Take a moment this Super Bowl Sunday to remember your original happy hour: Saturday mornings, when you’d wake up with the sun, grab a bowl of chocolatey cereal, and lose yourself in a world of cartoons, commercials, and pure, unfiltered joy. We’re still chasing that feeling, one episode at a time.

This episode also kicks off a new Saturday Morning Cereal archive series, From the SMC Vault, where we dig back into the archives to spotlight classic conversations, best-of moments, and fan-favorite episodes. It’s a way to introduce new listeners to the stories that define the show while giving longtime fans a reason to revisit the cereal box.

On this episode of Saturday Morning Cereal, we celebrate the ultimate Super Bowl crossover story by revisiting the birth of the world’s first action figure with NFL Hall of Famer, Super Bowl III MVP, and cultural icon Joe Namath, alongside the “Father of the Modern Action Figure,” Marty Abrams of MEGO Toys.

Joe Namath may be the greatest pop-culture crossover in sports history. A Super Bowl champion and MVP, Broadway Joe transcended football, becoming a movie and television star, talk-show host, fashion icon, product spokesperson, and a fixture among pop-culture elites. Long before athletes became brands, Joe Namath became an action figure.

Marty Abrams, meanwhile, helped define childhood itself. As the driving force behind MEGO, he pioneered celebrity licensing and reshaped the toy industry with lines like World’s Greatest Super Heroes, Micronauts, and countless pop-culture icons, laying the groundwork for modern collector culture and influencing everything from Transformers to today’s fandom economy.

Hosts Grim Shea, Marke, Johnny Heck, and Jimmy “The Gent” Leszczynski captured this exclusive two-on-two conversation during San Diego Comic-Con 2018, as Joe and Marty prepared for their SDCC panel celebrating the triumphant return of MEGO action figures to store shelves. Classic characters like Action Jackson, The Fonz, I Dream of Jeannie, Jimi Hendrix, Dracula, and Wonder Woman were back, joined by new additions including Harley Quinn, the Cheers bar patrons, and Freddy Krueger, offering fans a second chance to own their childhood.

This Super Bowl Sunday, join Saturday Morning Cereal as we celebrate football, fandom, toys, and imagination. Champions of play, pioneers of pop culture, and the moment sports heroes first leapt from the TV screen, comics, and the field into our hands. And if this is your first bowl with us, welcome. There’s a whole vault waiting.

No cowls. No capes. No superpowers.
No flights. No tights (except on very special Beautymist occasions).

Guests: