A truly incredible and unique display – this intricate life-size creation was on loan from Stephen Lane’s (Propstore of London) personal collection to the Movieum Of London (now rebranded The London Film Museum) last year.
Not only is the reworked portrait of Christopher Reeve generated from one of Stuart Freeborn’s few surviving lifecasts but the costume is 100% original and one of the finest examples still in existence today. Worn by Reeve and screen-matched to the Luthor’s lair confrontation scenes in Superman: The Movie and the alleyway change scene in Superman II, the costume is ideally preserved on a custom mannequin and standing proudly in the magnificent rooms of County Hall, a breathtaking and eerie experience to behold.
The detail evident in the images above were so revealing I was able to compile arguably the most definitive article to date about the Superman costume hosted exclusively here…
When Mattel announced last year they would be producing a series of 1/6 figures based on the Superman Movie franchise it was a shock to fans both why it had taken so long for somebody to acquire the license, and how that company came to be Mattel.
With the unveiling of the revised Superman figure at this year’s Comic-Con there is renewed enthusiasm for the line, especially as a Gene Hackman as Lex Luthor has now also been confirmed.
This first release of Terence Stamp as General Zod is one of the first pieces of genuine Superman Movie memorabilia in decades and was worth the wait. While some fans bemoaned the maroon flash on Zod’s costume, it is nonetheless screen-accurate (as conclusively evidenced in the Donner Cut) while the figure’s packaging is beautiful and easily on-par with the figure itself. The accessories are also first class (Including alternate hands and weapons) and accommodate numerous methods of display and scene re-enactment.
With their simple sculpts and basic paint, these figures may not compete with the likes of Hot Toys products, (and for $60 they are clearly not intended to) so they are instead best enjoyed as the Mego figure line we should have gotten back in the day…
This fabulous 15″ tall vinyl statue with cloth cape was produced by Hamilton Gifts in 1988, a year after the release of Superman IV.
Resembling an oversize Super Powers figure the likeness owes more to Jose Garcia Lopez line art than his cinematic counterpart. Part of a range that included similar comic-book treatments of Batman (and Spider-man?)The figures came with white metal stands and were articulated at the shoulders.
Interestingly, the molds were re-used and sold in Warner Bros. Stores (minus stand and featuring slap-dash paintjobs) for many years later until their eventual demise…
The waxwork of Christopher Reeve’s Superman was given pride of place in the exit stairwell of London’s Madame Tussauds for many years after its introduction in 1979. The figure was originally adorned in a production made costume and suspended in a dramatic flying pose with a magically flowing cape. The complete display of Superman bursting through the floor, with shattered chunks of concrete and strobe lighting effects from sparking ‘live’ wires stopped crowds on their way down in their tracks, immediately captivating children of all ages crying out Look! Its Superman! Christopher Reeve! as their parents excitedly pulled out their cameras one last time.
I know this as I was in the midst of it all, taking the above pictures in shock and awe as prior to this family excursion in the late 80’s I’d had no idea it was there. I was elated enough having just found a 10×8 photo of Christopher Reeve in the gift shop, so a discovery of this magnitude was – indeed, as if I’d seen the man himself live for the first time. I therefore spent as long as I could staring agog trying to absorb the details (my parents, seeing how taken I was, respectfully left me to it) while enjoying the reaction of kids as they ran up to the guard rail starry-eyed. I may have been in my early teens at the time, but the impression it made on me was total and everlasting.
While the likeness was probably not as well-realised as his wax equivalent across the pond (at the Movieland Wax Museum) and the hairstyle similarly sub par, the costume was no-expense-spared and had clearly been tailored as per the originals with the addition of a cape in lighter fabric for movement. By the early 2000’s however, time and wear had taken its toll and like many Superman Movie costumes, the colour had faded dramatically and so a replacement costume was produced for the figure’s relocation to the ‘Movie Room’ at Tussauds (bottom pic) where it would reside until the figure was retired sometime after 2010.
Having researched this piece for many years, as a footnote I recently managed to make contact with one of the former staff of Bermans & Nathans who not only confirmed they were responsible for supplying the costume but let me in on some very interesting details regarding the changes they made for the figure –
“I altered one of Christopher Reeve’s Superman costumes for the Tussauds display. I can’t remember which film it was used for originally but we had to put a vent in the back of it for an air pump, to make the cape billow. An interesting fact, he had several suits, that fit in different ways. For example, this one was for flying, so the sleeve for the outstretched arm is made longer, so it didn’t ride up the arm, and its fitted into the armhole at a different angle, to avoid too much shoulder wrinkling. I remember the colours of the costume being duller than on the big screen, something to do with lighting and blue screen I think. I’ve never been to Tussauds, so never saw it in action. I don’t even know if he’s still on display but it was an interesting project to work on…”
In response to an ad from the pages of Toyfare magazine and back when action figure customs were in their infancy – The above item was borne out of frustration at the lack of an official Superman action figure line. The Andgor Toy Co’s pledge that they could customise any figure you could think of was too good an opportunity to miss (or so I thought) so I hurriedly commissioned one based on Christopher Reeve (requesting the likeness from the Superman IV poster but incorporating the kiss-curl).
Over a year later and after hundreds of ignored emails requesting progress reports, the above is what I finally received. I recall it was very expensive for something I thought barely passable at the time but sufficed until Kris Meadows version erased all memory of it. Although the headsculpt shown here would be available on their website for years afterward, it would appear I wasn’t the only unsatisfied customer as Andgor’s name would be met with derision in the collecting community and would eventually disappear altogether…
