Comments on: Hasbro Interview – Vinnie D’Alleva

By: Ham Salad

Ham Salad — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 03:37:34 +0000

Don’t forget the mail-away translucent Total Justice Superman and Batman in Cyber-Link Armor.

And the ToyFare exclusives Reverse Flash and Eradicator. (The last one may or may not be a part of the line, depending on who you ask.)

And the six Warner Bros Studio Store exclusive repaints, under the DC Super Heroes banner: Aquaman, Fractal Armor Batman, Robin, Green Arrow, Hawkman and Despero

Pics of all here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/hamsalad/sets/72157602285693628/

I loved this line. It was my Super Powers.

By: DanMan

DanMan — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 17:24:28 +0000

Man I loved the JLA line, it blew away Total Justice with it’s comic accurate paint jobs and fantastic character selection that was actually current with the comic storylines. I was so pumped to get Young Justice figures too, I really wished the line would’ve continued to get some of the girls in it as well. I’m feeling old now that I’m being nostalgic for a line that doesn’t seem that long ago to me!

By: superfriend

superfriend — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 15:26:36 +0000

Reading these comments makes me think I need to clarify a few things.
I know as collectors we have merged the two lines in our heads, but:
Total Justice was done by the Kenner boys team in Cincinnati, Ohio.
JLA was done by the Hasbro team in Pawtucket, RI.

Kenner:
Total Justice:
Wave 1: Batman, Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman, Robin, Darkseid.
Wave 2: Batman Armored, Superman, Hawkman, Despero
Wave 3: Green Arrow, Black Lightning, Huntress, Parallax.

Hasbro Direct:
(Vinnie’s team) released what was planned for wave 4 of Total Justice under the Hasbro: DC SuperHeroes line (along with with what was planned for Superman Man of Steel wave 3).
From TJ4:
1. Flash Armored (with tiny Atom) and Blue Beetle 2pack.
(Ted Kord version of Blue Beetle).
2. Green Lantern Armored and Dr. Polaris.
From SMOS3:
1. Superman Battle Damaged and Metallo
2. Superboy Surf version and King Shark.

Hasbro:
JLA:
Wave 1: Batman 1, Superman Blue, Superman Red, Flash, Green Lantern, Green Arrow, Huntress.
Wave 2: Batman Movie, Superman, Aquaman, Steel, Martian Manhunter.
Wave 3: Batman 3, Plastic Man, Zauriel, Robin, Superboy, Impulse.
Wave 4: Batman 4, Superman 2, Atom, Red Tornado, Wonder Woman.

Boxed sets of 5 were also available, came with 3 existing figures and 2 new ones. 4 sets. 3 of the new sets came with translucent “Hard Light” versions of the same figures from the at that time current story line. Superman Blue, Batman, Flash, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, Aquaman. The 4th set came with Lex Luthor and the Joker.

I think that covers it.

By: CJB

CJB — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 14:30:32 +0000

Does Mr.D’Alleva still work in the toy industry?

By: jtd

jtd — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 00:42:19 +0000

Nice interview Superfriend! I’ve also communicated with Vinnie a few times about his work on G.I. Joe, and he’s really a cool & helpful guy. Nice to learn about his involvement with Total Justice.

By: Brad R.

Brad R. — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 23:18:24 +0000

Sorry, my bad. I think the JLA line was actually a better line, with more classic looks for some of the characters. Wonder Woman was cool and Blue Beetle in particular was very cool with that blue metallic paint. I thought the lines left a lot to be desired as far as articulation was concerned, but at the time these were the only DC figures available. I did quite a few custom figures at the time to fill out my collection (all of which I still have and some of which will be in the next Custom Con). Anyway, great interview!

By: superfriend

superfriend — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 22:49:41 +0000

Brad,
Sam was asking why Parallax was not done in JLA. I assumed he was referring to why this figure was made in Total Justice, but not in JLA.

By: TRDouble

TRDouble — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 20:18:13 +0000

Great interview! I was much like Hourman; I hated the line, but because that was it for DC, I bought up JLA, went back and got Total Justice figures, and they ended up making for a great display. But when something better finally came along, off to eBay they went! I kept a few, like Black Lightning, Conner Hawke and Huntress — figures I never expected to see made again — but I do wish I kept Wonder Woman too. She was a good figure.

By: Brainlock

Brainlock — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 19:59:26 +0000

Thanks for that interview, Erik.

I used to have that Cesspool fig, one of the last ones I bought as the Joe line descended into neon stupidity.

and really need to check if I managed to save a lot of those JLA figs. I know I have a WW, but the ones left in boxsets are def gone. I know I still a have a few that were customed (Bart into Flash 1M), and a lot of the ones I had out on display, but never have taken an inventory of what I did manage to rescue.

and yeah, Parallax came out in the Black Lightning and Huntress wave. I even customed a Neron from him! LOL!

By: Brad R.

Brad R. — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 18:58:10 +0000

A Hal Jordan as Parallax figure was produced, IMO one of the better figures in the Total Justice/JLA line.

By: superfriend

superfriend — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 20:16:29 +0000

The idea of JLA, explained to me by Vinnie all those years ago, was that Total Justice seemed to be kind of random. DC had relaunched the Justice League comic with the big name heroes as “JLA”. The JLA name on the toy line was to tap into that popularity. Which is why we got characters specific to that title. Electric Blue Superman, Martian Manhunter, Steel, Plastic Man, and Zauriel. Young Justice was called “JLA Jr.” by some. That – and the existing TJ Robin figure – made them a logical extension of the line. My guess is Parallax had no logical connection to the comic, so was not considered.

By: Hourman

Hourman — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 19:14:13 +0000

I had a weird relationship with Total Justice. I hated the figures from the beginning, yet I bought a lot of them,because they were the only DC figures around for a period of time, and I wanted DC figures. Amd needless to say, when anything better came along, I dumped my entire TJ collection on eBay.

By: sam moreno

sam moreno — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 23:46:29 +0000

How come they never released ''PARALAXX'' for jla?

By: CantinaDan

CantinaDan — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 22:09:49 +0000

Sweet interview. Love hearing about what things are like on the other side of our hobby. Gotta track down a Cesspool!