If you're referring to DCUC, the "modern" figures made up a handful (at best) of the line. The line was overwhelmingly classic in its lineups.


Me, too (well, Dove could've been either Don or Dawn for me, really). But apparently, the only collectors of this line that had a right to get the figures they wanted are the ones that have been reading comics for decades and decades. Everybody else's wants were wrong.

I'm on the middle ground here. I agree, the DC Universe Classics series wasn't classic enough... but I think classic is a subjective term. I would like to see the line represent the more recognized versions of characters. This being a double edged sword can work two ways. Sometimes the more recognized version of characters are classic versions and other times it's a modern version.

This will probably rattle some cages but I like how we got two Riddlers over time. One reflects the modern day and one reflects the classic era.

Eh I don't know what I'm saying, I think the line started off Classic enough but in the end lost that.

It is what it is. There are obviously figures I didn't like and others I wanted. Do I think that Geoff Johns has some input? Sure. But I don't think he's running things.

I personally don't even have an issue with him getting some things he wants. Like him or hate him, he's been a huge reason for some of DC's success the last 10 years. Do I want to see multiple waves just full of his figures? No, probably not.

The line had to have some modernization to sell at retail. If they weren't going to have Superman/Batman in every wave, they had to at least try to put some characters out that people recognized. I think that's why we got a mix.

The mix was just fine until wave 16. That's where they lost a lot of people.

16 was Batman

17 was Lantern Deputies

18 was Super Friends

19 was JSA

20 was Brightest Day

Prior to that, there was always something for everybody in each wave but with those last 5, they made it real easy for people to skip entire waves, which in real time is 2-4 months, which makes it easy to lose interest. It all snowballed.

I do think the Classic term should have been changed to something else

but I for one like getting a mix from the old days to all the new stuff. As long as it looks like a cool figure I am down for it

to me the only "bad" wave was that 17 crap

I know some people say 18 was bad as well, but man I loved Super Friends/Super powers figures

and i think 19 and 20 were good waves minus a couple figures

I thought the Brightest Day Green Arrow was ridiculous.

Meh.

The term "classics" isn't meant to be taken literally any more than "legends" was meant to be taken literally for Marvel. I mean, really - X-23, Hope Summers, Daken? I'm sure I could name others that went against the "legends" grain if I looked at the lineups.

Given the Penguin's relatively modern-looking interpretation in wave one, Harley and Superman Red and Blue in wave two, and Nightwing, Robin, and Sinestro's looks in wave three, it was pretty clear from the get-go that the line wasn't going to be all classic, all the time - nor should it have been. Why limit it?

Well I wouldn't have considered Superman Red and Superman Blue modern. Well maybe the word I'm looking for is 'recent'. Figures which reflected a storyline from 10 years before the figure saw production in the line was classic enough for me. I didn't mind the mix myself but it's like I said... the line lost that nice mixed assortment in the end. Or maybe Wave 17 just left that much of a bad taste in people's mouths that it soiled how they look at the line over all?

dont get me wrong, I dont want it to be just classic, but looking back at it, people lashed back b/c something isnt "classic"

I was fine with the name, but also those same people still wouldnt have been happy with the line lol

but anyone that thinks that there were not enough "classic" figures look at this pic posted on the AFI facebook page



not to mention, doom patrol and metal men

Agreed, although Wave 16 and 19 are two of my favorites, I hated Wave 18 with a passion.

I don't necessarily consider them "modern" either - but there are certain people that think anything post-Crisis is modern and, therefore, garbage.

Just like those people who grew up on the Beatles who can't look past Ke$ha, Justin Bieber, and Nicki Minaj to see that not all of today's music is horrible.

I don't at all mind modern characters, I just would like ones that actually matter -- Secret Six, Kate Spencer Manhunter, Stephanie Brown Batgirl ... and wouldn't a modern Batwoman with classic variant have been nice?

But Rainbow Lantern Deputies? 5-minute versions of main characters? Those should have at least had variants:

Star Sapphire Wonder Woman / Star Sapphire Fatality / Classic Star Sapphire
Sinestro Corps Scarecrow / Classic Scarecrow / Super Friends Scarecrow
Indigo Lantern Atom / Sword of the Atom
Blue Lantern Flash / Wally West Flash
Orange Lantern Luthor / Comic-accurate Armor Luthor
Black and White Lantern Hal Jordan / Masked and Unmasked 80s John Stewart
Build-A-Crap Anti-Monitor / Build-A-Real Anti-Monitor

Oh ... and 95% new tooling on the much-hated, pegwarming Magog. Well, at least he was around for a little while before he was thankfully killed off.

Seriously, give me modern characters. Even if I don't read their books in most cases I'll respect them and understand why people want them. I'll buy them for a C&C part and end up liking them. But to many flash-in-the-pan characters, or ones that have to somehow be tied into one person's work, just aren't doing it for me.

Great post, JQ.

No, I don't mind modern characters. I read plenty of comics these days.

But it's too bad that the only Rocket Red figure we're ever likely to get won't fit in with our JLI collections. The same with Captain Boomerang and the Suicide Squad.

Mike
(I have no interest in collecting a line called Geoff Johns Classics.)