DEATHSTROKE THE TERMINATOR

At the time, Deathstroke was strictly a Teen Titans villain, so this choice not only reinforced Kenner's interest in the Titans, but also presaged his eventual mega-popularity riding the "grim n' gritty" wave of the 90s. Amazingly, Deathstroke has NEVER received an action figure, although DC Direct finally has one in the works for late 2004.This would have really been a crowd pleaser in 1997, though.

The name of the character must have really put Kenner in a quandary: if they called his Deathstroke, odds are the name alone would have killed the chance of getting him made. But at the time of this pitch "The Terminator" movie with Arnold Schwarzeneggar had just become a HUGE hit, so this might have been very confusing to toy buyers and customers alike. Comics fans would have been pleased, in any case. Go check out Slade Wilson's shady past here.

The custom below was made by the great Matt "Iron-Cow" Cauley.