with supporting artwork revealed were Man-Bat *, El Dorado *, Quadrex/Insecta Six/Bio Bug* (a possible nod to Superman villain Grax), Shockwave*, Silicon*, Blue Devil , Bizarro , Creeper , Metallo , Executioner, Supergirl , John Stewart , Kid Flash , Manhunter , Vigilante , Mister Mxyzptlk , Black Vulcan ,
6106-399: The toyline's final run on stores' shelves. Beginning in 1988, Hamilton Gifts produced a line of poseable dolls with stands using similar designs to the Super Powers line. Released under their Presents and, later, Applause banner, the figures ran from thirteen to fifteen inches in height and included Superman, Batman, Robin, Wonder Woman, Flash, and Joker (with the release of the Batman film,
6192-616: The toyline, one during each year of the toyline's existence. The first series of comics in 1984 was plotted by Jack Kirby , who also provided covers, wrote and penciled the last issue, and went on to pencil the second series. (These two series were collected and reprinted in 2013 in The Jack Kirby Omnibus Vol. 2 , in 2018 in Super Powers by Jack Kirby , and in 2019 in DC Universe: Bronze Age Omnibus by Jack Kirby ). The third and final series
6278-474: The toys from Jurassic Park III to their Star Wars design team, who scaled the humans to be in size with Star Wars figures and made the style of the toys similar to the ones from Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones . In 2010, Hasbro began releasing modern Star Wars action figures with packaging reminiscent of the original Kenner 1978–1984 Star Wars product line. Star Wars: The Vintage Collection
6364-553: The unique Captain Ray and Abominable Snowman were released under the 'Super Heroes Collection' brand to distinguish them. They were available in Colombia . El Capitan Rayo was composed from a repainted Aquaman head on a Superman body. 'Hombre de las Nieves' was a Mego Pocket Hero Hulk figure cast in white and gray plastic. The Tower of Darkness playset featuring the likeness of Darkseid was far along in development yet never appeared on store shelves. Featured on action figure cards of
6450-415: The works, no material discovered supports its existence beyond the initial pitch of Kenner to acquire the license. Other figures were suggested to be in development but no tangible evidence has surfaced to support their existence. Amongst these were Blue Beetle , Booster Gold , Batgirl , Solomon Grundy , Swamp Thing , Metron , Lightray , Power Girl , Dream Girl , and Dawnstar . It was suggested that
6536-605: The years into the Dark Knight Collection's Knock-Out Joker (1990), Warner Brothers Studio Store exclusive Batman Movie Collection's Batman vs. the Joker Joker (1997), and Hasbro's Wal-Mart exclusive World of Batman Plasma Glow Joker (2000). The Dark Knight Collection's Batcopter was also a repaint of the Super Powers one. Kenner also acquired the license for the Flash TV series and produced a prototype until
6622-462: Was a golden assortment for Superman to represent his 50th anniversary with a golden repaint of Superman, the Supermobile, and collector's case. Much like how Steppenwolf was originally a mail-away figure that later formally joined the line, card art of Clark Kent surfaced indicating the figure would have joined the line in the fourth wave. While a Catwoman action figure was long believed to be in
6708-479: Was a pioneer in the use of television advertisement for the marketing of merchandise across the United States, beginning in 1958. In the early 1960s, Kenner introduced its corporate mascot, The Kenner Gooney Bird, which would be used in both its company logo ( "It's Kenner! It's fun!" ) and TV ads, in both animated form and puppetry. One commercial was produced by Muppets creator Jim Henson and featured
6794-629: Was abruptly cancelled in February 1986. Two toys pictured on the back of the third wave packages were never produced: the All-Terrain Trapper Vehicle and the Darkseid's Tower of Darkness playset. Once the line was on the market, a vigorous merchandising campaign took place, with DC Comics and Kenner striving for the Super Powers logo to become ubiquitous. DC Comics produced three comic book mini-series featuring characters from
6880-408: Was acquired by Tonka in 1987. Under Tonka management, Kenner Products was reconstituted as a division. Tonka (including Kenner) was purchased by the toy company Hasbro in mid-1991. Hasbro closed the Cincinnati offices of Kenner in 2000, and Kenner's product lines were merged into Hasbro's. One of Kenner's original products was the "Bubble-Matic," a toy gun that blew bubbles. An "updated" version
6966-536: Was acquired by Tonka , which in turn was purchased by Hasbro in 1991. Hasbro closed and merged Kenner's offices and products in 2000. The brand was reintroduced by Hasbro in 2010 with the release of Star Wars : The Vintage Collection . Kenner was founded in 1946 in Cincinnati , Ohio, by brothers Albert, Philip and Joseph L. Steiner. The company was named after the street where the original corporate offices were located, just north of Cincinnati Union Terminal . It
7052-762: Was available at least as late as the mid-1960s. Kenner introduced its popular Girder and Panel building sets construction toy in 1957, the Give-a-Show projector in 1959, the Easy-Bake Oven in 1963, the Electric Mold Master also in 1963, the Spirograph drawing toy in 1966, and the Starting Lineup sports action figure collectible line in 1988. Kenner Products obtained the rights to produce Star Wars action figures and playsets for
7138-423: Was for the toy companies to invent their own original characters and then help produce comic books and cartoons that promoted those exact designs (e.g., Hasbro 's G.I. Joe and Transformers and Mattel's Masters of the Universe ). In a departure from this, Kenner did not have any arrangement to incorporate their new concepts and designs into The Real Ghostbusters cartoons or comic books. This looser approach to
7224-534: Was largely made using parts from the molds of the Super Powers line, predominantly Green Arrow. Both Robin Hood figures used Green Arrow's body and figures like Little John, Dark Warrior, Azeem, Sheriff of Nottingham, and Will Scarlett were created by combining parts of figures including Green Arrow, Hawkman, Batman, Captain Marvel, Lex Luthor, Robin, and Desaad. Some other known molded parts came from Star Wars and RoboCop . Kenner's 1992 Batman Returns toyline featured
7310-474: Was penciled by Carmine Infantino . In 1986, DC Comics published The Super Friends: Super Powers which reprinted "Bad Weather for Supergirl!" from Super Friends #37 (October 1980) along with coloring pages on the inside front and back covers illustrated by José Luis García-López of Batman and Robin and Wonder Woman, respectfully. The cover of the comic reprints that of the Super Friends issue but with
7396-645: Was published by DC Comics , beginning publication in February 2008 . The first issue was also released as part of the annual Free Comic Book Day promotion in May 2008. The series concluded its run with the 50th issue, released in March 2012 (cover dated in May). During its history, Tiny Titans won the Eisner Award for Best Series for Kids twice, in 2009 and 2011. In 2014–15, the series was revived as Tiny Titans: Return to
#35964