At arguably the height of his fame and looking cool on the cover (top) of the UK Observer Sunday magazine, Christopher Reeve gives a great candid interview to Lesley Thornton on the week of the British release of Superman III.
Clearly enamoured with the then 30-year old superstar, the interviewer manages to record Reeve’s career and insights economically and with charm – highlighting that though a big part of his success to may have been attributed to something he despised (youth marketing and sequels) the Superman films were kept to a good standard, even though this would allegedly be his last…
Presenting the final two vintage Shreddies Superman III Action Replay games (scroll down to earlier posts for the rest of the set).
The series of vintage cereal premiums continues with the hopelessly complicated (for its target audience) card No.3 ‘Ski Chase’ and the ‘Hangman’ inspired ‘Tower Of Pisa’ game.
Once again the only saving grace here is the fantastic artwork (presumably by Garcia-Lopez) that is a great prelude to the definitive works he would produce only a year later for the beloved Kenner ‘Super Powers’ Action Figure line…
Coming soon – The final pair..!
As promised, here are the first two (of a set of six) Superman III Shreddies promotional wipe-away ‘Action Replay’ game cards. Game 1 you will notice is a thinly-disguised version of Battleship and game 2 is a weird variation on Connect 4.
As the play potential of these is evidently limited, thank goodness the colourful artwork elevates them above your standard cereal giveaway – parts 3&4 coming soon..!
In an era where cereal premiums and movie promotions really gained momentum, the Nabisco Company had wisely remained faithful to the Superman movie franchise after a successful campaign backing Superman II a few years earlier.
Always looking for new gimmicks to push product out to kids (and ensuring its longevity by making their giveaways a collectable series) the ‘Action Replay Games’ found in special packs of Shreddies were a cunning use of nothing so special as laminate cardboard that would wipe away felt-tip pen.
Based on various scenes from Superman III this handsomely illustrated (with art provided by the stalwart Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez) series of six cards were an instant hit but by their very nature would deteriorate quickly (quicker still had you not read the instructions & used ball-point pen) and so would ultimately be disposed of, making them a rarity in the years to follow.
SUPERMANIA therefore, is proud to present not only the comic book ad (bottom pic) but scans of an original pristine Shreddies cereal box detailing all the fantastic artwork (and some rare stills) used in the promotion.
And coming soon – the complete set of ‘Action Replay’ games reproduced front & back in resolution suitable for printing…
