McFarlane Toys’ relaunch of Kenner’s old Super Powers action figures met with a mixed response, initially. The originals were close replicas of the comic artwork of the time, and the roster of characters went deep with no repeats, as opposed to today’s logic that there need to be constant Superman and Batman refreshes. The capes haven’t been quite there, and the “power action” features — squeeze the legs to make the figures punch, or something similar — are gone altogether.
In With the New
Where the line is undeniably excelling, however, is in the creation of new items that feel like they could (and should) have been released in the ’80s, and fit figures old and new. DC collectors got excited last year when a Blue Beetle movie-inspired popcorn bucket proved compatible with Super Powers figures as a spaceship. Now they have a proper toy version of The Bug, free of canola oil and greasy fingerprints. And Blue Beetle himself — the Ted Kord version — joins the line at last. His ship has two seats, so Booster Gold ought not be too far behind.
Brainiac’s skull ship, which looks a little like a lazy octopus in this form, might work best with the classic vac-metal Brainiac figure from the ’80s. But to change things up, McFarlane Toys offers the even-more-classic green Brainiac. Familiar comic versions are set to hit retail, but a special purple and green variant with bearded Brainiac is exclusive to the McFarlane Toys online store.
Of course there’s also a Batman, because there nearly always is — this time, a “manga” repaint in gray. Gold Superman will also ship out with this wave of figures. But then there’s Kilowog, and even though he’s a big boi, he won’t cost any extra. All these figures hold steady around $9.99.
Here are the official images, below:
