AFi 2009 JLU Poll Results
We ran the poll for a month. And this is what our readers told us. 126 posters voted.
Top 10 Overall (votes – character)
No category restrictions here.
53 Kalibak
46 Toyman
45 STRIPE
44 Killer Frost
42 Blue Beetle (Ted Kord)
42 Captain Cold
39 Vandal Savage
33 Gypsy
32 Granny Goodness
28 Livewire
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Top 5 Male Heroes (votes – character)
60 STRIPE
53 Blue Beetle (Ted Kord)
40 Crimson Avenger
35 Speedy
28 Dr. Midnite
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Top 5 Male Villains (votes – character)
64 Kalibak
61 Toyman (JLU)
58 Vandal Savage
53 Captain Cold
26 Captain Boomerang
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Top 5 Female Characters (votes – character)
63 – Killer Frost
52 – Gypsy
44 – Granny Goodness
42 – Livewire
35 – Circe
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Anomalies. During the middle of the poll, it was revealed via eBay auctions that Mr. Terrific, Hourman, and Adult Supergirl were coming. This obviously skewed some voting. We know that votes for Mr. T were removed after the reveal. Adult Supergirl still scored in the Top 10 most wanted overall and top 5 female characters, but since she is coming, I decided to remove her. The Doom Patrol was also revealed, but this did not seem to impact voting.
Animated Only? There was discussion before the poll that it should be limited to DC Animated Universe only. Despite opening it up to the entire DCU, only 1 character not on the show did well. Blue Beetle II, Ted Kord. It was widely discussed during the show that with all the other member from every era of the JL plus the JSA and 7SV that Ted (and Firestorm) should have been on the show. Investigations at www.ToonZone.net turned up that the Blue Beetle name and character were not allowed to be used. Maybe it was this feeling of omission from the show that drove Ted to such heights (Firestorm has been hinted as coming in a slide during a Mattel presentation).
My thanks to those who helped tabulate the results and everyone who voted – all 126 of you. Without your participation, none of this would be possible. And now hopefully Mattel has a better idea of which characters are our JLU Most Wanted.
Link to full results: Full Results of AFi 2009 JLU Poll
Picture Credits to: www.WorldsFinestOnLine.com
Thanks for choosing the Vandal picture from Savage time because that’s exactly the one I want to see! I’m really pleased with the results too. My only real complaints would be Dick Grayson Robin not getting a few more votes and Circe making the top 5.
We all have those we wish would have done better. For me that is Static. I really feel with 4 seasons of his own show he needs to be made. But the point of the poll is to see what the majority wants. I’m continually surprised by some of the winners. For example, what exactly did Dr. Mid-Nite do on the show? What is the appeal of Gypsy? I included the link to the full results so people can see how the other characters did.
I’d love to see a young and old Static too. Here’s hoping the line lives long enough to get us everyone!
Huh?
“Investigations at http://www.ToonZone.net turned up that the Blue Beetle name and character were not allowed to be used.”
But it’s okay for DC Comics to have at least three different Blue Beetle characters since the Golden Age. And it’s okay for The Batman Brave and Bold line to have Jaime Reyes Blue Beetle toys.
I’m confused.
I recall hearing a few years back that the Blue Beetle rights issues were from some decades old licensing agreement (possibly going back to the golden age version) and that they expired in 2007. Too bad JLU didn’t make it that long to have Ted on the show, but Brave and the Bold’s been doing a great job with Jaime (and did right by Ted too).
As an aside I found a Brave and the Bold Blue Beetle figure at ToysRus yesterday (along with some Superman (and Phantom Zone Projector) and Batman (with Wonder Pig) figures — first time I’ve seen the Target exclusives in Canada) and thought they did a decent job with it. Plus the smaller figure meant fewer holes.
Have a good day.
John Cage
Howard,
During JLU, it was noticed that the cast included almost every hero from every era of the Justice League plus the JSA and the classic 7 Soldiers of Victory. When you looked at the cast, a few glaring omissions stood out.
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Firestorm – Satellite Era
Blue Beetle – International
Plastic Man – Modern (at that time).
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http://www.ToonZone.net was among the sites that led the crusade to find out why these character did not even make it into the background scenes.
In Blue Beetle’s case, the name was tied to a licensing deal with the 1930′s radio show which stated basically, “No character using the name Blue Beetle could appear in any other electronic medium, even ones not yet created.” This contract prevent any version of Blue Beetle to appear on JLU. It expired between the time JLU ended and Brave and Bold started, allowing a Blue Beetle to appear on the new show.
So, um, the Blue Beetle I remember showing up in the Electric Company of my youth was illegal? “I would if I could, but I can’t, so I won’t. Please forgive me if I don’t!”
It’s not like, even after they annouce they’ll make these, that most of us will ever actually see them.
Well at least Plastic Man was referenced or actually mentioned (I forget which one now).
Firestorm was withheld because DiDio wanted to replace fan-favorite Ronnie with Jason. Ted Kord DID make a cameo in an early release PROMO pic, but was replaced with Obsidian in the aired episode. Notice Booster and Obsidian hanging out in the medlab background at the end of “Initiation”? That was originally Ted. A few minor changes were also made with placement of several characters during Superman’s opening speech when the camera pans the assembled Leaguers.
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j1h – Plas was mentioned to be helping fight Mordru in “The Greatest Story Never Told” featuring Booster, but it was Ralph who saved the day in that unseen fight.
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Thanks for the poll!
I can’t explain Blue Beetle either, but I’m thrilled. With all of the others that were included, he and Firestorm were glaring omissions in my opinion.
For the others, there’s a desire to finish the League from the show. With Hourman & Mr Terrific already confirmed, that just leaves Gypsy, Dr Midnite, STRIPE, Speedy and Crimson Avenger.
Hmm… now where have I heard those exact names before…
Hmmmm. Looking over that list I’m going to assume everyone wanted to vote for Catman but just didn’t know if they should put him in the villain or hero category. Next time do me a favor and have a top 5 Catman category.
If you follow the link in the blog, and look through the thread, you will see that Catman got 8 votes in the “Overall” vote where there were no restrictions. Catman also got 8 votes in the Top 5 Male villains category. I don’t think anyone who wanted to vote for Catman had any difficulty doing so.
Yes, but if there was a category where voters were FORCED to vote for Catman…. that would make much happier.
Considering how long the show has been in syndication and the cancellation of the comics I am amazed and thankful that Mattel and Target continue to support the figure line.
I hope that we see some (of course I’d love to see all) of these characters produced and that we’re doing this again next year.
Thanks, Superfriend, for the number crunching. Truly appreciate your dedication and the time you invested.
Thanks for getting this together, Erik. Good choices overall. I’ll be happy to see any one of these. Little bummed that Morgaine Le Fey didn’t make it. But “what is the appeal of Gypsy?” I don’t know – cool looking character that will make a cool looking figure.
I thought it was worth taking a look at Chip’s old blog about “finishing the show”.
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http://www.actionfigureinsider.com/blog/chipcataldo/jlu-finishing-the-show-redux/
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Its interesting to see how many of those are being made OR ended up in our top lists here. Waller, Terrific, and Supergirl are on their way. Kalibak, Toyman, Stripe, Vandal Savage, Granny Goodness all scored in the Top 10 Overall category.
With these results I’d love to see the following boxsets.
“Hereafter”
Kalibak
Toyman
Livewire
Weather Wizard
Vandal Savage
Superman (Bearded preferred but not necessary)
“Patriot Act”
Crimson Avenger
STRIPE
Speedy
Stargirl
Shining Knight
Vigilante
“The Brave and the Bold”
Batman or Green Lantern
Flash
Captain Cold
Killer Frost
Captain Boomerang
Gypsy
Nice ideas. Especially “Hereafter”
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For Patriot Act, we have 1/2 of those already. I’d like to sub in Spy Smasher and the General for Stargirl and Shining Knight.
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For Brave & Bold, trade in Trickster for Batman/GL making it “Flash and Substance”, and I’m sold!
I agree with 2 out of the three …… Numbers 1 and 3 ……. More Vilians …… who really cares about the Patriot ……
Well, “Patriot Act” featured the only appearance of Speedy on JLU, the only major appearance of Crimson Avenger on JLU, and one of STRIPES’s 3 major appearances on JLU. All 3 of these are in the top 5 male heroes requested based on the poll. I think this demonstrates a fair demand for them.
But the completish thing, only refer to heroes that were on the show, there are still plenty of villans that are missing….
Tons. Most Villain demand in the past seems to have focused on completing groups of villains that worked together in episodes of JL. We saw that in past demand for Cheetah.
The solo villains did not get as much fan demand. Or attention from Mattel. Season 1: White Martians. Manhunters. Atlanteans. Felix Faust. Mongul. Vandal Savage. Season 2: Dr. Destiny. Despero. Eclipso. Thanagarians.
While Darkseid, Brainaic, Joker and Amazo have been made, this group is by far under represented.
That’s a list I would LOVE to see Mattel get into right there. They could probably do a 6-pack of army builder characters…Parademons, White Martians, Thanagarians, Manhunters, Atlanteans and maybe even Watch Tower employees and sell tons of those to collectors.
superfriend says:
“I’m continually surprised by some of the winners. For example, what exactly did Dr. Mid-Nite do on the show? What is the appeal of Gypsy?”
What can we say? The heart wants what the heart wants.
Although they didn’t do much on the show, they have enough of a history in the comic book realm to have a following. I’ve been a fan of Gypsy since the mid-80s when I picked up Justice League of America for the first time. But then, I’m an odd-ball who likes B- and C-listers.
And besides, if they can make action figures of characters who are dead in the comics-verse (Vibe, Steel, I’m looking at you) then I would think making a figure of a character who is still alive should be a no-brainer.
That was one of the cool things about the JLU show, was that it did include DC characters which we have not seen in a long time, dead and alive. Hawk and Dove even got featured in one episode. I keep forgetting that Vibe and Steel got made because I never saw them to have the chance to buy them.