[Shin Densetsu]

I think Total Heroes was made in an effort to cater to younger audiences(notice how the sculpts are similar to the current Evergreen 6" Batman line on shelves) while cutting costs where possible(for example, sculpting in-house instead of getting the 4H to sculpt these). FWIW I think the figures look decent, the increased articulation already makes them more appealing than the Evergreen Batman figures, to me.

There's no way I would pick them over DCUC/Unlimited but it seems that the overall line in its various incarnations(Unlimited) was not getting as much brick & mortar retailer support as hoped. It doesn't help that some stores like Walmart and Kmart still have a substantial amount of DCUC left over from last year, not moving. If anything I think we were fortunate to get as many characters made into the line as there were. Most kids won't recognize Toyman, Captain Boomerang, Kamandi and the like but there they were on shelves for us at a reasonable price.

I don't think it's an issue of us not voting with our wallets, there's simply just not enough of us out there to sustain the lines while providing enough money for Mattel to make a profit, they are in a business to sell toys overall. I'm not trying to blame any side. The situation isn't ideal at all for us but given how things are currently, I don't really see anything improving much.

I am excited for Multiverse but worry about the quality. The scale is good, these should fit in better than the tiny DCIH figures did. I just hope it sells well enough to go beyond the 1st waves to expand past Batman and Superman. It would be a shame if Mattel does not handle this anywhere near as well as their Imaginext DC toys. That line has had the best vehicle/playset/figure integration I've seen in several years.

Total Heroes are no replacement for DCUC/Unlimited, but for kids, they have far more appeal than the gimmick laden, minimally articulated Evergreen Batman line.