"The Suit" Instruction Manual

I was in the 4th grade in March of 1981 when ABC aired the Pilot episode of a show called "The Greatest American Hero" and once again a new hero was introduced to my own personal childhood mythology, Ralph Hinkley. The Greatest American Hero was more important to me than more established heroes and to be honest, still is to this day.

Ralph Hinkley is given a suit that gives him superpowers by aliens. The suit came with an instruction manual but sadly Ralph lost it within minutes of receiving the suit and thus the premise of the series is kicked off. Week after week it was Ralph figuring out how to use the suits different abilities

Paired up with FBI Agent Bill Maxwell the series followed Ralph as he figured out how to use the suit and balance being a hero with his trials and tribulations of his own personal life. It was a great show, with great characters and while the effects may be a bit dated by today's standards I think Stephen J. Cannell's (Creator, Producer and Writer) storytelling holds up really well. Not to mention the fantastic chemistry of William Katt, Rober Culp and Connie Selica

So once I was registered as Press for SDCC2009 my email box started flooding with “press opportunities” while in San Diego. Most were a bit to off-topic for our site or going on when I was scheduled at the Kotobukiya booth but one I couldn't pass up was a chance to stop at Catastrophic Comics and talk to the very man who played my childhood hero. Yep, a childhood dream made real with my CDX credentials. I scored an interview with William Katt! You can read all about that visit in my blog post here.

What I would like to focus in this article is a little collectible I dug out of my Collectors Edition DVD box set of The Greatest American Hero and brought with me to San Diego. The lost manual for “The Suit” aka “Magic Jammies.”

You see SDCC is just a frenzy of spending money for most, buying exclusives, toys, trinkets and collectibles and while CDX was covering my expenses and getting me out there. I wasn't going with a whole lot of money in my pocket to spend on collectibles ( Being laid-off from work earlier in the year, expendable cash is at a premium.) I looked at the exclusives that where being offered by the different manufacturers and nothing jumped out at me as worth spending my precious few dollars on but if I could walk away with having Mr. Katt sign my DVD pack in and a conversation to go with it... well, that blows away anything I could possibly buy. Ever.

Anchor Bay has made the entire series available in both individual seasons and as a complete “Collectors Edition” set. In the Collectors Edition, in addition to the entire series you also get a cape, iron-on transfer of the suit logo, and a replica of the Instruction Manual. That's right a copy of the instruction manual.

The manual has the light-up features and looks like an exact copy of the prop of the show. It is made of plastic with the outside being very glossy which picks up fingerprints very easily.

Inside is a single page that folds over. With the logo and word “Instruction” on the front. Turn it over and the page is lenticular. Changing from the alien language to English when the page is tilted, replicating the effect from the show. The page after that lights up as do the indexing tabs on the side and the spine itself. A battery panel on the back allows you to change out 2 AA batteries when needed.

But what makes this particular piece a truly one-of-a-kind collectible is that William Katt did indeed sign it for me...

While it doesn't do much and may seem silly to some of our younger readers (who may not be as familiar with the show) this has become the pride and joy of my collection. Seriously. I think that says a lot considering I get to handle, play and collect some real cool and expensive items.

I want to thank Mr. Katt for being so gracious and humoring me with his time and autograph. And a special thank you Christopher Folino of Sideshow Productions/Catastrophic Comics for giving me the opportunity. I owe you big time my friend.

I ask you, our readers to check my article here about my visit to Catastrophic Comics and check out the cool stuff they have going on. From Greatest American Hero comics to original properties like Sparks or Mythology Wars, not to mention some cool stuff for the iPhone.