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RARE
MEDIUMS
As you know from
viewing this site, it indexes official collectibles connected to
the Legion of Super-Heroes, some so obscure they will only interest
the most diehard fan.
Previous postings of mine on other blogs and also
in some magazines have listed several of what I think are the hardest-to-find
Legion-related items.
Note there is a difference between collectibles
that are difficult to find, and those which are not rare and may
simply be too expensive for the average collector. For example,
copies of ADVENTURE
COMICS 247 are easy enough to acquire if you have the
funds. Likewise, the highly sought-after Mattel
12-pack of Legion figures, or copies of the ridiculously
over-priced SUPERGIRL
AND THE LEGION 23 with the Adam Hughes cover,
are not scarce, but will cost you quite a handful of Huopian energy
money and Dracksler mirror coins to purchase.
Here's a list of 21 treasures, in ascending order
of rarity. Some items were produced in limited quantities and distributed
to only selected recipients, while others enjoyed greater circulation
but are still difficult to acquire. As with many lists of this nature,
note that it's all subjective.
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21. WORLDS
FINEST: THE COLLECTION (CRISIS)
The Spring 2023 box from the World's Finest: The Collection
series focused on CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS. It featured covers
from the comic book, many of which of course include Legionnaires.
Goodies in the box included a shirt, a throw blanket, a set
of art cards, and a water bottle.
The
item is hard to procure because it was only available to subscribers
and sold out quickly. It was also the last box of the series
before it got cancelled. |
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20. WEETABIX
BOXES
Licensed by DC Comics, the UK cereal company Weetabix ran a
Superman promotion in 1979, its boxes adorned with various play
scenes and cut-out models.
Hidden
in the actual cereal were various cards, some featuring Legion
characters, who were also depicted on the outside of the boxes.
The cards are relatively common, but the boxes are not, particularly
as most would have been torn open and discarded. |
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19. LEGION-ON-THE-RUN
SHIRT
During the Legion-on-the-run storyline, writer Tom McCraw had
t-shirts made featuring a composite piece drawn by Stuart Immonen
and Ron Boyd, and gave them to editors, assistant editors and
others who worked with him on the book. The collage consisted
of Stuart's original reference guide designs for each character.
Perhaps
regarded as a semi-official licensed product, this little-known
shirt is a cool addition to any Legion collection. |
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18. LEGIONNAIRES
CLOISONNE PIN
These metallic lapel-style pins with butterfly clips were given
out to retailers for every 100 issues of LEGIONNAIRES 1 ordered.
Smaller than standard pins but quite nifty in appearance, they're
hard to track down, although some occasionally surface on Ebay. |
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17. ZERO
HOUR POSTER
This poster featured heads of various DC characters, including
Cosmic Boy and Saturn Girl, and was inserted into copies of
COMICS VALUES MONTHLY 95.
The
now discontinued magazine has low resale value and comic stores
do not often stock back issues. Finding copies of this particular
issue is not easy, let alone locating ones with the poster still
intact within. |
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16. ALEX
ROSS LEGION GICLEE
What more can be said of Alex Ross' huge 29" x 54"
Giclee print of the Legion, issued in 1997? It had a run of
only 500, and those fans who snapped one up are unlikely to
ever sell their prints. Occasionally a copy pops up at auction
houses, but you'll have to monitor them closely for a chance
to bid.
A
word of warning: if you do get an opportunity to buy, make sure
it comes with the certificate of authenticity attached to the
back, which also includes a key to the characters in the painting.
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15. LEGION
OF SUPER-HEROES VOTING BALLOT PAPER
DC Comics held a Super DC Convention in New York in February
1976. With so many fans attending the three-day event, DC decided
to ask them to elect a new leader for the Legion.
Ballot
papers featuring all the Legionnaires were made available to
attendees, who were asked to circle their preferred leader on
the form as well as writing down the character's name in the
space provided, and placing them in various Legion ballot boxes
placed around the venue.
The
papers are easily photocopied, but discerning eyes can pick
out the originals, based on the age and translucence of the
paper and faint crease lines.
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14. ADVENTURE
COMICS 515 (VARIANT COVER) +
LEGION
OF SUPER-HEROES 264 (WHITMAN)
When it comes to actual comics, these are probably the scarcest
Legion-related issues to find.
The
variant cover of ADVENTURE COMICS 515 was drawn by Lee Bermejo
and was produced to commemorate DC Comics' 75th anniversary.
It had a distribution rate of 1:25, which really isn't that
low compared to other variants, but it continues to prove elusive
for collectors still looking for copies.
Also
hard to source is the Whitman version of LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES
264. It
is estimated that less than 100 copies of this issue exist,
making it one of the rarest DC Whitmans around, and almost impossible
to secure.
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13. VS
SYSTEM EXTENDED ART CARDS
The 18th expansion of the VS System card game centered on the
Legion, and consisted of a whopping 220 cards. To make the collecting
harder, each card had a parallel foil version, while there was
also a chaser stacker set, in which three particular cards formed
a triptych.
But
these are not as hard to find as a series of "extended
art" (EA) cards, which featured more of the card artwork
(hence "extended") and less body text. These cards
were not part of general release, but were usually given away
as exclusives, promotions or prizes in competitions.
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12. HEROCLIX
GOLD SUPER RARES
The Legacy set released in 2005 included Kid Quantum, Wildfire,
Superboy and the Persuader. There were also Limited Edition
(LE) figures for the latter three, named Drake Burroughs, Connor
Kent, and Nyeun Chun Ti respectively, which were found in lesser
numbers in the packs.
But
even these LE figures had their own chase versions. There were
limited releases of that trio inserted into the larger booster
boxes, which came with gold text lettering on the base, in a
ratio of about 1:12. These so-called Super Rares were also given
away as prizes in tournaments. |
11. DC
COMICS CHRISTMAS GIFT WRAP
There are two known DC Comics-licensed gift wraps which include
Legionnaires among the cast of characters featured on the paper.
The more common one, a birthday wrap, depicts various Legionnaires
and DC heroes next to a birthday cake.
Far
more elusive is the Christmas wrap, which shows several members
around a Christmas tree as Santa extends season's greetings
from a monitor screen. |
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10. DC
ORIGINALS STYLE GUIDE 2011 WITH FULL INSERTS
This revised style guide was released in 2011, and uses a
more contemporary version of the wraparound cover of the 1980s
binder. In keeping with the times, the model sheets, graphics,
color palettes, logos and general presentation were more sophisticated
and smarter-looking than the guide of the 80s.
The
pages had more references to the Legion, including new shots
of Tyr and Supergirl, and included covers of some Legion-related
issues. The complete style guide also comes with a CD that
contains all the information found on the sheets, and includes
printable PDFs.
The
style guide binder by itself can be found for sale from time
to time, but it's rare to acquire ones with a full set of
style sheets plus the CD-ROM.
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9. DC
SUPER-STARS APPLICATION FORM
In 1979, readers were invited to join the much-heralded DC SUPER-STARS
SOCIETY, for which there were 12 chapters (one of which was
the Legion). Each application kit consisted of four pages comprising
an introductory page relating to the chapter's character(s),
a quiz page, another outlining what the membership kit contained,
and then the actual application coupon, which fans had to fill
in and return along with payment of $4 for each kit.
Nothing
ever came of it because of the DC Implosion, although some members
did receive a poster (which is a collectible in its own right),
which depicted several Legionnaires.
A
subsequent SUPERMAN CLUB version also issued membership
cards for each chapter, including one for the Legion.
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8. STAMPIN'
THE FUTURE FIRST DAY COVERS
In 2000, countries around the world were invited by the US Postal
Service to participate in a world-wide children's stamp-design
competition, named Stampin' The Future, with the grand prize
winners from each country assembling in California for a special
global celebration. BGC (Barry and Gerry Lesser Cachets) produced
a set of first day covers for each of the four US stamps, each
one featuring a Legion-related issue.
They're
so obscure that many stamp dealers have never heard of them.
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7. ANIMATED
LEGION TV SERIES STYLE GUIDE
A style guide for the animated Legion TV series was produced
by spoon+fork Studios in 2006 for DC Comics. The jam-packed
CD, with a lavish booklet, contained specifics for five Legionnaires,
plus designs for banners, backgrounds, logos, fonts, turnarounds,
borders, colors, and various other graphic elements.
Most
of the art for the guide was created by the legendary Mike Zeck,
with other art contributed by Lynell Hakim Forestall.
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6. ANIMATED
LEGION TV SERIES PRESS KIT
To promote the debut of the animated Legion series, a press
kit was issued to the media, which included an interactive CD-ROM
and a DVD, an information booklet, and a t-shirt compressed
into the shape of the show's logo. The goodies were packed inside
a handsome box within a transparent slipcase engraved with the
logo.
This remains one of the most difficult Legion-related collectibles
to obtain, particularly one in top condition and with all the
contents still inside the box.
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5. WORLD'S
GREATEST SUPER-HEROES NEWSPAPER STRIP (ELASTIC LAD)
While all appearances of Jimmy as Elastic Lad are snapped
up by many Legion enthusiasts, often overlooked are the WORLD'S
GREATEST SUPER-HEROES and SUPERMAN SPECIAL strips that were
syndicated in newspapers in the late 70s and early 80s.
In
a serial that ran from October to the end of December in 1979,
writer Paul Levitz crafted a standalone tale about Jimmy acquiring
the elastic powers and then giving them up in the end. The
daily weekday strip was produced in black and white, but the
Sunday segments were usually in color. In these stories, Jimmy's
Elastic Lad costume was yellow, instead of the purple that
was used in the comics.
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4. SUPER
BANQUITO CURRENCY
In 1968-70, Mexican residents were able to collect a set of
"Superbank" (Superbanquito) money notes issued with
cookies made by the Lara company, which they could stick in
an album or keep in a wallet made specifically for the currency.
They featured characters from the Legion, the Justice League
and the Superman Family.
In
total, there were 96 different bills (33 of which were Legion-related).
Each hero or villain was assigned the monetary value of a
Krypto.
It's
not known if these were officially licensed from DC, but the
notes do come with a copyright notice (stating National Periodicals
Publications or © N.P.P.I.). Finding complete notes today
in any sort of condition is almost impossible.
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3. DC
UNIVERSE LITHOGRAPH
This spectacular Mike Deodato Jr illustration, released in
2000 by the Warner Brothers Studio Store, contains just about
every DC character of the time. At the bottom of the poster,
four Legionnaires are shown.
Named
DC UNIVERSE, the piece was sized 18.5" x 26" and
came in a black frame. The WBSS chain closed in January of
2001, barely a year after the lithograph's release, with as
much left-over inventory as possible destroyed by new owners
AOL Time Warner, possibly in a move to avoid dealers profiteering
from the remaining assets. Perhaps many copies of the lithograph
were part of this stock, resulting in the scarcity.
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2. DIRECT
CURRENTS NEWSLETTER 2
There've been many different forms of DIRECT CURRENTS ever since
the name was used to head a text feature in the comics books
of the 60s.
In
1978, the name was used for one-page newsletters from DC, which
lasted a little more than a year. Each issue could be folded
out into a 13" by 18" poster, with DIRECT CURRENTS
2 featuring the cover of LEGION
OF SUPER-HEROES 241, the first part of the Earthwar
saga.
Because
the item was only available only by subscription, copies were
never available at local comic book stores, making it both little-known
and so difficult to track down even Dawnstar would have trouble!
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1. FLEER
BRILLIANTS SUPERMAN 2025 PURPLE EXPLOSION CARDS
These cards continue to be the most difficult Legion-related
merchandise to collect, and a nightmare for completists. There
are five Legionnaires featured in the 90-card set: Mon-El, Saturn
Girl, Lightning Lad, Cosmic Boy and Brainiac 5.
What
makes them so infuriating to collect is that each card has NINE
variants, making it a total of 10 for each character.
Plus there are also a couple
of other subsets which feature Mon-El and a Legion-related comic
book cover.
The
most difficult set of parallel cards, called Purple Explosion,
is practically impossible to acquire as Fleer decided to release
only ONE of each.
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AND THERE'S MORE!
Here are some other collectible items that are worth tracking down:
KAYOU
TRADING CARD
MAN
OF STEEL PREQUEL (Dev-Em)
KINGDOM
COME POSTER (Starman)
COMBO
MAGAZINE 30
COMIC
INFORMER MAGAZINE 5
HEROES
MAGAZINE POSTCARDS
HISTORY
OF THE DC UNIVERSE LARGE POSTER
DC
COMICS BACKING BOARD CARDS
MCDONALDS
HAPPY MEALS POSTER
DC
COMICS FOLDERS
KRYPTO
THE SUPER DOG STYLE GUIDES (Dog Star Patrol)
TDK
POKER CHIP SET
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