DC Direct

DC Direct was the collectibles division of DC Comics, the Time Warner subsidiary that publishes comic books and licenses characters such as Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Flash, Batman, Aquaman and Hawkgirl, from 1998 until April 2012. DC Direct produced statues, props, replicas and prints for the direct market, a distribution and retail network primarily serving comic book specialty stores. DC Direct produced a number of action figures for this market as well, most of which were produced in the 6 to 7-inch scale. On April 11, 2012, DC comics announced that it's collectibles product line was being relaunched as DC Collectibles. The Batman: Arkham City: Series 2 figure assortment, which arrived at retail stores on April 25, 2012, was the final release from DC Direct.

Beginning in 1998 with three figures based on characters from Mad Magazine, DC Direct has released several hundred figures based on popular and obscure characters based on properties published by DC Comics, including those under the Vertigo and WildStorm imprints.

For the first several years, the most recognizable DC characters were not released. DC Direct focused on lesser-known characters and comic series designed for mature readers such as The Sandman, Preacher, and Transmetropolitan. Now, DC Direct has increased its production of recognizable characters such as Batman, Superman, The Flash, Batgirl, Aquaman and Robin. Figures were first grouped randomly, then thematically and now in official groupings that may be released over several years. The first three series in 1999 had a variant for each figure, but the practice was quickly dropped. Of those figures, only the variant of Death has never been re-released. Currently DC Direct shares the licenses for many DC characters with other toy manufacturers, notably Mattel which has the master toy license for all DC Comics properties, but DC Direct alone holds the licenses for Vertigo figures.

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