Today we’re going to take another trip to the Superman Shelves, the semi-regular feature in which I take you on a tour of some of the many, many pieces of Superman toys and collectibles in my collection. In previous installments, we’ve looked at my Superman LEGOs and various toys featuring Supergirl. This time out, we’re going to look at some of the assorted action figures that line my shelves.

We’re going to start today with some of the in-package figures in my collection. For the most part, these do not go on display, mostly because I don’t have a good way to display them at the moment. I’m not a fanatic about keeping toys in the box, but certain ones (particularly if it’s not a reclosable box) stay in their plastic bubble as a display piece.

The top two figures in this collage are both of the Christopher Reeve Superman. On the left is a retro-style Spin Master figure, and next to him is a DC Comics Multiverse representation. (I’ve also got the Michael Keaton-style Batman from this line.) Below that we’ve got one of the McFarlane “Page Punchers” – figures packaged with a comic book. This one is from the first issue of the 2016 “Rebirth” era of the comic. In the middle is a Spin Master black suit Superman based on the 2015 Lois and Clark miniseries, and at the end is one of the new line of MEGO Heroes replica figures. I definitely don’t have the original.

This next trio are old-school figures: a McFarlane Super Powers Superman in the style of the Fleischer Cartoons, a bendy figure in the same style (that one is out of his box), and a retro “First Appearance” Superman from the sadly defunct DC Legion of Collectors series. I miss that line – getting a box of DC collectibles every other month with no idea what was coming was a great thing.

Here are some of the smallest figures that I have. The top row are all figures from the Mattel “Imaginext” line of toys for younger kids. Don’t worry, I did not steal any of these from my son. I am consistently impressed, though, at the wildly diverse characters in that line – it’s not 200 different versions of Batman. Well…not JUST 200 different versions of Batman. Here we have Superboy-Prime, a Kingdom Come Superman, and Bizarro. The two figures beneath them are steel Mattel figurines from the Dollar Tree – a classic Superman, and the same figure in a black costume, part of a larger set of Justice League figures.

This next set of figures are all based on last year’s David Corenswet Superman movie. Your basic figure comes first (still in package), followed by a Krypto “Mini Chomper.” Next to them is a Thrilljoy figure, given to me as a birthday present by my brother. Thrilljoy is a relatively new player on the market and seems to be making moves to set itself up as the next Funko – in fact, I believe the company was founded by former Funko executives. On the bottom row is a 12-inch David Corenswet figure (my son has an identical one, which he insisted on bringing with us to see the movie), and in the corner is the three-inch four-figure set from the film, which included not only Superman, but Ultraman, the Engineer, and Mr. Terrific. 

These two tall guys are a Noble Collection Bendable figure (which has come out of his package since I took this picture) and a 12-inch “New 52”-style Superman that I got in a gift basket from my dear friend Owen years ago when I was in the hospital for a couple of weeks. There were other Superman things in that basket too, some of which will turn up in later pictures, and a towel that my son now uses. Owen is a great guy.

I call these guys “the Cosplayers.” McFarlane Toys did a line of “action figures” that were really more like slightly articulated statues for Warner Bros’ 100th anniversary a couple of years ago. I got the Bugs Bunny-as-Superman from that line, as well as Sloth from the Goonies recreating that epic moment from the end of the movie. Also in this set is the Neca Ben Cooper Superman costume figure. I love this line of toys, even though this is the only one I own – action figures of kids wearing the classic Ben Cooper Halloween costumes of my youth. There are lots of other ones. My brother gave me this one, too.

Two more from McFarlane: this replica of the old Supermobile, with an out-of-package Super Powers Superman to pilot it.

Then there’s this little oddity from their Quibi line – cubes that “transform” into figures. It’s weird and neat. I got my wife the Harley Quinn from that line, and I’ve got my eye on the Supergirl…

Let’s finish up this tour with two of my favorite pieces: the most unique toy in my collection and the oldest toy in my collection. Back in 2008 Disney launched its own line of vinyl figures called “Vinylmation.” There were hundreds of different designs that were wildly popular for a few years, then kind of faded away. But one of the most popular things in the line  were blank figures intended to be customized into whatever design you wanted. My sister, who is far more artistic than I am, made this Superman Mickey Mouse for me for Christmas one year. It’s still got a place of honor on the shelf.

Finally, this guy here is a MEGO Pocket Heroes Superman. I had one of these figures as a child, and it was one of my favorite toys. I played with it all the time. The thing is, I never knew what action figure line it came from. I have no memory of receiving the toy, it was just kind of always THERE. This preceded the original Super Powers figures, and once those came out, that was sort of the standard for DC figures for many years. I never forgot the old toy, though, and I spent years wondering what it was and where it came from. Then out of the blue, just about a year ago, someone in a Facebook group shared an old advertisement for the MEGO Pocket Heroes (the ad, and some further information about the series, can be found here at the MEGO Museum Galleries website). I immediately recognized the figure as the one I’d played with as a kid, and as it originally came out when I was just two years old, that kind of explained why I didn’t remember its origin. Once I finally had a name for the figure, finding one on eBay wasn’t terribly difficult. I even got a case just for this guy. He’s not particularly expensive, especially in this condition, but he’s a piece of my past that I was absolutely thrilled to have returned to me.

Okay, I think that’s enough for today. Still plenty of other stuff on the Superman Shelves to share with you (I haven’t even touched on the Funko Pops yet), so there’ll be more coming soon. 

Blake M. Petit is a writer, teacher, and dad from Ama, Louisiana. His most recent writing project is the superhero adventure series Other People’s Heroes: Little Stars, volume one of which is now available on Amazon. Don’t forget, you can check out earlier blogs in the Year of Superman/Superman Stuff Archive! Got a request for a future “Superman Stuff”? Drop it in the comments!