I continue my look back at ten years of collecting by looking at the sheer amount of Supergirl merchandise I have obtained over the course of the last decade. It's crazy to look at this 'then and now' take on the collection.
Here is the first look at 'The Shrine' from way back in June 2008 here:
http://comicboxcommentary.blogspot.com/2008/06/shrine.html
Back then I was using a tiny sort of 4 shelf corner cabinet to display 22 pieces.
I quickly would need more space.
Well, at some point I had to switch to an old school entertainment center! Inherited from my in-law grandparents, this is a classic particle board piece. But it is perfect for the collection!
And so look at how many pieces I have collected. This is but one of the shelves.
This is the Turner shelf, television show/Rebirth stuff, and the New 52 stuff. Crazy!
And here is the Silver Age, 70's hot pants, and Crisis-era shelf.
There are a couple of surprise on this shelf too - glasses, puzzles, cars, and an Elseworlds.
And then here is the Timm-verse, Matrix-style, and Superhero Girls shelf. There are a couple of variants here too.
I think the big thing when looking at these shelves is realizing just how much stuff has come out in the last decade. Sure, some of these pieces are older. But most of these have been released in the last decade.
If anything is a visual representation of how far this character has come since the inception of this site it is this collection. You don't get this much merch unless you are in the public consciousness. I started this site because I thought Supergirl wasn't respected enough.
I don't know if I can say that now.
Okay, I can. But she is much better off than back then.
Want another peek at how far she has come?
The whole right side of this shelf are Supergirl trades. When I started, I think there were only a handful.
Yes, everyone has trades these days. But DC has collected the 80s run, the 90s run, the Silver Age stuff.
Amazing.
I might have to upsize again!
8 comments:
Great collection, Anj.
"I quickly would need more space."
Ah. The collector's eternal trouble. A friend of mine is a Transformer fan and has his home stuffed of toys.
"If anything is a visual representation of how far this character has come since the inception of this site it is this collection. You don't get this much merch unless you are in the public consciousness."
Definitely it's a good sign. DC wouldn't put out so much stuff if it didn't sell. Comic-books may be a dying medium, but the character is -hopefully- relatively safe as long as DC keeps making money off of her.
"I started this site because I thought Supergirl wasn't respected enough.
I don't know if I can say that now."
Actually...
"Okay, I can."
... This.
"But she is much better off than back then."
And also, this. Thank God.
Back then the Kelly's run was, at last, over. We'd gone through Amazons Attack and Countdown tie-ins, but things were turning quickly.
"The whole right side of this shelf are Supergirl trades. When I started, I think there were only a handful."
DC official site was as unreliable and slow as usual so I had to resort to the DC wikia which, as well as usual, was infinitely better. I think back then there were two Showcase Presents, two Supergirl Archives, two trades collecting the beginning and the ending of PAD's run, and at least three trades collecting the 2005 run (Maybe 4. "Beyond Good of Evil"'s date release is August, 2008). I think that's it.
You wouldn't believe back then DC would release Omnibus editions, or would collect Daring Adventures and Linda's run or reprint the fifth volume twice over. Crazy.
I notice you haven't gotten the second Silver Age Omnibus yet. My condolences. I'm sure your wallet will take pity on you shortly.
"I might have to upsize again!"
Let's hope so!
Great figure collection. You have pretty much all of the best, as far as I can tell.
I'm happy to see you came upon the Pez dispenser! It looks like an actual bust on a tall red stand, but it's just a $1.99 piece of plastic. A great investment.
I had to put the McDonald's edition away in a box - the hair is utterly terrifying! (And looks NOTHING like that version of the character.)
Great collection. I just got into collecting action figures again (after about 30 years). Mostly I have Ghostbusters, Doom Patrol and Flash figures.
In regards to Supergirl trades, most of my collection is from Sterling Gates' run (Who is Superwoman?, Death and the Family, Bizarrogirl),the first two New 52 trades, the first two Rebirth trades and the first trade from Peter David (Matrix Supergirl). Will probably pick up the third Rebirth trade at some point and I'm waiting for Supergirl: Being Super to get collected as the art I've seen looks great and I've heard good things about the writing.
Awesome collection and story! Darrin
Impressive collection! With all the Supergirl related books and merchandise coming out these days, it's all too much to keep up with(although I think Wonder Woman and Harley Quinn have more stuff out, if we're considering female characters).
And still to come (this year or next), statues from Tweeterhead, Fantasy Figure Gallery, Gotham City Garage, DC Designer Series, Diamond Select Toys (2 PVC figures), and Sideshow. Whatever one's opinion of these items, they ARE just more indications of "how far the character has come."
I'm not aware of any up coming action figures, but I won't be surprised if eventually there are new figures based on Supergirl's new costumes.
Then there's all the DC Superhero Girls stuff, and hopefully more Omnibuses and more trade paperbacks and more this and more that.
Interesting how so many of the upcoming statues will still feature the 2004 (Michael Turner) Supergirl. None are New 52; the Diamond Select figures are the TV costume.
I see just one Rebirth costume in Anj's collection. Maybe they don't make many because it's the most conservative costume Supergirl has worn since the 1960s edition - perhaps an overreaction after the radical New 52 costume. There's obviously many more figures based on the Benoist version.
That Rebirth statue's costume is not really true to anything - the skirt is Benoist-length (and Matrix+Danvers-length), not Rebirth-length, while the boots are far taller than either. The boot height has varied in Rebirth, but never this tall. The cape is also wrong - it's not quite a New 52 cloak (my favorite), but it's not a Rebirth or Benoist cape either. But I do like the Rebirth sleeves.
Anyway, we'll see what develops. Some hooded figures could be a change of pace! But we may never see any of those "temporary" costumes featured as figures. They would look a lot like the Lucy Lane Superwoman statue.
I think any differences in things like skirt length or boot height is just a matter of artistic interpretation. I'm sure Joelle Jones is allowed some leeway in her designs. And Supergirl has worn so many costumes over the years, it's easy to understand that artists might accidently combine elements of one with another.
The new Sideshow statue is based on Artgerm's work and seems to be the rebirth costume (there's a picture on his Instagram page).
Just one of the upcoming Diamond Select figures is from the TV show. The other is part of a new line featuring the comic book versions of the characters. Besides Supergirl, the others announced are Superman, Batman, Catwoman, Aquaman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Green Arrow, Flash and 2 Harley Quinns. The Supergirl figure is wearing the Turner costume (her stomach is showing), but she's wearing a Silver Age belt, and the costume is missing the gold trim that Turner included. But what I saw may have been a prototype. It's due out this fall, so we'll have to wait to see the final product.
Thanks for comments!
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