Like I need another addiction.........

I've been checking the mail with some eagerness every day at the moment waiting for my Mattyonline parcel to arrive (come on Giganta!) so I was pretty stoked to finally get a parcel notice yesterday. Waiting for a parcel at my local Post Shop is a real labour of love because it's always so crowded after work, so I packed my water bottle, muesli bars, extreme weather gear and a porta potty (this game is not for the faint hearted, brothers) and braved the queue.

The only fun thing about going to the Post Shop after work is that they lock the sliding doors at 5pm and then one of the workers has to stand there and be abused by all the people who were running late and stand there pointing at those of us who are inside still being served and shout and spit and stuff, while we stand there smug in our on-timeness and eat and drink our well prepared waiting provisions and pretend we can't hear their vain protests.

In fact there were so many abusive and pointing people yesterday that I was so busy being smug I nearly missed my number when the computerised voice finally called it, so it was a breathless trip to the counter to hand over my parcel slip to the gum-chewing attendant who was just really ready to go home. My first indication that perhaps Mattyonline hadn't come through was the size of the parcel she brought out: right away I knew it wasn't long enough for a JLU 10" figure. The whole time I was signing for it I was trying to think about what it could possibly be - it was from the US but the address meant nothing.

It wasn't until I opened the box that I remembered I'd decided to try Infinite Heroes and made an eBay purchase on the weekend, which means that my parcel got from the US to me in around 5 days. My Mattyonline parcel was apparently shipped on 2 August, but I'm not getting nervous. Yet.

My deflation turned to excitement as I had a look at my eBay score - the Flash / Mirror Master / Weather Wizard Infinite Heroes 3-pack. It has "Crisis" on it which I'm not sure I get, unless it's referring to the state of the DCU, but that's okay.

So, to the figures (that was a longer than usual "How we got the figures" riff, sorry!). I'd taken in from scale pics I'd seen on the web about how small these fellas are, but I was still surprised by just how small they are! These are not JLU size, they're a peg down from that.

I like the packaging of this line. It has similar features to tie it in to DCUC but it's own feel, and I like the "universe of figures in your hand" or whatever the tagline is with the little plastic hand behind the figures - it looks classy and is carried over in the 3 pack as well as the singles.

The early prototype pics of these figures had alot of us worried about the quality of the line, but if these three are anything to go by, that was for nothing. The detail on these little dudes is amazing. Little details that you might have expected to be painted on, like the sticky-out things on Mirror Master's helmet, glove and belt ridges, and the wings on Flash's feet, etc, are all sculpted.

Paint apps are also very solid. Flash's chest symbol is a well applied decal. Mirror Master has a small paint rub on his left hand that seems to have some from the packaging. There is perhaps a tiny bit of bleed between the green and yellow on Weather Wizard's gear but you have to look very close to see it. There is just an impressive amount of detail for figures this small. The articulation is also impressive with arms, legs, elbows, knees and the ever useful 360 degree waist twist.

One little complaint is that the hands all seem sculpted to hold accessories yet none of these figures have them - Mirror Master's guns are sculpted into his belt. I guess it's the most cost effective way of casting the standard body so that accessories can be held when they are included, but I found it made posing limiting. For instance, when I wanted to pose my little guys with their arms flailing in the air in horror of the giant Flash, Weather Wizards's open fist ended up in front of Flash's groinal area in one shot, and it looked just.. well, wrong.

The joy in these, if you are to take to them, of course, is in the universe building, and after this trial I am on the road, in fact have already ordered the singles I can find on the web (if only Mattel would distribute these to Oz!!). After the disappointment of the premature death of DC Minimates, with the stench of the corpse of DCD Pocket Heroes still in the air, one would be forgiven for being gun-shy in investing emotionally and financially in yet another line, but if the dedication to line completion Mattel has shown to JLU is anything to go by, even a cynic like me can feel reasonably confident that this line will be around in some form for an enduring run. There is already a very impressive list of characters in the pipeline.

For me, these are a much unexpected but happily received hit, and I expect they'll find a niche not just with collectors but at retail as well as they look very accessible to a range of ages of kid. The combination of singles and 3-packs is also appealing, and here's hoping this line gets some Web Exclusives so that we add some more obscure characters to the field.

Mattel just seem to be hitting a six on every ball (which is Cricket terminology for "hitting every ball out of the park" for you baseball fans) at the moment. Thanks again guys, and here's to a truly Infinite Universe for Infinite Heroes!