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Superman outfit in the standard Ideal
costume box. Superman was first issued in 1966 as part of the
original line of Captain Action accessories, and was later reissued in
a ring box starting in 1967. The accessories include a suit with
cape, boots, facemask, belt, Krypto (Superdog), Chains, Shackles, Kryptonite
and Phantom Zone Projector. Scans of this box are available here:
Superman
Boxart
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Superman outfit in the ring
box. The silver base flicker ring flashes between Captain Action
and Superman. The insert was made by Vari View, and the base is marked
"Hong Kong". Scans of this box are available here: Superman
Boxart
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Captain Action Superman bodysuit.
Blue with red shorts. The red vinyl cape is permanently attached
to the costume at the shoulders. In order to facilitate getting the
costume on Captain Action, the cape has a 1.5 inch long split at the top.
This lead to the cape often being found torn just below the slit, even
on carded examples. This costume is on the vacuform body dummy, with
cardboard inserts in the legs.
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A close up of the logo on Superman's
suit. Black and red printing on gold foil. As with most of
the Ideal Logo's it was printed on a thin metal foil, which gives it a
brilliant appearance. The drawback is that once it is wrinkled it
stays wrinkled forever. You can flatten them back out but they are
never the same. Loose suits tend to have bends and dings in the logo.
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Superman's face mask. The mask
had two versions, one with white painted lips and one with pink, as shown
here.
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Superman's dog, Krypto. White
plastic with black pupils. He has a red vinyl cape with a gold elastic
collar which hooks closed. The logo on the cape is the same as the
one on Superman's suit. Superman's faithful companion, just make
sure you are not below him when he flies by. If you thought pigeons
were troublesome, you don't know the half of it. Krypto is one of
four non human characters in the original Captain Action line up (five
if you include Dr Evil). There is Klem, Action Boy's black panther,
Taka, Tonto's Eagle and Octo, Aqualad's Green Octopus.
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Superman's boots, red plastic.
The left and right boot are identical and interchangeable.
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Superman's belt. Yellow rubber
with blue buckle and red and white logo. Identical to the belt in
the Superboy
set, except that one did not have the blue painted buckle.
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The Phantom Zone Projector.
Blue plastic with red painted handles and yellow prongs in the center.
Often mistaken for a cover for the kryptonite, which would probably be
a better use for it anyway. There are variants in the length of the
four center prongs, some are much longer and pointed, while others are
shorter with a flat top. The handles are easily broken.
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Kryptonite. Just the thing Superman
needs. Blue plastic lump, painted green on top. For those few
of you who were not sure, Kryptonite is a chunk of rock from Superman's
home planet (or perhaps their red sun) which, when in its presence, robs
Superman of his strength. The one Achilles heal in an otherwise invincible
super hero. I am sure Dr Evil keeps a chunk of it around just in
case Captain Action decides to change into his super alter ego.
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Superman's chains. Brown/gold
plastic. There is a famous picture of the man of steel breaking free
from a set of chains which no doubt served as Ideal's inspiration for including
them with this set.
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Shackles for use with the chains.
Yellow rubber. The shackles attach to the hooks at the end of the
chains through their small end, wrap around superman's wrists and ankles,
then reattach through the larger end. Once this has been accomplished,
your Superman can break free of them in true super fashion. Very
cool for display.
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BACK
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Page design and content copyright
Jan 2000 by Daniel Webster.
These pictures are from my personal collection, and some of the items are
for sale (inquire within).
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