Hawkman Mechanism Design Model




  


Toy companies employ extremely skilled talent throughout the design, sculpting, and production of any action figure. In the mid-80's Kenner committed themselves to producing action figure that not only looked oustanding, but also contained enhanced play value, often driven by ingenious engineering mechanisms, many of which were conceptualized specifically for the toy industry. Kennersuperpowers.com has continously showcased prototypes illustrating the striking outward detailing entrenched in each action figure. This entry shifts gears considerably and showcases the beauty and history of of the design elements inside one particular figure: Hawkman.

The Hawkman prototype discussed throughout this entry pays homage to the talents of one particular Kenner designer, the man responsible for conceptualizing and patenting the internal mechanism driving the Hawkman action figure's wing flapping action feature. Although somewhat crude from an outward appearance, the internal functionality and hand built mechanism is quite impressive. The conceptual Hawkman hardcopy featured in this entry truly represents an important piece of Kenner and Super Powers history. Collectors will immediately notice it's crude outward appearance compared to that of the final production refined rendition. The beauty primarily lies within both the model itself and the purpose it served.

At it's core, this hand painted Hawkman prototype is built upon a conceptual vintage urethane casting of Superman. Hawkman's facial details were built up using sculpting material and the wings were fabricated and cast in urethane at Kenner specifically for the model. A similar conceptual Flash hardcopy exists and was crafted in a similar fashion.

The final two images leave us with a front and back view of the conceptual design figure compared to its final production quality counterpart. I can't think of a much nicer visual contrast between an early design element and production quality toy than what is seen here.

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