Its been almost a full decade since DC Direct rebranded itself as DC Collectibles, but now they’re coming full circle and reclaiming the name that started it all! Kicking off Toy Fair 2020 by announcing their return to the name DC Direct, DC Comics in house collectibles team is restating their mission statement of bringing you the best products based on the DC Comics universe direct from the source.
If there was one major takeaway from DC Direct’s showcase at Toy Fair 2020, it was that action figures are about to once again be at the forefront of their efforts! This year they showed off new offerings for their ‘Batman: Animated’ line and ‘DC Essentials’ line that are sure to get collectors excited!
For the ‘Batman: Animated’ line, DC Direct was showcasing a healthy variety of new releases mixed with some updated returning favorites. For latecomer fans that may have missed some of the line’s lead characters the first time around, DC Direct is re-releasing a number of previously released characters with updated cel-shaded paint jobs that make the characters look more animated shadowed. Figures getting a rerelease include Batman, Robin, Harley Quinn, the Joker, and Catwoman from ‘Batman: The Animated Series’, and Batman, Robin, and Batgirl from ‘Batman: The New Adventures’. It’s worth noting that Catwoman will include an all-new unmasked head accessory and that we will also be getting a new release of Holiday Joker with a new metallic paint job.
Perhaps the most exciting news for the ‘Batman: Animated’ toyline is the expansion of the brand with ‘The Adventure Continues’, which sees all-new characters never before seen in this style joining the toyline.
DC Direct’s Creative Director Jim Fletcher was on-site at Toy Fair and explained the line’s origins as “We were trying to figure out how to continue the line, but we were getting pretty close to ‘who else could we possibly do?’ How many calendar man’s are we going to sell? How many Clock King? As much as I would do them right away, they’re tough sells.”
Fletcher continued “We talked to the DC editorial team, and pitched that we wanted to keep this going, so we are going to come up with some new character designs in collaboration with Ty Templeton who worked on designs for the original series. They said if we did it, they’d support it! So now there’s a new book coming out, written by Paul Dini, using these new designs we’ve come up with!” New characters coming soon to the ‘Batman: The Adventure Continues’ line include Deathstroke, Red Hood, Azreal Batman, Talon, Vampire Batman, The Batman Who Laughs, and premiering at Toy Fair 2020 was Thomas Wayne Batman!
The other big line DC Direct was showing off was their continuing ‘DC Essentials’ line of basic figures of your favorite DC Comics characters. While they did have a few previously solicited upcoming figures on display, the real focus was on their all-new ‘DCeased’ subline. Based on the recent comic series of the same name, ‘DCeased’ gives us zombified versions of DC’s biggest heroes and villains! Characters coming soon to this line include Superman, Batman, Wonder woman, Joker, Supergirl, Red hood, Flash, Nightwing, Green Lantern, Batgirl, and Deathstroke.
So which of DC Direct’s new action figure offerings are you most excited about? Who do you hope to see joining these lines next? Let us know in the comments section below and stay tuned for the latest news from Toy Fair 2020!
