jlu

As an action figure nut, I’ve had to cut back a lot recently. There’s still a whole lot of great toys out there, and I’m sure I could find a purpose for each and every one, but there are a few choice lines that I still collect, even if Mattel wants to really jerk me around on ‘em.

Of these lines, I’m especially fond of Justice League Unlimited. As an action figure line, they’re small, stylized, affordable, iconic, and they cover a wider array of characters than any other single line ever has. Sure, most of them have the exact same body with different paint decos, and usually have originally sculpted heads, but this unity of form places all of these little guys into one big universe, and it’s incredibly well populated.

So, when the JLU cartoon shut down in 2006, Mattel no longer saw a reason to continue a toy line that had no TV show to support it. Fans quickly went nuts, having come so very, very close to getting a full roster of every hero and villain who had ever appeared on the show – and there were a lot. Not only had the cartoon ended, but there were existing legal issues with making certain DC characters into action figures, specifically, any characters who DC had purchased from Charlton Comics long ago, when action figure rights weren’t part of the contract equation. It was complicated, and it was a bummer when we were told that our collections would never have characters like Captain Marvel (also known as Shazam! due to ongoing legal stuff with Marvel Comics) and The Question, as they both played significant roles in the show.

It wasn’t too long before the fan support that churned behind the JLU toy line brought it back into production, much like the vocal support that resurrected Futurama and Family Guy. Collectors had collectively spoken and altered the course of their cherished collectibles.

Unfortunately for some, the line came back exclusively to Target stores. While Target seems to have a footprint that extends into every possible crevice of inhabited land, I personally do not have a Target within a reasonable ’stop in and check if they have new toys today’ distance, and Target chooses to not sell this toy line over the internet. Relying upon the kindness of people who live in places that qualify as ‘civilization’, I managed to keep my collection up to date. Most recently, Target has carried two six packs featuring ‘The League United’ and ‘Mutiny in the Ranks’. These depict all new figures like Mr. Terrific, Hourman, Tala, Devil Ray, Dr. Polaris, and Gentleman Ghost, as well as a re-released Lex Luthor, Superman, Elongated Man, a repainted Supergirl, and the rare Obsidian figure.

Episode-specific three-packs have also been released exclusively at Target, including figures of an old man Bruce Wayne from Batman Beyond, and an imprisoned Lex Luthor. Future packs will include Amanda Waller and General Eiling, and even though they’re not superheroes, they all played excellent roles in a great cartoon.

Many of these have some pretty high prices on the secondary market, especially the original release of Volcana, and the super-crazy-limited Hal Jordan as Green Lantern, released only to Mattel employees and friends, and a subject of perpetual frothing by fans.

In addition to a Target release, Mattel releases occasional figures at conventions and periodically on MattyCollector.com at very specific times – occasionally bringing the website to a point of total standstill, and the ‘red screen of death’. Past convention exclusives have included a Giganta with an accompanying much larger Giganta figure, and a three pack of Green Lantern characters.

The online exclusives tend to breach the borders between shows and even delve into more obscure characters who have never even appeared in the mainstream animated DCU. Because they’re being sold online, the target audience is already there and very aware, and retailers don’t have to concern themselves with moving product that your average kid wouldn’t recognize. Because of this freedom, Mattel has also released sets based on the Legion of Superheroes, went back to the Batman and Robin Animated Series and created bad guys like the second version of Scarecrow, and fan-favorite Clock King. Recently, they released an exceptionally beautiful four pack consisting of the Marvel Family – finally, a Captain Marvel, along with Mary Marvel, Black Adam and The Wizard Shazam. All of this was a sly nod to fans who both love the characters, know how important they are in the DC Universe right now, and have waited patiently for ‘the Big, Red Cheese’.

On September 15th, MattyCollector.com will begin selling one of my favorite teams of characters ever : The Doom Patrol. And not the overwrought Grant Morrison garbage either, but the original Arnold Drake / Bruno Premiani Doom Patrol. None of these guys have ever been an action figure before, in any line, so I’m especially psyched.

There’s no telling how long the line will continue. Mattel has adjusted production numbers and costs extensively to get the right mix down, supporting a loyal but concentrated fanbase without doing a disservice to themselves. And my mom likes them, and there are enough duplicates in the multi-packs so I can send my younger cousins away with huge handfuls of iconic superheroes and bad guys for keeps.

For a line to keep my interest during these financially troubling times, it’s gotta be good.

After spending a whole day shopping at NYCC, I decided that I wanted to experience the full Comic Con Experience, which meant attending events that weren’t on the main floor (as well at eating from vending machines and getting smacked across the face with a backpack full of hardcover comics). Luckily, Saturday had a numbed of panels in isolated meeting rooms.

[ Example of a panel ]

If you’ve never been to a ‘panel’, here’s how it goes : a handful of professionally related people sit at a long table with microphones and bottles of water. In a small meeting room, you might get squished into a folding chair in between a couple of larger gentlemen with breathing problems. If you end up in a theater, you’d be pretty lucky to get a seat where you could still see the stage without a telescope. The assembled professionals talk about an aspect of their trade or craft, and the audience asks questions. This lasts for about 30 minutes, or until the room gets hot and sweaty, and everyone squeezes out when it’s all over. Being given new and exclusive information is not an unpleasant experience, but the ‘panel’ is almost always a static, stilted presentation, with rare exceptions. PowerPoint never helps anything, guys, unless you’re trying to sap my will to live.

On today’s schedule was ‘DC and Mattel‘ (a discussion of the ongoing line of DC Universe Classics action figures), a discussion with Hellboy creator Mike Mignola, a panel featuring talent from Hellboy II, and a panel with the creators and voice actors from The Venture Bros. – my favorite cartoon of all time. Fortunately, and against all odds and disorganization, I made it into all four events, but not without a great deal of trouble and uncertainty.

The ‘DC and Mattel‘ panel was held in the aforementioned hot, unventilated little room and featured members of DC marketing team, a few members of the popular sculpting team of The Four Horsemen, and a brand manager for DC Comics. The assembled crowd was given a PowerPoint presentation that featured lists and images of some of the upcoming DCUC and JLU figures, each ‘new’ item being greeted with the suitable ‘ooh!’ and ‘aah!’, or silence if the pictured item was a re-paint or re-release of something else.

We were informed that the JLU line (seen here in our gallery) has shifted from a kid-centric line towards being a collectors’ line, and as such, it would begin to feature characters that were never actually IN the show but are popular with fans anyhow. The line would also be sold exclusively at Target. Upcoming JLU figures include a great Jack Kirby-inspired ‘New Gods’ box set of six that will include characters like Forager and Lashina. Also new will be a classic Batman (in his blues and greys), Galatea (essentially, Power Girl in cartoon form), Captain Atom, a re-release of the rare Gorilla Grodd, and a San Diego Comic Con exclusive Giganta – in both ‘normal sized’ and ‘enormous’ forms. As someone who’s still seeking a few rare figures (and finding them, years after release, due to strange distribution), this was exciting stuff.

Mattel also revealed details about upcoming DCUC figures (also pictured here), which include Batman Beyond, Captain Atom (in two variants), and amazingly huge Ares, and a collect-and-connect Despero. Wonder Woman (from Wave 4) will have an Artemis variant, and there will also be a Wal-Mart exclusive wave, which will include Amazo, The Atom, The Riddler, Black Lightning, Eradicator Superman, and a collect-and-connect Brainiac. Anyone who’s collected toys for a while will shudder at the very mention of anything being exclusive to Wal-Mart, because ‘Wal-Mart Exclusive’ equates to ‘impossible to find and expensive on eBay’ – but Mattel assured the crowd that the wave will ship consistently throughout the year, alongside regular figures. Toys ‘R’ Us will also be getting an exclusive 2-pack of Lightray and an unmasked Orion, as well as a 2-pack of some Batman re-releases. We were also shown a glimpse of Hawkman.

The biggest news, however, is the release of a SDCC Exclusive Lobo. Now, Lobo is a fun character with a hilariously ultra-violent background. Because of this, DC avoids making toys of him at almost any cost, because they just don’t want to present the character to children if they can help it. Because the SDCC environment isn’t general retail, and assumed to be a mostly-collector event, Lobo will be sold there and only there. However, once the NY crowd collectively moaned and frothed at the Mattel brand manager, he promised to make the figure available online also.

Questions were fielded regarding this character or that character, and they were all answered openly and honestly. One thing that did surprise me was the tone of the complaining about not getting figures in NY as quickly as our West Coast brethren – an observation which showed a complete ignorance about how toys are distributed in the US. Most toys come in at California ports, and over the course of a few weeks, dependent almost entirely upon the distribution system of any given retailer, they make their way around, leaving Mattel with little say on what is sent where and in what quantity. To complain to Mattel is a fruitless activity, unless you’re asking them to just make more toys – and even still, the retailers need to order them. For a few minutes, it was like sitting in a whiny message board, and it was uncomfortable.

The second panel I sat in on was a discussion with Hellboy creator Mike Mignola, who wasn’t given anything but a chair and a table. No moderator, no preface – just a guy open questions and answers. Despite the lack of preparedness on the part of NYCC, Mignola sailed through the questions in good time and gave great, casual answers regarding his many projects, inspirations and aspirations. He wanted to break into comics, he started inking things (poorly, by his own admission), and eventually decided that drawing monsters fighting was his true calling – and he never looked back. It really didn’t get more complex than that, and it didn’t need to be. Oh, and using lots of dark shadows on things meant that the comic’s colorist couldn’t screw it up too badly.

I arrived at the Hellboy II cast panel an hour early. As it turned out, the Lucasfilm panel was running 30 minutes late, so the insanely huge crowd of a line waiting outside of the IGN Theater didn’t even really know what they were waiting for, and no one seemed to be able to tell them. This was exacerbated by the fact that the only crowd control was volunteer teenagers in yellow shirts, none of whom could give an answer consistent with the guy standing next to them. I waited on the line for about 45 minutes before I was told that it wasn’t for Hellboy after all (even though it was scheduled to start), and that I wasn’t allowed to wait on ANY lines until 2 PM. Despite this, Hellboy fans started their own impromptu line off to the side, while we all joked and debated as to whether our line was an official line or if we’d again be dispersed by the angry grey-haired guy. I was chatted up by an anime geek while I mostly shrugged and indicated that I had no idea what he was talking about, but wrote down a few ’suggested watching’ titles anyhow. We eventually wound our way in, sat through a few scenes of the upcoming action movie ‘Wanted’ and enjoyed a short talk with the Russian director – who seemed totally bewildered at the crowd.

The Hellboy panel, presented immediately afterwards, included director Guillermo DelToro, Ron Perlman, Doug Jones, Selma Blair and Mike Mignola, along with newcomer Luke Goss. After an extended trailer, the lights returned and the stage was filled with creatures from HBII, delighting and shocking the whole audience. After this, the audience lined up to ask questions – most of them directed at DelToro. In fact, I don’t recall Selma Blair or Luke Goss (who actually appears in both Hellboy and Wanted) saying a word during their entire stay on stage – with DelToro vibrantly and amicably (and crassly) responding to every inquiry. He expounded on his feelings as an independent director versus being a director working for a major company – and while the big bucks reside in major motion pictures, he likened it to trying to draw a picture while a dozen hands are holding your pencil. He gave out his personal e-mail address in a search for artists and interns, which I quickly wrote down and began to do sketches for. I’m far more enamored with creators than with celebrity, but it would have been nice to get a few more words out of the actors regarding how they felt about the filming process. Perhaps the most interesting revelation was that the voice of new movie creature Johann was to be provided by Seth MacFarlane – creator and talented voice actor from Family Guy.

The Hellboy monsters were going to stick around for photographs, and a limited edition poster was to be given out, but I bolted out of the theater to make it to the Venture Bros. panel on time. I was very surprised to encounter another ridiculously long line that wrapped around the small events hall. Everyone expressed doubts about the size of the line being able to actually make it inside, but after a quick room change and a couple of crowbars to squeeze everyone in (along with irate people from another mysterious line that also ostensibly led inside yelling at organizers), we managed to get a seat in the back of the room, right next to a curly-headed guy who was making every every to not fall asleep on my shoulder. And failing.

The Venture panel consisted of a few scenes from the upcoming Season Three, followed by a conversation with Doc Hammer, James Urbaniak, Michael Sinterniklaas and Jackson Publick. While it mostly consisted of in-talking and a debate about whether one would rather lose a toe or a finger (given the choice), I found the behind-the-scenes personalities very interesting. A couple dressed as The Monarch and Dr. Girlfriend asked Doc Hammer to perform their marriage ceremony, and the panel launched into a hilarious and philosophical discussion about the souls of clones. Everyone associated with the show was really amicable, and even gave out prizes for excellent questions or costumes – though the prizes only consisted of really bad DVDs.

The effect of most of the panels was to come away inspired to create things, which is the most that I can ask from anything. There was still one day left, and I was going to round it out with a bit of everything.