Mattel DC Superheroes

[Morgbug]

22 new figures?  Jeez, I'm still waiting on most of 2006's figures to show up at retail, or even ebay. 

[Morgbug]

We have the recarded Superman figures around now.  The variant (black around the S) isn't very rare up here, there were more on the pegs than the regular. 

[Mister Skeezler]

Just a heads-up, these are supposedly showing up at TRU and Target now. I haven't seen any of them, but that's the rumor I heard.

Anyone who finds Parasite, Supergirl, and/or Mongul that they don't want or need, let me know. 

[Brian]

Through a few online retailers, the next couple lineups for the DC Superheroes line have shown up.  If these hold out to be true (which it sounds like they are), it looks like a combo of repaints and a new figure here and there.  Also, the case packs leave a little to be desired, as usual with Mattel:

Mix 999T
Estimated arrival 3/15
1x Superman
1x Steel
1x Kal-El
1x Bizarro
1x Superman variant
1x Cyborg Superman


Mix 999U
Estimated arrival 3/15
*Specialty channel case mix
4x Knight Shadow Batman
1x Two-Face
1x Camo Bane

Mix 999G
Estimated arrival 4/10
1x Steel
1x Superman variant
1x Kal-El
1x Superman (black and gray)
1x Bizarro
1x Mongul

Mix 999H
Estimated arrival 5/5
3x Knight Shadow Batman
1x Batgirl
1x Two-Face
1x Camo Bane

Really not much new with this line at retail around here.  TRU still has the same Banes/Scarecrows they have had for months, Wal-Mart has bare pegs, and Target has recently gotten some purple carded figures - but just repacks of Superman and Bizarro (and not the "new" repainted Bizarro).  They also have some of the older figures, more Supermen.  I saw Parasite/Supergirl/Steel one time, and was kind of tight with the funds at the time, so had to leave Steel behind - now I really wish I would have picked it up.  Hopefully these will be easier to find as time goes on.  I have to say, of all the lines I pay the most attention to in the stores, I think the DC stuff (Superheroes and JLU) are by far the toughest to find.  It only looks like a couple new figures in the next few months, so I guess that's ok, I'll be spending enough elsewhere the way it is.  Its really too bad the WB/DC Direct won't let Mattel have the license for the entire DCU though.

[Morgbug]

Series 1 – Batman (December 2005)
__Batman (with blue or grey knee pins) (comic Batman line Dx. Bat Signal Batman retool, without signal)
__Bane (comic Batman line repack, with retooled hands)
__Scarecrow (comic Batman line repack)
__Killer Croc (comic Batman line retool with completely new head)
__CHASE: Bane with Osito

Series 2 – Superman (April 2006)
__Superman
__Supergirl (Linda Danvers)
__Doomsday
__Bizarro
__CHASE: Bizarro (with eye pupils)

Series 3 – Batman (Late July 2006)
All come with dioramas, start of S3 (Select Sculpt Series) logo on packaging
__Batman
__Robin (comic Batman line redeco)
__Azrael
__Mr. Freeze (comic Batman line retool with more articulation and new paint job)
__CHASE: Unknown (Maybe a Battle Damaged Batman?)
__CHASE 2: Unknown

Target Exclusive 2-Packs (August 2006)
__Superman (Series 2 repack) Vs. Bizarro (Series 2 repack)

Target Exclusive 2-Packs (August 2006?)
__Superman (Series 2 repack?) and Clark Kent
__Batman (Series 3 repack?) and Batgirl (Barbara Gordon)

Series 4 – Superman (October 2006?)
__Battle Damaged Superman(presumably Series 2 Superman repaint or retool)
__Lex Luthor
__Brainiac
__Darkseid
__CHASE: Dark Superman (was originally Series 2.5)
__CHASE 2: Dark Supergirl (was originally Series 2.5)
Could be that Dark variants have replaced Battle Damaged Superman and this is the start of 5 figure waves (originally said to be starting in 2007)

DC Super Heroes Checklist 2007

Series 5 - Superman (2007)
__Unknown Superman Variant
__Supergirl (Kara Zor-El)
__Steel (John Henry Irons)
__Parasite
__Mongul

Series 6 - Batman (2007)
__Unknown Batman Variant
__Batgirl (Cassandra Cain)
__Two-Face
__Catwoman
__Joker (comic Batman line repaint with new accessories)

What do those assortments mean in relation to the earlier listed stuff?

I'm guessing we're seeing the above listed series 5 showing up on the pegs now, though all I've seen so far are Superman and Bizarro figures on the new purple cards.  It's quite possible I missed the Parasite/Mongul figures, but Bizzaro showig up again isn't really all that reassuring. 

I was very much looking forward to the Series 6 release, but now I'm not even sure if it's coming at all.  I had high hopes for finding both of the Batgirl figures and a Catwoman figure in the same scale.  None of those current listings hold much interest for me as listed.

[Brian]

I'm not sure about that either Brent.  I was looking forward to the upcoming assortments as they were listed, but it seems as if Mattel is changing things up now.  I think that the figures listed will come out eventually, but they may be packed very low in cases with more re-releases/repaints.  Who knows, its hard to say.  Mattel just cancelled some upcoming JLU assortments, and replaced them with different ones (also via online stores such as BBTS), so maybe they are just switching things around.  They're tough enough to find the way it is, so it doesn't need to be worse.  Like I mentioned, I've only seen the new Parasite/Supergirl/Steel wave once, and haven't seen Mongul yet.

I'm kind of kicking myself for skipping the Clark Kent/Superman and Batman/Batgirl packs when I saw them late last year.  Money was tight around Christmas so I skipped them hoping I could get them later, but they're long gone now.

[Morgbug]

I have the unmasked version of Batgirl that comes with two heads, so I didn't really need the two pack version, but it would have been nice as I could display her with and without the mask on for a relatively cheap price and get a Batman in the bargain.  Of course those haven't shown up in Canada at all and I haven't been south of the border since September (well, other than Hawaii, but that doesn't count). 

There were images in Toyfare that I assume were pre-production images, but were actual figures, of series 6 including the Batgirl figures, so I'm surprised they aren't following through with them.  I thought that series was initially supposed to be out in the fall of 2006.

I'm guessing the whole production got scuttled a bit by all of the Superman movie figures being out there.  I know up here they sold reasonably well, but cut into the Superman Series 2 figure sales.  That wave was on the shelves for the better part of the year.  Series 3 I saw maybe 3-4 times total and I never saw Series 4. 

[Brian]

We were picking up some groceries quick at WM this weekend, and although there was nothing new for SW (darn Tantive BP), they did have a couple of Monguls on the pegs, so I picked one up.  Pretty nice figure overall.  Its too bad, it seems like this line has some nice, well-made figures in it, hopefully Mattel can keep it going and not turn it into another MOTU disaster with shipping/case pack problems.

[JediJman]

We were picking up some groceries quick at WM this weekend, and although there was nothing new for SW (darn Tantive BP), they did have a couple of Monguls on the pegs, so I picked one up.  Pretty nice figure overall.  Its too bad, it seems like this line has some nice, well-made figures in it, hopefully Mattel can keep it going and not turn it into another MOTU disaster with shipping/case pack problems.

Has anyone found Supergirl from this wave yet?  I've seen lots of Purple carded figs, but no Kara. 

[Brian]

I saw the blue-costumed Supergirl one time at our local Wal-Mart, when I picked it up.  Since then I think the only Supergirl figures I have seen are the black-skirted "variant" version.  Although I've been fortunate with my finds so far (still missing Steel), the supply hasn't been real plentiful around here.  Mostly Supermen and Bizarros.

[Brian]

This wave hit our local TRU this morning, so I was able to grab a Steel (the only one).  Also of note, they had something I hadn't seen before - a 5 pack of Batman figures through the years.  It had a "TRU Exclusive" sticker on it, and included the following:

Batman from B: TAS (actually, from TNBA I think)
Batman from "The Batman"
Batman from Justice League
Zip-Line Batman from the Mattel Comic line
Batman Begins Batman (the regular, black one)

Its not something anyone would likely want, since Batmen aren't usually too tough to find, but it looked kind of neat.  I think it was called "Batman Through the Years" or something along those lines, and ran about $30 if I recall correctly.  All the Batman figures included in the set were "normal" ones, with black and greyish deco (aside from the movie one).

[Ben]

Finally picked up a Darkseid. Now I wish I had picked up Luthor and Brainiac when I saw them after Christmas.

[Dr. Zoltar]

The Luthor in this set kicks butt.  Especially for those of you who have been following the Superman/Batman comics.  This is one of the best Luthors that have been created in a long time.

[Brian]

A poster on the Fwoosh forums has posted some pics (from online auctions I believe) of the upcoming wave of Batman figures.  It looks like a black repainted Batman (kind of neat), Two Face, Clayface, ManBat, Batgirl (Cassie Cain version), as well as repacked/repainted Mr. Freeze, Bane, and another Batman.  I don't know if these are all coming at once, or if they will be staggered out, but this should be the next ones on the way.  I've considered dropping this line to save some money, but it would be hard to pass up Clayface (and Two Face).

[Morgbug]

Been a while and with all the C4 news, this might be a little outside this week's topics of interest but I picked up a new Superman figure today.  Not from the DC superheroes line, but it seems to be where we have all our discussions, so rather than diluting it away. 

The DC Direct Infinite Crisis series 2 figures came out this week and I picked up one of each (if anyone's looking for Firestorm, lmk, I'm not remotely attached to it.  They're all pretty nice, but I was impressed with Superman enough to take his photo beside my favorite Superman, the variant from Ross' series 1:



I guess I just like angry Supermen.  It compares fairly favorable with the Ross version and is a nice sculpt.  The biggest problems are he's clenching his legs together pretty tight (gotta take a dump?) and they don't move, making him hard to stand.  The other is he, like the Batman in this series (who is basically a battle damaged version and wickedly cool too), suffers from massive deltoid disease preventing him from doing much other than stay in perpetual flex mode. 

Supe's legs are probably not meant to be such a problem as he's supposed to be displayed in flying mode - there's a stand in there to hold him up.  I'm pretty sure it won't work great, it's kind of flimsy like the McFarlane pegs/rods, but the intent is there. 

The rest of the series includes the already mentioned Batman and Firestorm.  There's also a pretty nice Wonderwoman in there too, if you're looking for a pretty decent sculpt without being over the top.  There are also Donna Troy and Wonder Girl figures in the assortment that are pretty nicely done as well, though they don't mean much to me beyond being female characters that are, um, well sculpted. 

I'm really slowing down on DC stuff now as I have sculpts I like of most of the characters I want.  The exception would be a Flash figure that hasn't been done to my satisfaction at this point.  At least not recently. 

As for the DC superheroes line, the only store carrying it is TRU and they keep getting the "new" wave 5 case with the new background.  But there's two versions of that shipping, one with Steel Parasite and Mongul.  The other only has two versions of Superman (black S variant), Supergirl and Bizzaro, packed at two per case.  It's awful and hideous and evil and exactly the case the stores keep putting out.  So we've got Superman, Bizzaro and the occasional Supergirl clogging the pegs from wave 5 with the exact same figures on different cards from wave 2.  This will naturally lead TRU to not carry these figures beyond this wave meaning I won't see the Cassandra Cain Batgirl up here.  Yay.