Fisher Price’s Imaginext line is one of the few toy lines that can still surprise fans.  Every year there are new lines, new figures and dozens of store exclusives but official announcements are few and far between.  Even at Toy Fair each year the Imaginext team usually only show off their BIG holiday items for the 4th quarter.   Fans of the line usually find out about new releases from the back of the packages, new items appearing on retailer websites or new stuff just showing up in stores.  It’s like the pre-internet days!

This week a new vehicle and figure set was listed on a UK retailer for the Imagext DC Comics line.   It’s a Joker themed vehicle with a figure, which is not that unusual as the Joker the primary villain in the line and he gets all the good gear.  The set is called The Joker’s Surprise, and I was surprised all right, but for a slightly different reason than just a Jack-in-the-Box popping out of the back of a truck!

The unusual thing about this set is the Joker figure that comes in the set, he’s a very “vacation Joker” with shorts, a Hawaiian shirt and a camera around his neck… much like he appeared in the landmark graphic novel Batman: The Killing Joke by Alan Moore and Brian Bolland.

He doesn’t have the hat… but come on… the shorts, the shirt with the tree stripe, the gloves AND the camera?!?!

There have been great little Easter Eggs in the line for the adults before such as Skeletor appearing in the Pirates line and Walter White appearing in the blind bag series.  And it’s true that the Joker has appeared in this outfit in some other comics as well as one of the Arkham video games so they might have fudged the source material a bit when pitching this figures to their bosses.   It’s amazing to see what REAL DC Comics fans the Imaginext team are and the fun they are having sneaking this sort of stuff into the line.

I’m not saying definitively that this IS the Joker from The Killing Joke, I’m just suggesting that maybe you keep this figure away from your Imaginext Batgirl figure!

Below is the description of the set from the UK retailer as well as some additional images:

Leave it to The Joker to make jack-in-the-boxes even scarier! As he rolls through the streets of Gotham City spreading terror and mayhem, turn the Power Pad to spring open the jack-in-the-box and SURPRISE! Oh no, that jack-in-the-box is fully loaded with boxing-glove missiles! Press the button and BOOM! The Joker has fired his missiles right into downtown Gotham City With the Caped Crusader missing in action, little Super Heroes will have to get creative to stop The Joker in his tracks.

Can this super-villain be defeated? that’s up to your little super hero to decide! imaginext turn on adventure!

Surprise! turn the power pad to spring open the jack-in-the-box and reveal 2 boxing glove launchers.