DC Universe: Justice League Unlimited Fan Collection explained

DC Universe: Justice League Unlimited Fan Collection is an action figure line based on the highly popular Justice League and Justice League Unlimited animated series. Though it was based on the show(s), the line has continued well beyond it, and has been re-branded in 2008, as a Target exclusive (in the US). Mattel announced in February 2011 that the line would come to an end later in the year with the final figures being released on the Mattel website including the final two three-packs, a seven-pack as well as the three exclusive Con three-packs being made available to the public.

History

The line itself has gone through many name changes.

Justice League/Justice League Mission Vision

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.

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, Bizarro, 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 Green Lantern Hal Jordan figures made available to the general public.

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 Mirror Master, Copperhead, Lex Luthor, Star Sapphire, Volcana, Deadshot, and Joker; 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.

DC Universe Fan Collection

With the re-branding of DC Superheroes into DC Universe, the JLU line followed suit beginning with series 7. 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. Outside the US, JLU has had only the one wave of 2009 singles surface at Toys r Us in Canada. These same single pack figures have also been showing up at discount in Big Lots stores throughout the USA.

The line continued with their comic-inspired repaints (such as Black-suit Superman, Classic Batman and Elongated Man), paint corrections (Red Tornado, Booster Gold, Dr. Fate and Zatanna), a continuation of Batman villains (from The New Batman Adventures, such as Bane, Scarecrow, Harley Quinn etc.) and brings to the table new lead characters (such as the Question and Captain Atom) and more background characters (from the Justice League and the Secret Society). By mid-2011, all of the expanded Justice League were made into figures except: The Creeper, Crimson Avenger (both costumes), Dr. Mid-Nite, Gypsy, Johnny Thunder & Thunderbolt, S.T.R.I.P.E. (both armours), and Speedy. Characters who were mentioned but didn't appear in any DCAU episodes such as Plastic Man and Cyborg started appearing in late 2009. Non-show characters to appear in the line include Superwoman, Firestorm, Ryan Choi Atom, Ultraman, Omac and the Doom Patrol.

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. Since it was part of the DC Universe re-brand, the packaging was in a form of the DC Universe Classics packaging (including character bios) with animated touches placed on it. Beginning in March 2010, the packing changes to the DC Comics' 75th Anniversary brand.

4-packs have been available at the Mattel Collector site. These are not actual 4-packs per se, but singles that are bundled in four. These were discontinued in 2010 after the Justice Guild release, due to insufficient sales. Mattel continued selling exclusives on their site (though in a different format) starting with Lobo in April 2010.

Figures - 4.5"

The line features three 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.

Justice League

Series 1 - 2003

Series 2 - 2003

Series 3 ("Attack Armor") - 2003

2-Pack Action Figures - 2003

Deluxe Action Figures - 2003

Vehicles - 2003

Series 4 ("Mega Armor") - 2003

Playsets - 2003

Series 5 ("Mission Vision") - 2004

Series 6 ("Mission Vision") - 2004

Series 6 ("Mission Vision") Deluxe Action Figures - 2004

Series 6 ("Mission Vision") Vehicles - 2004

Series 7 ("Morph Gear") - 2004

Series 8 ("Cyber Trakkers") - 2004

Series 9 ("Silver Storm") - 2004

Exclusives - 2004

Four Packs - 2004

Justice League Unlimited

Series 1 - 2004

Singles
3-Packs

Series 2 - 2004

Singles
3-Packs

Series 3 - Spring 2005

Singles
3-Packs

Series 4 - 2005

Singles
3-Packs

Series 5 - 2005

Singles

Series 6 - 2005

Singles

Target Exclusives - 2005

Exclusives - 2005

Vehicles - 2005

DC Superheroes: Justice League Unlimited

Series 1 - 2006 (Orange Package)

Singles
3-Packs

Series 2 - 2006 (Orange Package)

Singles
3-Packs

Series 3 - 2006 (Orange Package)

Singles
3-Packs

Series 4 - 2006 (Orange Package)

Singles
3-Packs

6-Pack

San Diego Comic-Con Exclusives

Series 5 - 2007 (Purple Package)

Singles
Re-Released Singles
3-Packs

Series 6 - 2007 (Purple Package)

Singles
3-Packs

Series 7 - 2007 (Purple Package)

3-Packs

Series 8 - 2007 (Purple Package)

Singles

Re-Released Singles

3-Packs

6-Pack

Series 9 - 2007 (Purple Package)

Singles
3-Packs

Series 10 - 2007 (Purple Package)

3-Packs

Exclusives

DC Universe: Justice League Unlimited

San Diego Comic-Con 2008 Exclusive - July 2008

Wave One - August 2008 (Orange Package)

Singles
Three-Packs
Six-Packs

Wave Two - November 2008 (Orange Package)

Singles
Three-Packs
Six-Packs

Wave Three - First Quarter 2009 (Orange Package)

Singles
Three-Packs

San Diego Comic-Con 2009 Exclusive - July 2009

Wave Four - Fall 2009 (Orange Package)

Six-Packs
Three-Packs

Wave Five - December 2009 (Orange Package)

Six-Packs
Three-Packs

Wave Six - February 2010 (Orange Package)

Singles

Wave Seven - February 2010 (Orange Package)

Singles

Wave Eight - May 2010

Singles (Anniversary Packaging)
Three-Packs (Orange Package)

Wave Nine - July 2010 (Anniversary Packaging)

Singles

Wave Ten - Fall 2010 (Anniversary Packaging)

Singles
Three-Packs - 2011

MattyCollector.com Exclusives

Four-Packs of Singles
Three-Packs
Oversized Singles
Two-Packs
Seven-Pack
Final release Three-Packs

These items were for sale on MattyCollector.com, one per month starting in July 2012

Notes

  1. "AFi First Look – The JLU Fan-Demanded Collection Boxed Set ", JuliusMarx, Action Figure Insider site, published 20 September 2011.

External links

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