Buried Treasures: Mattel's Secret Wars Bad Guys!

Doug: Hey, friends. We're finishing a 2-part look at the back panels from Mattel's Marvel Super-Heroes Secret Wars action figure line, on sale way back in 1984 and 1985. There were two series sold in the United States, and a third wave sold in Europe that featured Electro, the Constrictor, and Iceman. While I never had those, I did have the 13 figures that were available domestically. I say it past tense, as I sold them last week!

Last week we looked at some Handbook entries and 4-panel comic strips from the heroes' packaging. Today, it's Bring on the Bad Guys! And be sure to check the bottom line on Magneto's card. Say what?

Buried Treasures: Mattel's Secret Wars Box Art

Doug: Yep, I'm still selling! And because of that, I'm still finding things I'd forgotten that I had. Of course I did not forget the 13 action figures in Series 1 and 2 of Mattel's Marvel Super-Heroes Secret Wars line -- they've been on one shelf or another for the better part of 30 years. I decided to list the entire set on eBay this week (search dlw66 under Sellers), which included all of the accessories. The auction was not live for 15 minutes when they sold on a "Buy It Now" for $150. How's that?

But what I'd lost track of were the short comics that adorned the back of each package. Today we're going to "hero up" and look at the good guys; next week we'll Bring on the Bad Guys.

Anyone with information on the creators associated with the little 4-panel comic strips, please don't keep it a secret (see what I did there?). The material on the left side of each of these was for the most part lifted from the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe, albeit with some editing to focus the context toward the toy line. I got a kick out of these after not laying eyes on them since the mid-80s; I hope you enjoy them, too!

Man, That Guy Can Draw...

Doug; You may discuss any artist, male or female, living or dead, that you want today. Me? I've had Mike Zeck on my mind lately...

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Alex Ross' Not So Secret War

Karen: Marvel is doing another 'Secret Wars,' and while I am sure I have no interest in reading this story 'event,' I am really digging this Alex Ross promotional art for it. Apparently it involves multiple universe versions of our heroes battling each other. 

Who's the Best... Action Figure Line?

Doug: Marvel Legends, GI Joe (both sizes), Captain Action, Major Matt Mason, Big Jim, Secret Wars, Megos, Super Powers -- we've talked about all or almost all of these individually. But, which line is your overall favorite for play or collectibility?

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Doug Says: "Check out some of my Stuff!" Part 2

I'm back with another look at my collection. Last time we perused some Megos and a few comic/political buttons. This time I'm going to show off some 1970's Marvel calendars and a few of the Secret Wars action figures from the mid-'80's.

The Mighty Marvel Calendars

My mom was so good to me on Christmas when I was little. We didn't have an abundance of money back in those days, but each year something WAY cool would show up. One year it was Son of Origins of Marvel Comics, other years it would be a Mego or two. But in 1975 she started an annual tradition of giving me the Marvel calendar for the coming year. If you never saw any of these, they were really neat. Each month had original artwork by top artists of that time. In many cases, the artists most associated with a given character at the time (ie Herb Trimpe and the Hulk) had been commissioned to depict said character in some type of theme-based scene. I've included a few details, the first from the 1976 Bicentennial calendar, and the second from the 1977 Memory Album.

In addition, each month was chock full of Bullpen birthdays, first appearances, and just general Marvel gags. It was really cool as a youngster to finally see the faces of many of the writers and artists I'd come to admire. I can't say that in some cases I wasn't surprised... kind of like the first time you saw your favorite DJ!

I'm not sure why I didn't get the 1978 calendar, and I'd also add that I liked the '76 and '77 calendars, which encompassed all of Marvel, better than the singularly-focused Hulk and Dr. Strange calendars.

Secret Wars action figures

I'd been out of comics collecting from the time I entered high school in 1980 until toward the end of my freshman year of college in 1985. But when I returned, it was with a vengeance! Not only did I attempt to gobble up all of the back issues I'd missed, but I discovered that there was quite a bit more merchandising that was taking place than I ever remembered. I'll admit to having missed the first Secret Wars maxi-series, so I really didn't have much of a clue concerning any backstory to the action figure line. But, I thought the sculpts were very cool, and the fact that there were figures available that had not formerly been in the Mego line (my action figure line) -- Magneto, Daredevil, Doc Ock, Kang, and Wolverine. I also was very intrigued by the black Spidey suit, as I'm not sure I'd seen those issues of Amazing Spider-Man yet.

I first ran across this series in a Ben Franklin "dime store" (you are old if you know what a dime store is!). Secret Wars figures were out about the same time as Kenner/DC's Super Powers line. I recall trying to dicker with one of the ladies who worked the lower level of the Ben Franklin store, where the toys were. Yeah, fish weren't bitin'...

If you notice in the background are some of the second series of Marvel Slurpee cups. Next time I'll give you a better view, and show also some of the first series cups that I own, as well as some glasses with the same artwork!