Secrets of Mattel's 1984 Secret Wars Marvel Action Figure Toy Line: When Mattel Made Marvel!
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- Опубліковано 2 жов 2024
- Scott ToyGuru Neitlich dives back to the early 1980's when Mattel was the company making Marvel Action Figures. A line that brought many firsts including the first Doctor Doom and Wolverine toys ever, Secret Wars was named by a focus group and designed to be as inexpensive as possible to produce. Yet it is one of the most beloved toy lines of all time. Comes with our highest possible reconsideration!
I have a love/hate relationship with the Secret Wars line. Firstly, some of my most cherished toys from growing up were my Secret Wars and Super Powers figures. It was awesome to have at the same time both Marvel and DC in practically the same scale and led to a lot of crossover playing storylines that I think hooked me on comic book super heroes for life. I read comics before then, but those figures really mean a lot to me. On the other hand...man Mattel really were cheapskates on those figures. Like, Captain America couldn't come with a proper shield? Magneto and Dr. Doom didn't have their capes...hell, Magneto didn't even have EYES! Lastly, the paint apps they used are NOTORIOUSLY bad. I remember when I got Daredevil...literally the same afternoon his DD symbol, his belt buckle, and most of the paint app on his face were gone. Same for Spidey's chest, the red stripes on Cap's midsection, and good luck trying to find an Iron Man that actually has the yellow on his arc reactor. I know Mattel had more overhead than Kenner as you explained in the video, but at some point it just has to be said...The Secret Wars figures were just plain inferior to the Super Powers line, both in scope and construction. But I still love 'em and have a near full line (Just missing Ice Man and Electro...someday!).
It is good to have a someday toy. It makes toy hunting that much more fun. For that one day when you find them for 10.00 at a flea market!
I agree so much. It was nice to be able to make Marvel and DC figures fight each other and I just really loved having the Marvel characters. I had Wolverine, black Spider-Man, Iron Man, Doom, Kang, Magneto, Constrictor and Doc Oc (whose mechanical arms fell off after not too long, so yeah, again crap quality). I had Batman, Aquaman, Wonder Woman and Hawkman (my preferred DC character, who I frustratingly lost and never found again) from the DC line. I liked my Marvel figures so much more, despite the obvious difference in quality.
@@rokkvi1 When I was a kid there were some Mego Superheroes I wanted so bad but they never were released. Hawkman was one. The Flash was another, although they did make a Teen Titans set with Kid Flash, Aqualad, Speedy, and Wonder Girl. Doctor Octopus was another, Scorpion, Sandman, Rhino, Doctor Doom, etc. Mego had DC & Marvel at the time and I loved the figures, they didn't have a lot of villains. Batman's baddies were the most DC villains. 🃏🃏Joker🃏🃏, 🐧🐧Penguin🐧🐧, 🐈⬛🐈⬛Catwoman🐈⬛🐈⬛ , and the❔❔Riddler❔❔and on the Marvel side, Green Goblin, and the 🦎🐊Lizard🐊🦎 were pretty much it. Again while I loved the line of figures I always had wished they made more villains. It wasn't until later that it changed and more figures, different figures, or a larger variety of figures were produced. I think Star Wars changed that. They saw that even minor characters were bought and bad guys especially were popular. Darth Vader, Stormtroopers, and the Bounty Hunters were all flying off the shelves. One great thing about Mego was their figures were always well made. My only gripe was that their "logos" were stickers and always came off when you played with them. Batman's 🦇, Robin's ®️, Captain America's ⭐, the Fantastic Four's 4️⃣, Superman's \S/, and even Iron-Man's 🟡 ended up like -->⭕ when the yellow dot popped out. So many of the figures didn't have their logos. Only 🕷🕸Spider-Man🕸🕷, had his logo as part of his costume, and Thor, The Hulk, Thing, Falcon, Green Goblin, Lizard,🃏🃏Joker🃏🃏, 🐧🐧Penguin🐧🐧, and 🐈⬛🐈⬛Catwoman🐈⬛🐈⬛ were sticker free. Otherwise Mego's figures were spot on perfect for the most part.
@@EdsterIII there were some Mego pocket superheroes out when I was very young. We had one of the versions of Spider Man, which was quite a nice figure. I like that line quite a lot just from looking at the figures and it was nice how they had both DC and Marvel figures in a size compatible with the Star Wars line. Ironically the Mego pocket super heroes were made from better material and had more detail than the Secret Wars figures. Hawkman was by far my favourite Superpowers figure, the second favourite being Batman. Unfortunately, I lost my Hawkman and never found him again. We also never got waves 2 and 3 of Superpowers in Iceland and I remember really liking the Firestorm figure when I got to the US and discovered the 2nd wave.
That's crazy that Doom was a pegwarmer! He was the one I wanted most as a kid, because he's pretty much always been my favorite supervillain.
He was one of the biggest pegwarmers of them all!
@@spectorcreative1872 I'm shocked! Shocked, I tell you!! He was always my favorite comic book villain since seeing him on the Spiderman & Fantastic 4 cartoons in the early 80s, and in some coloring books & whatnot that I had. My fiancé & I are having a superhero wedding in a few months, & my outfit will be based on him!!
@@spectorcreative1872 Kang....Kang was the biggest pegwarmer in my area. Any set up of Secret Wars figures was 3-4 Spider-Men, a couple of Cap and Iron Mans, 15 Kangs and absolutely zero Hobgoblins.
Meh, I think it's because, by most fans eye, he wasn't the Doom they were familiar with. I think I still cringe a bit when I look at his outer-space-looking armor.
@@jesseperry9602 yeah, that's what I would think. Hardly anyone knew who he was at the time... including me!
I had the whole collection as a kid.. wish I still had em
You were a blessed kid!
Me too... Only thing I kept messing up was the hologram card
The first time I ever saw WOLVERINE was his Secret Wars figure. I was like "who is this cool guy?" As I recall they were made a of this rubbery plastic that was kinda an articulation feature on its own.
Yeah as the first ever Wolvierine toy this was his character introduction to many kids
I had him too
I saw Wolverine for the first time in the Spider-man and His Amazing Friends cartoon series, as well as the old TSR roleplaying game my older brother owned. Funnily enough, it was the Toy Biz Marvel figures when I first saw Venom. I remember getting one of those "toy catalogs" and there was the Marvel figures...and I saw this giant evil Spider-man who looked like he'd been possessed or something! When I finally managed to get a hold of him, it became a love affair that continues to this day!
Exact same for me dude and his suit was the x men standard standard
Wasn't the x man standard
The iron man shield lenticular still had Tony Stark instead of Roadie
Never thought about that and it’s right there in this video too.
Good point. It is almost like no one was paying attention to the details.. cough cough Wolverine Claws
I had Red/Blue Spidey ( my favorite super hero ) , Iron Man and Dr. Doom.
Nice. Toy memories are the best
Invtelivision was not a "notorious failure', or if you really want to use that term it was a 'smashing success' first. The system had been out for 5 years when the 1984 video game crash hit and while it did not sell as well as the Atari VCS (2600), it did ship 3 million units. As Wikipedia notes "Mattel Electronics provided 25% of revenue and 50% of operating income in fiscal 1982". But Mattel Electronics, like Atari, had overspent during 1982, hiring like mad even there were signs that the market would cool and this caused huge losses over the next 2 years even though ME suspended hiring in early 1983.
Well, it was still considered one of Mattel's bigger failures in the big picture. Even if it made some money! The development was very costly.
Had a bunch of these.I remember the paint on them being cheap and coming off .
Quality toys of the 80s!
I still have the first wave figures, Dardevil and Black Suit Spidey, the Doom Tower and Freedom Fighter. The shields and accessories are lost to time however. Great video!
Yeah those shields have a way of being easily forgotten.
I had Spiderman and Dr doom, they got lots of play, my Spiderman has very little paint left these days!
Yeah, the paint had a way of disappearing quickly on these figures when played with.
Which Spidey?
@@favoritemustard3542 the regular red and blue secret wars one
My Secret Wars Spiderman got lots of play too. He’s missing a ton of paint as well. I loved that figure!
@@archangel5627 if I remember correctly my spent lots of time in the bath tub too! Lol
These weren’t as good as Kenner super powers but I loved them at the time
All true.
I still love this line all these years later. There's something really basic and fun with the Secret Wars line. I finally found a Doom Roller two years ago and, despite it being kind of goofy, it fits with the whole comic book universe. Great video!
Those vehicles were pretty kick ass!
Very cool and informative. I'm subscribing to your channel because of this video
Nice! Welcome aboard. And thank you
That tears it! So am I, now!
Doctor Doom didn't have an action figure until Secret Wars? Wow! Mego definitely had figures of the FF! I guess I just assumed Mego made one!
Ya learn somethin' new every day, huh?
We must remember, the Secret Wars comics were technically the first appearance of the Venom symbiote, at least backward-compatible or written as a retrofit. All superheroes who were collected (abducted?) in their civilian attire were directed to a machine that generated costumes for them. Peter Parker received almost an erroneous costume that more closely resembled Spider-Woman II's, but without the long white gloves and boots. As it turns out, the machine hadn't generated his costume, the costume (symbiote) sort of slithered out nearby, onto Peter.
Oh yes. The suit came from this story, so we have Mattel to thank you Venom.
Another great video sir; your depth of knowledge is impressive! While I may not have had much of these as a kid, over the years the accessories came my way & the Wolverine claws (etc) were used by GI Joe @ times.
Well GI Joe needs all the help he can get!
While I understand it is a tooling cost. But not adding an Captain America accurate shield is probably one of the biggest toy mistakes ever. If they had extra tooling cost for Doc Ock, Wolverrine etc, why not Cap?
I would guess it had to do with Cap not being that well known at the time by the general public (compared to Spiderman, Batman and Superman)
I remember seeing those as a kid. They kind of looked like knock offs to me then, so I passed.
I think it’s funny they cut the quality and diversity of the line basically so the executives could be paid more. Had they put a little more effort into it. It may have been much more successful.
Thanks for the insight!
Glad you enjoyed! Their is always Ebay!
Let’s talk about re-gerts yes that’s not a typo
When I recently got rid of half my comic/ toy collection 🤦🏾♂️ (Collecting comics since I was five and started back toy collecting in 1995....spawn set it back off)
I let go a half dozen of un punched card magneto and kang each and a Mexico doom cycle 🤦🏾♂️
Had a friend that worked for marvel and dc....at the same time! That’s a story for another time
I would get so much stuff from out of print books to suspenders and the kitchen sink
All super heroes themed. One day at the marvel warehouse we found a few boxes of sw figures but they just had mag and Kang and the doom tower
I would just give the figs away to kids that lived in my neighborhood for good grades and such
I sold the rest off in 2018 to midtown comics nyc😢
Well Midtown is an AMAZING store. Hopefully they made it to a great collector home.
I been going to midtown since they only had one store(Times Square) and one floor. At one point I knew were every comic shop was in Brooklyn and Manhattan since 1987 that includes basements and garages 😅
I hear ya there with the selling regerts!!! I sold off (basically dumped) a big chunk of my comics 12 years ago. About 4000 comics just gone. Because I was running out of space and basically disinterested. Now I have the collecting bug again and almost cry about what I let go😖 Never ever ever sell any of your collectibles because chances are your passion will flair again some day!
@@RamManNo1 I feel the pain...
I still have my Iron Man and Wolverine (Wolverine has his claws intact), but the shields and guns are long gone. I was never a fan of the action features of the Super Powers line. I was fine with Star Wars level articulation and overall sturdiness, so Secret Wars was right up my alley. I was also a bigger fan of Marvel than DC growing up, so that might have been part of my preference for the line.
I think a few small companies make repro parts. You may be able to replace your shield!
I still have Iron Man and Cap. I was about 3 years old when these came out and I will never forget getting them. I almost forget that back then the DC characters were more mainstream than the marvel characters but that shifted dramatically in the 90s.
I had a bunch of the wave 1. I didn't realize Iron Man was Rhodey until years later. You can't tell, but it was kinda cool.
The only time he has been done in the original armor ever!
@@spectorcreative1872 Yeah. Like I said, it wasn't until years later I figured out it wasn't really Tony. The line was pretty good, except Spider-man had a weird foot that made it difficult to stand him up. And Captain America's shield... c'mon.
Wish this line went further. My all time favorite Marvel line.
It was a classic
While I love the Secret Wars line in terms of nostalgia I do remember getting them as a kid and wondering why they couldn't be like the Super Powers figures. No capes. Cap didn't have his actual shield. The action poses weren't great. Mattel seems to have a history of getting a license so they can compete and then cutting cost and corners until it can't compete at market.
The lack of capes was a cost saving measure due to Mattel's high overhead.
Love the education about things I noticed as a kid “these guys have the same arms legs and head..
Why.” Cost, standard and expected answer but fun to learn
It usually all comes down to cost!
I remember having Cap, Ironman, Dr. Doom, Magneto and Kang.
A wonderful childhood you must have had!
Kang was a notorious pegwarmer I bought several years later for 50 cents. Despite my love of Marvel, the only others I managed to get were Doctor Doom and Daredevil--that latter was at a drug store and quite surprised me. I got the Tower of Doom for $5 on clearance at Zayre, but I couldn't get the gate to stay open. It also had Kenner Ecto-Plazm spilled on it because that was Zayre. Someone told me that if you press the lever down when it's pulled out, you can make it stay in place, but mine is in storage in the original box in another state because I moved to NYC for grad school and didn't take my toys with me .
Oh yes, Kang and Doom were huge peg warmers. It didn't help that they were re-released in Wave 2!
Unfortunately the DareDevil figure was made from a bad plastic, the red on the arms and legs ‘bleed’, and the skin tone on the face has had problems too (although the one I own isn’t too bad).
Yeah, the cost cutting was a little overboard on this line
I think the best figure was iron man.
Him or Hobgoblin in my book
I got a Captain America from this line. Very cool figure, but I miss the shield.
Yeah, he needs HIS shield right?
I always thought it was a cool figure, but I felt his blue was the wrong tint.
OMG I´m from Spain... While whatching the video I was thinking... this man is forgetting some characters... But I dind´t know that some of the didn´t were released in USA!!... man the Electro figure and R n B Spiderman were my favs!!... And Doc Oc too!... and Daredevil... and the Falcon... ok ok Sto it!.... Eventually I managed to get the whole collection... Being honest some of them had to go, by any means; to my pocket... I was really obsessed!... The good old times with Marvel...
P.D:
I´m sorry, Ms. n´ Mr. Mattel!...
I didn't even start Collecting until 1994, and I still have 4 of these. In fact, I even use the Iron Man as Obadiah Stane because I figure such an ancient Iron Man armor is the best that he can do. I also have Wolverine, Captain America, and Magneto. I gave Magneto the cape of Dr. Mindbender. It's a bit small as it was a 3.75 figure. Tell the truth, I don't ever remember buying them. I remember specifically when I started Collecting. It was April 2nd, 1994, Toys R Us in Chula Vista, Ca. I went in and they still had a large selection of the Toy Biz rerelease of Super Powers and I bought;
Superman
Batman
Robin
Wonder Woman
Hawkman
Aquaman
Green Lantern
Martian Manhunter
Red Tornado
Dr. Fate
I mean, I have such clarity about that day. Can't fathom where those Secret Wars figures came from.
I still have my doom/ Doom base, Cap and Logan🔥🔥🔥
That is awesome! Well kept
Grew up in this 1984-85 era and it was fantastic being 10 years old. This series was awesome, have all the figures, comics and even lots of customs made from the base figures of the XMEN. :)
Such a cool line
I apologize if someone pointed this out already but I've watched this video a few times and i just noticed in the beginning you said every year more or less, the TOY companies roll out all the characters ...no biggie. But yeah, Atlantis Attacks bleah
One thing I've learned is that you DON'T mess with the continuity or the original storylines of the classics. Like 🕷🕸Spider-Man🕸🕷, Iron-Man,⭐⭐Captain🇺🇸America⭐⭐, 🦇🦇Batman🦇🦇, 🦸🦸♂️Superman🦸♂️🦸♂️, or ESPECIALLY Star Wars! That especially holds true if your NOT the original creator of the franchise. Example again after Disney bought Star Wars, Kathleen Kennedy decided to re-make Star Wars in some feminist propaganda pile of 💩💩 and it was HATED! Same holds true with Comic Book fans. Classical fans who grew up buying the originals don't like to see their heroes altered, messed with, changed, or worse yet re-imagined completely. I'm now seeing that with Action Figure fans as well. Certain figure lines nowadays or should I say certain looks that Hasbro releases, some are shelf warmers while some are impossible to find. Like the classic X-Men series they made with the Jim Lee inspired looks. Or the classic 🕷🕸Spider-Man🕸🕷 series. Back in the 70's & 80's I never saw that type of obsession with the figures. I was a 70's kid so my toy or action figures of choice was Mego, since they were pretty much it aside from GI Joe. Mego had DC & Marvel, as well as Planet of the Apes, S.W.A.T. and some other obscure licenses. Again G.I.Joe was one of the other line of figures except for Barbie. The 80's changed the face of action figures. DC & Marvel now had separate licenses from separate companies. Actually the late 70's or better yet Star Wars changed everything. From the scale, figures now being smaller, 3" - 4" high, as well as the amounts made. Not just tens of thousands of one figure but 40-50 different molds for 40-50 different figures. Some of them only appearing for seconds on screen. One example was R5-D4, the Power Droid now called the Gonk Droid, and the Death Star Droid. All three seen briefly on the Jawa Sandcrawler and outside when C3-P0 and R2-D2 get sold. Actually R5-D4 blows up so he does get more then the other 2 but still minor parts. By 1983-86 I was going to high school. Action figures were no longer "acceptable" or "cool" to collect. 2 things became far more important, vitally important you might say. Women and cars. Toys were for kids. Now the landscape of action figure collecting is much different. For one scalpers now dominate the market. They buy entire cases @ $20.00-25.00 per figure and turn around on eBay and sell them for 3-4 times what they paid. Insanely people are spending $50.00-$100.00+ on items just released weeks before. And as all movies, series, and franchises get re-boots, remakes, or reimagined, toys are also getting the same treatment. The classic DC Superpowers line is being re-released or re-booted as are the classic Marvel heroes. Some have gone to a new extreme by Re-releasing classic packaging with figures but in a different scale. Instead of the 3"-4" figure you'll now get a 6"-8' version. So one thing, IF you love the classic figures you loved back in the 70's and 80's, and really want to get some of them, but don't like the thought of paying $150.00+ for them like everything else just wait. They'll be re-releasing them sometime in the future. BUT again be warned because scalpers will snag the new re-releases and jack the prices of those as well. This hobby has become ridiculously expensive and has lost so much of what made the hobby so enjoyable.
Should have mentioned that Mattel later teamed up with DC comics, and when it was time to make a set of Justice League figures for the animated series they made them with limited articulation and ...lenticular shields!
Love the video. As a child, it always confused me why they all had shields. Also why there were slideshows of themselves that they carried around like Super Hero narcissists. I hated the articulation. I had the DC characters and loved them. They made sense and had so many great features where each seemed unique. These were just confusing to me. Secret Wars probably would have done better in the late 70s. The bar had been set too high by the time these came out.
Yep Secret Wars Kang will be the very 1st Marvel figure I got that year until I accidentally lost him in 86
Scott i wander how lucky u get to Go creat your Keldore Action figur u never got in ur hands i never been to. a toy Con it wood suck if i can’t get action figur i like .& want it what do u do ?To take the snake by the head how do people get into The toy busness of creating a sction u always wanted. eith out a colledge busness degree. Only reason i ask question like this my old man Had a temper & thrown my action figurs awaysense U was growing up i didn’t see myself to enjoy my child hood much but i’m over that just sucks i wood of had a vintage Action figur to mold on to. or sell for value or Memory yo hold on to
This is one of my favorite smaller toy lines of the 80s. As much as I love them, I had and still have great disappointment in the lack of vision and follow through. The mega success of GI Joe was partly because they made the Marvel comics same time as the toys, fleshed out characters and back story all created out of whole cloth. Yet they had decades of hundreds(!) of Marvel super hero characters, already established and known to kids and they ignored 95% of it. The figures released were scatter shot, some of the villains were really obscure. You couldn't assemble the Avengers, X-Men or the FF. In the 80s, the X-Men became hugely popular yet virtually no toys to be found. X-Men alone could provide 30 or 40 characters easily, hero and villain. You also had the very popular Spiderman & his Amazing Friends cartoon, but only Spidey was made, and Iceman only to Europe. No Hulk(!?), no Kingpin, no Colossus, no Blob, not one of a million lady characters, half the X-Men were females. I would have loved to have a Rogue, Storm, Dazzler and Kitty Pryde. The sheer variety and number of characters they could have made for Secret Wars was dizzying. The success of Marvel/Disney films the past 12 years, and the explosion of toys since, shows the market was always there. Somehow, nobody in the 80s realized what gold mine they had, even with the massive success of Star Wars toys and G.I. Joe showing the way. All the ingredients were there but nobody put it all together.
That is a very good way of putting it. Thanks for such an insightful comment!
You are so on the mark here. If they would have made a line of Marvel characters similar to GI Joe, in quality and quantity, it would have been huge!
I had a Dr Doom during this time. And I had another Marvel characters but from another company that made figures but without articulation it was a Namor.
These toys were so cool. I had them all and would have great battles with them and my GI Joes. I wished I still had them.
Best looking comic book action figures
And a bit ahead of their time in the day!
Oh one more black Spider-Man was my favourite 👍♥️
I remember looking in the toy aisle of every store that carried toys for Hobgoblin. Never found him. I think I had all the others
To repair my Superpowers, all I needed were a few symbol stickers. For SW, I needed a lot of paint. I found mostly the villains at Ben Franklin in the early 90s. Iron Man and Cap were thr only heroes there.
Those two were some of the highest produced.
Still have my Wolverine, Capt. America, Doom, and Magneto from my childhood.
Worthy keepers!
kcirf
kcirf
I had both Spider-Mans (both gone) Had Dr. Doom (gone) Did have Wolverine (not sure if I still do) Still have Iron Man, Captain America and Daredevil
Worth keeping toys.
Very funny timing this video was posted, I just watched infinity war for the first time, and then get to see an extremely informative video about the first huge crossover, loved it, keep it up!
Nice. See how perfect the timing is between me and Marvel Studios?
I like that Magneto is in the cross sell as a villain but in the comics hes zapped in with the good guys
Great Video as always Guru, man, I used to dig the Secret Wars line back then, great line!
Hoping we can see Mattel bring it back one day. Only a Marvel License away...
@@spectorcreative1872 That would be an Instant Hit with Adult Collectors! Fingers Crossed.....
Do you think you would ever do a video about Kenner's history? I'm very interested in learning about it.
You got it! I'll add it to the list
@@spectorcreative1872 Thanks!
Don't mean to steal your thunder, Spector Creative. But Nick, you can watch the Netflix documentary "The Toys That Made Us", they have great Kenner backstories on 1977 Star Wars figures.
@@georgetrapp6666 okay but I'm also interested in the history of the company as a whole not just their star wars stuff. Thanks for the tip though.
Rhodey was on the card back, but the shield showed Tony Stark as his secret identity
I know, weird right!
@@spectorcreative1872 Confused the hell out of me as a kid lol
Thank you, I was going to say I remembered that, and thought I also spotted that in the video. Good eye, and good recollection on your part, Jason216!
way off subject, youtube has multiple commercials dropped during your video in the strangest places. very interruptus.
back to your subject, nice work.
thank you
I wish I had any control over that!
Meaning had them played with them love them ❤️👍🔥
I'm 38 and still have some of these in my collection. Did not realize that was Dr. DOOMs first figure, glad I kept it.
Worth keeping!
Both secret Wars and Super Powers were amazing and made a lot of success here im Brazik brought by Estrela and Gulliver companies. And I am glad to own a few pieces of both lines.
Nice. The foreign releases were awesome
To be honest they really need to remake them figures in to 6 inch size
How is the Earth Wind & Fire variant of Falcon NOT in the comic book? My first exposure to Falcon was where he and a couple others were shackled to a wall somewhere. My first reaction was “When did Earth Wind & Fire go comic book?” Since then, that seventies costume for Falcon will always be that. (EDIT: ohhhhh, the Secret Wars toy line pushed the comic? Now i see why there was no Falcon.)
Yup. He wasn't in the "Secret Wars" comic.
....and!....I remember "He-Man"....and the "Villain"!....actually saw the replica (toy) in a shop!.... but, my Father pulled me by the hand... even before I could point a finger!.....😂😁😃😊
Well at least you tried
I'm wishing they'd re-issue Secret Wars figures like what they did with Ghostbusters & Star Wars retro line.
Alas, Mattel does not have the Marvel license but I think the new Hasbro 3 3/4 figures are meant to be this kinda.
I still remember the only time I saw wave 2 in a store. I had birthday money to spend and was thrilled to find Falcon at Walmart. I was headed a few aisles over to show Mom when a thunderstorm knocked out the power. All customers were asked to leave and I never saw one again. Eventually I picked up black Spidey and DD from flea markets, but no luck on Falcon or Hobgoblin.
The gods must be crazy!
I _never_ got to see any wave in person...
IDK why, I was around!
Some of those are still tough to track down. But I kinda like having an item to hunt for!
I wanted a few of these action figures, but didn't have the cash.
Still have my Spiderman and Captain America. I preferred DC so I had more of those than Marvel.
Back then DC was on fire. Superman's movie and Batman's TV show had a lot to do with it
I had captain America and spider man also iron man 😊❤😊
Anybody have the jumbo scale figures?I have spiderman, black spiderman. Captain America with shield. Wolverine, magneto, and hobgoblin
Awesome as well!
I enjoyed these figures very much back in the day!
They were toy-riffic
I preferred The DC Super Powers line. Better looking with action features. But I loved the Secret War's Iron Man figure. But the Kang figure had Iron Man's arms. You could immediately tell by the gauntlets.
Yup. Those shared parts give it away ever time
Have an early after-market Spider-Man, Wolverine, and Captain America, but early enough in my collecting career, that regrettably, I opened their packaging. But still have all the accessories and all figures do not show wear. Have a few Flea Market finds of various characters, Doc Ock (one missing tentacles, one intact) Doom (one with chest paint wear, and missing that band on his thigh, one clean and with minimal wear) Magneto (one with heavy wear, a second with minimal) Hobgoblin (heavy wear, missing all accessories, especially glider) Kang (medium wear), and I swear somewhere buried away, I have a black-costume Spider-Man.
He will show up. All toys come back that are lost
Secret wars have 8 figures in the time.
A. Freudian slip saying Toy Companies rather than Comic Companies at the beginning?
B. I feel like it's going to be at least a couple more decades before we see another Marvel/DC crossover, given Marvel could barely acknowledge mutants when they didnt own the film rights. So you'd need to wait until the superhero movie genre really flames out before Disney would let any of its characters play, and even then...
C. Part and parcel with that I did buy up all the Marvel/DC crossovers, since they won't see a reprint or digital release any time soon.
D. Had a few Secret Wars toys as a kid. Daredevil remained in rotation through the Toy Biz years, and Iron Man is a great Bronze Age representation.
Ah the Freudian slip. When you say one thing and mean your mother.
I think the timeline might be a little off. Secret Wars & Super Powers both debuted in 1984. So possibly both lines were concurrently in development and not so much SW was Mattel's reaction to the success of SP. Btw Gentle Giant did a couple of jumbo figures as well as micro versions for SW (and SP. ) Also, interesting to note that the Mattel name is nowhere on the packaging or on the figures, its only Marvel & Gentle Giant.
Yeah, Mattel had nothing to do with that Deadpool figure.
Hate to be that guy, but your thesis is incorrect. There was not a line-wide effort from Stan Lee to "recreate" the Marvel Universe. A lot of the "new kids on the block" that appeared in the 80's were the product of Marvel ADDING to their line. Xmen is doing well? Let's have 2 Xmen comics! She Hulk, Rhody, and other characters "assuming the mantle" of certain characters were never seen as permanent, or dictated by the management, but were choices made by writers, artists, and editors. These examples, and these kinds of changes in general, happened over a decade and a half, not all at once. The black suit Spidey, in particular, was done to add a new repainted figure to the Secret Wars toy line. Jim Shooter's blog is pretty clear on how all this happened, from the Marvel side of things.
The idea of redoing the Marvel Universe did not come from Stan, it came from Jim Shooter. While Black Spiderman may have been as a toy repaint, US Agent replacing Cap, She Hullk replacing Thing, Rodey replacing Tony, the New Mutants replacing the Xmen, Hulk going Grey, all of this was part of his plan to give Marvel a reboot for the 25th.
I know I’ll get some heat for this but as child I preferred the Mattel Marvel Secret Wars Action Figures over Kenner’s DC Superpowers Toy Line. That’s due to being a Marvel Fanboy since childhood.
No heat at all. They were great toys
Only ever had the original Spider-Man. This line was my introduction to the larger Marvel universe.
You share that with many kids in the 80's!
Wolverine at the time was one of my favorite characters, but the general public at that time had never heard of him. No one at my school knew who he was.(The Miller/Clairemont series had just come out). I was lucky to have been introduced to comic collecting by an older cousin, 15 years my senior. ) Not until years later did I realize the black claw version was rare; I was lucky to have that one.
Oh yes, this was well before he got popular
As a kid i loved both the Super Powers and Secret Wars action figures. They were both well made and for their time had a lot of detail. i had a Mego Hulk and i loved him but he was quite big. I also had a big Spiderman that had a little hook that would pull it up. I loved that Spiderman figure but it was a little stiff. The small figures were poseable (in a limited early 1980's sense) but above all i could take them with me anywhere, while the big Mego Hulk and Spiderman with hook were home only toys.
Such great toys to grow up with
What do you think of the new 3.75 Marvel retro line of figures?
It is cute. Not for me, but I get the rationale behind it
I only miss 2 figures in this line : Electro and the Falcon (Yes, I have Iceman since I was a child in the 80ies. And I still have his shield)
Wow, you were quite lucky! Iceman is gold.
@@spectorcreative1872 Yes, lucky to be french (I think that the figure were only sold in France and Spain, maybe Italy too) The funniest thing is that I lived in a very small burgundian town when I was young. The figure I wanted the most was the classic Spiderman (like any kid, I guess) There was no way to find him in the only toy shop. One day, my mother had to go to Paris and bought me Spiderman from the BHV as a surprise. I was so happy, and played with it heavily (to the point of having him having his two arms broken and loosing every painting detail. Luckily, a friend of mine repaired it and it is now as if it was a new figure). But believe it or not, the Spiderman that you was supposed to find easily was never sold in this little shop, but the Iceman figure was !
I was born on not only the year that 'Secret Wars' came out (1984) but also on the same month that was on the cover of the first issue of the mini series (May) a fun little series and in my humble opinion one of my personal favorite cross over events, be it from Marvel, DC or any other company.
Nuff Said!
Clearly Secret Wars was in your destiny
I lost my Captain America in the Hudson river back in 85. Wonder where he ended up. I also had the black Spider Man. I remember when I got them.
Prob infiltrating that hidden Hydra base under NY
I remember Kang being the biggest pegwarmer. Found him as late as 1989 at Ks Merchandise.
Doom and Kang were big dust collectors. They hung around in wave 1 AND Mattel shipped them in wave 2.
I will always remember attaining Secret Wars Doctor Doom and getting Castle Doom. I didn't get Cobra Commander until Version 3 (the battle armored one). So having THE comic book bad guy was something else.He was my defacto villain the heroes would battle in that scale, and Castle DOOM was his lair (until of course the Cobra Terrordrome was released). I remember I still played with that dang figure until the early 90s when they released a caped version. I still have both the figure and Castle Doom. Both have seen better days (the paint is all gone on the figure and castle doom is missing parts). But I'll always remember the glory days of it when I was a kid.
Nice. He does make a good defacto villain for a lot of toy lines.
I think your facts are wrong. Marvel comics was way more popular than DC at the time. Also DC tried to sell some of its characters to Marvel in the early 80s according to Jim shooter himself.
Yes, but with the general public (non comic fans), DC character however were way more "well known" if you will. A big part because of the 1966 Batman TV and 1978 Superman movie.
I think the Super Powers toyline is way better. Its funny how Marvel seems to be bigger than DC, not sure what the sales numbers are. DC used to take more risks though. Really wish we could get the rest of the Super Powers characters and even more in the same style. The line really stood the test of time. The sculpts still look great.
They are very toy classic!
Managed to get some of these figures recently. Black spiderman, spiderman, iron man, captain America.
Some of the best of the bunch!
Had Cap. The shield sucked but worked I guess.
These were fun figures for the time!
Man I'm ripping a kid and seeing these on the shelf got to text me back I never got these I was still really into Star wars at the time and he man but you know what thing and back now man have been great to get them but marvel legends just redid these figures in a like a nine pack or something so I'll probably pick them up and keep them carded cuz they'll just look amazing on the shelf
They do make a toy shelf happy!
I inherited some of the toys from my chiropractor who's a huge comic book fan. Mostly the villains and Doctor Dooms playset.
Nice! Love getting toys from hand me downs. Always some gems
Hello!
I’ve been looking everywhere for this one video that I’m sure you did on the monster high reboot and I can’t find it anywhere. Did you delete it? or was it made by another creator?
I haven't made any Monster High videos. Must be someone else! Sorry.
I had the entire first wave of figures save for Wolverine. I also had Kang's glider and the Freedom Fighter.
A good line to still have
I confess I still have my DC super powers team figures and my captain america from secret wars.
Not a confession, be proud of those toys!
I stil have my Spiderman figure! Had the Captain America too but he is long gone.
Figures worth keeping
I wish they were at 6 inches. I saw numerous figures at the local store but they were at 3+ inches scale instead.
Well the nice thing is Marvel Legends is at 6" and very consistent!
That’s why they’re calling it a multi-verse these days… Annnnnd… I hate it!!
the idea for The Multiverse was All from A series of novels Michael Moorcock Wrote Was short storie referring To Several multiverses kind of lke Spawn comics u read
I feel like there was a silent agreement between Mattel and Kenner to make both the Super Powers and the Secret Wars figures the same scale.
More like trying to compete with each other like when Remco made figures very similar to He-Man or even the current kid friendly 12" Titan Class figures at retail
I loved these toys, but I remember the paint rubbing off pretty quick
Yeah toys in the 80's did that
Just need the Iceman
Al Bundy for life!