Super Powers
| Class of Bootleg |
Class 3 - Concept Bootleg
|
| Class Notes: |
Superman Varition may count as a Class 2 as it has the original Super Powers logo.
|
| Bootleg Source: |
Superman, Batman, Robin and Spiderman Characters
|
| Bootleg Rating: |
 (Five out of five stars)
|
| Sightings: | California, Canada, Mexico
|
| Vintage: | Spring 1997
|
In the late 1980's, Kenner produced a line of toys under the "Super Powers" moniker. They were high quality toys depicting the most popluar of DC Comic's Super-Heroes. Don't be fooled. These bootlegs have NOTHING to do with that toy line.
What they do have to do with is cheap knock-offs of Batman, Robin, Superman and Spider-Man.
"One of these things is not like the others...."
Those of you who follow comic books will have already noticed the odd figure out of the four. Superman, Batman, and Robin are all licensed by DC Comics. Spider-Man......is not. He's a Marvel Comic's Hero. This is the only line of Bootleg toys that I know of that spans the brand-name gap. Not that this is too suprising. I mean, the whole line is blantanly illegal. Why limit yourself?
Interestingly, the three DC heroes share an identical body mold as detailed below. The Spider-Man figure has entirely new molds. With the exception of the head off of Robin, none of the pieces have been copied from existing toys.
Packaging
Each of the four figures comes on an identical blister-card. The card features some amaturish, but original, artwork showing the four heroes running down a street. The logos on each character (The Bat, S, R, and Spider) have been covered by a black mark on each character. The backboard has the common "Not intended for Children Under 3 Years of Age" warning, and a small "Made in China" logo as well.
The back of the package is just grey cardboard. No graphics or text at all.
Batman
Batman seems to be the base figure for this line. He has the standard "Bat-Fringe" on his gloves - a feature incorrectly duplicated on Superman and Robin. The figure comes in two versions:
- Blue and Grey Comic Version
- Black "Movie" Version (Pictured)
Right now I only have the Movie version to review, but I assume the Comic version is very similar. The base figure is black plastic, with the gloves and boots painted a shiny silver.
The figure is articulated at the neck, waist, shoulders, and hips. The head is a new mold, and looks almost as goofy as the Bat Hero stuff detailed elsewhere at this site. The figure has two stickers - a belt (complete with bat logo) and a bat-logo. The bat logo is afixed to the chest very poorly. It sits on the front of the chest, but does not follow the countours of the figure's body. Rather it sits unbent, afixed at only one point. All of the Super Powers figures have simiar problems with their chest-decals.
Batman also sports a vinyl cape, with the usual "Bat Fringe" carved into the bottom edge.
Robin
Robin seems to be limited to a single release (no variations), but he's plenty bad enough on his own. The head is based on the Batman:The Animated Series mold (the only piece in the Super Powers series to come from an existing toy line), but the painting on it makes you wonder what the producers were smoking, Instead of using white paint to simulate teeth, they chose to paint the open mouth bright pink. Now it looks like Robin is sticking out his tongue.
The body of this figure is cast in yellow plastic, and it has painted red and green highlights. It uses the same body as the Batman above - notice the identical gloves. Robin also has a vinyl cape, cut in a very un-functional manner. More of the suggestion of a cape, than an actual accessory.
The painting on Robin's torso tries to match the classic Robin uniform. Notice the attempt to create the vest right above the belt. The painting only occurs on the front of the figure, however. The back half of the figure is untouched.
The only sticker on the Robin figure is the one for his belt.
Superman
It's the sideburns that make this figure so darn funny. Sure, the painting is bad. Sure, the S-Sticker is barely hanging onto the figure's chest. But the sideburns make him look so much like a Disco-70's Superman that I had to laugh out loud when I got him.
Superman is cast from the same body-mold as the Batman figure, this time in blue plastic. Superman's boots and gloves(!) are painted red, as are his trunks. The red paint didn't go on too well over the blue - no factory spray-guns used here! Supes has a short red vinyl cape cut much like Robin's. There are two stickers on the figure, a belt identical to Robin's, and the S-Symbol.
There are two versions of Superman, hinging on what type of S-Sticker you get.
- Modern Superman - The Stylized S we all know and love (Shown here)
- Classic Superman - A Simple S (Detailed below)
This figure isn't a bad as the Jack Elam Superman bootleg, but it's a very close second.
Superman 2
This second Superman is a bit more interesting - and may in fact qualify as a Class Two bootleg. The card on this figure is different - different art (No Spiderman!) and uses the Super Powers logo from the real line of toys.
The figure also has a different mold for the arms and legs...no more Bat-Fringe. The head is also cast from a different mold...to me it looks like the old MEGO Superman head.
As noted above, the S-Symbol is a bit cheaper - just an S, not the stylized logo we're used to.
Spider-Man
This is the final figure in the Super Powers assortment. It differs from the other three in that it has an entirely new mold. The arms, legs, and torso all have the characteristic "Webbing" pattern unique to Spider-Man. He sports two stickers, a spider-emblem on the chest and a belt with a spider-buckle.
The figure is molded in red plastic, and the boots and torso-highlights are painted in black. The gloves are painted in a bright blue. Notice that the figure's left arm has what I assume to be a web-shooter molded above the hand.
The figures head is not taken from any Spider-Man toy I recognize. Notice that they've decided to paint a mouth on the figure, making Spidey look a lot like a Roswell alien.
There is a potential variation on this figure. The black highlights on the torso and boots may be available in a blue that matches the gloves.
Overall, this is one of my favorite lines of bootlegs. The figures are so cheaply made, the painting so bad, the stickers so worthless, the packaging so illegal, that it exemplifies everthing I could want in a bootleg. I do feel sorry for the kids who got these instead of real toys, though. There just can't be a lot of play value in these things.
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