FANTASTIC FOUR WEEK!
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It’s FANTASTIC FOUR WEEK! Because there’s a big ol’ movie coming out! Click here for the COMPLETE INDEX of columns and features! Flame on! — Dan
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A selection of Fantastic Four items throughout the decades, including a few bonus ones!
By CHRIS FRANKLIN
The Fantastic Four. The First Family who ushered in the Marvel Age of Comics. Legend has it that Stan Lee and Jack Kirby may have been responding to publisher Martin Goodman’s edict to copy DC’s successful Justice League of America title, but they created something far different.
Using the monstrous sci-fi tales they had been crafting for their anthology stories as a springboard, Lee and Kirby gave us a team of intrepid explorers, each with a distinct personality, and a penchant for disagreement. This quirky quartet caught on, Atlas Comics gave way to Marvel, and readers got heroes and villains they could identify with.
Despite their popularity, and a quick jump to television with their 1967 Hanna-Barbera animated series, the FF didn’t get a lot of merchandise in the initial boom of Marvelmania. The ’70s were kinder to them, giving them their first action figures, and over the decades, they have returned in plastic form again and again.
For those who have read my other toy gallery articles, my Fantastic Four collection is nowhere near as robust, but luckily my son Andrew had a few items to pepper in for variety. With a new film (hopefully the best one yet) about to hit cinemas, let’s take a look at what forms the trailblazing heroes have taken over the decades.
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Mister Fantastic – Official World’s Greatest Super Heroes (Mego, 1976). The Fantastic Four were some of the last new characters added to Mego’s beloved World’s Greatest Super Heroes 8-inch figure line. Because of this they benefited from some of the maturing aesthetics of the series. Reed here has a very Kirby-like sculpt with a strong jaw and lots of character.
His outfit (like Sue’s later down this list) has a heat-sealed decal, and not a flimsy fabric sticker like earlier Megos. He also comes with molded gloves that pull off the costume look far better than Mego’s goofy (but nonethe lesscharming) oven mitts. It’s a shame Mego never tried to replicate his power set, since they did make a line of Elastic Heroes later in the decade.
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The Invisible Girl– Official World’s Greatest Super Heroes (Mego, 1976). Sue has the distinction of being the only female Marvel figure in the original Mego line. She’s also the only female character from both Marvel AND DC who actually looks like a full-grown adult. Mego weirdly chose to give Wonder Woman, Supergirl, Batgirl and Catwoman face applications that had a “baby doll”-type look. Sue looks like the strong, independent mother and wife she is.
Of course, Mego didn’t even try to hint at Sue’s super powers, so there are no translucent parts to her body. But Mego did get confused with a commercial that said both Reed and Sue had “the power of invisibility!”
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The Human Torch – Official World’s Greatest Super Heroes (Mego, 1976). Mego chose to go the opposite with Johnny, having him fully “Flamed On” in figure form. The head sculpt is quite nice, with indented, grooved lines replicating the look from the comics, along with a few flickers of yellow flames. He also has a completely red body, and his red torso was sometimes used for Spider-Man figures as well.
His bodysuit is a bit of a conundrum, using a stylized pattern of diamond-like black and yellow shapes over a red background. Not sure why Mego didn’t just print the standard comic vertical lines with some flames here and there, but it still reads “Human Torch” doesn’t it? I so wanted a Human Torch figure as a kid (which I could never find in stores), I cut out the image of him from the back of my Mego Spider-Man and played with it!
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The Thing – Official World’s Greatest Super Heroes (Mego, 1976). But perhaps the best figure in the subline of the Mego FF is Benjamin J. Grimm himself. The ever-lovin’ blue eyed Thing has a loud-mouthed head sculpt that just screams Kirby, and also oddly looks a bit like a Muppet! The body stocking also evokes Kirby and Joe Sinnott’s penchant for adding shaded rocks among the orange. Yes, like the Torch, it’s kind of odd to see this represented on fabric, but that was the whole Mego aesthetic.
Underneath is an orange version of the same body developed for the Mego Hulk, but with modified forearms that accurately recreate Ben’s rugged hide. For Mego’s recent reproductions of these figures, Ben was given added wrist and waist articulation, while Sue’s name was updated to the Invisible WOMAN.
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Mr. Fantastic – Fantastic Four Animated Series (Toy Biz, 1994). Based on the FF animated series that was part of the syndicated Marvel Action Hour package, this is a pretty nice interpretation of Reed from the first season. Toy Biz gets points for being the first manufacturer to actually attempt to give Reed “Super Stretch Arms.”
Unfortunately, they always seemed like they would either pull off or rip in two with any amount of pull. More stretchy Mister Fantastic figures would come down the pike, including a Stretch Armstrong-like version tied into the 2000s films.
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Invisible Woman – Happy Meal (McDonald’s, 1996). A rather cool toy to get with your cheeseburger or Chicken McNuggets, this static figure of Sue Storm Richards went from “invisible” as you see here, to (mostly) full color in cold water, or a trip to your freezer.
Sadly, the effect no longer works on my figure, or you could see that Sue is wearing her then-current, somewhat controversial ’90s comics outfit designed by Paul Ryan that originally had a “4”-shaped boob window in the center!
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The Thing – Marvel Legends (Toy Biz, 2002). Toy Biz cemented the popularity of the 6-inch figure format with their Marvel Legends line, and Ben here comes from early in that series. The designers were still experimenting with articulation and materials, so Aunt Petunia’s favorite nephew has bendy fingers, and really strange shoulder articulation.
But there’s no denying he’s an impressive looking, hefty figure, capturing the look of John Byrne’s legendary take on the character. The paint apps are nuanced, with washes and detailing you won’t find on similar figures today, especially for such a low price point.
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Human Torch – Marvel Legends (Toy Biz, 2002). By contrast, Johnny’s figure isn’t nearly as impressive, but still attempts to capture that comic look, while using a very generic, reusable body sculpt or “buck.” The added-on flames on his arms and legs help, as does the flaming “hair,” although the classic smooth-headed comics appearance is missed. The printed lines work to pull in the comics influence as well.
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Astronaut Ben Grimm – Fantastic Four (Toy Biz, 2005). One of the highlights of Tim Story’s Fantastic Four films was Michael Chiklis’ earnest and sympathy-evoking portrayal of Ben Grimm. Toy Biz not only captured the actor’s likeness, but also the angst of his transformation in this innovative figure. Press a button on Ben’s backpack and his head rotates, transforming into the Thing before your eyes!
Similar gimmicks had been used in past toy lines, like Man-E-Faces in Masters of the Universe, but the astronaut suit was a clever way to hide the mechanics of this fun toy.
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Snowboarding Human Torch – Fantastic Four (Toy Biz, 2005). Another standout of the 2000s FF films was Chris Evans as a very cocky, “bro”-ish Johnny Storm. Evans amped up the charm and the attitude of the team’s favorite hothead and made himself a star in the process. This figure is kind of chunky and unwieldy, but at least it actually fits the character and scenes from the film.
The snowboard/skateboard pulls back with typical friction power. The Evans likeness isn’t bad, but far better ones would come down the pike when he essayed a Marvel role he had even greater success with, Captain America.
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Mr. Fantastic – Marvel Legends (Hasbro, 2021). When Hasbro acquired the Marvel license from Toy Biz, they continued the Marvel Legends line. The Fantastic Four hasn’t been as well represented as one might expect in recent years, due to inner turmoil between Marvel and Fox, which long owned the FF film rights. When Disney got the rights back, more figures began to appear. This Reed Richards is an update to an earlier figure that was exclusive to Walgreens stores.
Decked out in his Byrne-era dark blue/white uniform, Reed came with an optional lab coat and arms to match. The figure captures the inquisitive scientist side of the character better than just about any other.
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Invisible Woman – Marvel Legends (Hasbro, 2021). The accompanying Sue to the Reed above, this figure met with somewhat of a fan outcry over her head sculpt. This was due to it looking more like it was trying to capture an actor’s likeness than any comics artist’s take. Depending on who you ask, the face evokes thoughts of Renee Zellweger, Pia Zadora, or perhaps Cyndi Lauper?
Otherwise, it’s a nice figure of a completely visible Invisible Woman, packaged with a forcefield effect accessory Hasbro has gotten lots of mileage out of.
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The Fantastic Four – Marvel Legends Retro (Hasbro/Kenner, 2021-22). Hasbro launched this short-lived line to compete with boutique toy companies making simply designed figures that harkened back to the ’70s and ’80s. They even revived the Kenner brand they purchased in the ’90s, imagining a Marvel line made by Kenner circa 40 years earlier.
Appearing in several waves over the run of the line, the FF is well represented, although it’s curious that Johnny is made of translucent red plastic, and Sue is completely opaque! One could argue the blue of their Byrne-era uniforms are a bit too light (since technically, the blue should be black) but there’s no doubt this feels like a toy line from another era, in a good way!
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MORE
— The Complete FANTASTIC FOUR WEEK INDEX of Columns and Features. Click here.
— PAUL KUPPERBERG: My 13 Favorite Things About the First Six Issues of FANTASTIC FOUR. 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. Check out his illustrative and design work at chrisfranklincreative.com.
