Red Arrow’s primary accessory would have to be his base. I have a love/hate relationship with the Young Justice bases. I really don’t need them and I don’t think Mattel is really designing them effectively. There are cool little features I appreciate. Red Arrow’s base features a wanted poster for Sportsmaster that his arrows can be plugged into (similar to Artemis’ base). It also features a loose compatibility with Robin’s base in that the dimensions are the same and they kinda look alright sitting next to one another – but they don’t connect.
Coincidentally, I think that’s the biggest flaw with these bases. Imagine if each figure featured a piece of a giant training room playset or if an upcoming third figure featured a third (cornerless) section of rooftop that could be placed between these two? How cool would that be? There’d still be issues – the bases aren’t designed to snap together and the colors on Red Arrow’s and Robin’s are somewhat compatible, but don’t exactly match. I guess I don’t mind the bases, but I wish the folks at Mattel would be more effective in how they used them. Until then, these bases end up in a box while the figures are on display.
Red Arrow also included his bow and four unique arrows. There are some cool features here as well – the bow could be strung with some fishing line if you’re so inclined and the bow features two clip-on spots for the arrows. That last part is pretty cool, I thought. How many times do we see these guys loading up two or three arrows on their bow? Sure, it’s ridiculous, but it looks damn cool and this figure can pull it off.
Alas, not all is well in accessory land. Remember how I mentioned Red Arrow’s arrows could be plugged into his base just like Artemis’ could be plugged into hers? Here’s the dumb part – they didn’t make the pegs for the different sets of arrows the same size. That’s just stupid. Whether you’re a toy collector or a wee tot, you’re going to want those arrows to be cross-compatible and the Mattel designers not realizing that or not making it happen just blows my mind. Shouldn’t Mattel have the best of the best designing these figures. Shouldn’t they catch obvious little things like that?
Overall, despite a few warts, I actually enjoy having Red Arrow here. Would I have picked it up at Target for $20? Well, I can’t say that I would have. He’s definitely one of the better figures in the line so far. And I appreciate the sculpt and accessories even though the arrows and the base have obvious, overlooked issues.
But the biggest thing for me is that Red Arrow isn’t part of the team. He’s a cool anicillary figure and I’d feel a lot better about picking up figures like Red Arrow and Guardian, or villains like Sportsmaster, if I knew we were going to get a regular Superboy & Miss Martian for sure. Mattel (& DC Comics) have taken a lot of enjoyment out of collecting DC figures of late. And not getting a complete Young Justice team out in the first five waves? That just seems to continue the trend. I’ll never say never when it comes to the prospect of Sportsmaster or Guardian reviews here at IAT, but Mattel’s conventional wisdom (dinosaur business practices?) towards team completion is making this a hard line for me to stay excited about.
For more DC reviews, check out our
DC Universe Classics Collector’s Guide.
It’s too bad that all I see when I look at these is Artemis’s smooth belly-buttonless stomach. It’s like she’s cosplaying herself wearing one of those flesh-colored bodysuits so she’s not really showing her midriff. We all know belly-buttons get you gents hot. Just ask “I Dream of Jeannie”.
yer damned right sister, an exposed navel has helped launched madonna, britney, christina… just about every singer who’s first single wasn’t about lesbian makeout sessions.
you know, i will admit, i oggled that sale when news of it made the rounds. i double checked the bank account and everything, i was really quite close to pulling the trigger… and then i really examined why i wanted them. it was much more about the display bases than the figures themselves, i like the cartoon, but the figures just aren’t really my bag. so even at 9 bucks a piece, i was essentially tossing $4.5 per fig out the window. and then i really looked at the displays. they’re not really all that big (i’d seen robin and artemis locally, and actually ran across aqualad two days ago), and they don’t mesh w/ each other at all. and so i passed. there are plenty of pieces out there i can scrounge off ebay for little more than 40 bucks that are more in scale w/ my desired display preference and will look more in theme w/ my collection. the mish-mash of themes for this set of displays really in the end kept me from making a mistake.
If the bases were awesome, non-YJ collectors would be buying them for the bases and chucking the figures. Similar to how the MOTU/DC packs were supposed to sell when the much larger DC buying collectorbase had zero use for them.
File this complaint so you can repeat for the eventual Stargirl review.
If you want to know how this line will end in regards to team completion, then see Justice Lords, JLU 10 inch.
Ideally, there won’t be any super rare foreign releases in the mix, but yeah.
I don’t understand the draw it out policy in the extreme. I get that it’s trying to combat attrition, but if a six-man team isn’t completed in the first twelve figures (especially at this snail paced release of two/wave) then what’s the incentive to keep us hooked? It’s ironic considering how I couldn’t take a step in my house without tripping over one of the extra JLU big seven for awhile there.
Oh wait, there’s Mattel out! You complain when we make them too much and when we make them too little! lol
I was in much the same boat as you: yet another team that I’ll probably never complete.
I passed on the 4″ figures until I saw Vandal in StL county Halloween wkd. Had I been paying any attention, I might have snagged Canary as well…or passed as I’ve finally seen her online and she has V-HIPS. sigh…really?
ANYWAY.
Shortly after snagging Vandal, I saw 6″ Roy and Aqualad at my nearest WM and grabbed Roy. A week later, I found out about the Mattel Shop sale and bit the bullet. Like you, I got my set in a few days, while Matty seems to take at least ten to reach me after bouncing around CA/NVNVNV/CA/UT/WY/CO/KS before hitting main StL PO distribution area.
BUT THEN UPS dropped the M-shop package off with the POST OFFICE??? oy.
(FYI cyber-Monday sale arrived in Hazelwood yesterday AM, double-checked yesterday afternoon, so I don’t expect them until tomorrow. maybe. just checked, nothing today.)
The guys seem fine, but Artemis’ arm almost looked broken (aside from that fugly noggin). I went back to local Target and was going to buy one of the two that have been gathering dust there, esp now with the 1/2 off sale. I never looked at them before, but BOTH have their arms nearly twisted off sideways their shoulder sockets. oy.
I’m not going to argue Roy’s animated head look until I see DCUC 20’s Red Arrow. At least for now, I’ll have a spare to custom my favorite look: Brown Arrow from the “The Titans” run from a few volumes back when they fought Tartarus and Vic was a golden T-1000. It’s better than the purple shirt. (altho I wouldn’t mind the yellow vest, tbh.)
oh and is Sportsmaster only getting the YJ push because of the upcoming Big Reveal? I think so. Not sure why he got tapped for the Bat:B&B line, tho, while other more worthy candidates got ignored or yanked (Flash).
I get tempted to buy the 4″ at times, but I stay strong. I’m not certain that I’ll be able to avoid Guardian or Sportsmaster should I find them, but I should try harder than I will.
Both Robin & Aqualad are much better figures than Robin & Artemis, so that maybe a sign of good things to come with the future figures. I enjoyed that Titans run and loved Cyborg in gold, but if I talk much more about that, it’ll turn into a long anti-GJ rant…
I love this line and I’m out to get all of them, especially the Batman!
Batman… I’ve got some thoughts on why that silver Batman is kinda cool, but I’ll save that for my Legacy Wave 2 review (which should be coming next week!)
I want to collect this line, but I’ve never seen Aqualad or Red Arrow at retail. After four months of staring at the same Robins and Artemi, I just don’t care. This line is too close to DOA right out of the gate.
Red Arrow is popping up now and Aqualad is showing up at Target, but yeah, they have to poke through those leftover Robin & Artemi (that’s funny!) figures.
I’d buy this line in both scales because I love the show, but the price is awful. $20 a pop is just too rich for my blood.
That should deter me more than it does…
Why can’t we get a Roy in the main line already? And I don’t mean that Kingdom Come version the creatively bankrupt writers brought into the modern comics, but a classic Speedy or an Arsenal to fill out some Titans rosters?
Incorporating KC versions is creatively bankrupt… I kinda like that.
Agreed on Arsenal/Speedy/Roy. Mattel’s priorities with the DC line went out of whack last year when the Geoff Johns creations started overpopulating the line.
The modern flare has definitely killed some of my interest. Waves 18 & 19 were light years ahead of 17 & 20 this year for me.
It doesn’t look to be doing better any time soon though. All three sub figures are, as you say, Geoff Johns versions. And two of the first three all-stars figures are similarly from him too.
When you put it that way Flashpoint Plastic Man isn’t so bad. LOL 😀
“Why can’t we get a Roy in the main line already?”
There is a Red Arrow coming in DCUC 20, which is the last wave before the “Reboot” into DC All-Stars. Unless that’s what you meant with the KC version?
yeah, I’d much rather have the “Brown” Arrow from The Titans or 90s yellow vest Roy over Red Arrow. (and I’d suggest a minifig of Lian, but now….? too gruesome.
Reading all this, it suddenly strikes me. Try this on for size:
Mattel is under the delusion that their DC figures are being released in a timely manner that coincides with the comics! The figures produced are somehow seen as exactly what the comic buyers want!
Yet it’s been told to us over and over that it takes about a year from greenlight to production. That’s way too much lag time in this day and age, by the time a corporate megalith like Mattel figures out a ‘hot trend’ it’s long dead and buried by the time product actually hits shelves.
From what I’ve seen in comic book production it’s all well and good to have a plan for the next year or more (DC’s New 52 for one) but a LOT can change between that early story conference and actual implementation. Look at the Wonder Woman comic, clearly the look was supposed to be current with the WW TV series that DIED DEAD and didn’t get past pilot stage.
Ahh, I’m still chewing on this. I suppose that it all can be filed under the concept that Mattel just has all these dinosaur legacy policies and procedures that just drag them into a morass of lazy crap. There’s no real risk taking, no real ownership of problems and SOLVING them, blah blah blah.
coller
Build-a-Playsets would sure make these more enticing. Cost is less of an issue for me lately, since there are so few toys out or announced that I care to buy at any price. The main DC line’s new direction is a big part of that.
I’ve decided I’m in whether they finish the team or not, though that should never have been in question. This line should’ve been cheaper – just a DCU offshoot with a few more accessories – and a complete main cast in normal uniforms should’ve been followed up with variants galore. I’d buy at least a couple repaints in stealth and snow suits. I can’t say how many M’ganns would be too many. Four? Five? Cheerleader, invisible, human casual, Halloween…
More than price and completion, the #1 barrier for me is quality control. I’ve seen two Aqualads and both have glaring paint errors. If I ever find a good one, I’ll shell out the $20+ to get him, but it’s tough when the same two (and one Robin) have been at my Wal-Mart for over a month solid. The next closest Wal-Mart doesn’t carry DC figures at all, and the last time I checked Target they were stuck on Wave 1.
they couldnt make enough Miss Martians