Hello, and welcome to "Back To Normal" week here at The Highlight. LOL. Today we have the "Small Card" Green Lantern figure, which is technically a Shell Gas Station promotion produced for the Canadian market. This sub-line was released on smaller cards due to less space being available at point-of-sale (hey, it’s a gas station). No hanger-hole punches were stamped into the cards, so individual stations would sometimes use a standard hole-punch to hang them up. Finding perfect-condition examples is usually difficult due to that reason alone. Only eight characters were available : Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Robin, Green Lantern, Firestorm, Martian Manhunter, and Red Tornado. The second series figures (as far as the main line) are generally more difficult to find on these cards, but while I used to think that Red Tornado was the most difficult I now believe that Green Lantern is.
They are also sometimes called "slim cards" and are also susceptible to yellowed bubbles. This leads me to believe they came out closer to the 3rd series of US figures since Kenner obviously changed the quality of plastic used on them at that time. A quick perusal of Kenner’s Star Wars Return of the Jedi and Power of the Force figures on eBay confirms this wholeheartedly.
The sculpt of the figure remains awesome. The likeness of Hal Jordan was certainly nailed to perfection here, right down to the lantern accessory. One of the most popular Super Powers figures even to this day, I would think.
This sub-line is also fun to collect due to the small number you have to obtain, as well as the relatively tiny amount of space you would need to display them. The cards have a nice, clean look to them due to the only artwork besides the logo being the character artwork behind the figure.
Batman remains the most expensive figure of the lot, due to his immense popularity. He’s easy to find yet rarely sells for below $50 on average. Red Tornado has varied the most of any of the, price-wise. I’ve seen them sell from $20 to over $200. It makes no sense, really, though he is one of the more difficult to locate.
As far as the mail-away promotion goes, it’s unknown if there was a plain mailer box for this (one has never surfaced), or if they just sent out bi-lingual retail boxed Boulder Bombers (which actually seem more plentiful than the US versions).
Thanks for reading, take care and stay tuned for more cool highlights coming this week!
Peace,
Chip
I have to tell you that these were available at a Big Lots in San Jose, CA in the late 80′s. I bought a Firestorm and a Robin at something like $3 a pop. They are sitting on my desk as I write this. So cool.
As a kid, I thought the Super Powers promotion at Shell gas stations was the greatest thing ever! Shell stations were plentiful in my hometown and were the my parent’s preferred fuel provider. My Mom would buy me a figure each time I was in the car while fueling up. I already had Batman and my friends’ had the big guns, so I would pick the more obscure characters just to learn more about them: Red Tornado, Martian Manhunter, and Firestorm. I also got a Robin for my younger brother to complement my Batman. Many of the Shell stations in my neighbourhood only had a small booth for the clerk. It only had enough room for the clerk to sit and a cash register, so a box of Super Powers figs would be stored underneath the register. None of the figs I got had their cards punched.. but I tore those figures out and played with them to death.
I think the only slim carded SP figure I’m missing now is Superman. I just picked them all op within the past year… mostly becasue of the renewed interest in AFi folks talking about the Super Powers line again!
Regarding the Boulder bomber, I remember my mom ordered my Supermobile from a form on Peter Pan Peanut Butter (it’s an odd thing to remember, I know) and it came in the same box as the retail. This is of course by no means something that would be standardized in any way for other offers, but whatever.
I occasionally work with the man who sold this exclusive to Shell. They were available in the US because Shell way over ordered, the sales rep took the excess inventory across the border and sold it to liquidators as a favour.
He tells me he told Shell not to take Batman and Superman but order more of the obscure characters because he believed those two were over exposed at retail.
Just stumbled upon your blog. Love it. Green Lantern might be my favorite action figure of all time. I still have the one I had as a kid.