So here we go with My showcase of
ToyBiz' Marvel Super Heroes and this will be one huge but excellent presentation
So if your just now seeing this and haven't seen how all of this came to be then get to the first page now cause you missed a lot pals & gals
OK, so the majority of these
TBMSH I got at
Toy Chest and at least 1 at
K-Mart so near the climax I will have a special
location section and it will be indeed a remarkable one
The series came out in the great jam packed year of
1990 and a few considered a late release in
early 1991.The time of
Marvel Legends was fun in the
2000s which I kinda established many
Marvel characters by then but there's never been a time like this of
90/91 since. Let's get started with the first entries already revealed in the previous update then then the others
The Punisher: Besides
Spider-Man, Captain America & The Incredible Hulk, He was really the only
Marvel character I knew since I was really a
DC kid and didn't get into
Marvel in
late 1989/early 1990 which I have explained in the topic. Due to the
1989 Punisher movie I just loved him and the raw & gritty style of it as a whole. I then was super hooked on the
NES game as well (look for a special sometime down the road within the topic about this!) he was an instant favorite. So when My Family took Me to
South County's Toy Chest on a very special day (I will showcase this wonderful day near the end of this) is when I actually discovered these great
TBMSH and because they were so similar like the
TBDCSH, I could totally relate to them thus making Me want them and it was the pinnacle of a major
Toy Chest haul and the beginning of a relationship with
Marvel but I will always be a
DC fan first
So
The Punisher looks really good with his iconic skull ready to punish the guilty. He has a cool
firing cap backpack slider that I was kinda surprised about cause I was already well aware of
Kenner's RoboCop figures having them and I thought that they were the only ones like that but nope,
ToyBiz pulled off yet another
Kenner trait and still I wonder how they managed to do it (at least they weren't like those corporate locusts
Hasbro cause they just takeover everything while
ToyBiz was mighty clever however in the
mid 2000s, Hasbro would have their way with
ToyBiz and milk their
Marvel Legends as far as possible and it's even worse now with people giving in to this with this crowdfunding Haslabs scheme with beyond insane prices and with current inflations search me how people are doing it) and even to this day it still amazes Me that the cap-firing mechanism embedded in his back works as fine if not better than
Kenner's 1988 RoboCop series
Don't quote Me here but I believe
This Punisher figure was the last one ever to have this feature
He has a good arsenal of guns. Loving
G.I. Joes and action hero films with tons of gun battles this was right up My alley as he has a
Colt 45. firearm, M-16, Uzi & Grenade Launcher which I really dig them all especially the latter
One thing I was always a bit bummed about was he can only hold one at a time, a love a dueler
Now
Captain America was such a must, I believe his comic was the first
Marvel comic I have of an actual
Marvel character which look for that in a future showcase here soon
The sculpting on him is really decent and I love his all American color on his attire. His mask wings look good size. His
shield has a launcher that still works and you can attach his lone weapon either way onto his arm. This is undoubtedly one of the best
CA figures ever made. I used to own the
MLs ones and still even then this version takes the cake
So here is
Spider-Man and he looks fine and dandy. I love the paint scheme that they did. He looks like he means businesses as a "matured/veteran
Spidey" than some inexperienced teenager as his expression shows that
He has
suction cups on his hands which is such an ideal way of making a figure stick to a window among other surfaces. He also has a cool flexible
black web with his logo to enhance his gimmick
Now I knew
The Incredible Hulk thanks to the
Bill Bixby & Lou Ferrigno live action TV show but I never watched it faithfully as a youngster and didn't really know it was
Marvel at the time. When I first saw this figure I knew who he was and I'm like he's awesome and that's the character that
Hulk Hogan is sort of named after cause it says it on most stuff with him on it that
Hulk is a registered trademark
Marvel Comics so as I have said before it pays so much to check out and find & read those
Copyrights on action figures, books, posters and the like
He's a bit short but he looks really superb. I have a always liked his mechanism on his back making his arms go up & down in a pose with his included
bendable bar and he even has a
throwing rock that is very a soft plastic that is really kid safe
So here is
Iron Man, I was vaguely familiar with him at the time. I thought he was pretty cool with his large suit and removable mask. It's amazing how far the character has come and has been pushed as "THE ONE" since then
Here's
Daredevil, another I really didn't know well. He looks kinda basic but it's really all that could be done cause his design isn't really that complicated. His weapon is so huge, it's really over-proportioned to fit his figure, in fact it looks really ridicules darn near like is this a joke but it wasn't and that's the way it was then
I believe I saw
Silver Surfer before and seeing him on the peg was so cool, I really never seen a figure that was all silver like him before and he was instantly one of My faves not to mention he's an alien
The sculpting is really good and he includes his huge
surf board. It has wheels on the bottom with a pullback action like a toy car, it's really, really cool how this still works really good and looks so cool even to this very moment as I type this
Here's
Doctor Octopus or
DOC-OCK. I really didn't know him much but I thought he was really cool with four bendable limbs. Like his arc-nemesis, he too has
suction cups as well as
claws. His tentacles are bendable which is a very ideal way for this to work. He was a must have if you have
Spider-Man Oh boy here is
Venom, another alien that I thought was awesome with his big white eyes & big mouth full of teeth. Again, I wasn't familiar with him but soon would be because of the
SNES Video Game Spider-Man and Venom: Maximum Carnage, that was a great one by
Accalim His figure is big, even bigger than
The Incredible Hulk. He's extremely muscle bound and looks like a true terror humanoid monster. He had a "Living Skin Skin Pores" action feature to mimic the
Symbiote Black Goo but I have since missed placed that but I'm sure it would have disintegrated by now or at least been really funky (see My
1990 Kenner Play-Doh in My
Vintage Action Figure Topic to see how it crystallized over the course of 33 years
He's a superb looking figure and one of the finest versions you could have believe Me cause I had many versions of him from the
Marvel Legends, Spider-Man Classics & Marvel Selects lines and while they were fantastic, they lacked the classic feel and monstrosity that this possesses
Oh here we go with arguably My most crucial of the whole line and that figure is none other than
Doctor Doom He was crucial because he was THE last one I needed. One day My Mom and her girlfriend
Nancy along with her daughter
Kimberly was going shopping and I wanted to come along too. My Mom knew her since she was young. I knew her off & on throughout My young childhood. She was a nice looking petite brunette with glasses and I kinda bonded with her daughter a bit. She was cute with long blonde hair. We were never attracted to each other in that sort of way. Our friendship was ok but it was nothing like
Jenny & Chasity however (I talked about them wonderful girls earlier on). So We all went shopping for whatever reason. This was
early 1991 like
late Winter/Early Spring and I believe it was like 8 to maybe 10 PM. My Mom & I loved shopping late at night back then and We would continue to do so till the early
2000s until things changed for Us
I think We stopped by only one place but I cannot be certain. I know for a fact that We went to the
South County K-Mart in it's original building. I recall going to the toy isle and not seeing much I wanted but there was
Dr. Doom on the peg, I hurried up and grabbed him cause he was the only character
that I needed to complete My set and THE series and I asked My Mom if she could get him for Me and she did and he was Mine completing set
So with all of that being said he was yet again a character I really didn't know, I loved the look of him however with his cool
silver armor & mask with cloth cape. He looked kinda medieval to Me and had two weapons which one is a
drill and the other is some sort of
steering wheel/shield. He has a spinning hand action feature which really works wonders with his
drill I'm so grateful that My Mom go Me him to complete the series as he is one of My most prized & memorable action figures in My entire collection regardless of year, series, genre, scale and type
SPECIAL GALLERY!!As always I love to show the
Copyrights. Here's some of
1990 & 1991. Again it's quite important to check your figures for this type of info on their bodies. Really can be the same for anything that is collectible like Books, Movies, CDs, Video Games etc. Do yourself a favor and check your older stuff, it's imperative to because it tells you who made it and when. I've been doing it since I was a youngster, I always thought it was so fun to know it
So here is the
BLISTER CARDS Unfortunately I couldn't locate everyone like I did for
ToyBiz's DCSH seen earlier on within the topic but I was able to find a few of'em which I'm thankful for that
The three that I was able to find was
The Hulk, Dr. Octopus & Dr. Doom. This what the
front of the
cards looked like which they're really neat
Here's the
card backs and they looked pretty nifty as well.
Here is the characters'
bios plus being helping advertisers to subscribe to
Marvel Comics Amazing how this time period was and I sure do miss it...
as the
1990 Copyright can be seen here along with many of the
figures that's within the series plus the cool
vehicles & Training Center. I was never interested in them, I was never a vehicle person like I said about in My
ToyBiz 89 Batman showcase, I only made an exception with those and from time to time with certain lines I will make exceptions if I feel I like it and need it for My displays or even to complete a series
Now here is a
SPECIAL COMPARISON of how the all three of
ToyBiz' major series were together at that time which was the
89 Batman, DC Super Heroes & Marvel Super Heroes. Now you can clearly see that the first two the
DC lines were quite similar in style despite one was mostly movie inspired while the
Marvel one looks way different however it still has the
stars barrier at the top which is something else. These series' had some of the best art ever on a
blister card and I regret that I didn't open them more cleanly. I didn't cut My
blisters till I got My first
SW: POTF2 Boba Fett in
1996 because I loved the look & feel of them, see My great
SW Topic for more about that
To this day it's truly remarkable that all of this was done by
ToyBiz that something like this actually happen for us kids in the fun years of
89 - 91 I really don't think people took to the time to realize how marvelous this occurrence was back then and still even now
The
back of the cards is arguably the bigger story here because while the
DC versions looked similar like each other, they are actually more creative looking in My opinion as they just look like more thought & time went into them I mean they even had the
bios and for a novice like Me at the time that wants to know these characters that's a very imperative part and always has been for Me and always will
I mean the
Marvel did too but it just didn't stand out and it just didn't immediately grab My attention like the
DC ones did
Here is an example of the
ToyBiz logo on the
blister cards. Note that the
DC background is
Bronze or Copper and the
Marvel background is
Silver. Gosh this is cool
We're All Together Now: So in one of the most important parts of the whole showcase is seeing every figure within the series with each other so here is My
Marvel Superheroes Group Shot, look at that super display
Like My first
Justice League will always be the one in My
DC ToyBiz showcase, these
[b]ToyBiz MSH The Avengers will always be My first as well
A Civil War When there was only a Sinister 2 A Master's servant meets a new Master When Aliens have their own Close Encounters A Devil meets a Devil Wolverines are sometimes called
"Wood Devils" and
ToyBiz's Wolverine is here bringing you a taste for things to come
So here is an odd one. For the longest time I always thought that the
The Riddler's sculpt was redone & reused to fit
Daredevil in the future line
I've never been able to confirm it after all of this time but looking at them side by side for decades in comparison I've always thought that is more than likely
Here is one of the most fun displays you could ever do and one I would think most fans would "want" to do and that is put
The Incredible Hulk (ToyBiz) vs. ''The Immortal'' Hulk Hogan (Hasbro) together facing off each other cause again, it's important to read those
copyrights because for many, many years on just about everything it says that
"Hulk" Hogan is used with permission of
Marvel Comics. Trust Me, I have countless items that says it. Anyway the scale is pretty decent, even then
ToyBiz was kinda being a toy rival and Me thinking that they were one of the best and in the
2000s I believe they truly were one of if not the best but little did I know that those corporate locusts
Hasbro would be scheming yet again basically acquiring all rights to
ToyBiz after
Marvel's financial problems thus putting the final nail in the coffin when it came taking over most of your most iconic companies from the
80s & 90s, Tonka, Kenner & Parker Brothers, Larami, Galoob & OSTM, WowWee etc.) so this pic that I took has more than one meaningful purpose besides a fantasy confrontation of the ages
Now here is quite a special. Earlier when I began this showcase I talked about
The Punisher that he has a
cap-firing mechanism embedded in his back and that it works just as fine if not better than
Kenner's 1988 RoboCop versions. Well here is a
size comparison between the two of
Kenner's 1988 RoboCop & ToyBiz' 1990 The Punisher. Now you see that they ain't in scale with each other which is a bummer however they have the
cap-slider on their backs and really both look darn near identical which really is uncanny especially during this era
Now you see them opened up close & personal. I unfortunately I recently misplaced My
Firing Caps darn it but I hope to relocate them in time. Now you can see that
RoboCop's back looks really dirty basically worn out while
The Punisher looks pretty good. That's because I used the heck out of
RoboCop figures and really didn't with My
Punisher figure. I'm not sure why, I had a ton of
caps, they were easy to get over at
Ben Franklin's on
Grand, I guess because he was the only
Marvel figure of the kind while there was many of the
RoboCop series. So take a gander at this
NOTE: This year marks the
35th Anniversary of
Kenner's 1988 RoboCop figures, I have most of them and I will be showcasing them all sometime in the near future in My
Vintage Action Figure Topic Now here is the big one that anybody that is a fan of
ToyBiz' most iconic classic series would want to witness, here is My display of
ToyBiz DC & Marvel Super Heroes all together in one grand setup
SUPER SPECIAL ENTRY!!Oh damn, here is My
Great EXAMPLE of 1990: 1990 was such a great year for just about everything, in toys, comics, gaming especially in movies & wrestling. It's one of My most favorite years of all and it's really hard to defeat. You can check out My 3-Part
Woolworth special in My
Vintage Action Figure Topic, in Part 1 I showcase a great time I had at
Location #1 on Grand right next to
Paramount Drugs in
1990, it was so fun during this era of My childhood
So here we have
ToyBiz' MSH Silver Surfer, Kenner's Batman & Swamp Thing, Playmates's TMNT Slash & Dick Tracy, Galoob's WCW Barry Windham & Hasbro's WWF Akeem "The African Dream". Now that there is one heck of a lineup. I was a major collector of all of these lines and got most of what I could. I was huge on
Swamp Thing, I actually knew him before
Batman because of the original film but again didn't get into the comics until later.
Slash was/is such a favorite of Mine, I loved that he was a bad turtle I always had him as a major villain back in the day when I played with him. I instantly became a
Dick Tracy fan, I love the setting and how everything looked in the film and coming right off "the bat" in
89, Elfman scored the music here as well so I mean it was a no-brainer
Now I was a huge fan of
Barry Windham & Akeem. I loved how big & tall they were and they had such great personalities. Strangely they both were scheduled for the
WWF 1989 Survivor Series & WCW 1991 Halloween Havoc PPV Events and both were unable to appear do to their respected reasons. This is another reason why I chose them together so take a gander an this great stuff
THE LOCATIONS!!Here is
Toy Chest. Sadly they went out of business due to
TRU moving across the street &
KB around the corner in the once big mall in
South County. My last time there was in the great year of
1990 which was quite a crucial trip as you saw above, I explain a lot more on PAGE 27 of My
Vintage Action Figure Topic and you don't want to miss it if you haven't read & seen it already but now we're going down a slightly different route that will expand this wonderful last time I had over at
Toy Chest even further
Notice the nice
logo that I put together says many locations, I only went to and knew the
South County one which I'm thankful for
Sadly, nobody ever talks about
Toy Chest anymore and quite frankly they have been mostly forgotten in these pathetic oblivious times and I hate that, I mean I really despise crap like that
Here was
Toy Chest's Price Sticker Here is what the building
Toy Chest was located at in recent times looks like and now it's a
JCPenny's believe it or not which really I'm glad their still around cause it was looking like they were falling into the same path as the web & P!@mD3mic was tearing them apart
So during this "last" trip to
Toy Chest, it was Me along My Mom & My Grandparents. My Grandpa wanted to stop in
Po'Folks for dinner which was a nice country type restaurant. Sadly I didn't appreciate this cause I was a stupid picky kid not really wanting to go to places like that as I wanted to go to places like
McDonalds & Pizza Hut I don't recall what We ate there but I remember it was a good time. Unfortunately they closed their kitchen not too long after this day which was really a shame cause My Grandpa loved that joint
Here is the
Po'Folks area as they were the building on the left with
Toy Chest in the background. Note that
Tucker's Place is on the right, they are still there, they were one of My Mom's favorite restaurants, she'd have her boyfriend Nick take her there all the time, she loved their salads & salads dressings, some of the best you could ever taste
So on this one of a kind day at
Toy Chest, I just wasn't lucky getting the
ToyBiz Marvel Super Heroes but I also got a lot of
WWF Hasbro action figures too because honestly that is WHY I wanted to go to
Toy Chest, I was nearly obsessed with collecting them since I got My first one at My great
Morgan Ford K-Mart which was
Hulk Hogan in the
Spring 1990.. Ever since I got him I wanted them all and I got all of
series 1 from
Target then they were coming out with
series 2 which I found out watching
WWF Prime Time Wrestling, Coliseum Video among other ways so around
September 1990 came around and I had a significant haul, possibly the first I ever had. My eyes were focused on finding
WWF figures and that is all and boy did I found'em. I put'em all in the shopping cart and I have no idea what My parents thought but they knew I wanted them so I was able to get every new figure that they had. Along the way I found a special little figure on the floor which I have showed this in My great
Vintage Wrestling Collection Topic a long while back...
BrandonDaCollector wrote:Andre the Giant by HG Toys: Here is an interesting story. I was on the hunt for
WWF Hasbro figures at Toy Chest, a big rival of [/b]Toys "R" Us[/b] at the time as they were right across the street from them! Anyway, this
Andre the Giant Zipper Clip was in the wrestling figure isle loose, on the floor!! So I took it! Its the only time I ever saw this kind of figure in person. Well, finder's keepers
The thing is, this particular figure was during the time of the
LJN's meaning since they stopped selling these years prior to when I found him in
1990, look at the
1985 Titans Sports & H-G Toys Copyright
Now if that wasn't extraordinary enough, when I was looking around I saw a lot of things like dinosaur & monster figures and stuff like then I saw'em, I saw
ToyBiz's Marvel Super Heroes and I was really euphoric, I wanted them a lot and so I got them too
This was a lot sure but dang stuff was so affordable then, see if anything that is offered on today's market is as cheap and as fun. I mean four of these cost what one cost now, it's so pathetic
This was such a memorable day for Me and really I never had one like it since
So I have in this special pic I placed everybody sans
Dr. Doom because he was the last one I needed seen above in My big
South County K-Mart story. I cannot be certain if I got
Venom at
Toy Chest but I put him there anyway. Now as for the
WWF figures I know for a fact that I got
"Rowdy" Roddy Piper, "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes, "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan #1, Hulk Hogan #2 & The Ultimate Warrior #2 and most of all
The Honky Tonk Man, he was My most wanted, even more than
Piper I cannot be certain about
"The Million Dollar Man" Ted Diabase #2, "Macho King" Randy Savage, Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka & Big Boss Man #2 so like
Venom I just put them there just in case. Take a good gander at this big history of My last & final time at
Toy Chest So this is where Our really good
K-Mart was which I have many memories there besides when My Mom got Me My
Dr. Doom which I'll get to in time. On their left was a really cool
Chuck E. Cheese there that took the place of the great
Showbiz Pizza Place that I showcased in My great
Vintage Action Figure & Odds & Ends Topics This
Chuck E. Cheese is the location that I have talked about many times here when I played & beat the
TMNT: Turtles in Time arcade game with a ton of
Tokens in about an hour or so
Next to them on the far left used to be a nice
Wehrenberg dollar theater show. I saw many movies with My Family there like
Stargate, Anaconda, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Alien Resurrection & Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. The poor crippled black man who was the ticket master talked to My Grandpa there a lot. He would actually work at the huge
Ronnies Wehrenberg theater (
Marcus bought them out in 2016) much further down the opposite direction, I reconnected with him for a brief time several years ago and told him who I was and that he talked to My Grandpa and all that, he was nice and surprised
K-Mart[/b] moved around the corner and took the place of Our great
South County Venture when they went out of business in
1998 along with the rest of'em which was 25 years ago this year
That location is where I discovered My
Lanard K-9 Corps. figures in
2005 They flourished there for a while but with the likes of
Walmart not too far a way, the internet being the thing that makes people being people they were only around a decade or so longer
So when they moved in
98, Chuck E. Cheese went out of business around that time which was such a darn shame then they tore down then rebuilt the whole plaza and within a year a big
Home Depot and who knows what else was all of a sudden there. The only thing I ever recognize was car dealership which Me & Mom went to once in a while and the
Hooters and no I've never been there though I wouldn't mind seeing some busty waitresses handing Me My chicken
The whole
South County area is so different now, very few places that was there during My childhood are all gone except a few like
Best Buy that I showcased in My awesome
Vintage Wrestling VHS & DVD Collection 5-Part showcase. It's not as bad as
Crestwood mind you but it's still mighty depressing when you know how fun the region was years ago and when you compare it, I just hope there's others out there besides Me that recalls how it was back then cause it was so fun
So there is My huge showcase of My
ToyBiz Marvel Super Heroes and I hope you enjoyed this and were surprised at what you saw and read. Next up will be another special entry that will be quite apropos to this topic and basically the second installment here which it maybe one that you may not expect, until then I'll see you around