With the advent in 1997 of the Famous Covers collection from Toy Biz, and the renewed interest in Mego figures form the 1970's, DC fans were left wondering when they too would get doll version of their favorite characters. Not only that, since the demise of Total Justice fans were left without a mass market mainstream DC figure line altogether!

All that changed at Toy Fair 1998, when Hasbro unveiled not only a new 7" line of figures, but also a line of 9" dolls - dolls that were based on the classic Silver Age versions of the heroes.

Although Dc Fans were pleased, there were some concerns. Why 7" as the base scale? This would make these figures incompatible with most other existing lines (although DC Direct was looming on the horizon). And once again Hasbro chose to make a 6 figure assortment with two Batman figures and Two Superman figures, leaving just one other hero and one other villain to round it out.

Problematically, the 9" line strangely left out those very figures. While collectors and fans were happy to see long absent choices like Aquaman and Green Lantern, where was Superman and Batman? These choices led to poor buyer interest at Pre-Toy Fair in the wake of Total Justice's failure, and the 7" line was all but cancelled by the time ToyFair rolled around. The 9" line held more interest, and Target landed the aforementioned Superman/Batman as exclusives, as did KB Toys with the Martian Manhunter and Superman Blue.

But the buyers turned out to be wrong this time. Mainly Target and Toys R' Us bought the 7" line and not in great quantities. They flew off the shelves and most consumers never saw them. TRU's exclusive four-pack of repaints and cloth capes was barely even sighted. When they went back to Hasbro for more orders, the company had already switched gears, leaving a planned second assortment unproduced (although by all reports it was actually sculpted, and was to include Catwoman, Flash, Robin, and Penguin, among other new variants).

Meanwhile, the 9" line languished on shelves at nearly every retailer. The Target exclusives were ordered in too few quantities, leaving many without the two main characters, and not enough buyers wanting or even recognizing the other 3 figures. By the time KB's exclusives showed up, buyer interest had long since departed, leaving only collectors seeking out each new choice. By the end of 1998 both lines were dead in the water, and nothing new on the general DC front was shown by Hasbro at Toy Fair 1999.

So where does that leave these lines that showed so much promise? Well, KB Toys ended up having 4 more exclusives (distributed in varied quantities, these sold marginally well, but all reached clearance prices in most of the country). And HasbroCollectors.com had the Batman/Robin 2 pack, but then collapsed as an online outlet before much else was offered. The final Target exclusives trickled out in 2002, just as Hasbro lost the DC license to Mattel. Sadly, this prevented the final two 9" figures to be produced: an animated style Batman and the Riddler. Mattel has no immediate plans to ressurect the 8"/9" format, although DC Direct has made some preliminary inquiries into possibly making a compatible line themsleves in the future. However, word so far is that they are more interested in an 8" line, making them more compatible with Megos than the Hasbro ones. In my opinion, this is a mistake, as there are more existing collectors of the recent merchandise than of Megos, but we'll see what happens.

Meanwhile, Hasbro and other companies have made some other figures near the 7" scale, and those can be added to your collection to extend the brand a bit. Whole 7" scale collections such as Danger Girl and Spawn haven't been included in the archive, but also make nice additions to the overall collection.

Jason Geyer - July 31, 2003

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