Superman in Wal-Mart...anyone been there lately?

[Gangbuster]

So, I'm getting married in three weeks (thanks for the bachelor party by the way) and I went to Wal-Mart today to get some stuff for the house. I was pleasantly surprised.

Father's Day is this weekend. I'm not a father, (thankfully...I might be asking for advice in a few years) but there was lots of cool stuff in there. There were Superman Returns posters, super-cups and super-cup holders, and the slogan for Father's Day, appearing throughout the store, is "My Dad My Hero"

There are even a number of father's day cards featuring Silver-Age covers dealing with the subject of fatherhood (including one Superman Jr. card.) I had to chuckle a little, because one of them had the old "World's Best-Selling Comic Magazine" stamp on it. Doesn't DC wish they were so lucky today?

Anyway, that was my big foray into the outside world today. My Supermanica editing is on hold right now, because of that wedding thing I mentioned earlier, but I promise to get back to the Superboy soon.

[Great Rao]

I haven't been in Wal-Mart; but I have been in my local supermarket which has become chock-full of Superman goodies, including a remote radio-controlled, propellor-driven flying Superman; a head-set with two laserbeams mounted on it (one on each side) that kids can wear in order to emulate "heat vision," and countless other unbelievable products that have succeeded in overloading my Super-Brain.

And don't even get me started on the Superman sightings in the cereal aisle!

[NotSuper]

I've been seeing Superman everywhere as well. I just wish there were Superman comics being sold at the same places.

[Permanus]

I have been in my local supermarket which has become chock-full of Superman goodies, including a remote radio-controlled, propellor-driven flying Superman

When I read this, I knew I had to see it with my own eyes:
http://www.discountedradiocontrolairplanes.com/Superman%20Returns%3A%20Radio%20Control%20Flying%20Superman/Store/4715009
I actually want one!

[shazamtd]

I got the 30" tall Superman Returns doll from Wal-Mart.  It was the one thing I absolutely HAD to have besides the soundtrack.  Now all I need is the soundtrack.  

[JulianPerez]

Oh, man, let me tell you, that Superman Life cereal is great. Little red squares that turn the milk blue? TURN THE MILK BLUE?

Despite the fact the squares are RED?

Am I alone in thinking this is the greatest innovation in cereal history?

Man, there hasn't been a cereal tie-in this great since C3P-O's.

In recent times, cereal tie-ins have fallen from the high standard set by "Donkey Kong Jr. Cereal" or "Nintendo - it's for Breakfast NOW!" which featured two bags, one containing Super Mario cereal, and the other a Legend of Zelda cereal with marshmellow sword and triforce shapes. And don't forget the MIKE TYSON'S PUNCH-OUT! puffy stickers that came in the box!

By far the least impressive cereal in history was the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cereal, which featured the laziest concept ever: it was basically a chex type cereal, only the chex pieces were called "Ninja Nets?" Booooo! Hiss!

Lest we forget, there was also the Star Wars: Phantom Menace Cereal, whose flaws are identical to STAR WARS: EPISODE I itself: now that Lucas has the leverage to create whatever kind of cereal he likes as opposed to the limitations he worked under when creating C3P-O's, he loads it up with marshmellows and fruity shapes instead of just giving it a sweet and pleasant taste, and thus the original C-3PO's magic is not duplicated; it's just another tie-in cereal. WHERE DID YOU GO WRONG, LUCAS?!

For my friends in the UK like Permanus, there was, as I recall, a Doctor Who tie-in to Wheatabix back in the seventies, which strongly ties into my theory that Wheatabix is in fact invented as a Dalek torture tool.

However, this is not to say there have not been some high points. I am looking squarely at the absolutely genius BILL AND TED'S MOST EXCELLENT ADVENTURES animated tie-in with a phone booth cereal server, or the TAIL SPIN spoons that came with every box of Corn Pops.

[Permanus]

Ah yes, Doctor Who Weetabix... BBC marketing tie-ins always seemed slightly sappy, as if it was some sort of requirement that they shouldn't sell well. In fact, owing no doubt to our advertising regulations, anything intended for children seemed slightly worthy, so you would get Dick Turpin slide rules and, I don't know, Sapphire and Steel trigonometry sets or something.

Did you know that the cartoon character Top Cat was called Boss Cat over here, so as to avoid confusion with a brand of cat food? As if kids were suddenly going to start demanding it for dinner.

[JulianPerez]

Ah yes, Doctor Who Weetabix... BBC marketing tie-ins always seemed slightly sappy, as if it was some sort of requirement that they shouldn't sell well. In fact, owing no doubt to our advertising regulations, anything intended for children seemed slightly worthy, so you would get Dick Turpin slide rules and, I don't know, Sapphire and Steel trigonometry sets or something.

Did you know that the cartoon character Top Cat was called Boss Cat over here, so as to avoid confusion with a brand of cat food? As if kids were suddenly going to start demanding it for dinner.

Oh, I'm sure cartoon character name changes have been done for even more embarassing reasons.

My all-time favorite "Gee Aren't the English Crazy" change/alteration story has to be during the making of WHEN DINOSAURS RULED THE EARTH, the Hammer Studios sequel to the Racquel Welch star-maker, 1,000,000 BC. The English director absolutely refused to use a traditional Tyrannosaurus Rex for his movie because its tiny wristed arm movements reminded him of flaming homosexuals.

Didn't Mark Evanier once say that at one point, TOP CAT was the top-selling comic in the United States?