Action Figure Overview: Swamp Thing - Anton Arcane (Kenner, 1990)
 |
| Swamp Thing's nemesis; Anton Arcane (Kenner, 1990) |
In 1990, Kenner teamed up again with DC Comics in an attempt to recreate the magic they found with the Super Powers collection (a very successful line of Superhero action figures that ran from 1984 to 1986). Unfortunately, despite a great comic book series, two movies, a live-action TV show, and a Swamp Thing cartoon that tied in directly with the specific characters from the toy line, the Swamp Thing action figures weren't much of a hit. It's a shame because they're actually pretty cool!
 |
| Anton Arcane: Evil master of the Un-Men and enemy of Swamp Thing! |
The total line consisted of 12 figures: six different Swamp Thing figures, two "hero" figures, and four Evil Un-Men Villains. There were also two playsets and three vehicles. In keeping with the comic books, movies, and TV shows, the villains of the line consisted of the evil Anton Arcane and his Un-Men monsters.
 |
| Anton Arcane complete with Spidery Bio-Mask and Skeleton Scepter (Kenner, 1990) |
In both the toy line and the cartoon, Swamp Thing teams up with his friends Bayou Jack and Tomahawk to fight Anton Arcane and his henchmen, the Un-Men. Anton Arcane first appeared in issue #1 of the Swamp Thing comic book back in 1972 and has been Swamp Thing's primary adversary throughout his history in the comic books, movies, TV shows, cartoons, and even the video game, so it's no surprise that he appears in the toy line.
 |
| Swamp Thing doesn't notice the evil Anton Arcane creeping up behind him! |
Having been a character in Swamp Thing since the early 70s, there's a lot of back story for Arcane, but basically, he's a scientist / magician obsessed with eternal life. In his attempt to find the key to immortality, he creates the monstrous Un-Men which vary in appearance depending on which version of Swamp Thing you are reading / watching, but they're typically at least partially made of human parts, they are mindless, and loyal to Arcane. Arcane also has a niece named Abby (who in the cartoon is his step-daughter rather than his niece). Abby is one of the good guys and, in some versions of the story, she's the romantic interest of Swamp Thing. Although she appeared in the cartoon, she was not included in the toy line.
 |
| Anton Arcane and his Un-Men: (L-R) Skinman, Weed Killer, Anton Arcane, Dr. Deemo (Kenner, 1990) |
Even though the Un-Men had been around since the 1970s, aside from being monstrous creations of Arcane, they were significantly different in the toy line and cartoon than they had been in the comics. Previously, the Un-Men were mindless monsters, but these Un-Men retain the personalities of their human selves (for the most part). Each of the Un-Men figures and Arcane himself came with an accessory and a monster Bio-Mask which was supposed to represent the transformation from man to Un-Men monster. All four of the Un-Men had glow-in-the-dark eyes and all of the masks also had glow-in-the-dark eyes. The masks look much more like finger puppets than action figure accessories, so it's no surprise that many figures currently for sale don't come with their masks. The masks were honestly pretty goofy and in my opinion, the figures were much more interesting without the masks.
 |
| (left) Anton Arcane Loose, Carded, & Loose with Bio-Mask and Scepter. (right) Anton Arcane Cardback |
Over the years, I've ended up with several of the Hero and Un-Men figures in random boxes of action figures that I've purchased. In fact, the first figure I ever owned from the Swamp Thing line was the Skinman figure and at the time, I didn't know what series he came from. After realizing that I already had several figures from the series, I decided to collect them all. Although Skinman and Dr. Deemo seem to be the two most common Un-Men figures, Anton Arcane isn't very hard to find either. At the time of this writing, it's seems pretty easy to find an Anton Arcane figure without Bio-Mask or his Scepter less than $10 on ebay. The Weed Killer figure seems slightly more difficult to find, but the price for him doesn't seem to be much more than the other three Un-Man. Swamp Thing himself is apparently more easily identified, so the Swamp Thing figures tend to cost a little bit more, but are still relatively inexpensive.
 |
| Anton Arcane searches the swamp for the key to immortality! |
Do you collect (or randomly acquire) Swamp Thing figures? Which figure is your favorite? Tell me below in the comments!
If you collect toys, you should know about Toylanta, the best toy show in the Southeastern United States held annually in Georgia. Visit Toylanta.com for more information.
I have a Swamp Thing figure that bought to be part of my extensive Super Powers collection. I have thought about getting a few of these other figures over the years and there is a really cool looking playset of Arcane's lab!
ReplyDeleteYes, I think Swamp Thing fits right in with the Super Powers figures! I've included the ToyBiz Riddler with my Super Powers collection as well. Both of the Swamp Thing playsets are cool, but I haven't picked up either of them.
Delete