Rob over at Raving Toy Maniac–who I’ve vouched for here before, and is generally a reliable guy for this sort of thing–says he’s heard something about a 6″ line by Mattel based on Superman/Batman: Public Enemies (presumably the upcoming animated film, since DC Direct has already done a bunch of figures based on the graphic novel).

Here’s what Rob wrote (the original discussion topic was the question of why DC can’t produce a new JLU masked Hal Jordan):

As i recall, when they first got the license for DC it was more restrictive than it is now and they actually did not have the rights to make the character for mass market. They got special permission to make a small run (maybe 100 I think) of these for a holiday gift.

It was a one time deal and they cast the heads from a lower quality metal tool so the cost was much less than a standard steel tool. I have heard they ‘destroyed the mold’ but as I understand it, it wouldn’t have held up to any large scale production in any case.

DCUC and The Batman (and every line) is a different license (kind of like the Public Enemies line they will debut probably at SDCC) and each has rules that go with it.

[…]

I think it is planned as a hybrid line using mostly DCUC parts to keep the line costs down but with [an Ed McGuiness] style added in. I would guess at SDCC they will be showing prototypes and what not (if not sooner).

So, could it be true? I would have thought these would be scaled to DC Infinite Heroes, like the Batman: Gotham Knight three-pack, the Wonder Woman pack-in and the upcoming Green Lantern: First Flight pack-in. I mean, the DCIH Hawkman is practically a McGuinness version already.

While a 6″ line would be cool–I’d love a modern 6″ Hawkman, as long as he wasn’t too McGuiness-proportioned–I’ll believe this one when I see it.

Anyway, let the rabid speculation begin!