mere mortal super heroes: Part I

Okay…I have a confession to make. My name is Robert and I am a comic book geek. (Wow…that felt good!) Ever since I was a little boy, I have had a fascination with super heroes. Not just any heroes, the heroes of DC Comics, the “World’s Greatest Super Heroes”. I remember as a child watching “Batman” and “Wonder Woman” on TV. I remember seeing “Superman” being portrayed by the late, great Christopher Reeve in movies. My Saturday mornings were spent watching cartoons that included “The Super Friends” which featured characters from my favorite group, the Justice League of America. These heroes were a very important part of my childhood. At one point, they released a line of toys called the “Super Powers” collection. Some of my fondest childhood memories are of the times I would get to go to the store with Mom or Dad and I would walk down the toy aisle in search of an action figure that was missing from my collection. Oh the excitement when I would actually stumble across one and get to take it home! I had the complete first series of the “Super Powers” action figures. I can’t tell you the countless hours I spent playing with those toys as a child. Those memories are priceless to me! As I got older…I turned from the toys, TV, and movies to the comic books where these wonderful heroes had originated. Such great stories and such great characters were found in the pages of those books.
I have a brother who is 13 years younger than me. At some point, years after I had stopped playing with my “Super Powers” action figures, they somehow got passed along to my younger brother (who was about 4 or 5 years old at the time). Needless to say, my action figures were never the same after that. Some were missing arms, legs, or heads…some had these parts partially missing as they had been partially chewed off. Yes, my “Super Powers” collection was pretty much destroyed. I was pretty sick about this when it happened. I was even sicker several years later when e-bay came along and I saw how much those figures were bringing in online auctions. But, I’m not bitter….looking back, I would have made sure to keep my beloved figures safe, but what’s done is done and no one is to blame for their unfortunate demise. Back a few years ago, they did an updated version of the Super Friends cartoon called “Justice League Unlimited”. It was, to date, the best animated television show EVER! Along with this new show, they released a new line of action figures based on the characters of DC Comics. This new line was the closest thing to the “Super Powers” collection I had seen and at the age of 32 years old…I was a child again. I began collecting these new action figures and this time I decided to keep them in their original packaging. Before long, my collection grew to a size incredibly larger than the 15 -20 figures I had in my “Super Powers” collection. Now my collection is so big that it takes up an entire room. I like to call it the “Retirement Fund” room because at some point, I should be able to sell the collection for an amount much larger than what I originally paid (if I'm able to part with them...fingers crossed on that one). Along with the packaged figures, I have found some other collectibles related to the heroes of DC Comics. Yes, my collection is a source of great pride for me.
So……why the fascination? What do these heroes mean to me? Probably more than you think. I’ll tell you all about it. But we’re out of time for now, so tune in next time for the conclusion…..same Bat time, same Bat Blog… :-)