Why oh why oh WHY did I mention the idea of Batman figures in a subscription? Mattel announced another figure for the Infinite Earths subscription:

Hey DC Universe fans, you asked for it, you got it! Here is the reveal of another 6″ character in the DC Universe Club Infinite Earths subscription program…Poison Ivy!

What’s more, they’ve made it clear we will not see these characters as figures (or at least, not next year):

To clarify the DC Universe Club Infinite Earths subscription, If the sub does not move forward, the figures announced will not be a part of the 2012 retail line. The only way we will create these DC Universe figures in 2012 is through the subscription program. To get Starman, Atrocitus, Flash 1, and Poison Ivy, sign up for the sub.

I had to think it over. The sub is more tempting now, but I was mildly surprised to find I still didn’t want to sign up–not for Poison Ivy alone. (Probably the only single figure who could get me to sign up for an entire sub is Red Robin.)

If I could be certain just one more major Bat-character was to be included in Club Infinite Earths–a new Scarecrow with the Sinestro Corps head, Red Robin, Oracle, Mad Hatter, a new modern Mr. Freeze, a proper Tim Drake Robin–I would sign up.

I wish Mattel would just release the list of planned figures for the entire 2012 CIE subscription. Even more than MOTUC, DCUC fans prefer to cherry-pick characters, and unlike MOTUC, they won’t have the option of ordering the figures off the website if they don’t get a subscription. It’s a hard sell, and I understand why people aren’t signing up.

As much as I want a DCUC Poison Ivy, I still need to know more before I’ll buy a subscription.

On a related note: I’m surprised the CIE sub is (evidently) doing so poorly. Either the production numbers have to be significantly higher than MOTUC (possibly to cover the overhead–licensing costs and so forth), or DCUC isn’t nearly as popular as I thought it was. Perhaps all the distribution issues, QC woes, and rising prices really did drive away a large number of fans.

And given how many DCUC collectors seem to be Marvel Legends fans who were looking for a fix when that line dwindled, I imagine the return of ML next year isn’t helping any.