In case anyone wasn’t aware, one of Mattel’s exclusives for this year’s San Diego Comic-Con or SDCC is going to be Starro The Conqueror. How does this relate to The Flash? Many of you should be aware that Starro, the alien conqueror with the ability to enslave his enemies using starfish-shaped spores, debuted with the Justice League of America in the Silver Age classic, Brave and the Bold #28. As a special bonus to commemorate DC Comics’ 75th Anniversary, Mattel will be releasing Starro with all five members of the original Justice League. Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, Wonder Woman, Aquaman and of course, our favorite scarlet speedster, The Flash. Take a gander.
Starro Packaging
Starro and the Silver Age Justice League of America
Starro Spores that can only be acquired at the Con.
Unfortunately these guys aren’t going to be released in the DC Universe Classics(or DCUC) line. The exclusive for that line has been revealed to be Plastic Man.
These are instead done in the Infinite Heroes style which is Mattel’s 3.75-inch line of figures. Think DC Universe Classics shrunken down to the size of G.I. Joes. I don’t think the line has been as popular as Mattel had hoped. A lot of this having to do with the quality of the initial figures. Limited Articulation (Which I actually liked for the most part), poor sculpts and sloppy paint apps have plagued this line from the very beginning. The figures have been more plentiful and easier to find at retail than DCUC, but I can’t say how much of this is because of collectors not really wanting them.
These guys don’t look too bad though. Mattel went back to the drawing board a little while ago and the results weren’t terrible. Not perfect by any means but they are heading in the right direction. I have been waiting for a regular version of the Flash released in the Matty Exclusive Crisis on Infinite Earths Infinite Heroes 4-Pack for a while and while I’m not ecstatic that I have to pay 50 bucks for him I’m still happy to have him. Honestly I’m sure they are going to release him as a single card later on, I really just want it now. 🙂
The packaging is probably the coolest part of this set. Well besides the Starro Spores. But you can only get those if you go to the actual con or purchase them after the fact on eBay for what I’m sure will be ridiculous prices. You can’t see it in the pictures but the packaging is set up exactly like the cover of Brave and the Bold #28. Attack of the Show had an exclusive preview of all the Mattel items coming to SDCC, including this set. The awesome set up of the cover is shown in the first video which can be seen HERE. The segment on the Starro set is about 2 minutes and 18 seconds in. This looks so cool, that it may be the one item that I keep MOC (or Mint On Card, meaning unopened and in pristine condition for the uninitiated).
Can’t wait to order these guys. I may go the extra mile for the Starro Spores as they look too freaking cool to pass up. I already have a Starro-possessed Flash Heroclix so it would be kind of cool to have a large scale version of it too. Do any of you guys plan on picking the set up? At SDCC or from Matty later on?
-Devin “The Flash” Johnson
Comics Should Be Good’s Year of Cool Comics spotlights “Flash of Two Worlds” — or more precisely, the Grant Morrison/Mike Parobeck retelling of the story from Secret Origins #50. The story was recently reprinted in Flash: The Human Race.
