Mattel, DC Direct, and FAO Schmartz To Produce Final JLU Exclusive

Mattel, DC Direct, and FAO Schmartz
To Produce Final JLU Exclusive

Toymaker Mattel will be teaming up for one last time with DC Direct and toy industry giant FAO Schmartz to produce an exclusive Justice League Unlimited action figure. The hugely successful "FAO Direct" JLU line-up will conclude with one final offering -- the long-awaited Captain Marvel figure from the Season Two JLU episode, "Clash." The final Fao Direct Captain Marvel figure will only be available at FAO Schmartz toy stores in Chicago and Las Angeles, with no mail-order or Internet sales planned, which means that they will be highly sought-after by toy collectors across the country.

"The FAO Direct JLU line of exclusive figures has been a great success with collectors, but we feel that the time has come to bring the line to a close. Between the standard JLU offerings from Mattel and the highly successful FAO Direct exclusives, we've pretty much covered all of the DC characters that appeared in the JLU animated series. We wanted to go out with a bang, though, and we went to great lengths to resolve all the myriad licensing issues surrounding Captain Marvel, so we figured he would be a great character to close-out the series," said John Bodin, the brand manager for the FAO Direct JLU line. "I am extremely sad to see the line come to a close, but at the same time I am equally excited to be able to make a JLU version of Captain Marvel a reality, and we feel that this will become one of the most sought-after action figures of all time. The sculpt is amazing, and I think that collectors everywhere will very pleased with the final product."

When asked why Mattel, DC Direct, and FAO Schmartz chose announce the termination of the long-running "FAO Direct" line at CustomCon, Bodin's response was, "CustomCon is where we first launched the FAO Direct line, so it's a fitting place to announce that we will be ending the line with one of the most anticipated figures ever. Rest assured, though -- Captain Marvel may be the end of the FAO Direct JLU line, but superhero-based exclusives have always been an integral part of the FAO Schmartz line-up, and we certainly plan to continue that time-honored tradition in the future."