McDonald's 2011 Young Justice #7 - Kid Flash

Today on Sunday Comics Sunday we continue our look at McDonald's recent Happy Meal 'Young Justice' toy series based on the Cartoon Network program of the same name. Kid Flash is front and center today, streaking along and leaving only dust in his wake! Our toy owes this swift action to a sled-like display base which has wheels underneath for smooth, quick rolling action. The Kid stands 3 3/4" (9.5cm) H without base and 4 1/8" (10.5cm)  H with base. Enjoy!

McDonald's 2011 Young Justice #5 Aqualad

Today's Sunday Comics Sunday entry is from our continuing McDonald's Happy Meal, Young Justice series: #5 Aqualad. Aqualad can be seen on the Cartoon Network series "Young Justice" but when I was a lad, he was non-existent - as far as I can remember. Aquaman of course was very much a member of DC Comics pantheon of super heroes when I was growing up. Aqualad stands 3 3/4" (9.5cm) H from head to foot and features a light-up right arm. Each of the figures in this series has a special feature and several of them, like Aqualad, contain an internal light. By pressing the button on Aqualad's back, his right arm is supposed to light up where you see the transparent plastic 'barber shop' swirl pattern. Now, I gotta tell ya, this feature is a total waste of time: the time it took to design it; the time it took to make the tooling; the time it took to draw and print the instructions, etc. Why? The light is so darned weak it's nearly impossible to tell it's even on. Imagine some kid playing outside with this thing, pressin' that light and thinkin' it was sumthin' special. It ain't! Neither him or his friends would be able to tell the thing was lit. HOWEVER, as a regular, plain-Jane, super hero type toy it does just fine. Don't let the light be a distractor for just having fun. Enjoy!

McDonald's Young Justice #3 - Superboy

Today is Father's Day here Stateside - Happy Father's Day Dad's!

Before we begin today's installment of Sunday Comics Sunday, there's several blogs that I've discovered which you may enjoy. The first is 'Pop Culture Safari'. This blog has been around since, I believe, 2002 and is basically a daily digest of  "Cool comics, music, movies, TV and more". The reader is also provided with links to shopping sites were the various products highlighted can be purchased.

The second is 'Dial B For Blog'. This blog is more magazine than blog (the site owner calls it a 'blogazine' and for those of you who really enjoy comic books this is one you should check out. After some research, apparently the blog has stopped a couple of times and restarted but trust me, there is a lot of very worthwhile content to view. The blogs' layout resembles a comic book and the author is well versed in the comic book industry, lore, and machinations. 

The third is 'Dreams of Space' a blog concentrating on "non-fiction children's books about space flight from 1945-1975." Now here's the cool thing about this blog, it's not all books but rather anything printed - comics, magazines, brochures, etc, and I've found several awesome space cereal premiums that were offered back in the 1950s.

Links to these blogs can be found in the panel on the right side of this blog.

Now, on to today's toy. We've started the McDonald's Happy Meal 'Young Justice' series two weeks ago and continue today with the third toy in the series: Superboy, who stands at 3 3/4" (9.75cm) H. Each toy has some special feature and Superboy's feature is a light which shines just behind the 'S' crest on his chest. When you press the button on his back, the crest lights up and his right arm swings up in a punching motion. Several other figures in the series also feature an internal light. Let me tell ya sumthin' - these lights are nuthin' to brag about. They are dim at best - great for a darkened room but if you're a kid playing with these during the day they're practically meaningless. They're also a bear to photograph, especially for a novice like me. I'll post a picture of one of my attempts to give you an indication though. So Dad's, for today on Sunday Comics Sunday and Father's Day let's break out the comics and super hero toys, reminisce, or have fun with our kid's - it's our day!  Enjoy!

You can barely discern the light shining from behind the 'S' - it's not much brighter in person!

McDonald's Young Justice #1 - Robin

As promised, today on Sunday Comics Sunday we start a new series - McDonald's Happy meals Young Justice toys based on the TV cartoon 'Young Justice'. On Sunday's I like to feature things that have some kind of comic tie-in and I s'pose that television cartoons are a close kin to that. Anywho, that's my story and I'm stickin' to it!  :-)

I really don't watch a lot of TV anymore. I channel surf. And surf, and surf, and ...... I can't explain it other than I'm so terribly burnt out with the unbelievable amount of onerous garbage on the tube that very little actually catches my attention and interest. However, that being said, I have managed to channel surf and land on Cartoon Network while 'Young Justice' is on.  More and more I do kind of like it. The animation is nice, the super hero story lines are better than they were when I was a youngin' and of course it's a nice twist to see some of the characters portrayed as younger people. When I was growing up there was Flash, but not Kid Flash, Aquaman but not Aquaboy, etc.

This line of McDonald's Happy Meal toys is copyrighted 2011 and there are eight figures in the series. To avoid the unnecessary caloric intake, I choose not to actually visit The Golden Arches to buy my toys. Instead I rely on buying whole sets directly from eBay sellers.  I have absolutely no problems with that. I get the whole set at once, and the eBay seller makes a little extra money for doing the work of amassing the collections. It's a win-win situation. The figures in this particular series are fairly large at ca4" (10.2cm) in height and each figure has some form of operating feature. Today we'll look at Robin, who is seated on his motorcycle. It measures 3 1/16" (7.8cm) H x 4 7/8" (12.4cm) L from tip of projectile to the rear. Robin's body is molded integral to the cycle body but Robin's head is a separate casting allowing it to swivel from side to side. The front and rear wheels are also molded into the cycle body but there is a center geared wheel which rotates and acts as the release mechanism for the two spring-loaded projectiles. It's a nifty toy and a nice addition to the Super Hero Pantheon of Toys. Enjoy!