Reminding us that the “rebranding” of the DC Universe Classics line is coming all too soon, Mattel has announced the names and shown the first images of initial wave of the new line. I’m not trying to be negative, but I’m not that impressed, by the name or the character selection.
This afternoon, Mattel announced the first wave of the rebranded 2012 line. The line will reuse the moniker “DC Universe All-Stars”, the name previously given to reissued figures that had lost their C&C part. And the first lineup is:
Not the best pics, but Mattel’s new policy is to only release watermarked thumbnails at their own site, so that’s what we get. From left to right, Larfleeze (who previously debuted at NYCC), Superboy Prime, Flashpoint Plastic Man (WTF?), and Batman Beyond. We should note that Batman Beyond is using the same press image released by Mattel in for the 2008 version.
I don’t want to be a downer here, as that’s not usually my thing, but this is pretty lackluster. Fans of Larfleeze & Superboy Prime should be happy with these reveals, but I don’t know if anyone will be too excited for a reissue (redeco?) Batman Beyond and Plastic Man in a costume from an (awful!) mini-series. I mean, I love Plastic Man and I don’t even want that figure… better to not be reminded of Flashpoint at all, let alone the Legion of Doom title.
Anyway, am I being pessimistic? Is this a cool wave? Let me know what you think below…
Update: Added to these to our DC Checklists -> DCUAllStars.Com.
I agree. Great work by 4H as always, but a very lackluster reveal. I am not sure what qualifies to be in this retail line. Why did they go with that version of Plastic man (I know he is from Flashpoint but classic costume is much more recognizable at retail AND already tooled from the SDCC version). I had no idea who he was was I first saw the pic. I hope he at least has interchangeable parts. Superboy better have a Sinestro variant and I hope BB gets those wings we were promosed and the variant Terry head that was exclusive to KB toys (remember them?) At this point I really have not idea what to expect from Mattel when it comes to retail vs. the Sub.
Yeah, points for the 4H. The SBP armor looks good and the Plas is what he looked like. It’s clearly Mattel sucking it up on this one.
I’m not totally sold on the 4H Larfleeze head, but I think it’s a control art issue and I prefer the longer snout.
SB Prime looks okay, Legion buck is good, armor works.
FP Plastic Man isn’t a bad looking figure. I’m a huge Plas fan, but that LoD book was complete crap. It was written poorly, it was needlessly graphic, and I would like to never think about it again. But now it has a figure springing from its pages… Ugh. Solid work on the sculpt, but I just really hated that book.
I thought Larfleeze’s head was like that because he was redesigned in the relaunch.
No?
To my knowledge, we still haven’t seen him in the Relaunch. New Guardians is dangling the doofus plot point that he’s dead.
I suppose not having seen him yet makes that possible, but I’ve been thinking this is another case (like Arkillo) where the Four Horsemen used one artist’s interpretation to do the sculpt. I can never remember the artist’s names, but the early art of Larfleeze showed him with less snout and the three wisps of “hair” and then his snout gradually grew out from artist to artist. Like Arkillo, I I prefer the snout.
Larfleeze is awesome, but yeah, the rest suck!
Prime looks like a good figure, we’re just trained to hate him at this point! 🙂
In the span of forty pages, how many gruesome ways did that version of Plas off someone? Are we going to get a dead Cluemaster husk? Has anyone even asked for that figure? BS.
Prime is fine, but I think the collective DC readership all kinda hates him.
Larfleeze and BB I don’t really care about.
Exactly! FP Plas is not mom-friendly. LOL
So four figures, one of which is a reissue? Great.
And retailers will love having a non-iconic version of Plastic Man on the shelves. Anyone here not have piles and piles of BATB Plastic Man at your stores?
But think of the money we’ll save! 🙂
And yes, I’ve had Plas pile up in both types of packaging. I wouldn’t rush to get him back on shelves…
I like Larfleeze (might need to put the dc direct head on him) and Superboy Prime, but I already have Batman Beyond and Have no need for a second Plastic Man…
Definitely not a need to buy all four. Our DC resouce is going to have to start linking to offsite reviews methinks…
As long as its a one off and not the whole group =)
I can totally understand with that lame FP Plastic Man but there hasnt been a Batman Beyond figure review yet.
Wait, there has. I forgot which wave the BB figure was in.
I thought I did a group for Wave 4. I need to go back and do the others…
I still have to add the “methinks”. If I’m at teh store and have $15 to burn, I might still review some of this stuff.
Flashpoint Plastic Man – I haven’t not wanted a figure a more.
Double negative? 🙂
LOL
I’m confused. So it’s an all new line, but the figures are the same and complimentary? How is it new?
This is the same as when DCSH converted to DCUC. The overall style will continue and the figures compatible, but the line renamed to confound retailers into thinking it’s new.
Noisy, chalk one up for being too pessimistic. Half the wave is solid right out of the gate, BB hasn’t been in stores for a couple years, and, well okay, I can’t say anything nice about Flashpoint Plastic Man.
Still, is it really any worse than the 2011 offerings?
Fair enough. Wave 20 does suck. LOL
I don’t want to be down on it, but I don’t see anything really stealing my heart here. Larfleeze is the best thing, but they showed him already.
I look at it this way — if this gets me a DCUC Larfleeze I’m happy because for once I’ll have the entire possible membership of one of the Lantern corps.
SB Prime can start punching and causing weird things to happen on my DCUC shelves.
But man. How is Plas supposed to be one of those mom-friendly figs that we’re supposed to only get at retail?
LOL Again, fair enough. One complete lantern corps.
I really don’t get the Plas thing. I think after we all calm down and get on board with Larfleeze & Prime, ignore the BB reissue, that we can still all bandy around and scratch our heads over FP Plas.
That Plastic Man is ridiculous. Batman Beyond? Why a re-issue in supposedly a new line? Why only 4 figures in this wave? Well at least we get Larfleeze and Superboy Prime.
It’s like we’re going back to DCSH days with GL thrown into the mix.
As I’ve said on twitter, it’s probably for the best that super-obscure characters are gone, but this would be a weak wave 5, and it’s shockingly pathetic for a a first wave of a new line. Where are the big guns of the new 52? while it would be an expensive wave for tooling, you could easily get 2/3 new, detailed bucks out of a Justice League wave. Once you had crosspromotion between comics and toys, then you could release c-list characters like Larfleeze since then Timmy might recognise him from his Green lantern comics.
If the sub figures are DCUC wave 21, these guys are wave 22.
DC Direct made it sound like they were the place to go for the DCnU JLA while Mattel would do “the other stuff”. I need to track down that interview, I think it was at Critical Mess.
It definitely feels like a continuation. I’m sick of the Geoff Johnsness effect on the line.
what scares me is the upcoming GJness to motuc… as if spectard hasn’t hurt the brand/property enough already… i really don’t get mattel’s throwing in w/ geoff johns. the guy is this generations todd mcfarlane, i get it, except that’s he’s not todd, in any way, and is being given credit he doesn’t deserve. he’s not selling millions of anything, comics are a collaborative art form. as are action figures, to a lesser degree. and what little johns influence is apparent to fans is generally disregarded if not flat out derided. the 1 thing he kind of sort of, but not really, did right was blackest night. which he then promptly cornholed w/ brighest day. if the world of mistakes, i guess he’s todd buying macguire’s 70th homerun ball for 3 million bucks… so maybe i’m not that wrong in the comparison.
except that when mcf was in comics, he was generating 2.8 million units of sales for his big issues… how many did johns move, 136,000? right…
All this time, and still no wings for that BB?
LOL
I know, right? Duh.
That’s stunningly lame. I mean, I’m not at all what anyone here would call a ‘collector’ of these figs but man, that’s just complete a** to my eyes.
Only good thing I can think about that Plastic Man is, hooray for the customizers, you get a nice clean buck to mod.
Now, does ANYBODY honestly feel these are going to fly off the pegs and be beloved? I mean, Not-Superman and Not-Batman? Alien Shark Dude and Bruce Campbell in tights? eesh.
Plastic Man doesn’t look like a bad figure, it’s just that that comic was so painstakingly awful. Poorly conceived, poorly written, and all around awful that seeing Plas in toy form only brings back the horrible feelings the comic inspired.
Plus, I think this is a chance to trot out the old “Wasted slot”. LOL
this required a rebranding?
Succintly put.
Too many lanterns to begin with!
Why even start a new line if the figures are going to be the exact same as DCUC?
To fool retailers! 🙂
well that makes perfect sense
I’m in between on the reasons for the change. Mattel says it’s to better accommodate what retailers want, but with the changes, it really seems more like what Mattel wanted.
Funny I googled that version of Plastic man to see the art and the first pic I saw was him with his arms down a guy’s throat….yikes…
That would be his first appearance! He debuted by crawling out of and killing FP Cluemaster!
A Clayface re-release with plastic arms, I would welcome. I thought that was the reasoning behind Batman:Legacy.
Plastic Man from Flashpoint; who smoked plastic when choosing that character for a line-up?!?
Exactly, of all the Flashpoint characters, they start with that one.
Maybe they thought Geoff Johns wrote FP: Legion of Doom? :D:D:D
I dont need the Larfleeze, the DC Direct looks better, I will get prime, looks great.
FP Plastic man, I do not understand but if he comes with cool parts I may get him, he is not “bad” looking, just seems like a silly choice. If you are going to do Flash point, why not bats or flash?
BB, Im happy for people that missed out on him, he goes for $30-$55 on ebay. And with no CnC no skin off my back. If he comes with red wings, ill grab him.
So for me, its 1 for sure and 2 wait and sees. If Larfleeze comes with some orange constructs I may get him as well.
If these are going to be $16+ at retail, they better get more items since they are losing the CnC
I wouldn’t expect any accessories with this Plastic Man. We as collectors are looking at this figures and asking “What are you doing to replace the value of the missing C&C?” while Mattel is thinking “we’ll keep the MSRP down by cutting out the value”.
Thanks for bringing BB’s crazy eBay prices to my attention. That makes him a much better selection, but I would like to see him upgraded in some way.
Yeah just a flat black BB might make me rebuy it, but flat black with red wings would make it a no brainer
Agreed.
The points about “mom-friendly” are interesting – 75% of this wave is made up of homicidal villains.
Flashpoint Plastic Man might have the lowest body count of the three!
If they have to make Flashpoint figures (I’d rather they skipped it, too), could they choose a character that will bleed over into the new 52? Like Element Woman!
Oh, right. Female figure. I forgot…
I will admit, it’s facetious on the surface and Prime has some gruesome kills, but he also has a larger, longer story. FP Plastic Man has only three appearances and there’s violent/graphic deaths in each of them, committed by him and others.
yeah.. I couldn’t get more “meh” about this… I mean, I like Larfleeze and I’ll likely get that SB Prime, since I didn’t get the DC Direct one… but, like the other huge Plas fans here… I REALLY hated Flashpoint, all of it… and this plas figure is… well, it’s something we will be seeing a lot of, since Batman: BATB Plas is pegwarming near me… I KNOW no one will buy this version. I don’t even want it, and I swore to get every Plastic Man figure ever made… so, now I’m damned if I do and damned if I don’t…
Yes, exactly!
I bought my BATB Plastic Man for $1! And then they reissued him in new packaging which clogs the pegs anew! I definitely wouldn’t go out of my way to put him back at retail…
Is each wave only going to be 4 figures, or should we expect 2 or 3 more? I am wondering if we will see accessories too cause they look pretty bare bones as it is. And do we have a price point on these yet?
From the sounds of it, this is the wave. It’s odd because Mattel is saying they’re doing this to meet retailer expectations, but this is at the same time that Hasbro is copying the Mattel model for Marvel Legends.
I could be wrong, but I’m doubtful on accessories. I think the MSRP will remain around the same since so much of the development has been cut: no C&Cs, few new pieces, etc..
FP Plastic Man really angered me at first but I have learned the bright side: he’s not in the sub so we’re not locked into buying him. I hated Flashpoint from the second issue on, thinking it was a huge mess that just kind of collided with an ending, but even fans are going to find this weird. ‘Legion of Doom’ has to be one of the most hated comics of the year.
But he doesn’t look bad; in fact, the worst part about him is how close his costume is to the version of Elongated Man everyone wants for their satellite era JLA team.
He really doesn’t look bad (the 4H do good work!), it’s just like you said… they made a character from the most hated comic of the year. Hard to have faith in the team behind the line with choices like this.
I told Vault the lineup and I gave him the caveat that Mattel might feel like they need to release a version of Plas that’s not exclusive, but he swiftly pointed out that should be Elongated Man. LOL
Yikes.
I’ll be curious to see whether this is a pegwarming wave. This doesn’t seem mom-friendly to me, although Plastic Man’s bright red jumpsuit might be appealing to youngsters. I suppose Batman Beyond involves no new tooling whatsoever.
Superboy and Larfleeze might sell to Blackest Night fans. Is Batman Beyond airing on Disney XD or something?
As for the puzzling Plastic Man choice, I wonder if they couldn’t use the iconic costume for legal reasons related to SDCC version’s exclusivity.
I think a lot of these are low tooling choices, but since they’re using the 2008 promo pic for BB, I’d guess he won’t have anything new.
“mom-friendly” is a marketing term with no actual meaning in the real world.
Show a kid a cool toy and they will want it. I handed my 5 year old (3 1/2 at the time) superman, shark, kilowog, and flash. He chose kilowog and shark. One of his favorites now is SC Batman. A fair price point and a cool looking figure is literally all you need. These guys look pretty good overall.
And in the “one collectors trash is another collectors treasure”, I’m totally down for that Plastic Man purely as a collector of him overall.
Well, yeah, but Mattel does like to use it against collectors, so turnabout is fair play, right? 🙂
I want to like that Plas. He just spawns from an awful comic and that makes it difficult.
Hmm I’m gonna wait and see what the accessories are for each fig I’m assuming since they won’t be having any CNC pieces. I hope this Batman Beyond comes with double-joints.
I’m going to go out on a limb and say there’ll be no accessories. The lantern is right there for Larfleeze, so that’ll be the only one.
Obviously, FP Plas is Mattel’s attempt to sneak a Unus the Untouchable figure to market under our (and Hasbro’s) noses. I for one am not fooled.
LOL That must be it!
First of all, I want Plastic Man just to do a little cutom paint work and swap the Harvey Dent head from Movie Masters to finally get my Elongated Man!
But I thought the whole purpose was to re-introduce the line at retail and get the “big” names back out there to the moms and the kiddies? These are cool figures if you just look at them that way but if no accessories and the price point doesn’t drop…well, Ben 10 and GI Joe are right there. What was the point?
LOL There’s an idea!
The price isn’t going to drop. Mattel doesn’t roll that way. They’ll tell us the costs have gone up and they’re cutting the value to maintain the price point.
Are these new waves only consisting of 4 figures? If so then i’m excited…cuz that means i’ll only need to pick up Prime. Love me DCD Larfleeze and have no desire to have another Batman Beyond. My grestest fear is that this Flashpoint Plastic Man will be the first of many Flashpoint figures. I have ZERO desire to see any of those characters. Perhaps this Mattels way to get “A” Plastic Man figure in peoples hands that missed the Comic Con exclusive? Its totally kinda,sorta,almost, not really like the same thing
If there’s more figures, Mattel didn’t bother to tell us to “Stay tuned!”
Agreed on the lack of desire for FP. Best forgotten and all that. Batman was about the only thing I liked from that mini-series.
The apology Plas idea has some traction. Could be.
Well I’m excited about the wave, I’ve been wanting a plastic man for a while, and didn’t really feel like shelling out the cash for the last one. I loved Flashpoint by the way but to each his own. I agree with you on Batman Beyond though I’m not a big fan of re-issues however, if this one comes with the wings I’ll make an exception. Super Boy Prime and Larfleeze are going to be great, but I really don’t see how they fit into the reboot DC new 52? But Still I’m looking forward to them!!!
Did you love Legion of Doom though? I can see liking parts of Flashpoint, but LOD was pretty insipid. Heatwave was written like some invincible badass that had access to everything he needed whenever he needed it even though it didn’t make sense for him to have it. The story was pretty awful and that’s without bringing up the gratuitous gore and violence. FP Plas just reminds me of that when I look at him.
I don’t think the reboot really matters to Mattel all that much, other than what DC will want to push them around to doing.
Yes I liked the LOD, and the story line. I’ve been reading DC pretty steady since 2003 and in my opinion it peaked at Infinite Crisis. I’m all for the cheap shots, shock value, and OVERLY DRAMATIC things writers do to comics you really can’t get that stuff in other mediums. So you might not have liked what they were doing to the characters but I felt and still feel the change was needed and very pleased with how it’s going now with the reboot.
I’m glad that someone can find something positive to say about that mini-series. It’s hard for me to appreciate that particular angle, but hey it’s there for you, and I won’t knock that.
I started reading when I was a kid in the early 80s, to me the peak was somewhere during the 97-02 years and it’s been less and less enjoyable since then. I don’t mind changes to continuity and the like, I just want well written comics – ones where I can’t instantly MST3K them while reading them.
Well that makes sense. Appreciate your perspective, regardless of the state of DC’s comics, you can bet Supe’s mullet I’m going to get every one of these lines too. From my standpoint with DC figures, the more the merrier. 🙂
Larfleeze – ONLY SELLING POINT: this guy better have articulation the DCD did not. His snout looks like he just got smacked into a wall.
SBP – already got the DCD.
Batman Beyond – ….not even holding my breath for WINGS this time.
Plas – WHY?? They had no reason to pick this guy from ANY of the FP series, not to mention they could have re-used parts of the SDCC version for RALPH, or KC Plas (red legs) or his son Offspring.
Larfleeze is already shot on the articulation front. The ankles on that lanky buck are a joke and there’s no way Mattel is willing to fix it before hand.
Lackluster is such an understatement! They are not even near anything resembling DC-Universe All Star characters! Larfleeze and Prime is understandable choices given DC’s recent event arcs (Blackest Night and Infinite Crisis) but I would have preferred a mix-up of classic and DC New 52 based characters!
But given this announcement I’m now wondering what are the rest of the figures coming out in the DC Universe Club Infinite Earths line!
Well, I can’t say the label has to matter much, Classics was never really about Classic. I do agree though, I was expecting a mash-up of old & new, not this.
I’m still not clear on what this reboot was supposed other than get us talking for a few months.
I just don’t get the inclusion of Flashpoint Plastic Man. Out of all the characters they could have chosen from the Flashpoint world he seems like one of the lamest choices. Element Woman, The Outsider, Captain Thunder, Batman, Aquaman, or Wonder Woman would have all been better choices.
I understand the re-release of Batman Beyond as he will have an ongoing comic and his original figure fetches a decent amount online.
I love the Superboy-Prime and think Larfleeze is a decent choice (though I’m tired of Lanterns at this point completely).
Element Woman is a GJ character! Obvious way to kiss some moew GJ butt. LOL
The idea that they wanted to do a non-exclusive PM makes sense, it’s just odd.
I’m lanterned out too…
The lack of new tooling that is going to be involved in this initial wave leads me to believe that they have something big planned for the next one.
I was trying to look at that, but it’s hard to tell from the tiny pics. It doesn’t seem like there’s much, but I worry that’s because they can’t afford much anymore either. Interesting to see how that turns out.
Not one word on the lowdown with the Super Powers Penguin? Are they un-necessarily shoving him into the Infinite Earths sub when he’d be an easy sell at retail?
Actually, I like this Agent Orange much better; I thought the DC Direct one looked too vicious and calculating.
What I love about Agent Orange from the comic is that he reminds almost of an evil version of Sesame Street’s Elmo; my room-mate thinks of him as DC’s answer to Gollum from LOTR. He comes across like a dumb kid, but he can fell his opposition with ease. I’d definitely say that the Mattel DC figure captures that look for him way more than the DC Direct figure did.
The word on SP Penguin is that he’ll be part of multipack, but nothing specific about which retailer or who would accompany him yet.
I really like the facial expression on the DCD one. I always thought it was more like he was giving a confused disapproval.
I’m really surprised by all the negativity towards this wave. I was really impressed by it. Superboy Prime is cool, Plastic Man is a cool enough character and I honestly don’t care much is he’s wearing a circus strong man outfit or not, Batman Beyond was one of my favorite figures so far, and Larfleeze is a character that I can’t believe they didn’t already do two years ago.
In short, I’ll be buying this entire wave (I already own Batman Beyond, but I can think of a couple of friends who’d like one as a gift), and I wish the DCUC figure selection had been this good all along, instead of giving us ridiculous Super Powers homages.
LOL! You can’t start off by saying you’re surprised by the negativity and finish off with “ridiculous” Super Powers homages! Just pretend all these Johns-based characters are Super Powers homages and it shouldn’t be too surprising. 🙂
Prime is fine and Larfleeze is just a little less than impressive because of his head sculpt. The problem with Plas is mostly the source material and because he’s pretty much shot right to the top of the most unwanted character in the line for me (And I’ve loved Plas since I saw him fish a mouse out of a computer when I was a wee tot).
I actually can say I’m surprised by the negativity and still finish off bashing the Super Powers influence on the line, because the figures in this wave all represent characters that have actually had some relevance in the source material in the last 5 years, versus characters that had little to no relevance in a 30 year old cartoon/toyline (no one liked Samurai or El Dorado, and Apache Chief and Black Vulcan are better remembered for a Harvey Birdman bit than for the actual Super Friends show). Call me crazy, but I’d rather have a figure of an important and somewhat current character like Larfleeze or Superboy Prime than getting something that represents the way things were when Toyguru was watching Saturday morning cartoons.
Crazy. 🙂 I’ll take Super Friends characters over Flashpoint redesigns anyday.
Which by the way, you now at least have to say “only one guy liked Samurai or El Dorado, and Apache Chief and Black Vulcan” instead of no one since we’ve met and you know of at least me. 😀
I would take Super Friends (and/or Super Powers) chara over this batch.
Seriously.
Hell, I’d take another HAL JORDAN and ‘maroon fuzz’ Flash (a nod to the TV series) over these.
I mean, I could ignore the backstory crap for Plaz if he at least had the right kind of body.
*sigh*
Another Hal Jordan is just a bridge too far…
Superpowers/friends was the best part of the dcuc to some (me) so without those its kinda meh
I wouldn’t say “meh”, but it was one of my favorite parts. Heck, the entire body style of the buck is Super Powers-esque!
Ya know, you say “All Stars” and I think Superman, Batman and some of those other guys. This is how ‘mom friendly’ works.
Moms would wonder where the Captain America figure was and why he’s not mixed in with the Batman figs. Isn’t he just like that Batman guy?
OK, chill TEH OUTRAGE!!11!, you know I know the difference. Many don’t. Really. Honest.
And while I’m appalled to hear what’s happened to Plaz (wasn’t Miller making him insane bad enough?) I think, honestly, 98% of the ‘normal’ people out there don’t know a THING about that crap. At BEST they may remember him from Brave & the Bold. But I’m SURE Mattel will point out he’s a horrible killer on the card back…
Yike. You know, in the anime world I’ve talked long on how companies sometimes intentionally plan to fail. It’s a way to just kill something that can’t otherwise be stopped due to a change of management, just completely sabotage it so it CAN’T succeed.
Man does this lineup look like that to me. Planned failure.
Luckily, this is just a one-off version of Plas from an alternate universe (see, Barry’s Mom not dying caused a historical change that made Plastic Man into a bloodthirsty killer. It doesn’t make sense, but it’s more likely than how it sent Superman’s rocket careening into Metropolis instead of Smallville, but I digress…).
It was as quickly forgotten as it was created, except that now it has a toy…
But! Right? Why THIS version of Plaz? Why not the stock standard version? THAT WOULD BE A ZERO TOOLING COST FIGURE wouldn’t it? Worried about the people who bought the SDCC version? Just do what they’re planning anyway, no accessories.
Maybe they ‘forgot’ they had the figure in inventory.
Me, I’d love a ‘Dark Knight 2’ version with a bats**t insane face, but then again I’d love an entire DK2 sub-line.
Maybe it’s just more simple then I’ve been thinking. Mattel now exists to make us crazy. It’s all they do now. Toys, well, they make them but the PURPOSE is to make us crazy. 🙂
I’m gonna invest in Imaginext. 🙂
I figure they wouldn’t just reissue an SDCC exclusive like that.
And yes, they do seek to make us crazy.
All three new figures revealed have something off about them:
Larfleeze – The body is fine but I don’t like the head. Most comic art depicts him with a longer maw/snout. If it had a head similar to the DC Direct version than this would have been a must buy. After seeing this, I’m glad I bought the DC Direct version.
I’m curious to know what art was used as the reference for this figure as I’ve never seen him portrayed with such a short maw/snout.
Superboy Prime – Again the body is fine but the head looks weird. It could just be the picture, though.
Flashpoint Plastic Man – The head is fine but they should have used smaller buck as he didn’t look that big in the mini-series.
Overall colour me unimpressed.
All great nitpicks if you ask me! Hopefully, some of ’em will look better in the package…
I’m gonna try and look at this in a positive light:
I can get a Batman Beyond with hopefully NO gummy leg joints that get stuck and break of if I move the leg!?
That’s another good point on BB. Mine totally broke too.
That, sir, is an excellent observation.
Wow, lots of comments over 4 figures. So I’ll add my thoughts too. 🙂
Larfleeze, so his snout is different, no big deal, this is the 4 H’s version and we either like it or not. I’m betting he has better articulation than the DC Direct version. (it would be cool if he could sort of curl up around his lantern)
Superboy Prime, again already done by DC Direct, but the sculpt looks good.
Bats Beyond. I already have both versions Mattel did, so if he doesn’t come in flat black or have wings I can’t understand why he’s being done when there are characters like Vixen (oh yeah, a female) who has yet to be made.
I find the Plas figure funny. Sure I tried reading the series he appeared in, but never finished. I’m not sure if I will get him or not, just to be a completist. But I’ll bet he flies off the shelves. Just look at him, he’s perfect for all the guys and gals who do conversions. There is no shaving or sanding down parts to start with.
I think the reason we aren’t seeing any of the big DC name characters right now is that DC Direct will have their figures out and DC doesn’t want any competition from Mattel like they have had with waves before. (Deputy Lanterns for instance)
Also, the Super Powers color Penguin is supposed to be part of Batman Legacy or something, not part of the DC Infinite Earths Sub.
A lot of good observations here, and some varied opinions. A point, though:
The mystery to me is how this assortment is any more retail friendly than the last few DCUC waves; to me, it is less so. Batman Beyond hasn’t appeared anywhere since JLU went off, neither Superboy Prime or Larfleeze has ever appeared outside a comic book, and the version of Plas offered is one from a comic book with sales around 25,000. The Rainbow wave was along these lines, but look at the other waves:
Wave 16:
Jonah Hex: Movie just out (they didn’t know it would be a flop when they made him)
Robin: Known to the majority of the planet for decades
Mercury: Multiple appearances on B&B
Riddler: One of the best known Bat villains since the 60’s
Creeper: More obscure, only one appearance on B&B, previous appearances on JLU and Batman:TAS
Batnut: No appearances outside the books, but much requested
Wave 18:
Samurai, Black Vulcan, El Dorado, Apache Chief, SF Toyman: decades old cartoon characters remembered by millions; old SF episodes out on video
Bronze Tiger: Appearances on B&B
Boomerang: the new version of a well known character, most obscure of the bunch in this form, though.
Wave 19:
Hawkman, Stargirl: major story arcs on Smallville, a network primetime show; Hawkman in more than one B&B
Sandman: B&B appearance
Kobra: Different look, but major appearance on Young Justice
GA Atom and Magog are the only ones limited to comic appearances, though one could argue the Atom’s many decades in comics makes him a fairly heavy hitter.
Wave 20:
GA: Smallville, B&B, Young Justice; heck, what DC show hasn’t he appeared in in a major role for the past decade?
Red Arrow: major appearances in YJ
Reverse Flash: B&B
Sinestro Corps Sinestro: end of the GL movie
Hawk & Dove: Hawk on B&B; female Dove is comics only, but she’s been around a couple decades.
White Lantern Flash: most obscure of the lot
So this first assortment is arguably LESS retail friendly with 3 characters who have had less exposure than most previous DCUC waves, contrary to Mattel’s supposed reasons for the rebranding…
I can’t help but feel that Plas is only here to justify the tooling on reusing the SDCC Plastic Man’s accessories. He’ll be loaded up with them, making him seem like a good buy at retail, but it’s just a way to mitigate existing tooling and produce a ‘nU’ figure on the cheap.
Wish there had been a new version of Aquaman(FP or nU would have been great) or a Mera (nU or Red Lantern). Or King Shark from nU. Any of those.
I bet they want the line to fail, in order to strengthen the Matty collector line. All of these look like typical peg warmers, except for BB.