SPIDER-MAN THE ICON - EXCERPT 3

[MattBrady]

<img src="http://www.newsarama.com/TitanBooks/Spiderman_Icon_t.jpg" border="0" align="right">We continue this week (with thanks to Titan Books) with our series of excerpts from <i>Spider-Man: The Icon - The Life and Times of a Pop Culture Phenomenon</i> by Steve Saffel.

The 320 page coffee table book tracks Spider-Man through the ages, from his start in <b>Amazing Fantasy #15</b> up to the beginning of One More Day, focusing not only on the adventures and times of Spider-Man, but also upon how Spider-Man has made an impact upon culture, and how the character created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko has been embraced by popular culture.

This week's excerpt - toys!

As Saffel sets the scene for this week's pages:

Back in the early '70s, Marvel had a couple of animated series under the belt, their titles were becoming a lot easier to locate, and they were beginning to sign up a lot more toy licenses. That led to one of the more bizarre additions to the Spider-Man canon. Akaz-Hamway International (AHI) approached Stan with a simple proposal: give Spider-Man his own version of the batmobile, and they would manufacture it as a toy. Stan gave the order, and the Spider-Mobile appeared in <b>The Amazing Spider-Man #130</b>, March 1974.

Even as a young reader, I could tell something was screwy. Peter Parker had never driven a car, Spider-Man didn't need one--he had webs! And somehow, a dune buggy looked out of place in Manhattan. Call me crazy--and you'd probably be right--but it just didn't make sense. Apparently the writers agreed, because the Spider-Mobile received no mercy, and eventually found its way to a watery grave.

In my own humble way, I've tried to treat the Spider-Mobile with the same reverence in <i>Spider-Man: The Icon</i>.

Yet this was the beginning of a golden age for Spider-toys. In addition to "The Official Spider-Man Buggy," AHI released a bunch of Spidey-themed goodies, and at about the same time the legendary Mego figures were released. Alas, I lived in a place where there weren't a lot of toy stores, and I spent all of my hardly-earned cash on the Marvel mags, anyhow. To this day, I covet some of the Mego figures, but I don't have any of them. *sigh*

Let us know what your favorite toys and collectibles are from that era--and from any era, for that matter. Meanwhile, enjoy the excerpt. There will be more...

Click here (http://www.newsarama.com/TitanBooks/3/Excerpt3.html) for the excerpt.

[sebzero11]

My God! I had that thing when i was like 6!
I loved it!

[jayvee]

I'm having acid flashbacks of all those crazy foreign rip-off Spider-toys.

[Hypestyle]

.... the spider-mobile toys have gotten cooler over the years.. check out hot wheels, and various other spidey themed toy cars, great and small..

and, by the way, I think that the whole "I never learned to drive" thing became an unnecessary plot device after a while.. especially as Pete was portrayed as getting older..

[MattBrady]

I'm having acid flashbacks of all those crazy foreign rip-off Spider-toys. you weren't supposed to <i>eat</i> them...

MattB

[pastajoe]

http://www.midtowncomics.com/images/PRODUCT/FUL/72773_ful.jpghttp://www.midtowncomics.com/images/PRODUCT/FUL/74241_ful.jpg


My favorite (which I still have), which offered a Spider-man costume...

http://members.aol.com/doctrquest/cafigure.gifhttp://members.aol.com/doctrquest/drevil.gif
http://members.aol.com/doctrquest/spider.jpg
http://www.wefestival.com/ebay/cmk02966.JPG

[MrToady12]

My favourite toy from this era wasn't the Spider-Man Mego (although I did have it) - it was Superman! In my mind he was Christopher Reeve from the movie.
http://www.fortunecity.com/tattooine/asimov/20/superman.jpg
I also remember having the Hulk Mego who for some reason always lost his pants!
http://www.webruler.com/artellephant/MegoHulk1.jpg
The one toy I've been trying to track down was the Magnetic Batman Mego that I got when I was seven years old. My parents bought it for me when we traveled to the UK when I was 7yrs old (I almost decided to get a James Bond Moonraker doll instead). I think about a year later I decided Batman was too boring and grabbed a can of white paint and made him into the Silver Surfer! It didn't work and I'm pretty sure Mum had to throw him out. Oh the tragedy!!

[LikeaPhoenix]

Wow, is the Spider-Man Buggy part of the next HASBRO Marvel Legends series??:rolleyes: :p :D

[MrToady12]

My favourite toy from this era wasn't the Spider-Man Mego (although I did have it) - it was Superman! In my mind he was Christopher Reeve from the movie.http://www.planetcomics.jp/news/spi/28/superman12half-inch.jpg
I also remember having the Hulk Mego who for some reason always lost his pants!
http://www.webruler.com/artellephant/MegoHulk1.jpg
The one toy I've been trying to track down was the Magnetic Batman Mego that I got when I was seven years old. My parents bought it for me when we traveled to the UK when I was 7yrs old (I almost decided to get a James Bond Moonraker doll instead).
I think about a year later I decided Batman was too boring and grabbed a can of white paint and made him into the Silver Surfer! It didn't work and I'm pretty sure Mum had to throw him out. Oh the tragedy!!
http://www.mwctoys.com/images/sbc_feat_30yrsbatman_8.jpg
I want my magnetic Batman back....

[hero24]

hey kids, wanna play doctor with Hulk and Spider-Man? hahahahaha

[moyiori]

:confused: :eek: Ya, doesn't make sense why the hell spider-man would have that. It looks ridiculous, i guess little kids wouldnt think twice about it, but maybe they were just desperate for sales. Remember the simpsons when they brought out the new malibu stacy and she only had a new hat? Well replace hat with what spider man is driving in that photo. Instant money, guy must have been on some acid or everyone was when desgining it, or must have not been a very creative week or how ever long it took.:D

[Peasily]

My father was poor and had no toys growing up, so he showered us with toys as children. We had many of the Mego dolls and other non-Mego superhero related items that would be exceedingly rare, now.

My favorite Spidey toy from the era was the 12" Mego doll with Spiderweb and Flyaway Action (some sort of plastic backback that he would zipline up when the string was tugged that aways seemed to get tangled).

[TheToileteer]

I just realized something about the cover. Spidey is shooting webbing out of his butt (as is only right, given arachnid biology), and making the sign of the devil as he does so.

Back in the 1970's I had a series of action figures that mixed Marvel and DC. The most noteworthy thing about them was that their "trunks" were made of some kind of rubbery substance that allowed their legs to move. All of them had bent arms and bent legs (non-articulated), so that they seemed halfway in between sitting and standing. Anybody know the company? The figures from the line included:

MARVEL: Spider-Man, Captain America, Hulk, the Lizard (I think)
DC: Superman, Batman, Robin, Wonder Woman, Shazam, Aquaman (maybe), Joker, Riddler, Penguin

I remember those 12-inch ones too, from gazing on them longingly in the toy shop. They also had Star Trek ones in the same style. I bet if I had bought a bunch of those, I'd be rich today!

I wonder when the original toy "web-shooter" was made?

[macwagen]

Ok that does it...I'm going to order this book now.

Re: the original web-shooter, I think I may have had them as a kid. I remember they were red with a gold-painted and embossed Spider-Man face on them (Romita). They shot suction cup darts. I would guess they came out in the mid- to late seventies.

I had sooooooo many of the vintage toys. In fact, enough of them to fit snugly into a box that my parents' oven came in. When I was a teenager and thought I had outgrown all of my toys and superheros (oh my how wrong I was), I gave away all of my Star Wars and GI Joe stuff, but packed all the spidy stuff away in that bigass box.

Somehow, though, when my parents were remodeling the basement, that box disappeared. I've never gotten over it.

My favorite was always the IDEAL Spider-Man. It was a rigid figure about ten inches tall or so that had its arm lifted, and "crawled" up a string. I think I had a Green Goblin to match.

Man they had some awesome toys back then...

[WiggumBeard]

I remember getting the toys from the 90's Spider-Man Fox Kids cartoon. That was what introduced me to Spider-Man in the first place. I remember one of the figures was a "multi-form" Spider-Man, basically a superarticulated figure. Sadly, I think it broke eventually. :(

But yes, I really am getting more and more interested in this book.

[Steve Saffel]

Ok that does it...I'm going to order this book now.

Re: the original web-shooter, I think I may have had them as a kid. I remember they were red with a gold-painted and embossed Spider-Man face on them (Romita). They shot suction cup darts. I would guess they came out in the mid- to late seventies.

I had sooooooo many of the vintage toys. In fact, enough of them to fit snugly into a box that my parents' oven came in. When I was a teenager and thought I had outgrown all of my toys and superheros (oh my how wrong I was), I gave away all of my Star Wars and GI Joe stuff, but packed all the spidy stuff away in that bigass box.

Somehow, though, when my parents were remodeling the basement, that box disappeared. I've never gotten over it.

My favorite was always the IDEAL Spider-Man. It was a rigid figure about ten inches tall or so that had its arm lifted, and "crawled" up a string. I think I had a Green Goblin to match.

Man they had some awesome toys back then...

Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to be a kid today. When I was first collecting, when it came to Marvel super heroes, there was Captain Action. Period. I had one, but it's long gone. Today there are so many ultra cool toys I think I'd explode if I tried to collect them all.

As it is, I'm barely resisting the urge to seek out a couple of the items I found while I was researching the book. The Marvel train and Spider-Man friction car -- tin toys rule. I've resigned myself to the fact that I can't afford another Captain Action. At least not the original.

Where do you get the really cool vintage toys? For instance, I've actually never seen those tin toys available anywhere.