on February 15, 2010, 08:55:00 PMHAIL AND FAREWELL: The Last Matty JLU Exclusive Set
by DoctorTerrific
The two words that come to mind with regard to the MATTEL Justice League Unlimited collection are "fun" and "diversity". The JLU collection spans a multitude of heroes, villains, teams, adventures, vehicles, and costume changes(!). The JLU collection has scaled back in recent years to TARGET releases and internet specials on the Matty Collector website. While maintaining a dedicated number of new figures to variants of Child-popular characters Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, etc., JLU has continued to both delve deeper into the show's broad range of characters and create new characters in the show's "animated" style.
Therein lies the JLU conundrum: In a show that featured literally hundreds of heroes, villains, and support characters which ones should be made into figures? The answer?
The Justice Guild.
The Justice Guild are an extra-dimensional team of heroes that exist on the JLU world as comicbook characters. The JLU travel to the Justice Guild world accidently and find it jarring- it is a world set in the 1950's, with different morals, social roles, and codes of engagement with Super Villains. Each Justice Guild member is reminiscent of a JLU counterpart, as The Green Guardsman has powers similar to Green Lantern, Cat-Man and Black Siren are well-trained athletes, similar to Batman and Black Canary, The Streak runs just like The Flash, and Tom Turbine is super strong, just like Superman.
These characters have been reproduced in amazing detail for the last Matty collector set, on sale Feb 16th.
Green Guardsman has a new headsculpt and cape design. He would make an amazing Alan Scott Green Lantern, although I hear rumors of his eventual release. He may make for a challenging Count Vertigo.
The Streak has a new headsculpt, boots, and brilliant colour palate, using a bright red that matches the era of the character. This figure could make for an amazing LIGHTING from the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents.
Tom Turbine is probably my favorite sculpt. His head design screams vintage heroics, especially SLAM BRADLEY, or a Golden Age Superman. His belt reminds me of DYNAMO from the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents and, amazingly, his wrist and ankle cuffs are sculpted. Lovely.
The Black Siren is just a simple, clean, well-done sculpt. I like her head sculpt, although I find I need the included figure stand to keep her upright. Is she the GA Black Canary? The second Mento T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agent?
Cat-Man is built off of the Batman base, so he is a little larger than the other figures. He has the more classic Batman utility belt and a slightly re-worked mask to give him a more "cat" look. He has deep blue and midnight blues that really pop in bright lights. That headsculpt would make for a great SECRET SIX Catman.
These figures are a surprising delight. In a million years, I never would have voted to make this set, instead opting for more relevant show characters (such as the Future Justice League) or other DC COMICS characters (such as the Justice Society or the Suicide Squad). Yet, this set oozes sincerity and an incredible dedication to quality and detail. Every one of these figures is well made.
In close, I must say that I never understood the choices that Matty Collector made in creating limited release JLU figures. They weren't uniformly ones I wanted or ones I thought would sell gang busters. I can honestly say, of the ones I have (Bat-Rogues, Doom Patrol, Marvel Family), the Justice Guild will have a special place along side them.
Doc
Talk About it Here!!
* For those of you over-serious types, you know who you are....yes we know there are only 4 figures in this set, we were trying to subtly point out the ridiculousness of releasing a FIVE figure team in a FOUR figure set. Now you may carry on your wild accusations of bizarre conspiracies. |
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