Memorabilia: 1995

• A bronze relief sculpture of Fantastic Four #1 by the Highland Mint. Each 2.5" by 3.5" card came in a protective Lucite case with a certificate of authenticity. Limited to a 2,500 production run.
• Apparently the BBC created a Spider-Man radio show that was aired only in England. It featured Spider-Man (obviously), the Fantastic Four, the Sub-Mariner and Dr. Doom. Presumably the stories are re-works of the orignal Lee/Ditko stories. Theme music was by Brian May.
• Classic Heroes, Inc. produced a line of "Hero Tops" gum. They were cone-shaped containers (which hold 2 oz. of small pieces of gum) with the upper half of a hero molded on top. I believe they made Iron Man, Wolverine and the Thing. They only worked as tops if you removed the figure and emptied the container. Good sculpting on the figures, though.
• Classic Heroes also marketed the gum as what they called "Maze Candy." To get the gum out of its rectangular container, you needed to route the pieces through a clear plastic maze before they reached the exit. Behind the maze was simply the graphic of the FF that was used for the packaging of Toy Biz's action figures. (On a side note, mazes for Iron Man, Spider-Man and the X-Men were also available.)
• Continuing to exploit their FF license, Classic Heroes released a Fantastic Four "Bubble Comic." The 4.25 by 3.25 inch blue box had paper reproductions of the cover and two pages to FF #350. Lifting the interior page revealed a "secret compartment" that held bubble gum.
• Fantastic Four Pops were the sugar buzz from Asher Candy. Also trying to capitalize on the new FF cartoon, these generic suckers with FF art on the packaging had several layers to them, each with a different flavor. Starting with the outermost layer, the flavors were cherry, sour apple and orange with a gum center.
• A Wal-Mart exclusive from Toy Biz was the Fantastic Four/Iron Man two-pack of action figures. Each set came with two figures, one from each respective line. The combinations did not make a lot of sense and they were billed as figure VS. figure even if the two characters were allies. The four sets were:
  • Dr. Doom vs. Iron Man
  • Mr. Fantastic vs. Hydro-Armor Iron Man
  • Silver Surfer vs. Mandarin
  • Thing vs. War Machine
• Similarly, K-Mart sold Spider-Man/Fantastic Four two-packs. The only ones I believe that were produced are the Thing/Spider-Man and Human Torch/Spider-Man sets (where the Torch was only a repainted Silver Surfer).
• Also available (with a soft drink purchase) at K-Mart were six Marvel Action Hour cups. The one shown depicts Iron Man, Spider-Woman, Dr. Doom, and the Thing.
• The Marvel Action Hour continued to air; however, there were so many vast improvements over the previous season that it almost looked like an entirely different cartoon. Quinton Flynn took over voicing the Human Torch. A new theme song (thankfully) was written by William Anderson and Anderson Scores. Cynde Clark and Steve Granat were story editors. New World/Genesis Entertainment did the production work. They also brought in a host of celebrity guest voices including: Michael Dorn as Gorgon, Kathy Ireland as Crystal, Mark Hamill as Maximus, and Richard Greico as Ghost Rider.
  
  For the record, here are the episode titles:
  • And a Blind Man Shall Lead Them
  • Inhumans Saga Part 1: And the Wind Cries Medusa
  • Inhumans Saga Part 2: The Inhumans Among Us
  • Inhumans Saga Part 3: Beware the Hidden Land
  • Worlds Within Worlds
  • To Battle the Living Planet
  • Prey of the Black Panther
  • When Calls Galactus
  • Nightmare in Green
  • Behold a Distant Star
  • Hopelessly Impossible
  • The Sentry Sinister
  • Doomsday
  
  This series was cancelled at this point due to low ratings, probably left over from a very disappointing first season.
  
• Toy Biz continued production of their Fantastic Four line of action figures. Their second series consisted of: Blastarr, Dragon Man, Firelord, Gorgon, Human Torch (originally a repainted Silver Surfer - later version shown), Invisible Woman (originally a repainted Spider-Woman - see package art), and Thanos.
  
  An 18 inch Galactus figure was sold as part of the series. The vehicles that were also released at about the same time included the Fantasticar, Mr. Fantastic's Sky Shuttle, and Thing's Sky Cycle.
• In conjunction with their Fantastic Four toy line, Toy Biz also had a small series of talking figures. The Thing was one of these 8 inch figures.
• Toy Biz also produced a short-lived line of die-cast, three inch, metal figures. They were sold as two-packs. The Fantastic Four sets were:
  • Human Torch vs. Dragon Man
  • Mr. Fantastic vs. Dr. Doom
  • Silver Surfer vs. Terrax
  • Thing vs. Blastaar
• Ball Park Franks ran a contest (a random drawing) to win lunch with one of the Fantastic Four or Iron Man at your school. I have not yet heard what the outcome of this promotion was.
• As part of Toy Biz's deluxe line of figures, they produced a Johnny Storm figure. It was essentially the Mr. Fantastic figure with solid plastic arms and a Peter Parker head.
• Putnam Berkley Books published a line of Marvel novels. The Fantastic Four: To Free Atlantis was an original story by Nancy Collins that detailed how Dr. Doom tried to capture powerful Atlantean relics in the hopes of taking over the world. He was defeated by the Fantastic Four and Prince Namor. The story fits neatly into the FF continuity, although it does not have enough specific references to pinpoint when exactly the story takes place. Cover art by Greg and Tim Hildebrandt and interior chapter illustrations by Paul Ryan.
• After several successful years with Marvel action figures, Toy Biz produced four CD-ROMs (Fantastic Four, Iron Man, Spider-Man and X-Men) based on the comic books. Each CD contained video and audio clips, background character data, and an entire story recolored using computers. The FF's disc covered issues 242 through 244 (by John Byrne) and had a few flashbacks to background stories. Very well done and very cheap for what you get.
• The Creata-Card machines that began cropping up in card shops added a Marvel Super-Heroes section. Several of the cards featured artwork of the Fantastic Four (and usually a pun along the lines of: "Have a FANTASTIC birthday!"). I do not believe they use any original artwork.
• Del-Monte Pudding Snacks printed Fantastic Four "trading cards" on the inside of their packages. I believe there were 16 cards in all.
• Toy Biz's third series of Fantastic Four action figures consisted of: Annihilus, Attuma, Namor, Super Skrull, Thing II (with trenchcoat), and Triton.
  
  An Adam Warlock figure was originally slated for this release, but was not produced. However, an OverPower series that was shipped in late 1996 includes this figure.
• Nabisco's promotion was an exchange of proof-of-purchases for a Fantastic Four (or Spider-Man, X-Men or Iron Man) tin. It measures roughly three inches long by two inches high by two inches deep. It features artwork of the FF battling Dr. Doom on the sides and a straight-shot of the FF on the lid.
• Following the incredible success of Magic: The Gathering, Fleer introduced the Marvel Overpower Card Game. I believe the rules are similar, although I have never played either. The Fantastic Four character cards that were printed are:
  • Human Torch
  • Inivisible Woman
  • Mr. Fantastic
  • She-Hulk
  • Thing
• Fleer released its "Flair Marvel Annual" trading card series. The Fantastic Four members who appeared in it are:
  • #76 Invisible Woman
  • #79 Human Torch
  • #81 Thing
  Power Blast
  • #13 Human Torch
  Chromiums
  • #4 Thing
• New to Fleer's trading card line-up were the Marvel Metal series. These cards were printed using metallic foils in the illustrations.
  • #32 Human Torch
  • #33 Invisible Woman
  • #36 Mr. Fantastic
  • #39 She-Hulk
  • #42 Thing
  • #129 Fantastic Four
  Metal Blasters
  • #6 Human Torch
  • #14 Thing
• Milton-Bradley released a 100 piece FF puzzle. Completed, it measures 12.5 x 15 inches. I am unaware of the artist, but it appears to have been an MB-staffer.