Justice League toys are finally stocking the shelves of most major retailers, and some of the newest reveals from Mattel include the new Talking Heroes and Action Gear series. When it comes to toys, most of the recent focus has been on Star Wars thanks to the recent Force Friday II, seeing the official launch of hordes of new collectibles for a galaxy far, far away, and while DC’s merchandising power is nowhere near the behemoth that is Star Wars toys and collectibles, there will no doubt be a variety of tie-in merchandise to purchase before the movie is released.
We’ve already seen a number of items from Mattel, including the full Justice League roster that comes with pieces of a larger Steppenwolf figure, and those figures all appear to sport high-quality movie accurate paint work and versatile articulation, but the Talking Heroes figures diverge from that a bit, offering more restricted motion in the joints, a far more simple paint job, and a giant battery bulge, instead highlighting the built-in speaker that plays iconic catch phrases from each character.
Unfortunately, anyone expecting Superman to utter something spoilery like “I hope you like my black suit,” “sorry I was evil when you resurrected me,” or “let’s team up with Green Lantern to fight Darkseid!” is in for a letdown. The phrases are unfortunately far more simplistic with Superman saying things like “I’ll use my heat vision,” and Batman resorting to familiar lines like “I’m Batman.”
While those lines are fairly boring, the figures also have some “interactive” dialogue options where they refer to other figures near them (utilizing an IR sensor). Unfortunately, these lines are just as generic, and Superman even says “Batman, join the Justice League,” which we know (with a fair amount of certainty) is now how the plot of the movie plays out.
The other toy line, Action Gear, is targeted at a much younger audience. Meant for ages 4 and up, the Action Gear is inspired (fairly loosely) by the armor and gadget of the league. Each character has a basic Action Gear set that includes a character mask and themed disk thrower. In the case of Aquaman, the thrower is a small trident, while others are less canonically concerned, usually taking the form of some sort of baton, or even separating into two separate batons in the case of Batman and The Flash.
In addition to the basic disk throwers, each character has a separate gear pack that includes a themed utility belt, Justice League communicator, and other character themed gadgets. It’s not exactly the makings of the next big thing for cosplayers, but when it comes to fighting parademons in the backyard, it’s probably exactly what most little DC fans want.
