TOYHEM! It’s amazing the things that capture our fancy…
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Welcome to TOYHEM! For the sixth straight holiday season, we’re bringing you a series of features and columns celebrating the toys of our youth, which often made for the best memories this time of year. Click here to check out the complete index of stories — and have a Merry Christmas, a Happy Chanukah and Happy Holidays! — Dan
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By CHRIS FRANKLIN
Around 1979, I walked into the local Howard’s Brandiscount Store and saw a bubblegum vending machine festooned with various superhero items. I don’t recall all of them exactly, but I know there were stickers, possibly iron-on patches, and other items small enough to fit into one of those ubiquitous domed receptacles. But the thing that immediately drew my attention was a series of five small cards that featured the most popular heroes from both DC and Marvel: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Spider-Man and the Incredible Hulk.
When I walked past the images, they changed! From a superheroic bust portrait to a candid shot of their alter egos. Superman changed to Clark Kent, Spider-Man into Peter Parker, etc. Now, this lenticular technology wasn’t new to me. I recognized this was the same way my grandmother’s framed print of “The Last Supper” changed to a portrait of Jesus. But watching the superheroes change before my very eyes was more than my little brain could pull away from.
I didn’t realize it at the time, but lenticular printing, or “flicker” printing if you will, is based on innovations in visual storytelling and animation that go back to the paleolithic era, and art found on corrugated cave walls in France. This art form was revived over the centuries such as the tabula scatula or “turning pictures” that gained popularity in England beginning in the 16th century.
Painted tabula scatula portrait of Mary, Queen of Scots from 1580
Fast forward to the 1950s, and the concept was utilized on mass-produced buttons promoting the presidential campaign of Dwight D. “Ike” Eisenhower. When tilted, the button’s image would change from the famous slogan “I LIKE IKE” to one of the man himself. Promotional lenticular items based on politicians and popular musicians like Elvis and the Beatles were produced for the next several decades.
Toy manufacturers knew that this visually stimulating technology would appeal to kids, and so applied it to all range of moppet-centric items. Prizes found in boxes of Cracker Jacks, baubles from vending machines, and even rings included in Ideal’s Captain Action line, where the Captain changed to the hero disguise the ring was included with. I have an uncut sheet of lenticular inserts meant to be put into a set of Batman flicker rings during the heyday of Batmania in 1966.
In the mid-1970s, Duncan used the gimmick on a series of Yo-Yos, including a Superman model I now own that also changes to Clark Kent.
In 1988 Burger King included a lenticular plastic coin as one of the toys in their Super Powers Kids Meal promotion. Celebrating the Man of Steel’s 50th birthday, this image also changed from Superman to Clark Kent, with art by Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez (Praised Be His Name).
And of course, most comic and toy fans of a certain era remember the “Secret Shields” that were the gimmicky crux of Mattel’s 1984-85 Marvel Super Heroes: Secret Wars toy line. Kids could switch out a number of included inserts and send “secret messages” to their fellow heroes, or villains. They could also reveal their secret identities as well, with just about every Secret Wars figure coming with at least one insert that flashed from their masked to unmasked personas.
Shield and insert from the Marvel Super Heroes: Secret Wars Magneto figure.
Mattel later revisited the gimmick for their animated Justice League line in the early 2000s.
Accessory from Mattel Justice League Darkseid figure
But I digress! Back to 1979, and I am transfixed by these treasures behind the bubblegum machine glass. I knew I had to have every one of these. The secret identity aspect of superheroes has always appealed to me, even as a very young child. The idea that an unassuming, normal person could secretly be so much more is the ultimate fantasy in many ways.
Luckily, my Mom always had a purse full of change. So, every time we went into Howard’s, I would try my luck, hoping to get a new card, and not a duplicate, or one of the other, less exciting prizes. Eventually, I had a full set, and for some reason, these simple, inexpensive things captivated me. I remember staring at them for hours, turning them over, from side to side, marveling at how they transformed. I remember even bending one of my Hulk cards, getting way too much enjoyment out of a half-Banner/half-Hulk hybrid creature, like the later two-part episode “Prometheus” from The Incredible Hulk TV series.
Being 4 years old when I found them, these rather small and fragile cards did not survive into my adult collection. But thankfully, my loving wife managed to find me a set and gift it to me several Christmases ago. So, let’s take an in-depth look at each one of these low-tech but no-less fascinating artifacts of super hero ephemera!
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Superman
Like the other DC heroes, Superman seems to be drawn here by legendary artist/editor/executive Dick Giordano, who was a go-to for iconic images of the DC pantheon. Clark Kent is grabbing at his coat lapel and touching his glasses, seemingly initiating a quick change, so perfect for this item!
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Batman
Although this Caped Crusader is clearly the Bronze Age version, Bruce Wayne seems to be more of a callback to the Golden Age, replete with smoking jacket, cravat, and pipe! No doubt the last bit of merchandise to show any of the heroes smoking!
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Wonder Woman
Diana Prince is also a bit of a callback here, in her military uniform popularized by the first season of her then-current TV series. Diana is also touching her glasses, so you can just imagine we’re catching her before and after Lynda Carter’s famous spin transformation.
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Spider-Man
Spidey is readying a THWIP of his webshooters, as he transitions to Peter Parker and his trusty camera. Even as a kid, I felt the color choices on this one made it difficult to really see the change as well as the others. Spider-Man’s reds are pretty orange, as is Peter’s skin, and he’s wearing an orange shirt! Not sure who exactly did the art on this one or the other Marvel entry…
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Hulk
If you had any doubts about when these were produced, just look at the name given the Jade Giant’s alter ego. David Banner, like the TV series! I love how Banner is far more forlorn looking than the other alter egos.
The back of each card gave a brief bio of the hero and directions to “Flick it!” Obviously, the manufacturers weren’t concerned about using the word “flick” like some comics companies were during the heyday of the Comics Code Authority, lest the ink run together and produce the Queen Mother of Dirty Words! Given the sticky residue at the top of each of my cards, I wonder if this set wasn’t once attached to the gumball machine backing card, just like the ones I first saw 45 years ago. If so, that makes these personal grails even more special to me.
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MORE
— The Complete TOYHEM INDEX of Stories and Features. Click here.
— Hasbro’s SPIDER-MAN ’77 and MEGO: It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year — To Be a Bronze Age SPIDER-MAN Fan. Click here.
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13th Dimension contributor Chris Franklin is a graphic designer, illustrator, writer, and podcaster, who co-hosts and produces several shows on the Fire and Water Podcast Network, including JLUCast.
