In the 2006 motion picture Superman Returns, director Bryan Singer decided to bring back Marlon Brando as Jor-El through the means of CGI and archival footage from the 1978 film Superman: The Movie. Although we never got to see Jor-El appear as more than a disembodied head in the Fortress of Solitude, Mattel produced two separate figures of him. This 2-pack titled The House of El contains…
Gifted to me at Christmastime in 2006, this decorative Superman pillow was a pleasant surprise. Made by Franco Manufacturing Company, the pillow is filled with foam beads and is quite comfortable. So comfortable, I contemplated…
The Mattel toy line that promoted the Justice League animated series thankfully knew no bounds. There were countless variant figures including this Silver Storm Superman, produced in 2005, which looks like it was torn from an early 1990s independent comic cover. The figure is a made from the standard version, but is painted a slightly darker blue and gold where the yellows usually are. He comes with hefty, unnamed accessories like a shoulder/backpack tech… thing… that has a rotatable targeting monocle. On this shoulder/backpack tech… thing… you can…
Adding to the list of Superman collectibles from businesses that have long left us is this KB Toys gift card. Promoting the release of the film Superman Returns in 2006, the card sports the movie’s logo with honor. As it was with the Borders gift card from 2002, I had to add a minimum amount to it in order to get the card… which was fine by me.
Yet another item from One Stop Toy Co. in 2006 is this Superman ballpoint pen. This is a basic, no-frills blue ink pen with cap, but it is adorned with great Superman imagery by José Luis García-López and has a blue cord so that you can hang the pen from your neck.
These high bouncing rubber balls have astonishingly yellowed over the years, but are still great pieces in my collection. These Superman Rubber Balls were produced by One Stop Toy Co. from Northridge California in 2006. At the time, you could find them at various party store outlets alongside their Superman Yo Yo along with many other Superman products. The artwork on one of the balls was done by José Luis García-López and the other by Jim Lee.
These two wide-ruled Superman Returns notebooks can make anyone feel like a junior reporter for a great metropolitan newspaper. Produced by Animations, a division of Accessory Network in New York, the covers feature promotional artwork of Brandon Routh as Superman. The first shows Superman flying upward with the Daily Planet building in the background. The other notebook shows Superman standing with his fists on his hips. Each spiral-bound notebook contains 45 sheets.
All those years spent as a child, some of which actually involved me playing with Yo-Yos, and not once did I have a Superman one… until 2006. The difference being, I intend on keeping this one in its packaging.
This Superman Yo Yo was produced by the now defunct One Stop Toy Company in Northridge California. One side features the artwork of Jim Lee and the flip side features an ‘S’ symbol with the masthead ‘Superman’ above it. The package features Superman flying forward by artist José Luis García-López.
Here is another lunchbox style tin box produced in 2006 by the Tin Box Company. The artwork, which is embossed (raised) on its lid, is by not other than the great José Luis García-López. There is also Lopez art along its sides.
In 2006, the United States Postal Service released this wonderful set of DC Comics Super Heroes postal cards. There are twenty cards in this pack and they each have a different design featuring classic DC characters. For example, the designs include the cover of Superman #11 (1941), Green Lantern #4 (1961), Wonder Woman #22 (1988), and Batman #1 (1940). There are also pin-up style cards featuring the artwork of Wayne Boring, Neal Adams, Jim Lee, and others.
Superman Collector in Hawaii 