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| Box Front Cover Art |
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| Box Back Cover Art |
I managed to find this Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Superman v.s. Metallo toy during one of my toy hunts earlier this year. Being a huge Superman Toy/Comics Collector, I couldn't let this item pass by. I used to see this toy in toy catalogues and wondered if I would ever get to own one. Well, here it is now. For those of you who are not familiar with Rock 'Em Sock 'Em toys, I'll try to give a little backgrounder. Rock 'Em Sock 'Em toys were originally designed by Marvin Glass and Associates and manufactured by Marx Toys in the year 1964. It is a popular two player game that featured two dueling robot boxers who are mechanically controlled by the players. The objective of the game is to have one player beat the other by having his controlled robot knock the head off of the other player's robot. Back in the day, this game was quite popular to the extent that it became a pop culture phenomenon. Various toy companies released different versions and variations of the robot boxers with some utilizing popular characters in place of the robots. One such company is Mattel. Being the manufacturing toy company to be given exclusive rights for Superman toy related merchandise, Mattel's version utilizes Superman and his foe Metallo in place of the Robot Boxers. Based on the artwork, this item seemed to have been released Post Superman's death because Superman sports the mullet hair in the box art. I'm wondering why they chose Metallo as his sparring foe in this toy when they could have opted for Doomsday (the creature that killed Superman) instead.
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| Superman v.s. Metallo |
The toy composes two figures (Superman and Brainiac) atop of some sort of a building which serves as the base for the two figures. The figures stands approximately at Seven Inches.
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| The Final Battle |
Each figure is connected to a steering handle with two red colored push buttons that would activate the figure's punching action. The handle serves as the steering device to control the movement of the figure. The steering handle is colored according to the figure's dominant colors (Metallo's metallic colors and Superman's Blue Suit) with Superman's steering handle sporting the "S" Shield.
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| Top View |
The base used for the figures also sports the names of the fighters. To win the game, the players must hit the chest of the opposing figure to activate a device that would cause the figures' head to tilt/pop up.
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| Superman |
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| Brainiac |
The Superman and Brainiac figures looks good in this toy. Superman is nicely detailed and it reminds me of the art of Jon Bogdanove (the Superman Art used in the Box artwork for this toy). Metallo meanwhile sports nicely detailed robotic details. The figures moves at the head, shoulder, and elbow. All key components in order for the figure to simulate punching actions. Superman also comes with a cloth cape (which is actually better than plastic capes). The length of the arms are kinda long though. But I guess Mattel had to design it that way in order for the activating devices to work. I actually had fun playing this with my 2 year old son (though he still lacks the strength to be able to push the punching buttons). He loves pressing the chest and see the head of Superman tilt upwards and Metallo's head pop up. I guess that's it for now. I'm still digging my storage boxes to see what other Superhero toy games I could find and share here. Stay Tuned!
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