The back view reveals the hollow nature of this head. This was necessary for placement of internal mechanisms related to the torture wheel feature. The torture wheel consisted of a circular disk attached to the back of Darkseid's head. A small arm held any captured hero to the disk for Darkseid's evil interrogations. When the disk turned, it caused a plate behind the eyes to move up or down. This plate consisted of two colors: orange and black. Turning the wheel in one direction moved the plate upwards simulating glowing eyes on Darkseid's head. Turning the wheel in the opposite direction moved the plate again casuing the eye color to change to black.
Here we see a bottom view of the head. The head attached directly onto the upper platform of the playset, however the four attachment tabs are broken off and missing from his particular example. Kenner designers certainly concocted a plethora of intriguing features for the Tower of Darkness. I wish this playset, more than any other unproduced Super Powers toy, made it to store shelves. Thankfully prototype material of this nature has surfaced to make a portion of that wish come true.
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