How'd you start in JLU?

[Christophe]

j1h15233 got this ball rolling on another forum. But I'm curious, what's your story? Here's mine.

When I was REALLY young (as in first grade, maybe) I had a few Super Powers figures. I was only 'allowed' to get one of each character. Thus I had Robin, WW, MM, Superman, Hawkman (which I lost) and a few more. I got Batman from the Dark Knight collection. I WAS able to get another Robin in the form of BTAS Robin and eventually Phantasm. Interestingly I never got ANY other BTAS figures that time aside from those. Also after SP my mom had this 3-figure per line rule after I lost most of my SP. I had 3 of SP. 3 of TMNT. 3 of Robocop. 3 of Gi Joe etc.

Then in high school I got to collecting ONE of each Disney character, in any figure form regardless of scale. Half of 'em were Happy Meal Toys

I stayed away from collecting for a while til a few years ago. Then Justice League came out. When I saw the figures I was amazed, but I thought they were kinda expensive. Then a local chain, Jollibee, had figures for all seven characters. The show was a dream com true, so naturally, I got all of em.

But Aquaman was there in the show. No figure. Sigh. Just HAD to get one. So I bought my first 3-pack. Aquaman, (armor) WW and Batman. For quite a while I had only the top 7 and an out-of-scale Aquaman with them. I didn't even display my Batman and WW. I only began displaying my Batman when I got an in-scale Jollibee Teen Titans Robin to match him.

I was happy with that collection til I went to a toy store and saw they had one of what I had begun to call a reject bin- that is a bin with factory rejects and test shots, some of which are actually okay. And there they were, Black Canary. I didn't remember seeing her in the cardbacks so I researched and found that they were exclusives! Wee! I got cheap exclusives. LOL. (My first few below. Note how there are only few Mattel JLU figures)

How'd you start in JLU?

I later came back for Bizarro, then Fate, then... well, you get the point. I did find though that while there were places like AFI to check on the latest info re:JLU, there wasn't a single quick-stop repository of ALL the figures past and present and it took a while back then to figure out what was what, unlike YoJoe or He-man.org, which led to my forming Metrotower (which is now DC Hall of Justice).

By Oct 2006

How'd you start in JLU?

How'd you start in JLU?

Those first figures led to more figures, and now I spend my internet free time helping out people collecting just like so many have helped me as well.

My collection now.

How'd you start in JLU?

How'd you start in JLU?

How'd you start in JLU?

Yes, I'm in love with Mattel. lol

[texgnome1]

I had watched the Batman and Superman cartoons growing up - well into the beginning of my marriage lol.  So shortly after my kids were born, I had sold most of my collection of nearly 500 super hero action figures.  The cartoon came out when my kids were about 6, and they LOVED it.  I couldn't have been happier, and we watched every episode together.  When the toy line came out, we picked up all of the originals.  But I never expected it to continue, and at one point only picked up the occasional figure.  Then they issued Hawk & Dove.  My kids had LOVED that episode, and as they were two of my favorite comic characters growing up, I grabbed them.  The rest is history.  I even started customizing when Mattel said they could never make Captain Atom in this line ( for the tutorial DE! )

[Jester]

I've always loved DC Superheroes. I think my first exposure was seeing the huge picture Superman in my moms record album collection for the Superman movie soundtrack. Then my grandmothers neighbor used to work for DC so he was always dropping off comics for me. After that Super Powers came along and I started collecting those. Then for a few years there was a dry spell and I didn't collect many figures, just comics until BTAS came out and I picked up some of those. It wasn't until Justice league hit Cartoon Network that I became a complete maniac with collecting figures. My first few JL figures was the Superman and Batman variants which I bought through Suncoast video in the mall. Then I walked down to KB toys and they had Green Lantern, Flash and Martian Manhunter. I had to buy Wonder Woman off eBay because she was impossible to find and back then, Hawkgirl was supposedly only available through Previews and your LCS, so I figured I'd never get her. Then I was able to find her on eBay for an acceptable price so I had my original 7. Shortly after, JL became JLU and that when I REALLY became a maniac.

[OneYoself]

i only collected the Marvel '90s line of toys from the cartoon and the Simpsons World Of Springfield 'til i started watchin JLU on Cartoon Network...of course, stores only have a figure here and there...but not 'til i saw a store that had a couple of characters that didn't appear alot in the show like Aztek, Hawk, Dove, etc...then i figure i'd search for more...and the addiction continue... now it's strictly JLU and JLU customs...'til i can practically make every character in the DC Universe !!

[Rydgen]

Being another 80's child, my first exposure to DC heroes was of course the Super Friends. I loved that show, but He-Man was always my first choice when it came to figures. As the 90's drew near and I reached teenage years, I didn't think much one way or another about comics or superheroes. Until my enlistment in the US Air Force in 1996. One of my dormmates let me borrow Lobo/Mask #1, because I knew of The Mask from the movie, but never heard of this Lobo character. I grew to like him in that one issue, and since then became a huge fan. Through Lobo, I rediscovered the DC Universe. I remembered Green Lantern being my favorite from Super Friends, and to all the TPB's at the local bookstore available to read. I caught up on what happened to Hal over the years. My first Hal figure was the Kenner Silver Age one, which I randomly found at the Target just off base. Then came DCD's first Hal Jordan, and it just snowballed from there, which can happen from time to time when I really get into something.

Fast forward a bit to when Justice League came out. I was amused that they chose Jon Stewart as the Green Lantern for the toon, and at that time presumed it was a way to quell any Hal vs. Kyle fan fighting (even though Kyle was already brought in with Hal's origin in STAS). I now realize that if they had used Hal, then he would have stolen the show, really. Using Jon was a good way to balance personalities and prevent upstaging. I wasn't going to buy the figures at first, because they were just too simple for what they cost. That is, until JLU came along and Mattel announced a 3pk with Shayera, Jon, and The Ray. I had to have it, but I couldn't have Ray all by himself in this 4.5" scale world. To prepare for his arrival, I bought random 3pks and a couple singles. Then the other bit of news happened. The Ray 3pk was that year's SDCC exclusive. Well, I waited until I could catch Ray by himself for a decent price, and I did a couple years after. Since then I started collecting in earnest, and I enjoy the style in figure form now, and customizing is the natural next step in the hobby.

So now here I am with a couple dozen figures, and many custom projects to look forward to. I'm not a completest, and I tend just to buy characters I truly enjoy. This usually ends up practically any Green Lantern figure, specifically Hal (thank you Geoff Johns for completely fixing Hal's past!). And that's how I got into collecting the JLU line!

[Kid Comet]

How did it all start.......

Well being a child of the 70's it all started with Star Wars..... I collected and collected those and I didn't really play but set them all up in battle positions and acted out scenes from the films ....

It went from there to He-man, She-ra, Dungeons and Dragons, Smurfs, any kind of action figure....

I had always been a massive fan of comic books and in the 90's they introduced Spiderman and the X-men animated series and it went from there - I became obsessive and had to have them all....

Then I met someone special and in order to place a deposit on our first home I sold the lot.... Not sure given my current situation that was such a great idea but hey ho!

Anyway back to JLU .......

One day I was wondering through a supermarket in the UK and I noticed what looked like a wonder woman figure... It was on sale and that is where my obsession began with the JLU....then I discovered that it was from an animated series and then when I couldn't get the figures that I wanted I started to custom ....

Now I have over 100 JLU figures in my collection along with a large collection of BTAS, STAS, Teen Titans and Total Justice/JLA. Oh yeah and not forgetting my whole collection of The Batman - including all of the Justice League figures which are awsome ...

All in all - my JLU collection has lasted longer than my relationship and they won't be going anywhere.....

[graphix1971]

I was hooked on Super Friends as a kid and when I saw JLA #124 on the rack at as local mom and pop store ... I had to have it. I was 4 years old at the time. I've been hooked ever since. I have since amassed every issues ever printed ... so the JLU figures were a no brainer for me.

[33dgriffin]

I posted my story on AFI last year, so I’ll post it here as well.

I never considered myself a collector. I always loved superheros starting with the Spider-man and Superfriends and watching any other superhero cartoon that came on TV. When I was very young I had many of the Mego figures. When I was 18 I had my mother buy 6 Super Powers figures (I wanted to relive Christmas when I was a boy). Over the years I held onto my 6 Super Powers figures. When JLU figures came out, I purchased a few of them because I really liked the show, however, as with my Super Powers figures I really didn’t keep up with what characters were being made. About three years ago my son (who is 7 now) got really into “CARS” toys. I had to resort to eBay to find Chick Hicks. It was my first time shopping on eBay and I decided to look to see if people had put up any Super Powers figures for sell. I was surprised to see all the characters that were made into Super Powers figures. I also decided to check out JLU and was shocked to see all the JLU figures. However, what hooked me on JLU was all the customs figures people were making. I never knew people were taking one figure and turning them into other figures. I purchased my first two customs (Batgirl and Power Girl) and have not stop collecting JLU. My guess is by now I have purchased about 100 to 200 customs and still going strong.

[Dr Solstice]

I was walking home from school one day and saw Tex and Darth behind the school gym.

"What are you guys doing?" I asked. I could see a few vague plastic shapes on a shelf behind them.

"We're collecting JLU," Tex said. "It's what all the cool kids are doing."

Darth nodded his mulleted head. "Word," he said. "You should try it. It'll make you feel grown up."

Tex handed me an Aztek figure. I was hooked.

That's pretty much how it happened. That, or I couldn't resist the Hawk and Dove figures and started from there. Your choice.

[j1h15233]

Realized I've never posted my story over here, so here it goes....my girlfriend (now fiance) gave me a Batman for Christmas of 06 I believe. It was just a throw in gift with my other stuff but I loved it. Several months later I was at a general store with her and saw a Flash and Superman and just had to buy them both. I ALMOST left the Flash behind but I just couldn't stand to leave him. From that point, I just had those 3 figures for a long time and it never dawned on me that there were others out there until I wandered into a Toys R Us one day and found the exclusive 7-pack. I was super excited to see that but also very hesitant to buy it because I already had Bats, Supes and Flash (little did I know that repeats are not uncommon in JLU haha). Once again, I couldn't resist having the original 7. Again, I went several months without getting any other figures or even thinking about the fact that there were other figures and finally one day I found out about Aquaman and Green Arrow and went searching on eBay. From that point, the rest is history. I discovered other figures on eBay, I found AFI, I found this site, I found checklists and I went full steam ahead into JLU. In less than 3 months, I went from having 7 figures to having every single figure released minus early goofy repaints, most of which I still don't have and can't decide if I really care, and the HTF figures of Obsidian, Barda, Deadshot and Volcana. This was also in Nov. of 08 so I came in a few months after Target exclusivity began and was lucky to find the 6-packs. Since that time, I dove head first into the world of Mattel and JLU and I've learned more about it then anyone should probably know haha.

[jmac]

my jlu collecting in the 70s.
i got a mego batman, robin and superman for one christmas. this started it all. i then collected star wars and then it went to super powers
and in the 90s it was the btas and stas. then in 2001 two weeks after my daughter died i saw justice league.
it was a great show and was a good diversion from my problems at the time. the whole i thought i sure hope kenner does these figures.
and then i hear mattel got the dc license.
i scored supes, bats, gl and flash when target got them 1st and then i was hooked.
then they started making jlu figures which was even better.
my only problem is the closest target is over an hour away.

[Christophe]

These are awesome stories It's fun hearing how everyone started and how different everyone began but how everyone's got JLU love

[CLIMAXone]

im just gonna link to something i already wrote and posted at matty cause its supremely long and i dont want to clog things up here so if you are inclined to have a look hit the link

http://goo.gl/VO8r

[Enzo]

Well I can say that I love DC Comics since I was a baby, you see I was born in 1988, my mother always told me that when I was 8 months old or so, my aunt gave me as a present two figures, Batman from the Keaton film, and The Penguin from Super Amigos (Super Amigos was Super Powers in Argentina) my mom always tells me that after that I played with the figures for a while I picked up the cardboards and I started to point out the figures I was missing! I was a completist with only a few months of life!!!!
Well then when I was around 3 and 4 the Super Amigos figures where still around so I got a lot of those, and watched Super Friends, and the DC Filmation cartoons, and got a lot of comics.
Then when I was 6 BTAS hitted here, and I was blown away, so my parents started buying the figures from the show, yes even those horrible variants!
By the late nineties I started collecting seriously with only 12-13 years old, my main focus was the Total Justice/JLA line from Hasbro, and Marvel from Toybiz, I wanted to collect animated stuff but I didnt like the figures that Hasbro was offering, so I never picked any of those.
Then in 2003 after I stopped buying figures for 4 years, I decided that I wanted to collect a line with DC again, so I had to pick between Justice League and DC Direct, again I wanted to collect an animated line since I always loved the shows, and Mattel was doing the figures right, even though there were only the original 7, Darkseid and Ultra Humanite, I started with Justice League, then it evolved on Justice League Unlimited, and well you all know about that!!!!

[comicbookreader]

It started for me by watching the Filmation cartoons,then my dad bought me a Mego Superman.I had many Mego figures that I went through.Watching the Superfriends on Sat.morning.Yeah,growing up in the 70's was great.Some really awesome toys.I also have a comic collection going since I've been twelve,it's over 7k strong.As far as JLU is concerned.I said to myself,if I go into this line,I go 100% effort and it has been great.I take pride in my collection.
I hope to see the line continues to include all of the remaining figures form the show.

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