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Supernaturals (toy line)Supernaturals[a] was a short-lived line of action figures produced by American toy company Tonka in 1987. OverviewSupernaturals was one of several 1980s toy lines to use holographic technology, similar to Hasbro lines Visionaries: Knights of the Magical Light and Battle Beasts. Like many action figures of the period, it was split into two prosaic Heroic and Evil factions. Large Warriors, smaller Ghostlings and a selection of playsets and vehicles were released.[1] Tonka launched Supernaturals with a large hologram display at the 1987 New York Toy Show.[2] The use of holograms on a line of toys attracted considerable attention at the time.[3][4][5] The Warrior figures featured holograms on both the upper body and shield accessories, as well as 'glow-in-the-dark' weaponry.[6] The upper body was cast in flat plastic, with the hologram giving the appearance of three dimensions; clip-on upper body armour was included to hide the hologram - simulating the Warriors being able to hide their 'real' visages, and the expression of the hologram face would change depending on the angle the toy was viewed from. Only a single wave of toys was issued before the Supernaturals was cancelled,[7] and the line was a financial failure for Tonka.[8] Toy line
Comic
In America, the toy line's backstory - featuring centuries-old warriors reviving in the Tomb of Doom - was explained by text included on the toy packaging[7] and a pack-in mini-comic.[13] However, in Britain a licensed fortnightly comic was produced by Fleetway Publications, featuring in-house material created to promote the line for Tonka. The series was previewed by a free comic given away with the 31 October 1987 editions of Fleetway's top selling weekly boys' comics, 2000 AD and Eagle. The first regular issue of the 32-page 40p comic was issued at the same time, with a 'Double Mask' based on the character Skull included; the second included a similar giveaway. John Gillatt, Sandy James and Jim Watson were among the artists.[14] In line with a pattern used in many British children's comics of the period, the comic had a fictional editor, the Ghostling Spooks. The lead strip was "The Legend of the Supernaturals" and the lighter "Ghostlings!". Also included were non-Supernaturals strips, including ventriloquist dummy story "The Doll" (written by Peter Milligan) and self-contained 'creepy' stories reportedly chosen by another Ghostling, Scary Cat. Profile material and toy adverts also featured heavily in the comic.[14] While the comic was produced under the auspices of IPC boys' adventure group editor Barrie Tomlinson he had very little memory of working on it when writing his autobiography.[15] Like the toyline, the comic was not a success - lasting just nine fortnightly issues before being cancelled. Some of the material was reprinted in the hardbacked Supernaturals Adventure Book, an annual issued in 1988.[14] ReceptionToy historian Mark Bellomo included the line in an article for Mental Floss about 12 1980s toys that didn't take off, noting that the then-innovative hologram technology made the figures prohibitively expensive for many of the children of the time.[13] NotesReferences
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