Secret Wars (toyline)

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The Secret Wars toyline was a short lived tie-in to Marvel Comics' Secret Wars comic book mini-series. The line was produced by Mattel and saw two series of action figures released (along with vehicles and playsets) in 1984 and 1985, as well as a third series of figures released outside North America. Several of the characters in the mini-series never appeared in the toyline, while characters and vehicles not appearing in the mini-series appeared in the toyline.

Marvel Comics Company that publishes comic books and related media

Marvel Comics is the brand name and primary imprint of Marvel Worldwide Inc., formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, a publisher of American comic books and related media. In 2009, The Walt Disney Company acquired Marvel Entertainment, Marvel Worldwide's parent company.

<i>Secret Wars</i> 1984-1985 limited comic book series

Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars, commonly known as Secret Wars, is a twelve-issue American comic book crossover limited series published from May 1984 to April 1985 by Marvel Comics. The series was written by Jim Shooter with art by Mike Zeck and Bob Layton. It was tied to the same-named toyline from Mattel.

Comic book Publication of comics art

A comic book or comicbook, also called comic magazine or simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and written narrative, usually, dialog contained in word balloons emblematic of the comics art form. Although comics has some origins in 18th century Japan, comic books were first popularized in the United States and the United Kingdom during the 1930s. The first modern comic book, Famous Funnies, was released in the U.S. in 1933 and was a reprinting of earlier newspaper humor comic strips, which had established many of the story-telling devices used in comics. The term comic book derives from American comic books once being a compilation of comic strips of a humorous tone; however, this practice was replaced by featuring stories of all genres, usually not humorous in tone.

Contents

Figures

Figures were 4 12 inches [115 mm] tall. They came packaged in a bubble-card pack. The back of the packaging card came with a character illustration and biography, a short 4-panel comic, and a depiction of available figures in the series.

They each came with a large plastic "Secret Shield" accessory that held a lenticular image. Heroes carried circular red shields and villains carried square gray shields, which were supposed to represent a sort of video communicator. The lenticular "secret identity" image was viewable through a clear plastic window in the top cover of the shield and shifted between showing either the character's costumed or secret identities. There was also a packet of four lenticular "secret message" cartoon inserts that came with each character that fit in the Secret Shield.

Lenticular printing

Lenticular printing is a technology in which lenticular lenses are used to produce printed images with an illusion of depth, or the ability to change or move as the image is viewed from different angles.

Series 1

The back of the packaging card had a character illustration and biography, a 4-panel comic of the character in action, and pictures of all eight Series 1 figures.

Captain America Comic book character

Captain America is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by cartoonists Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in Captain America Comics #1 from Timely Comics, a predecessor of Marvel Comics. Captain America was designed as a patriotic supersoldier who often fought the Axis powers of World War II and was Timely Comics' most popular character during the wartime period. The popularity of superheroes waned following the war and the Captain America comic book was discontinued in 1950, with a short-lived revival in 1953. Since Marvel Comics revived the character in 1964, Captain America has remained in publication.

Head shot photograph of the face

A head shot or headshot is a modern portrait in which the focus is on the person. The term is applied usually for professional profile images on social media, the 'about us page' or a corporate website and promotional pictures of actors, models, and authors.

Doctor Doom Marvel Comics character

Doctor Victor Von Doom is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby, the character made his debut in The Fantastic Four #5. The monarch of the fictional nation Latveria, Doom is usually depicted as the archenemy of Mister Fantastic and the Fantastic Four, though he has come into conflict with other superheroes as well, including Spider-Man, Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Doctor Strange, Black Panther, the X-Men, and the Avengers.

Series 2

Poor sales of Series 1 cut back the North American release of this series to just five figures rather than eight. The remaining three were only released overseas. The back of the packaging card had the same character illustration, biography and 4-panel comic like the Series 1 figures but instead had pictures of Captain America, Doctor Doom, and Doctor Octopus from Series 1 and all five figures from Series 2.

Baron Zemo name of two Marvel Comics supervillains

Baron Zemo is the name of several fictional supervillains appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The two central characters who have used the Baron Zemo title are Heinrich Zemo and Helmut Zemo. Both are major adversaries of Captain America and the Avengers and have led the Masters of Evil; the term also refers to a fictional barony that has spanned multiple decades of the fictional history of the Marvel Universe.

Daredevil (Marvel Comics character) Fictional superhero

Daredevil is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Daredevil was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Bill Everett, with an unspecified amount of input from Jack Kirby. The character first appeared in Daredevil #1. Writer/artist Frank Miller's influential tenure on the title in the early 1980s cemented the character as a popular and influential part of the Marvel Universe. Daredevil is commonly known by such epithets as the "Man Without Fear" and the "Devil of Hell's Kitchen".

Falcon (comics) Comic book character

Falcon is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was introduced by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Gene Colan in Captain America #117, and was the first African-American superhero in mainstream comic books.

Foreign releases

These were originally planned to be part of Series 2 but were instead dumped in overseas markets. Packaging was in Spanish language text.

Constrictor (comics) name of two fictional characters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics

Constrictor is the name of two fictional characters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.

Electro (Marvel Comics) Marvel Comics supervillain

Electro is a fictional supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Maxwell "Max" Dillon, the first Electro, is an enemy of Spider-Man who gained the ability to control electricity after being struck by lightning while working on a power line. Electro has since become one of Spider-Man's most enduring foes, becoming part of the collective rogue team known as the Sinister Six. The second Electro is Francine Frye.

2 and 3 Packs

Sears Boxed 2 Packs

Available through Sears' 1984 Wish Book Catalog. Came in white pasteboard mailer boxes with direct-printed black-text labels. Contents were packed in sealed plastic baggies.

Playsets

Vehicles

Each vehicle came with extra "secret message" lenticular inserts for use with the characters' Secret Shields. They displayed the vehicle in action to inspire extended play ideas.

Motorcycles

A racing motorcycle with a sidecar pod and a stabilizer tailfin between them with an air intake on top. The fairing on the front of the motorcycle and the cockpit over the sidecar both opened to allow the figures to be seated. There were plastic lasers on each side of the front wheel that reciprocated when the cycle rolled forward. A secret compartment for stowing a Secret Shield was behind the seat in the sidecar. They were identical designs remolded in different-colored plastic.

Helicopters

A toy helicopter that could seat 3 figures that was in a cramped 1:16 scale. It was repurposed from a design for 4-inch figures, so it was difficult to get the 4.5-inch figures in and out without scraping them. There were stub wings on the sides that held black plastic missiles (three on each side), a flexible side-firing black plastic minigun at the co-pilot's position, a black plastic Vulcan cannon mounted on the right side of the nose and a black plastic radar mast mounted on the left side of the nose on slide-on brackets, and two forward-facing black plastic machineguns mounted in fairings under the nose. There was a partition in the back of the passenger compartment that could be opened and used to store a Secret Shield. It not only came with new "secret message" inserts but also an extra Secret Shield.

Gliders

A three-part glider toy. It had a plastic fuselage with a rubber nosecone and two white foam-rubber wings that fastened into the fuselage with snap clamps. The wings had to be covered with large sectional stickers with patterns on them that were difficult to apply evenly. Although it came with an action figure, there was no seat, harness, or cockpit to secure it and it would often fall off or unbalance the glider.

Roller

See also

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