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.

It all starts with Bruce Timm. If you need to blame anyone for why I am the way I am, blame Bruce Timm. And maybe Swiss Cake Rolls, which you can blame the fat parts on.

In 1992, ‘Batman : The Animated Series’ debuted. I was 11 years old, and I wasn’t really that into superheroes at all, if you can believe it. My kind of superheroes were made of pixels and fought their way through The Mushroom Kingdom and sometimes had wizardly beards and summoned dragons for magical stuff. Still, something about the serious, dark and brooding atmosphere of ‘Batman’ changed everything, despite its lack of orcs and bugbears. It was a cartoon that didn’t depend on slapstick humor, bright colors, punchlines or any modicum of goofiness, and it got my attention more with a whisper than a bang - and I wasn’t the only one who was hypnotized.

Bruce Timm had come along and revolutionized the way that we thought of animation. It could be beautiful and fluid, and be incredibly simple at the same time. In fact, the less lines and details that there were in a character, the better and more convincingly they seemed to move, even if the details of the character itself were minimized. Timm’s interpretations of characters from Batman to Killer Croc to The Penguin and Catwoman all melded seamlessly with the timeless Art Deco landscape of his Gotham City.

After a few other heroic characters from the DC Universe made appearances in Batman’s show, the collective appetite of an audience of cartoon fans was whetted for more. In 1996, Superman got his own similarly animated show, and in 2001, ‘Justice League’ premiered, incorporating a larger number of Timm-inspired and designed heroes to the ‘DCAU’, or ‘DC Animated Universe’. This evolved into ‘Justice League Unlimited’ after a few seasons, which ostensibly gained the license to use each and every DC character somehow in any given episode, and it often did. And it was exciting to see a little cartoony Etrigan the Demon or Captain Marvel battling it out across the TV, for the first time in full motion. The minimalist Art Deco style of the characters somehow flowed seamlessly into a more modern environment.

By this time, the series had evolved into an action figure line, and against everything that action figure collectors collectively clamor for and whine about, the series remains a massive success. Sure, they’re in a tiny 4” tall scale, and they have barely any articulation at all, and most of them can’t stand up on their own, but there’s so damned MANY of them. I recently went through my own collection and catalogued them for our Community Section, so check ‘em out. Mattel takes the ‘Star Wars’ approach to making JLU action figures, inasmuch as any character that might have had half of their face appear in a crowd scene once warrants an action figure, and I love it. Recently, the newer figures have been exceptionally difficult to find, so collectors have been raising alarms about this scarcity - myself included this time. I want a Mr. Miracle, darnit, and I’m not paying 50 bucks for a 4-inch Volcana figure - which eBay is asking right now. None of this collecting was made any easier by hard-to-get convention exclusives like Solomon Grundy, and a Green Lantern Hal Jordan figure that Mattel released only to employees at a company party.

The interesting thing about these figures is not that there are so many, but this ‘animated style’ that was originated by Bruce Timm’s artwork has spanned across divides between all manner of properties - things that have never been animated are now being created as sculptures and action figures in this simplified ‘animated style’. Why? Because it’s just so neat. While it defies traditional toy logic to create an action figure or sculpture line that doesn’t immediately match up to an existing property exactly as it appears, it’s happening. Collectors routinely decry anything that doesn’t exactly match with what it’s supposed to be, and yet, these interpretations are successful.

Gentle Giant didn’t go the action figure route, but went significantly more monumental with the animated style, creating an interesting series of mini-statues, or ‘animaquettes’, of a large array of Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, and Pirates of the Caribbean characters. While I haven’t been sucked into the Lord of the Rings or Pirates stuff (yet), I absolutely fell in love with Animated Darth Vader and Princess Leia… and I have my eye on a Chewbacca and maybe an Emperor.

Pirates of the Caribbean has extended itself beyond these statues and the array of action figures that were created for the franchise’s movies, and suddenly, ‘animated style’ figures have been popping up under the name ‘Swashbucklers’.

The now-defunct Palisades Toys was probably the first company to breach this animated void, when they created their ‘Witchblade Animated’ toys in the early 2000s, despite the fact that the comic series Witchblade wasn’t animated until 2007. Recently, McFarlane toys also added a whole mess of ‘animated’ toys to the world of Spawn action figures, and while ‘Spawn’ was actually a semi-successful HBO cartoon a while back, it wasn’t in the style that these figures appear in. This minimalist design style has been just that infectious.

Time to go pop in some DVDs and fight off the effects of anime destroying Saturday mornings as we knew them.

Is an action figure better if it looks more like a real person when it’s standing still, or is it better when you can position it into a ton of fightin’ action poses? Action figure geeks will debate the point until their fingers are sore and they get called for dinner, but there’s no correct answer. It’s like deciding if their imaginary Canadian girlfriends would be preferable if they were smart OR pretty. Can’t we have both? Or just a little bit of each? At the very least, can we make sure that this next one doesn’t try to stab me?

DC Universe Classics by Mattel answers the call of figure geeks everywhere by finally, at long last, providing collectors with fan favorite characters (instead of a million iterations of Batman and Superman), beautifully sculpted, and stuffed with poseability. Until now, we’ve had the attractive but static figures by DC Direct (owned by DC themselves), and the Batman / Superman centric figures from Mattel. With licensing possibilities opened up for 2008, Mattel now has the rights to do almost any DC character that they want, and they’re re-revolutionizing the superhero figure world. Since Hasbro took over the once-amazing Marvel Legends lines with mediocre results, I’ve very much needed some inspiration to keep on caring - and Mattel has provided it.

The first wave of these figures, due for release in early 2008 but arriving early, includes a classic Batman and The Penguin, along with other characters that the average person with a life wouldn’t recognize : Red Tornado, Etrigan the Demon, and Orion (the latter two being Jack Kirby creations). All five contain pieces of a sixth figure and if you collect them all, you can build Metamorpho, who happens to be one of my favorite characters ever. It’s like getting a figure for free. Even in figure lines as vast as this, the company needs to include one or two very recognizable, anchor figures in each wave, ergo the new Batman.

All of these characters have been made by DC Direct before, and while DC did a pretty good job at creating iconic, statuesque figures, Mattel manages to do that but ALSO make them posable. While some collectors think that these are replacing the older versions entirely, there are enough differences for both versions to remain appealing, and this newer version very much worth collecting.

The line is billed as ‘Classics’ because Mattel’s focus isn’t on the newest appearance of the character, or a very artist-specific vision of the character (which DC Direct has recently placed a strong focus on), but instead they’re going for the most ‘classic’ appearance possible - with the exception of Metamorpho, who is also billed as ‘Rex Mason’ on the figure packaging. This isn’t to be confused as making the character ‘generic’ as possible, but instead ‘iconic’ and ‘timeless’. To these ends, Mattel is releasing two versions of Red Tornado, both with slight costume variations, so as to address two of his most common appearances (and no clear answer as to which one is less common). Mattel has also hinted at another variation among these figures, though they’ve left it a mystery for the fans to discover. It has something to do with a variation of a face, it’s very slight, and it’s not on the Batman figure. This leaves fans to conjecture that it might be an alternate Metamorpho head, or possibly an angry Orion head, though not enough figures have been found just yet to confirm anything.

The very broad array of characters in the first few waves means that we’re probably not going to be able to assemble a basic Justice League for a few years, but the lineup includes some interesting choices : Red and Blue Superman from the late 90s, Aquaman and his archenemy Black Manta, Harley Quinn, Firestorm (both modern and classic versions), Batman sidekicks Nightwing and Robin, Green Lantern (the much desired Hal Jordan version) and his enemy Sinestro, Deathstroke, and finally, two figures that you can assemble from parts included in the other figures : Gorilla Grodd and Solomon Grundy. Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter, Flash and Green Arrow, Hawkman and Hawkgirl are all unannounced, but surely somewhere in Mattel’s plans.

Removing these from the packages was very easy, with minimal twist ties, and I didn’t encounter any serious paint problems, nor did any joint stick or break. Quality control gets an A+. These retail about about $12 each, but can also be bought by the case from various online retailers. Be aware that current cases of 6 include two identical Batman figures.

Take a look through the gallery I’ve provided in our Collectors Community for a deeper view into the excellent sculpting and articulation on these figures, and consider me completely psyched. I don’t say this often, but this is the best thing to happen to figures in a long time. While it can’t be said that this is something completely new, the return to a winning formula like this is long past due. Keep it up, Mattel!

Mattel has the only license for articulated DC Comics action figures, based on the comics and the animated DC projects, besides DC Comics-owned DC Direct. That means they’re one of the few outlets for all of your Batman, Superman and Justice League needs, and if you’re anything like me, those needs are intense. And you have trouble with girls. And sometimes get choked up at the end of a really good episode of The Office.

Our experiences are catalogued in this gallery. So click ‘n’ see!
DC Superheroes, or DCSH for short, are one of the major toy lines of recent years. While Mattel only has the rights to Batman, Superman and their immediately auxiliary characters, their showing so far has been beautiful, giving us highly-articulated figures of Marvel Legends scale and quality. Of course, this leads to a lot of hope and debate regarding which characters are immediately related to Batman and Superman. Sure, we have Supergirl, but is Power Girl (Earth-2’s Supergirl) considered immediately related? How about Captain Marvel aka Shazam!? Such questions are shrouded in mystery and blister packaging. Batman has an awesome rogue’s gallery that could also stand some exploring.

On display were 2-ups (large scale, fully realized figures used in manufacturing) of an excellent Man Bat and Clayface, though the Cassandra Cain Batgirl from years past was not. The specifics of future waves wasn’t made available to me by the representative giving the demonstration, but it’s been rumored that the next, sixth wave will include a Cyborg Superman (with a half-robot face), a Kal-El Superman (in funky headgear), a black-suited Superman, and the long-awaited Mongul. While this might seem like one of those ‘let’s put a million silly figure variants into one assortment’ thing, I was impressed that all of these Supermen were comic-specific incarnations. This kind of attention to the actual literary character, and not trying to market a Rocket Launching Cyber Scuba BBQ Superman in neon green, marks a trend towards the collector market in action figures.

Also on display was Mattel’s other line of DC figures - the 3 3/4” scale Justice League Unlimited. Despite the fact that the cartoon has been off the air for a few years now, the figure line remains highly popular due to its Bruce Timm stylings and huge variety of both popular and obscure DC Comics characters. New on display were Joker, Blue Devil, Mr. Miracle, Fire and Ice, through an Hourman & Hawkman are also rumored to be in there, among the various core characters in unusual costumes and action features. None of the 10” figures were on display, though the Justice Lords are also rumored to be on the way. And for the record, my kingdom for some more Green Lanterns. I love those guys. Ch’ip? G’nort? Larvox? You know they’re awesome.

In addition to those offerings, Mattel has created the DC Super Friends line. Only similar to the Super Friends cartoon of old in name, these are chunky-styled Justice League characters similar in size and shape to Hasbro’s Spidey & Friends line. Designed with small children and safe play in mind, these figures undoubtedly appear to adult collectors as well, if only for the characters explored. We were informed that they all have action features, but also operate completely independently of their bases as simple figures. The initial offering will include 2 Batmen (one with a Batmobile), Superman, Flash, John Stewart Green Lantern, the oft-neglected Aquaman and villain Lex Luthor.

Though no The Batman or Legion of Super Heroes figures were on display. Mattel debuted their miniature battle game, Battleague. As much as we were forbidden from mentioning the word ‘Hasbro’ in Mattel’s showrooms, it was clear that Mattel was completing the unanswered DC Comics half of similar, existing toy lines - this one being a MUCH nicer companion piece for Hasbro’s Attacktix. While the game play appears to be similar, Hasbro’s Attacktix figures (featuring Transformers, Star Wars and Marvel Comics) suffer from grossly enlarged, cartoonish features and slapdash paint jobs. These Battleague figures are sculpted by The Four Horsemen, who are the Beatles of the action figure world right now, designing some of the most dynamic and accurate figures out there.

These figures also feature both missile and hand-to-hand combat features, but they look so much sexier doing it. I mean, we were already shown a Darkseid throwing a Apokalyptican hover device… that’s hot stuff right there. The figures will be blind-packaged, two to a box, and the starter set will actually convert into 3-D terrain. While 80% of all start-up games like this inevitably fair due to lack of support, at least these figures will look great, and were the highlight of the Mattel showroom. Battleague will not be inter-playable with Attacktix, though. Under penalty of DEATH. Anyone who’s read Toy Wars will know that if a Hasbro product and a Mattel product ever touch, even for a moment, a rip in space-time will create an unholy gateway into out dimension for Qwar’groth The Slippery, and it just gets worse from there.

In the interest of not making the world at large choke on my superhero fanaticism, we also saw the kid-centric Planet Heroes line of figures. Very similar in theme to the DC Super Friends line, these feature a set of ten characters who take their themes from the nine planets (yes, including Pluto), and a villainous Black Hole. These will also have bases and action figures, and I was really attracted to these… but then they showed us a trailer for the cartoon these would be accompanying, which instantly reminded me that I was 25 years old. And that Mars, apparently, has a Scottish accent. I thought that giving foreign accents to characters died out in the Phantom Menace Nute Gunray debacle, but it seems to still be goin’ strong. Nevertheless, the figures have a neat design.

And of course there were the Avatar : The Last Airbender figures. While the cartoon has been around for almost exactly one year on Nickelodeon, its success is immense, being one of the rare animations that follows a sequential storyline from episode to episode. The figure line has been popular, but continues to omit certain core characters (notably, the female ones), and future offerings on display seem to encompass only existing characters in animal armors. The upcoming trilogy of films by M. Night Shyamalan will likely create a whole new buzz about the property.

Our tour did not emcompass Barbie or Hot Wheels, but Mattel gave us a Polly Pocket (which quickly went to my niece) and politely ushered us out of their impressive showrooms, on to our next Toy Fair appointment.

As opposed to Wednesday’s Toy Fair 2006 update, the visit to Mattel’s showrooms reflects the flipside of the superhero universe. Whereas ToyBiz deals exclusively in Marvel characters like Spider-Man, the Hulk and Captain America, Mattel deals in DC Comics action figures, which includes characters like Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman. It also includes ‘Infectious Lass’, but I won’t hold that against them.

It’s not unusual for the average person to never distinguish between the two universes, but for comic geeks such as myself, they’re very distinct places, never to touch, just as your peas should never, ever touch your mashed potatoes on your delicious dinner plate. Sure, they’re both delicious, and the two comic universes cross over into each other from time to time, leaving everyone bewildered and playing into the ‘multiple universe’ theories that seem to be the catch-all for anytime something doesn’t make sense within a comic, but usually, like boys and girls at a school dance, like opposing magnetic polls, like Danielle Steel and intelligent fiction, the two have a tenuous interaction at best, often sensibly repelled from each other.

Within my own collecting, I’ve subconsciously ushered all of my Marvel figures into one half of the room, while the DC Comics figures have found their way into a completely different section. Occasionally they’re allowed to integrate around the neutral ground that is my Mac Mini, but that place is anything goes. Seriously. They’ll often meet DEVO pins from 1980 and long-forgotten snacks which have become entirely different kinds of snacks over time.

The Mattel showrooms didn’t have anything very unexpected to show by way of action figures. The current ‘big deal’ in DC action figure collecting is the DC Superheroes line, which marks the first time that we’re getting mass-retail, articulated, 7” versions of a few interesting and traditional DC characters. The first wave of these had hit retail a few weeks back, and consisted of Batman, Killer Croc, Bane and Scarecrow. Interestingly, Bane and Scarecrow were initially part of a different Batman line entirely, and due to a sudden cancellation of the line, they were only distributed in Australia. They’ve been slightly retooled for this US release.

As far as variants of the figures go, none are intentional, but there are two running production changes. The first variation are the pegs in Batman’s knees. Initially blue, they’ve recently become grey to match his costume. The second change is with the Bane figure. Early figures were packed without his teddy bear, while later figures include it. Nothing major, but it’s something to look for.

On display were pieces from the next three waves of figures, which alternate between Superman and Batman mythologies. One of the best parts about Toy Fair is that companies will often display ‘two-ups’, or double-sized figures from which the smaller figures are perfected and altered. These are often finely painted, one-of-a-kind, sculptural pieces. Check out this mini gallery to see these huge figures, as well as the next wave of figures in actual size.

Wave two of these will include Superman, Supergirl, Doomsday and Bizarro. Wave three will include another Batman, Robin, Azrael, and a repackaged and slightly altered Mr. Freeze, who was also included in the aforementioned original Batman line. This will be followed by another Batman wave, including yet another Batman, the Joker, Two-Face, and a new, black-and-stitches clad Batgirl. While the first wave of these figures shows promise, they’re still not perfect, having a plastic shine and lacking some detail, but they show a lot of promise.

The other major DC wave focuses on the Justice League Unlimited cartoon, based around the artwork of Bruce Timm. These are smaller, 4” scale figures with minimal articulation and exceptionally simple designs, but therein lies their charm. These have appeal on character recognition alone. The cartoon itself makes an effort to include every superhero and villain that the DC Universe can offer, and as such, there’s a large array of possible figures, from popular to obscure. Mattel tends to repackage the heavy hitters, like Superman and Batman, many, many times over, often throwing a single new figure into a three pack, or adding a huge, ridiculous action feature, but the JLU line is shying away from this, recently offering new characters without the necessity of repurchasing figures that you might already have.

New JLU figures will include Zatanna (recently made into a major DC character after the Identity Crisis storyline), Etrigan the Demon, Huntress, Zoom, and three new Green Lanterns, which will make a great addition to your Green Lantern Corps display.

See, here’s the thing about Green Lantern - there’s about a thousand heroes who go by the name ‘Green Lantern’ throughout the DC Universe. There’s these little blue guys called the Guardians, and they give out rings. To everyone. So, as it stands in the action figure world, you can paint a Green Lantern logo on just about anything and there’s PROBABLY a Green Lantern somewhere out there, somewhere in the universe, that looks exactly like whatever you’ve just made. You can take a green marker and draw the GL sign on your donut and it would be comic-accurate. He’d be Tastee from the planet Krispeekreemulon. They gave a ring to a squirrel. They gave a ring to a developmentally challenged dog. They gave a ring to a planet. They’ll give a ring to a donut. And this is why I love comics.

The third line that Mattel showed off was the Superman Returns movie line of figures, which is not geared towards collectors, but instead [GASP!] kids. Rife with action features, with many variations on Superman and an occasional goon to battle, I don’t believe this to be a line that will be highly collected. Movie lines usually don’t fare too hot, the exceptions being Lord of the Rings and Star Wars, but even lines as strong as those leave many leftover figures warming the pegs.

Stay tuned for more Toy Fair goodness as we visit the Sideshow Collectibles booth.