Memorabilia: 1996

• Rediform printed Marvel #10 envelopes that featured Spider-Man, Wolverine, Iron Man and the Fantastic Four. Compatible with laser and ink jet printers, they were sold in packs of twelve. According to the packaging, accompanying stationary and note pads were also available.
• The Marvel Comics Super Heroes Coloring and Activity Books were published by Landoll, Inc. of Ashland, Ohio. It featured mostly black and white clip art of various heroes including the Fantastic Four as well as a handful of simple puzzles. Four books in all were made, all using the same artwork with only minor alterations.
• A series of Marvel keychains were produced, each one bearing the likeness of one hero with light-up features. One of the figures was the Thing. I do not know the manufacturer, but it has a decidedly Japanese influence.
• The 1996 Marvel Masterpiece trading card set from Fleer was entirely painted by Greg and Tim Hildebrandt. The FF cards included:
  • #9 Crystal
  • #21 Human Torch
  • #23 Invisible Woman
  • #42 She-Hulk
  • #49 Thing
  Double Impact #3 of 6 had artwork of the Human Torch and Rogue and Painting Redemetion #4 of 9 was just the Human Torch.
• The Fleer Ultra: Onslaught trading card set included:
  • #41 Human Torch
  • #42 Invisible Woman
  • #43 Mr. Fantastic
  • #44 Thing
  • #88 Human Torch
  • #89 Invisible Girl
  • #92 Mr. Fantastic
  • #98 Thing
• Card #41 in the Fleer Ultra X-Men: Wolverine was titled Wolverine vs Thing.
• Two snowboards were produced, with imagry of the Human Torch (by Andy Kubert) on one and the Thing on the other. Manufactured by CAS Sports and made with PU Foam Core, it has a 4x4 pattern (for use with most bindings except baseless) that measures in at 144 cm.
• The Paper Magic Group produced a box of 42 full-color valentines of Marvel Super Heroes. It included imagry of: The Fantastic Four, Captain America, the Thing, the Human Torch, the Incredible Hulk, Daredevil, Ghost Rider, Iron Man, and Wolverine.
• The Incredible Hulk cartoon began airing on UPN. The Thing (voiced by Chuck McCann from the 1994-95 FF cartoon) appears in the episode "Fantastic Fortitude" along with a brief cameo by Mr. Fantastic (Beau Weaver). The She-Hulk (Lisa Zane) also appears in that episode after her origin in the previous episode, "Doomed."
• One of the Marvel Model Kits (produced by Toy Biz) in the first assortment was the Thing. It has a difficulty level of 1 -- very easy, snap-together pieces.
• Spider-Man Super Thrillers: Midnight Justice is a novel from Pocket Books that features the Human Torch. Written by Debra Doyle and James MacDonald as Martin Delrio, cover art by Mike Zeck and Phil Zimelman, and interior art by Neil Vokes and Michael A. Oeming.
• Ziploc briefly printed "Ziploc Kidz" sandwich bags featuring Marvel Super Heroes. They had three different designs. One sported the Thing, Thor, Spider-Woman and Wolverine while another had the Human Torch, Iron Man, Hulk and Jubilee.
• The Marvel Super Heros Happy Meal promotion from McDonald's ran from May 17 to June 13. This Happy Meal was based on Marvel comics and TV shows. Week 3 of the promo included a color changing Invisible Woman figure and the Thing in a small car. Week 4 had action figures of the Hulk and the Human Torch.
• A Toy Biz exclusive was sold strictly through Puzzle Zoo. The Hall of Fame line consisted of three sets of figures. The first included the original color-changing Invisible Woman (first made in 1993) and the third included the interm Invisible Woman from late 1994 (a re-paint of the first Spider-Woman figure).
• Another figure line from Toy Biz was Overpower: Power Surge. The Adam Warlock figure that was supposed to have been released in the Fantastic Four third series (1995) is in the first batch of this line.
• A new Thing figure was added to the Marvel PVC line of statuettes.
• Fleer's new line of trading cards was called Marvel Vision. It had been broken down into four sub-categories, based on Fantastic Four, Iron Man, Spider-Man and X-Men cartoons (25 each?). At this time, I am unaware which cards have been produced.
• Marvel Chillers: The Frightful Four is one of a series of children's mystery "novels" from Marvel. There are four books in the series (again FF, Iron Man, Spider-Man, and X-Men) that tell of a brief adventure with a mildly spooky overall feel. The FF's story is a retelling of issues 94 and 126 using some of Jack Kirby's original artwork. The story itself was rewritten by former FF 2099 editor Joey Cavalieri and has a new cover by Casey Jones, Tom Simmons and Don Cassity.
• Toy Biz introduced its Incredible Hulk line of action figures to coincide with the fall's cartoon. One of the first figures in the series is She-Hulk.
• Toy Biz ran their last series in the Fantastic Four line of action figures. This set gave all of the figures action bases instead of gimmicks loaded into the figure itself. The set consisted of Johnny Storm, Medusa, Psycho Man, Thing III, and Wizard. A Trapster figure had been sculpted, but was not produced because the number of figures in each Toy Biz assortment had been reduced from six to five.
• Hallmark printed Marvel Gift Wrap. Available as sheets or a roll, the paper featured a collage of Marvel heroes - including an image of the FF in their classic cyan uniforms by John Byrne.
• A series of Marvel Superhero magnets were released. Each featured one hero and their accompanying book's logo. Mr. Fantastic, Thing, Human Torch and Invisible Woman were made among others.
• Toy Biz introduced their Marvel Universe series of action figures, sold exclusively through Kay-Bee Toys. They are all repaints of older figures with new packaging. The Thing from the second Fantastic Four assortment is one of the figures.
• A series of rectangular magnets from Marvel were produced. Each featured artwork used from various comics and several featured members of the Fantastic Four.