Bootleg Batman / Secret Wars Captain America Mash-up Action Figure

At the San Jose Toy Show I attended a couple months back, I came across this terrible yet awesome bootleg Batman action figure. Obviously based on the Secret Wars Captain America action figure design (The pirate boots are a dead giveaway!), they added Bat-Ears...

...and even left behind the Captain's ears! Bootleg Batman is made of solid rubber and is smaller in scale that the original Secret Wars action figures. His paint is pretty terrible but honestly that's probably exactly how good it was the day this guy rolled out of the Mexican Bootleg Batman Factory. I'm actually shocked that he still has his cape and that it is in one piece, and not torn or missing, as it's a pretty flimsy piece of vinyl and could easily have torn at the neck or wrists in the however many years this guy has existed.

My Intern can't stand to look at this guy any longer. Show's over folks, nothing else to see here!

Secret Wars Triumvirate

When I was a kid I owned three Secret Wars action figures. I definitely wanted more, and remember looking at the cardbacks and Sears catalog for hours thinking how cool the other characters were. Especially Dr. Octopus. I really wanted him but never got him. I know, who ever thought Dr. Octopus was awesome? Probably just me.

Not sure who got me the three I owned, or how or why I even came about them - I don't know if they were Christmas presents or birthday presents or if I picked them out with my allowance or even if I got them all in one shot or if I got them on separate occasions. I just remember playing with them for hours and hours in my backyard and loving them all. The three I owned were the three characters heret: Iron-Man, Dr. Doom and Wolverine.

At the time, my comic book knowledge was rather limited, and my first exposure to each of these guys was through their Secret Wars action figures. I had no idea until many years later, for example, that Wolverine's claws were actually part of his body, I thought they just snapped on like the toy.

I finally have all three band members together again. Sadly I don't have Wolverine's claws or Doom's guns, but I can get over that since I got Wolverine from a thrift store and Doom from the flea market. I did buy Iron-Man a few years ago mint on card off eBay, so I do have his shield with the lenticular cards, but those were never anything I played with as a kid anyways so who really cares about those.

I love having these three together. They really bring me back to my childhood and the good times I had with these guys. If I were a comic book writer I would totally write an epic story that involved these three. And I would insist that the artist give Doom that garter belt!

Secret Wars Wolverine

As a kid I had a whopping three Secret Wars action figures and I loved them all: Wolverine, Iron-Man and Dr. Doom. I would play for hours on end in the woodpile in the back yard, where I could build caves and buildings and other strictures for my superheros to battle around and within.

I didn't hold on to those Secret Wars figures past childhood, but did pick up an Iron-Man a few years back, and do have a rough Dr. Doom as well. And now I have a really nice Wolverine thanks to a random bag-o-toys from a local thrift store!

Wolverine actually had some wear around his mask, but since it's black, I was able to sharpie it up and make it look much better.

Sadly he doesn't have his claws but I can live without them. When I was a kid, this Secret Wars figure was my only exposure to Wolverine, so I though his claws were just strapped on to his wrists in the comics the way they did so with the toy. It wasn't until years later that I discovered they came out of his hands!

Additionally, since my first exposure to Wolverine was this figure, I am overly fond of the brown costume and think it's his best look.

This is basically the best Wolverine action figure ever and I am beyond stoked to have found him again.

Wolverine was in a three dollar bag of random toys, mostly junk, but I would have paid three dollars for Wolvie alone! But I got some great other pieces too, including...

...a Secret Wars Captain America! I already have a cleaner version of this guy, so I've promised this one to a fellow collector. Side note: I HATE when action figures have that damn nose-rub missing paint sitch. One of my major toy pet peeves. Anyone have a cure? Skin-tone model paint or something?

Anyways, Cap is in pretty good shape, all things considered. And finding TWO Secret wars figs for three bucks is a pretty damn nice find.

But wait, there's more...

Super Powers Flash! And again with the damn nose-rub. ARRRGH! Wolvie had the nose rub too, but again, I had a black sharpie. Sadly I don't have a skin-tone sharpie!

Regardless, Flash is a pretty nice example and I dig him. His actin feature doesn't work well but who cares.

Even though I'm a DC fanboy now, I never owned any Super Powers figures as a kid. I have a handful today, and love finding them in the wild on the rare occasions that I do. Still need a Batman though!

I Am Also Iron Man

This is the greatest Iron Man action figure ever, from the Secret Wars line of the mid 1980s.

I had Iron Man, Wolverine, and Dr. Doom from this line as a kid, and they had many adventures together in my back yard. I vaguely knew who Iron Man was beforehand, but Wolverine and Dr. Doom were new characters to me, and they all seemed very exotic. Secret Wars was my first foray into the deeper comic book based toy universe (beyond the heavy hitters like Superman, Batman, Spider-Man etc.) and that bullet-train is still barreling forward at super speed to this day!

I don't have my original three any more, and had to re-obtain this one off eBay a couple years ago. I got a great deal, he was on an unopened card but it had a badly yellowed blister (that sounds icky) so he's technically brand new!

He came with this laser pistol for a weapon, which was cool to me because I was probably unfamiliar with his repulsor rays as a kid. I remember Dr. Doom also had this gun and maybe another, but Doom had a leg holster which he could slip it into which was pretty neato.

These Secret Wars figures were pretty simple, and most re-used multiple parts, with different paint apps. But Mattel went all-out for Iron Man. Each component is unique, and they actually sculpted his body armor details.

These were simpler figures for a simpler time, but they still stand out as great toys. Someday I hope to reacquire Wolverine and Dr. Doom too. Then it'll be just like 1985 all over again!

All the Secret Wars figures came with a shield (which only made sense for Captain America, yet also robbed him of any chance of an accurate accessory) and multiple double sided cards that can be placed into the lenticular shield for hours of back-and-forth goodness.
Each scene showed some action scenario or, in this case, Iron Man's alter ego Tony Stark (even though Jim Rhodes was acting as Iron Man during the Secret Wars comic series.)

Kind of cool, but it's not very smart to reveal your secret identity to the guys who are shooting at you.

If you want to take a walk down memory lane, check out this Secret Wars action figure index, and try not to get too angry at your mom for selling yours at that garage sale.

Captains Courageous

I have always thought Captain America was a very cool character. He's so cool, in fact, that a decent action figure version is hard to come by.

Let's face it: his costume is...flamboyant. If not properly presented, you might as well have action figures of the entire cast of Cats on your shelf. Jazz hands!

I never had the Secret Wars version of Cap when I was a kid, but I did have Wolverine, Iron Man, and Dr. Doom. Their exploits in my back yard were legendary, and my wish list at the time included Captain America, Spiderman, and Dr. Octopus (my favorites from looking at the back of the packaging.) But it was not to be. But don't worry, Wolvie and ol' shell head held their own just fine.

I made a trade for this Secret Wars Captain America recently, and he's in really good shape for his age.

The larger Captain is a Marvel Legends figure and is available now. He's extra groovy because he represents Cap as he appeared in his first issue - complete with his diamond shaped shield that only appeared in that one issue (due to it's similarity to another existing superhero at the time: The Shield.)