DC Superheroes: Justice League Unlimited (toy)
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DC Superheroes: Justice League Unlimited is an action figure line based on the highly popular Justice League and Justice League Unlimited animated series. Though it was based on the kids' show(s), the line has continued well beyond it, and is expected to be re-branded in 2008, as a Target exclusive.
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[edit] History
[edit] Justice League
The idea for the figures began as DC Direct sculpts by sculptor, Karen Palinko, which were later handed over to Mattel. They were then released under the Justice League line. They all sported nearly the same look as the original sculpts. Later on newer sculpts were made for all the heroes (except Hawkgirl) to add articulation and accommodate large accessories. Aquaman was later added, making the total number of heroes eight. Three villains were also produced, Lex Luthor, the Ultra-Humanite and Darkseid.
[edit] Justice League Unlimited
As the show moved onto newer territory, so did the figures. The basic concept was to sell smaller packaged collectible single figures (with repaints) and then a sort of quick-builder's 3-pack featuring three original characters with one or two of the original seven members included. The single figures were packed in with an accessory and a collectible card. The number of villains in the line were still few however, as only Sinestro, Amazo, Bizzaro, and Brainiac were released. Justice League Unlimited, released in blue cards, as it is, lasted for two series (as Series 1 and 2). The rarest figure in the line is that of Green Lantern Hal Jordan. 100 copies of the figure were made and then the molds were destroyed. The figures were packaged on a special green and red card and autographed by Bruce Timm. The figures were given as a Christmas gift in 2005 to employees of the animation studio who worked on the show. Mattel has definitively stated, in multiple published reports, that there will be no Hal Jordan figures made available to the general public.
[edit] DC Superheroes
Re-branding the 2003 Batman toy line and creating a new Superman line in DC Superheroes, Mattel decided to take Justice League Unlimited into the new brand as well, effectively creating three sub-brands within one umbrella brand. The new packaging mirrored both Batman and Superman in design. The collectible cards in singles were removed and variants of figures that are not accurate to the show were dropped. This line basically offered original Batman, Superman and Flash for new collectors in original suits with various accessories and certain themed 3-packs such as three collectible Justice Lords packs, two Green Lantern Corps packs and a Martian Manhunter 3-pack with faithful character representations. The number of villains also began to increase to include characters such as Joker, Lex Luthor, Star Sapphire, Deadshot, Volcana, Mirror Master, and Copperhead; however, many of the villain figures (most notably Deadshot, Star Sapphire, and Volcana) suffered shoddy distribution by Mattel, making them among the rarest of the mass-marketed figures.
The yellow carded figures also lasted for two series, before DC Superheroes lines revamped their packaging into new purple cards with DC Comics inspired stars and dashes visible on the packaging. However the sixth series marked the return to non show-accurate repaints in single figure packs. The sixth series also marked the expansion of the Justice League Unlimited line slightly beyond its previous limits within the show, by introducing a more comic-accurate repaint of Bizarro, a Black Canary in fishnet stockings, and a Joker figure with a removable Red Hood mask accessory.
[edit] The Future
The future of the line was finally announced around the 2008 International Toy Fair in New York City. After most brick and mortar retail outlets abandoned JLU, Mattel and Target partnered up to bring the line out as an in-store exclusive. Sixteen new characters would appear in the line from the beginning of August 2008 though the end of the year, available in six-, three-, and single-packs.
[edit] Figures
The line features 3 sets of collectible figures, the most popular and voluminous being the 4.5" figures which now has over 70 unique characters, not including repaints. The other two lines are the 3" die-cast line and the 10" rotocast line. Names shown in italics have not yet been released.
- Amazo
- Aquaman
- Arkkis Chummuck
- The Atom
- Atom Smasher
- Atomic Skull
- Aztek
- Batman
- Big Barda
- Bizarro
- Black Canary
- Blue Devil
- Booster Gold
- Brainiac
- Captain Atom
- Copperhead
- Darkseid
- Deadshot
- Doomsday
- Dove
- Dr. Fate
- Dr. Light
- Elongated Man
- Etrigan
- Fire
- The Flash
- Forager
- Galatea
- Giganta
- Gorilla Grodd
- Green Arrow
- Hawk
- Hawkman
- Huntress
- Ice
- John Stewart
- The Joker
- Justice Lord Batman
- Justice Lord Flash
- Justice Lord John Stewart
- Justice Lord Martian Manhunter
- Justice Lord Shayera Hol
- Justice Lord Superman
- Justice Lord Wonder Woman
- KGBeast
- Katma Tui
- The Key
- Kilowog
- Kyle Rayner
- Lashina
- Lex Luthor
- Lightray
- Mantis
- Martian Manhunter
- Metamorpho
- Mirror Master
- Mr. Miracle
- Nemesis
- Obsidian
- Orion
- Parasite
- The Question
- The Ray
- Red Tornado
- Rocket Red
- Sand
- The Shade
- Shayera Hol
- Shining Knight
- Silver Banshee
- Sinestro
- Shadow Thief
- Solomon Grundy
- Star Sapphire
- Stargirl
- Starman
- Steel
- Supergirl
- Superman
- Tomar Re
- Ultra-Humanite
- Vigilante
- Vixen
- Volcana
- Waverider
- Wildcat
- Wonder Woman
- Zatanna
[edit] Packaging
The line, in its various incarnations, has explored several types of packaging - single, 2-packs, 3-packs, 4-packs (as Justice League Toys R Us exclusives), 6-packs (as Target exclusives), and 7-pack (featuring the original members as Toys R Us exclusives both in the 3" and 4.5" scales.)
Once it was integrated into the DC Superheroes line, JLU sported redesigned orange packing, and followed suit when its 'sister' brand was redesigned with purple packaging in 2006. Now that it is part of the DC Universe rebrand, the packaging will be a form of the DC Universe Classics packaging (including character bios) with animated touches placed on it.
[edit] External links
- DC Hall of Justice -reviews of all Justice League figures]
- ToyOtter report on the jump from DC Direct to Mattel
- Detailed JLU Figure Listings
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