What if instead of a motorcycle, Hot Pursuit used oh I don’t know, roller blades? Yes, Cosmic Roller Blades. That seems to be the concept behind the very, very hard to find Batman: The Brave and the Bold, Rocket Zoom Flash that I recently procured. Take a look:

Okay, that may not actually be what the designers had in mind when they designed this figure but with the reflective helmet and one other detail they both share they definitely have a couple things in common.

This action figure was actually revealed more than a year ago on Target.com as a preorder item but after months of nothing the preorders were cancelled and the listing taken off of the site. That was pretty much the first and last time that many of us would see this action figure. That is until it showed up on evilBay a couple of weeks ago. The seller said they found it in one of a handful of Mattel toy stores across the United States. Being the first time I had seen the figure for sale EVER, I had to snap it up:

As mentioned previously the figure comes with a helmet that looks pretty similar to Hot Pursuit’s and what I’ve so creatively dubbed cosmic roller blades that morph into a rocket pack and back again:

Now I mocked this figure pretty heavily when I first saw it more than a year ago, mostly because of the Centurion-like holes in the figure. The holes are used to exchange parts with other characters in the Brave and the Bold action figure line. Fortunately, they don’t look as unsightly as I thought they would in person:

Well at least not from the front view. It is hard to tell from the pictures but Mattel simply painted over a Batman action figure. The scalloped forearms are still there and the paint job overall is not really the best. It isn’t particularly sloppy or anything but it seems to be fairly cheap and chips off fairly easily. In fact when I finally removed my figure from the package (he was packed pretty tight in there and I was worried about breaking him) I noticed that a piece of his left ear piece had cracked and fallen off, leaving a slightly exposed wing. Fortunately I had a paint marker that matched the yellow of the figure so I managed to touch it up fairly well.

Articulation is also fairly limited, but not a total surprise given my familiarity with past Batman: The Brave and the Bold releases. Still a little annoying when you have characters whose main power involves running and you cannot really pose them that way. This is the same problem I have with most of the Justice League Unlimited action figures as well. In this case it is slightly more annoying because they already have arm articulation. I mean if you already added the articulation to the arms, why not just go ahead and add it to the legs? I’ve never been a huge fan of super-articulated action figures (hence my preference for DC Direct over Mattel), but there is a bare minimum to what I’ve come to expect.

Despite these issues I thought that the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode featuring the Flash family was superb and I am very pleased to finally own this elusive action figure. Now for some comparison pics:

Batman: The Brave and the Bold Barry Allen with DC Universe Action League Barry Allen

Batman: The Brave and the Bold Barry Allen with Batman: The Brave and the Bold Gorilla Grodd.

Next up I have another rare find that I found a couple days before Barry, a SuperFriends variant of The Flash:

The figure was shown at last year’s Toy Fair I believe and just like with Barry I never really saw him again. Well I saw him one other time. In the hands of fellow Flash collector and Speed Bro, Glen Antonio. But other than that, nothing. Finally a couple weeks ago I found a sales listing for this figure from all the way in Great Britain. It was loose (out of package) and it has a small mark on the right foot but nothing crazy. All of the parts still work including the whirling blades in the Flash’s flying machine and the glowing chest as you can see in the picture above.

The backpack is detachable and interchangeable with other SuperFriends action figures just like with the Brave and the Bold action figure accessories. This figure seems to be created exclusively for younger children so I can understand the limited articulation a bit more here. That is if it is out of safety concerns or some related matter. Still another figure that I am pleased to finally add to the collection. Especially since to my knowledge I now have every SuperFriends Flash action figure to date, including the plushy. Rock on!

Next up is a figure that is not scheduled to be released for at least another four months or so. You guessed it! I caved and purchased a prototype Justice League Unlimited Jay Garrick:

Of course this is a prototype so the figure is not perfect. There are some teensy tiny issues with paint in a couple areas but overall the figure is in fantastic shape. Mattel used the Justice Guild’s resident speedster, The Streak as a base for the body. Not sure who the head belongs to, but it appears to be sculpted to the hat so I am thinking it may be an original. I do not really collect any Justice League Unlimited figures besides Flash-related ones so I really would not know. Still great figure and even with the painted on wings on the boots, it still looks amazing!

A closer look at the Original Fastest Man Alive:

And now the completed JLU Flash Family:

Now do not misunderstand, I still plan on purchasing two sets of the Golden Age JLU Set in order to support the Save the JLU campaign and get Vandal Savage released along with six other 3-packs. I just really could not wait and the price was thankfully a lot less than 70 dollars.

And last but not least just because you know I had to do it:

Alright Folks, that is a wrap. As always thanks for reading and keep a look out for another edition of Recent Acquisitions coming to you soon!

Also for those that were not aware *Shameless Plug* I began my own website focusing on Flash collectibles and memorabilia a few months ago located at FastestFanAlive.com. Not only will you be able to find additional pictures from my collection, for the past couple of weeks I have been doing a countdown of the Top 10 Flash items in my collection. Number 1 and what will also be my 200th post will be coming up soon so stop by if you have the chance.

–Devin “Flash” Johnson

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