Super Heroes Cookies (Nabisco)

Super Heroes Cookies
Nabisco
1982 - 1984

Remember back in the day when cookies were super creative, but yet oddly tasted the exact same? A generic, crumbly, dry, cardboard / vanilla flavor. They were awesome! Though I haven't talked about too many of them here, one in specific which immediately comes to mind were Pepperidge Farm's Star Wars cookies from 1983.

Much like the aforementioned Star Wars cookies, Nabisco's Super Heroes featured various character shapes, featuring DC's classic heroes and villeins. To make them all the more enjoyable, Nabisco released a whopping ten different box variations, each one featuring its own character art.

The boxes are actually quite comical in that they include a blurb on the side panel promoting fruit. "Food Facts - Over 7,500 varieties of apples are grown in the world today." Cause that's what people are thinking about when they grab a box of cookies.

Nah, when they were grabbing one of these boxes they were think of edible Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Robin, Batgirl, Shazam, Riddler, Penguin and Joker shaped cookies.

In 1984, Nabisco started the final campaign of cookies which consisted of all new Supergirl shaped cookies and boxes. What made these particular snacks collectible were the various super sized trading cards located on the back of each box. In total, there were fifteen different images to cut out and collect.

Of the various cards, some are definitely much more difficult to track down than others. However, there doesn't seem to be any real rhyme or reason as to why.

While I stated 1982 - 1984 above as the period these cookies were on store shelves, I actually cannot confirm if 1984 was indeed the year these were discontinued. There doesn't seem to be much information out there regarding these snacks in general. As such, the reason I landed on that year was because that was when the Supergirl movie came out.

Regardless of when they ended, I'm sure many a child was distraught the first day mom didn't come home with a box because they were no longer on store shelves. Fortunately, I'm sure there was something else on the market that was equally as exciting for kids. Oreo Big Stuf did come out in 1984 after all. But that's a post for another time.

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Super Queens (Ideal)

Super Queens
Ideal
1967 - 1968

During the 1960's and 70's, Ideal was one of the largest doll-makers in the United States. With familiar characters such as Evil Knievel, Captain Action and Dorothy Hamil (to name just a few), the company was well poised to sell dolls to children of all ages, boy or girl.

In 1967 Ideal produced an all new line - Super Queens. This four doll set featured some of the most popular female heroine's of DC Comics, and even Krypto the Superdog in the case of Supergirl. The overall design of the dolls were in the style of another Ideal line, Posin' Misty. Much like the Misty doll, each Super Queen stood 11.5 inches, and featured rooted hair. Of course, it wouldn't be complete without the signature side-glancing eyes.

What makes these dolls extra special to collectors is that they were the first examples of dolls for these particular characters. It wouldn't be until the 70's that Mego introduced its line of eight inch dolls / action figures based on some of these DC characters.

 Supergirl

 Batgirl

 Wonder Woman

Mera

In general these dolls are not common, nor easy to find. One pops up here and there, but typically it is Batgirl or Supergirl. Wonder Woman and Mera remain far more scarce.

Due to the fragile nature of the packaging these are prone to crushing / bowing on the sides. Because of this, there are very few dolls known to exist in the box in true mint condition. With that said, even the worst of condition one will set you back considerably.

Loose dolls sell at a starting price of $500.00, and mint in the box ones can sell for several thousands. This is certainly no line for the faint of heart, or frugal budgeted collector.

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All-Star (DC Direct)

Mainstay characters such as Batman, Superman, The Joker, Lex Luthor, and more have always been the bread and butter of DC Comics, making them a household name that has run strong as early as the 1940's. Despite the various twists and turns the comic world takes, or how many new series are produced, DC always circles back to the characters who have been icons for generations.


This is the same in the toy world. No matter how many different toys are produced, it's pretty much a guarantee that at any point in time you can walk down a toy isle and find your favorite superheroes on a peg in some form or fashion. Be it large series based lines, or smaller, more compact lines.

In 2009, DC Direct released a small line of wonderful figures - DC All-Stars. All-Star was an imprint of ongoing comic book titles published by DC Comics that ran from 2005 to 2008 featuring Batman and Superman, which the toy line was based on. The idea of the imprint was to bring the most acclaimed writers and artists together with top tier DC characters to present their interpretation for a modern audience that have not read these DC characters' comics previously, or had not seen them lately.

The DC Direct toy line included Batman, Batgirl, Superman, and the less heard of Super Lois from the Anttimater Universe. Each figure came packed in a sealed PVC packaging with a unique cardboard back packed in. The colors of the cardboard were designed to match the uniform of the figure's uniform inside.


Along with the four individual figures, an All-Star Superman Collector Set which included a slightly resculpted Superman and Bizarro figures inside was released. This particular item came in a window box, and once again utilized the color scheme of Superman's costume, much like the individual figure. Packed behind the figures was a limited edition 160 page reprint of All-Star Superman Volume 1 written by Grant Morrison with art by Frank Quietly.

The line was mildly successful, and since it didn't have the flaw that most comic book based lines had - excessive repaints, it was well received by comic purists. Unfortunately DC Direct failed to capitalize fully on the line by stopping at the handful of figures released in 2009.

Join us next time when we take a look at Neca's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!

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