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| Note the Bat-8-Track Player (?) and TWO ACCELERATORS! |
I have a real treat for you today. Here is a set of model sheets from that seminal classic of my youth, CHALLENGE OF THE SUPERFRIENDS. If I had to list the animated series that defined my childhood, the many incarnations of Superfriends would rank just under BATTLE OF THE PLANETS. The Hanna-Barbera version of the Justice League of America dominated Saturday mornings (and afternoon syndication) for 12 straight years, and most of the 214 adventures are available on DVD....but not all! (Do you hear us, Warner Brothers??? Economy be damned; give us our Superfriends!)
Anyhow, these are pretty much solid awesome. You will notice that some are from the first group of model sheets for the original series, and re-titled for this specific production (after all, the original Alex Toth designs continued to be used). But that doesn't mean you won't get to see some really unusual items, such as the dashboard of the Batmobile, Clark Kent, and lots of things that were new for 1978, including Legion of Doom members!
Here's an interesting Factoid: I read an interview yesterday with Darrell McNeil, who was a young animator at HB, and he said the original concept for the team of villains was to be called "The League of Evil" and include Dr. Sivana (as Captain Marvel was to be included in the Superfriends at that time), The Joker, The Penguin, Mr. Freeze, and Catwoman! You can read the interview, and many more, comprising an entire "history of the Superfriends" at this amazing blog I discovered, called Noblemania, at http://noblemania.blogspot.com/.
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| "Solomon Grundy punch Solomon Grundy!!!" |
Model Sheets back up for a limited time!
Hey there! I randomly came across this post, and love it.
ReplyDeleteQuestion -- there are only 3 model sheets on this page, but the article seems to suggest that perhaps (when the post was originally posted), there was more than 3. Do you have more Superfriends model sheets? If so, I'd love to see them!
I really enjoyed your Godzilla cartoon article too.
@Prime11 - Thank you! Originally I think I had a download link to the whole set of model sheets. Of course it's not complete, as the number of model sheets for the show seem to be infinite. If there is interest I can track it down and repost it for a while (I'm short on download space these days)!
ReplyDeleteWow, ya that would be amazing, even if you just repost them for a little while so I could check them out. I totally would have some interest!
ReplyDeleteIts a funny thing about model sheets. I find it to be the same thing ... there are always more out there. It never ends, it seems.
Thanks a bunch!
@Prime11 - I have re-uploaded them for a while, and added a link to the original post! Enjoy!
ReplyDeleteI do agree though about there always being more--I thought somebody might do a nice coffee table book of Superfriends art at some point, but it never materialized. Now dealers just sell copies on Ebay, and that of course isn't right either--which is why I originally put them up here!
Yes .... I've noticed these ebay guys also. I agree it's not right --they have no right to be profiting from these images. That said, I have to admit, I've bought a few from them just because they don't exist anywhere else.
ReplyDeleteI downloaded all the Superfriends from you, and they are amazing looking. Thanks for this -- you rock!
In case you're interested, I started a reddit sub devoted to model sheets, which you might enjoy... www.reddit.com/r/modelsheetarchive
Will probably post these superfriends models over there at some point. I'm trying to make them free so people don't have to buy them all.