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Tuesday, May 06, 2008

DC Universe Aquaman by Mattel - 2008

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I was on a dry streak that lasted months--months!--in terms of finding any new figures, either from the Justice League Unlimited or DC Universe lines--at my local Targets.

No matter when I showed up--Tuesday morning, Tuesday afternoon, Wednesday afternoon, Sunday morning--all I ever found were Justice Lord 3-packs or Ice Skater Superman from the DCU line. I started to wonder, was my town filled with nothing but eBay Power Sellers?

But fortune shined brightly me on me last week, when during a trip to Target for some other items, I took a cursory look in the action figure aisle. And while there were no JLU figures to be had, there was something even better--this DC Universe Aquaman figure! Great Neptune, what luck! I grabbed the one last Aquaman on the peg so fast the sound of it arrived a few seconds later.

As you've no doubt seen from the advance photos, DC Universe is a quite a nice line of action figures. The assortment of heroes and villains is nice, the men aren't too over-muscled, and the packaging is nice. I especially like the close-up on Arthur's eyes, done in monochromatic tones. A nice arty touch.

And as you can see on the back, you get a brief history of the character, as well as a mention of his first appearance in More Fun Comics #72. I guess the only thing that would've been cooler if that was actually correct, since Aquaman first appeared in More Fun Comics #73. A mistake not up there with that upside down stamp, but still!

Aside from that minor detail, it's a fine representation of the King of the Seven Seas, and between this and the DC Super Friends Aquaman, our hero has a higher profile on the nation's toy shelves than he has had in a long, long while!

6 comments:

Derek said...

I work in a Target. We've had the same three Wave 1 Batmans for a long while now.

So imagine my surprise when I came to work and found a bunch of Wave 2 figures. I passed on the Red and Blue Supermen (who cares?), the Ronnie Raymond Firestorm (I want the Jason Rusch variant), and the Harley Quinn (which was defective with a blue, cracked face).

But you better believe I got my Aquaman and Black Manta. Still looking for the AJ Aquaman variant, though.

Anonymous said...

I REALLY want this figure. I have to drive an hour to the nearest Target and TRU, so pickin's are slim here. Wal-Mart is due to start carrying this soon, so maybe I'll get to catch up.

As for the first appearance gaff, Robin fans like myslef have had to deal with that for years. Somewhere, sometime in the early 90s (I think in the loose-leaf Who's Whos) they gave Robin/Dick Grayson's first appearance as Detective Comics #29. Of course its #38, almost a year later. But that mistake has stuck in just about every instance Dick's debut is mentioned. Ugh!!!

Chris

Adama said...

You lucky bastard! Outside of one instance of Blue Superman, I;ve seen nothing of wave one around here. I want my Ronnie Firestorm, my Aquaman, and my Black Manta!

I FINALLY find myself an Aquaman from the DC Superfriends line!

Anonymous said...

Just noticed something. None of the other characters have titles, but Aquaman is called "King of Atlantis" on the front and back of the package. Wonder why?

Chris

rob! said...

good catch, chris--that is odd!

Erik said...

Yea, my town is filled to the brim with eBayers and the like. It took me til today to get my Super Friends Aquaman (of which I nearly died when I saw it, they also had the Aquaman packed with the vehicle) and while I've seen the Black Manta, I've yet to come across Aquaman. Someday though. Someday.