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As a child, I was always on the lookout for cool toys and longed for highly poseable, well-crafted action figures to recreate massive campaigns on stairways and bunk beds. Sadly, many of those figures, while seemingly cool at the time, pale in comparison to certain newer offerings and simply look stiff and bland in hindsight. Other than the original Star Wars and G. I. Joe figures (all of which I still have), the coolest were the DC Super Powers and Marvel Secret Wars brands because they offered a selection of masked wonders that inhabited my monthly comic books. Yet, while the selection of characters made sense then and now, I find that I can analyze the figures themselves in a new light and name what are truly the coolest comicbook-related toys of all time.

For DC, the Super Powers line was truly awesome, consisting of all the best characters (at the time) and had great poseability and special action features; who can forget squeezing Barry Allen’s arms to make his legs run in place? Batman and Robin could punch and karate chop their foes, and the Joker could retaliate with that giant hammer. The vehicles and accessories rocked, especially the Batmobile (how sweet was that?), and you could even have your heroes congregate at the Hall of Justice. The Super Powers line had it all and still holds up surprisingly well today.

Circa 2006, DC focuses on their own DC Direct line of figures which I believe are generally modeled from the Super Powers

The thing that hurts the DC Direct line the most is that you can only find it or order it from comicbook stores, and we know how many non-readers inhabit those.

of yesterday. Amusingly, before DC Direct they marketed a line of JLA figures that looked like the old Marvel Secret Wars figures, and their poseability was virtually nonexistent. DC Direct is a vast improvement over JLA, but they seem a little stiff compared to the Super Powers. Granted, the sculpts are fantastic and look great if you plan on keeping them packaged and displayed on the wall, but they just don’t feel that playable. The thing that hurts this line the most is that you can only find it or order it from comicbook stores, and we know how many non-readers inhabit those. Until DC sells these through toy store chains and lowers the prices their Direct line will be little more than statues for collectors and speculators.

On the Marvel front, the Secret Wars line had a fun batch of figures but limited playability. There were a few vehicles and such, but I remember trying to fit the figures on or in them with those bowed legs that had a wingspan as wide as the figure was tall. They had five joints each, with minimum flexibility, and were a pain to pose in any way except standing straight up; if you tried to have someone kick people then it just looked like he was hiking his leg on them. Their main accessories were those lenticular shields that served no purpose whatsoever and just generally looked dumb, nor did they have any relation to the characters, stories, or even practicality. Secret Wars did have a unique look, but at the expense of being much fun to play with.

While Marvel has had numerous toy lines over the years for cartoon series, movies, and character lines (like the Silver Surfer/Cosmic ones that were cool), nothing holds a candle to their current Marvel Legends series of toys. My God these are cool action figures, and they have everything a kid (or adult) could want in a figure: excellent sculpting, great accessories, a wide range of characters available, and more poseability than I though possible in an action figure. Some sets are better than others, assortment-wise, but every series has at least one must-own figure out of the bunch: Nick Fury, Silver Surfer (with Howard the Duck!), Iron Fist, Blade, Taskmaster, Black Panther — the list goes on and on. Not only that, but the most recent assortments come with pieces of buildable giant characters like the Sentinel and Apocalypse, figures that are fourteen inches in size and still have the quality of the smaller figures. Marvel even produces a companion line for the direct market called Marvel Select, and these figures come with great accessories and bases even if they are more for collectors (the best ones are She-Hulk, Black Widow 2, and Thanos). Upcoming Legends include Kitty Pryde, Ms. Marvel, and Luke Cage (‘70s style!), with large figures of Giant Man, Mojo, and MODOK (What the!?!). Not only that, but they have a forthcoming boxed set of horror icons including Dracula, Werewolf by Night, Frankenstein, and a Zombie. How cool is that? Marvel Legends are truly legendary and I only wish I could own them all.

So which DC line is the best? I would have to go with Super Powers, because they were readily available, fun, and offered

Marvel Legends are truly legendary and I only wish I could own them all.

everything a kid needed to play. And obviously the Marvel Legends line takes their crown, and blows away all competition in every genre of toy. Legends look great packaged and on display or opened and played with, and they offer everything I always wanted in an action figure. It’s just too bad I’m too old to play with them now.

Mostly.

 

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