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Wednesday, June 3, 2020

Kenner Super Powers Tyr

Card design by http://polymerphelia.blogspot.com/
THE MERCILESS MERCENARY

Tyr, one of the greatest of the warlords of the planet Tyrraz, is one the Legion of Superheroes' most vicious adversaries. Besides his enhanced strength and cunning, Tyr also boasts a cybernetic, semi-sentient gun-arm with the ability to function and move independently, firing incredible energy blasts, strong enough to stagger even the strongest of his enemies. Tyr's gun-arm also has the ability to open spatial-warps stargates. After his many defeats in the 30th Century at the hands of the Legion of Superheroes, Tyr has traveled back in time to become a gun for hire, hunting down heroes for anyone, for the right price!

Squeezing Tyr's legs together activates his "Power Action Rocket Launch"!


Kenner’s first wave of Super Powers action figures brought 12 new figures of mostly well-known characters, becoming the main reason for the line's early success and spawning a second and third wave of figures and toys. However, by 1985 the third wave didn't fare as well, probably due to the fact that most of the figures included were either unknown or created specifically for the line. It wasn't until his inclusion in Who's Who in the DC Unverse that I even realized that Tyr had actually appeared in the comics previously at all! Likely, the only reason for the inclusion of a lame Legion of Superheroes villain like Tyr was merely for the expected play value of his gun-arm!

The character was originally designed by Dave Cockrum as a possible member of the "new" X-Men back in 1975, but was ultimately rejected by Marvel Comics. Cockrum later resurrected the character for DC Comics, teaming up with Cary Bates to make Tyr a super-villain for the Legion of Superheroes. Tyr made his first appearance in Superboy #197 (1973). As part of the Super Powers collection, Tyr subsequently makes an appearance in the third Super Powers comic mini-series where Kalibak and Steppenwolf hire him to help free Darkseid from captivity. There is no in-story reason given for his appearance in the 20th Century.

Lets take a closer look at the figure:

The Packaging:

Card Front Card Back

Finally, here is a printable bio-card replacement! Just print these two images out on card stock and cut them out and glue them together to make your own replacement bio-card for Tyr!


Lets hear your thoughts on today's adventure! Do you have any Super Powers figures? Did you collect wave three? How do you feel about Tyr as a character? Tell us all about it in the comments below!

6 comments:

  1. Interesting. Never knew about this guy.

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    1. To me he looks like he could belong with the Fourth World characters, but he doesn't. I find it odd that an obscure Legion of Superheroes villain was chosen for the line... most likely simply because some toy executive saw some play value potential.

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  2. We got a figure for Tyr, but no Reverse Flash? You already had the molds, Kenner! I would have preferred The Riddler, Catwoman, Solomon Grundy, Captain Cold, Black Manta, Scarecrow, Cheetah, Poison Ivy, Bizarro, Grodd, or Sinestro ...just to name a few! :)

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    Replies
    1. When you see some of the fantastic work of the customizers that is out there it makes you realize the potential the line had! Kenner dropped the ball by not including some more recognizable characters in the third wave!

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  3. To this day, no idea how to pronounce his name. Tire..Tier? Tur? TOR JOHNSON?

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    Replies
    1. When I was a kid I thought it was "tire" but apparently it is pronounced "tear."

      "Time for got to bed..." -- Tor Johnson

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Thank you for taking the time to leave your thoughts on this adventure.

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