Super Powers Collection

Super Powers Home Page / 1984 Super Powers / 1985 Super Powers / 1986 Super Powers /

Super Power Collection (Kenner) – 1986

After a successful launch in 1984, Kenner released their third and final wave of the Super Powers Collection series in 1986. This new wave included ten new action figures and two vehicles, with no other accessories. The premier wave of the Super Powers line posted big sales numbers and were well-received, but interest in the Super Powers line was waning by 1986. This was mainly attributed to the series being front loaded with the most well known characters initially and then following waves being filled with secondary characters that didn’t resonate with kids. In addition, there was intense competition for space in the toy aisles due to GI Joe, Transformers, M.A.S.K and others.

For more information about Kenner’s 1986 wave of the DC Super Powers Collection line, see bottom of page for a complete summary.

Super Powers Collection: Series Three (1986): Basic Assortment

Kenner released 10 brand new figures in 1986 for their third and final wave of DC Super Powers Collection action figures. Included in the wave were Cyborg, Cyclotron, Golden Pharaoh, Mr. Freeze, Mister Miracle, Orion, Plastic Man, Samurai, Shazam and Tyr.

Cyborg

Market Value:
Carded $1,750 – $2,250
Loose $600 – $800

Cyborg
Accessories: Standard Hand Attachment, Drill Hand Attachment, Claw Hand Attachment
Years Released: 1986
Difficulty To Find: Hard to Find – Occasionally listed, and usually sells quickly
Notes: Cyborg (AKA Victor Stone) is known as the “Steel Sentinel” and was among the more well-known characters from this final wave. He comes with a Power Action Thrusting Arm feature that is activated by squeezing his legs together. Cyborg comes with three different arm attachments (Standard Hand, Drill Hand, Claw Hand).

Cyclotron

Market Value:
Carded $225 – $300
Loose $75 – $100

Cyclotron
Accessories: Human Mask
Years Released: 1986
Difficulty To Find: Hard to Find – Occasionally listed, and usually sells quickly
Notes: Cyclotron is an android who has been programmed to aid the Justice League and identify battle strategies. He has a Power Action Cyclo-Spin feature that is activated by squeezing his legs together. Cyclotron uses a human mask, but is an android underneath with a more robotic look.

Golden Pharaoh

Market Value:
Carded $350 – $450
Loose $150 – $200

Golden Pharaoh
Accessories: Gold Staff
Years Released: 1986
Difficulty To Find: Hard to Find – Occasionally listed, and usually sells quickly
Notes: Golden Pharaoh uses pyramid pulses that are energy blasts derived from the power of the Egyptian pyramids. He comes with a Power Action Soaring Wings feature which is activated by squeezing his legs together, as well as pyramid energy glow light-up feature. Golden Pharaoh also comes with his gold staff accessory.

Mr. Freeze

Market Value:
Carded $340 – $440
Loose $125 – $175

Mr. Freeze
Accessories: Transparent Helmet, Cables, Imbedded Freeze Guns
Years Released: 1986
Difficulty To Find: Hard to Find – Occasionally listed, and usually sells quickly
Notes: Mr. Freeze is among Batman’s Rogue Gallery of villains and most dangerous enemies. He comes with a Power Action Cold-Blast Punch that is activated by squeezing his legs together. Mr. Freeze also comes with his transparent helmet, cables and freeze guns that are imbedded into his body suit.

Mister Miracle

Market Value:
Carded $350 – $450
Loose $160 – $210

Mister Miracle
Accessories: Cloth Cape, Yellow Pendant, Handcuffs
Years Released: 1986
Difficulty To Find: Hard to Find – Occasionally listed, and usually sells quickly
Notes: Mister Miracle is a master escape artist who can free himself from any trap or ambush. He comes with a Power Action Wrist Lock Escape feature that is activated by squeezing his legs together. Mister Miracle also comes with his cloth cape fastened by a yellow pendant and a set of handcuffs to break free of.

Orion

Market Value:
Carded $225 – $300
Loose $75 – $100

Orion
Accessories: Rotating Head
Years Released: 1986
Difficulty To Find: Moderate Difficulty – Takes patience and appears less often
Notes: Orion is the son of Darkseid and half-brother to Kalibak, but turned against his father to fight on the side of justice. He comes with a Power Action Astro-Punch which is activated by squeezing his legs together. Also, Orion’s face can rotate from a good and normal look to a more evil one.

Plastic Man

Market Value:
Carded $300 – $400
Loose $100 – $140

Plastic Man
Accessories: None
Years Released: 1986
Difficulty To Find: Moderate Difficulty – Takes patience and appears less often
Notes: Plastic Man (AKA Eel O’Brien) is the “Stretchable Sleuth” who contorts his rubberlike body into almost any shape. He has a Power Action Stretching Neck feature that is activated by squeezing his arms together. His head “stretches” upward when the action feature is activated.

Samurai

Market Value:
Carded $340 – $440
Loose $135 – $185

Samurai
Accessories: Sword, Removable Vest
Years Released: 1986
Difficulty To Find: Hard to Find – Occasionally listed, and usually sells quickly
Notes: Samurai is the “Lord of the Winds”, who uses his bracers to give him control of the wind. Samurai was also a late addition to the iconic “Super Friends” animated series. He comes with a Power Action Gale-Force Spin feature that is activated by squeezing his arms together. Samurai also comes with a sword and removable vest.

Shazam

Market Value:
Carded $375 – $475
Loose $175 – $225

Shazam
Accessories: Cloth Cape
Years Released: 1986
Difficulty To Find: Hard to Find – Occasionally listed, and usually sells quickly
Notes: Like Cyborg, Shazam is another popular DC character in this final wave. By speaking the magic word “Shazam”, young Billy Batson is transformed into the amazing Captain Marvel! He comes with a Power Action Thunder Punch that is activated by squeezing his legs together. Shazam also comes with his classic cloth cape.

Tyr

Market Value:
Carded $225 – $300
Loose $75 – $100

Tyr
Accessories: Biomechanical Arm
Years Released: 1986
Difficulty To Find: Moderate Difficulty – Takes patience and appears less often
Notes: Tyr is a villain that fights against the heroes of Earth. He comes with a Power Action Rocket Launch that is activated by squeezing his legs together. Tyr has a biomechanical arm that the rocket is launched from. Personally, I feel this is a great example of Kenner grasping at straws for character selection.

Super Powers Collection: Foreign Releases

The Super Powers Collection was sold across the globe, but the Pacipa company distributed the line in Argentina. As the Super Powers line was coming to an end, they decided to create an additional figure for the series with the Riddler, or Acertijo in Spanish. This was done without the consent of Kenner, but no legal action ever followed. For their Riddler figure, Pacipa used a Green Lantern mold and simply painted it to mirror the Riddler’s iconic costume. Due to this figure only being available in Argentina, it’s considered among the most difficult and expensive figure to obtain of the Super Powers collection. They typically sell from $2,000 to $3,000 on the open market. Recently, McFarlane Toys reissued this figure with their new Super Powers toy line, and even used the same type of Green Lantern figure mold.

Photo courtesy of McFarlane Toys

Super Powers Collection: Series Three (1986): Accessories

Kenner did not release any action figure related accessories for the final wave of the Super Powers Collection in 1986.

Super Powers Collection: Series Three (1986): Vehicles

There were only two vehicles released for the final wave of the Super Powers line in 1986, with the Batcopter and the Justice Jogger.

Batcopter

Market Value:
Boxed $800 – $1,000
Loose $275 – $375

Batcopter
Accessories: Vehicle, Propellers, Rear Spoiler, Opening Canopy, Blast-Off Nose Cone, Decals
Years Released: 1986
Difficulty To Find: Hard to Find – Occasionally listed, and usually sells quickly
Notes: The Batcopter may not be as iconic as the Batmobile, but it’s pretty close. It came with an opening canopy, a blast-off nose cone, spinning villain grabber, rotating propellers, and a rear spoiler. The Batcopter can be tough to track down in its original box, mostly due to lower production numbers for this final wave.

Justice Jogger

Market Value:
Boxed $250 – $325
Loose $100 – $140

Justice Jogger
Accessories: Vehicle, Legs, Seat, Controller, Head Cover, Radar Dish
Years Released: 1986
Difficulty To Find: Hard to Find – Occasionally listed, and usually sells quickly
Notes: This was one of the more bizarre items to come out of the Super Powers line. I think the most common question is……why does Superman need this? The answer is, he doesn’t. This was kind of a walking exoskeleton contraption that Superman could fit into. When you wind up the radar dish on the back, the Justice Jogger takes off…..kind of.

Super Powers Collection: Unproduced Playsets & Vehicles

All Terrain Trapper

The All-Terrain Trapper was to be released alongside the other vehicles from 1986, but never made it to store shelves. It was shown in the 1986 Toy Fair catalog, and even advertised on figure card backs that year. According to the prototype box, it contained a “flip-up canopy”, “heavy duty power wheels” and a “crashing action villain tumbler”. The All-Terrain Trapper made it pretty far along in the production process, but Kenner pulled the plug before it could be released to the public.

Tower of Darkness Playset

Like the All-Terrain Trapper, The Tower of Darkness Playset was to be released alongside the other figures and vehicles from 1986, but just never made it to store shelves. It was shown in the 1986 Toy Fair catalog, and even advertised on figure card backs that year. There are at least a few Tower of Darkness prototypes floating around, including one that recently sold through Hakes auction house in February of 2021. According to the playset description from the 1986 Toy Fair catalog:

Heroes beware…the most diabolical and deadly den of doom is waiting for you… DARKSEID’s TOWER OF DARKNESS! A featured part of the SUPER POWERS programming, DARKSEID’s home is designed to trap and torture even the most powerful of the SUPER POWERS. The Omega Eyes warn heroes of the multiple dangers:

Two rotating cannons making ominous clicking sounds
Mammoth clutching arms that close tight on approaching enemies
A revolving front gate that turns into a jail cell
A rotating body vice
A headslamming elevator, attached to DARKSEID’s vistory flag pole
A capture jaw that chomps down on its captive, and then drops the victim into the lava pit below
A trapdoor that opens into a spiked pit

Since Kenner already released most of their heavy hitters in the DC universe in the first couple of waves, this third and final wave featured a couple of big names, then quite a few lesser (but still fun) characters. Featured in this wave were Cyborg, Cyclotron, Golden Pharaoh, Mr. Freeze, Mister Miracle, Orion, Plastic Man, Samurai, Shazam and Tyr. Shazam and Cyborg were certainly big names in the DC world but there were several that weren’t nearly as iconic. Once again, many figures (not all) came with some type of accessory and all figures had a unique action feature for each. In addition to the figures, Kenner also gave us two vehicles (The Batcopter and Justice Jogger). There were a couple of additional items advertised on card backs (All Terrain Trapper and the Tower of Darkness Playset) but they never saw the inside of a retail store.

Once again, the packaging for the final wave of Super Powers Collection figures was bright and colorful with beautiful artwork. Each figure was on a traditional blister card, which allowed for those great packaging graphics. The general color scheme was an attractive blue with a wide yellow stripe going across horizontally. The figure was to the left of the card, with the classic “Super Powers Collection” logo directly above. To the right of the blister card was a beautiful illustration on the particular character with the name above the illustration. There was a small talk bubble above the character illustration with each figure’s action feature inside of it. Each card back featured all of that wave’s figures and accessories, along with a small card bio of the character. Overall, the Super Powers Collection has become an iconic staple of the decade and its packaging certainly lends to that status.

Share this: