12" Superman by Kenner

The articulation on this 12" Kenner Superman (1996)  is extremely limited, but he's pretty to look at- a nice, big and colorful toy for the case! I bought him because he reminded me of the 12" Mego Superman I had as a child, which had greater "playability"- many more points of articulation/greater pose-ability, removable boots. Like the Kenner Batman Vs. Catwoman set I reviewed earlier, the designers of this toy went for "flash and bang" more than play factor.

A K-Mart exclusive, the Kenner Superman has I really nice thick cape and colorful fabric outfit however, and a nice "S" insignia base on which to display the Man of Steel. I couldn't believe how much money some of these "limited edition" dolls were going for, some as high as $75.00, so I did okay grabbing him for $30.98 (price included shipping) but don't pay more for him if you find one... just sayin'...

In other news, I've decided to push this blog a little further and actually advertise it. I made up a postcard and ordered 100 of them online just today- since this is the Super-Duper ToyBox, I decided to use the 12" Kenner Superman for the image on the card. My plan is to spread these around town at some of the local comic shops, and perhaps mail some out to comic shops around the country to generate some traffic. In just about forty days I managed somehow to get 2,000 hits on here- while that's not astronomical by internet standards, it does tell me people are interested...

The second part of my plan is to use all these toys I've bought as inspiration for art, more specifically superhero art. As you may or may not know, I'm an artist. I've had my best year ever, selling over thirty paintings in 2010, but the local scene has started to bore me somewhat and I'd like to see what else is out there- I'd like to try something new. My unrealized childhood dream to be a comic book artist may not be possible, but I do believe I could create some unique superhero art in my own style. I don't know if it will fall flat, I don't know if anyone will like it, I don't know if anyone will buy any of it... but I want to try. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, as they say.

A painting of Batman I did, commissioned by a friend this past winter, long before I got back into comics- I think I can do way better than this, too. It was a quickie. I could even use some of my mixed media techniques on some of the characters...

As my good friend Cipriano used to tell me, "Dare to dream, Bro... Dare to dream!"  Maybe it's time I took that advice...

*Visit the Superman Homepage!
*Superman at Wikipedia
*Superman the motion picture (1978) at IMDB.Com- C'mon, Chris Reeve WAS Superman!
*Mattel 1:6 scale Superman coming this winter??