Once in a while, I still haunt the old toy sites I followed when I collected action figures. Old habits die hard.

Once in a while, something pops up on said sites that IMMEDIATELY catches my eye!! The recent Superman ‘78 retro action figures from Spin Master were absolutely one such occurrence.

Retro figures are all the rage nowadays, and have been seemingly for a good decade plus. Many toy companies are taking established, beloved franchises, buying licenses to make tiny, simple looking 3 3/4 inch action figures as they would have looked in the ‘70s and ‘80s, sticking them on vintage cards and selling them to an adult collector audience.

And I am here for it!

It does my heart a lot of good seeing these properties get a lot of love. It just feels like the world is acknowledging that stuff I have loved all my life is worth celebrating!

That, or that old guys like me are willing to spend money on nostalgia. One of the two. Or maybe both.

The significance of Superman ‘78 retro figures isn’t just the tying into a pop culture trend, but that, to my knowledge, they are the first toys made about the Reeve movies, ever! I can’t imagine how no licensing deals were ever secured by the wheeler-dealer Salkinds, but yet, here we are.

The figures are a Target-exclusive series, which consists of six figures in all: Superman, Lois Lane, Lex Luthor, General Zod, and Jor-El (white and black versions). My wife shops at Target not infrequently, so on one trip I went with her thinking I might pay a visit to the toy aisle, on the off chance I might find treasure.

Much to my surprise, I found one figure, Superman himself! I nabbed it instantly.

I went to another Target on my own a few days later (something very rare given my busy schedule), and found Lois, Luthor, Zod, and a black Jor-El. I left the black Jor, given how much more iconic the white robe turned out to be, but grabbed the other three. I looked and looked for a white Jor-El over the next couple of weeks, but ultimately decided it was more worth my time to just pay a little extra for one online (eBay), so I did just that.

The figures clearly were made in a very generic fashion, not just for the retro look but because rights to the likenesses of the actors were obviously not purchased by Spin Master.

It would have been nice to have even a minimal resemblance to the original cast- and I wonder if they might have gotten away with putting Brando’s face on Jor-El. Even so, there are some other, subtle nods to the films with the clever accessories included with each figure- a Kryptonite necklace with Superman, a newspaper with Lex, and Phantom Zone flying square with Zod being my favorites.

These figures succeeded in what they were trying to do, which is offer cool, nostalgic memorabilia for a classic film, and a seminal moment for Superman fandom. It honestly feels like these very much could have been released in 1978, and should have!

It sounds like Spin Masters only had the rights to release one wave of these toys, but if in the future they wanted to release more, I wouldn’t complain. They are one more blessing that came out of the media blitz of getting a new Superman movie in theaters this summer, and I am VERY grateful.

Capeage Meter: 10 out of 10