Mattel did its usual round of Q&As yesterday. In addition to my own, here’s a round-up of the rest, with my commentary.
Raving Toy Maniac actually asked some non-JLU/DCUC/MOTUC questions, but it was one of the DCUC questions that intrigued me.
What are the ratios for the variant figures in the DCUC Series 3? (Not production numbers, but ratios of variants to regular versions.)
Sorry, this is not information we give out for any of the waves.
Perhaps they’ve made a change in policy, but this is not true of previous waves. We have been given an idea of some of the ratios of the chases on previous waves here and here (wave one’s variants have yet to be released).
Over at the Fwoosh, we get the news we all knew was coming:
SDCC had a very impressive showing of new figures for DCUC, but collectors are a fickle lot. Are we going to be seeing packaged pictures of the upcoming series 4 and the Wal-Mart series soon? If they are going to hit in October, that is getting close. Also- series 3 was revealed on Fwoosh and shown in Toy Fare last year in October/November- any chance of series 8 being revealed around that time this year?
Because of the new vendor we are using [we] pushed some of our release dates back. New accurate dates will be announced soon on the retail release section at MattyCollector.com in the next few months.
No surprise here, unfortunately. I predict we’ll see only Wave 4 before Christmas. Waves 5 and 6 and the Starfire/Adam Strange two-pack will be pushed back to 2009.
When are waves one and two of the Toys R Us DCUC going to hit?
Around October.
(crosses fingers)
Toynewsi doesn’t have a Q&A per se, but seem to have turned it into an article on MOTUC. The one quote from Mattel is on whether designs from the 2002 revamp of Masters of the Universe will be used for the MOTUC line:
All of the figures in the new MOTUC line will be retrofitted to look like classic figures. So when and if we did ‘Count Marzo’ for example is released, the Horsemen will sculpt him to look like he had a figure in the 1980s. We may eventually do variants of figures like Hordak in his 2002 look. But initially we will be doing all the figures in a vintage classic look.
This makes sense to me, but then, I’m firmly in support of the design aesthetic for MOTUC. The TNI article claims MOTUC has not been “warmly embraced” by the collector community due to the high price tag and the decision to base the designs on the 1980s originals.
The article also cites TNI’s own unscientific poll stating that only 45% of their readers would buy the figures. Frankly, I think that number is pretty good, considering TNI is a general interest toy site. (I’d like to see the results of such a poll over on He-Man.org.)
However, there is definitely a vocal contingent of fans who prefer the 2002 Masters of the Universe over the originals. I’ll probably write up a post of my thoughts on the issue sometime soon.
Chuck20
These answers seem MUCH MUCH more canned than usual. i always looked forward to these because they were (usually) not the same old jargon. but all of these latest round seem to be. Oh well, DCUC is still my favorite toyline of all time, and hopefully it will continue to be.
plain_sliced
agreed. mattel's distribution may bite hard, but when you do find a figure, its usually worth it. variant figure ratio? the whole line is as hard to find as variants.
orionpax636
Regarding the hush-hush on the variant case ratios, I'd guess that they're keeping it under tighter wraps after collectors have become disappointed with the handling of the Red Tornado and Firestorm variants. We may still be promised the Rusch Firestorm, but I am still somewhat disappointed that he's not out yet.
As far as that TNI MOTUC interview, I find it misleading. Of course all the initial MOTUC figures are going to be in "new" Classic style. However, Scott's wording suggests that we can't necessarily rule out updated 2002 figures later on down the line.
Put me in the class of folks that would be slightly more eager to see 2002 updates to MOTU. I love these "classic" updates, but I fell hard for the 2002 stuff, and that's coming from someone that collected the original line when he was a kid.
yo go re
The TNI article "claims" the new figures haven't been warmly embraced? Of course they haven't! People think these are too expensive and based on the wrong designs: after all, A) they're really expensive, and B) the designs are different than what fans are used to – a situation that ALWAYS causes complaints. Remember, fans didn't like Marvel Legends when it started because the toys were "too big."
Give the designs a few months for people to get used to them, and that complaint will go away. (Probably. I still think the previous updated designs are better than the new oldish ones.)
eric
Hey Poe, the next time you summit Q/A to Mattel, ask them this question. When they make Mantis, Steppenwolf, Desaad and Parademons, what style of look are they gonna go with? How they looked in The Super Powers Colletion? Or some other look? I loved to see how the 4H would make Steppenwolf " smiles"
JPL
I don't know if this has already been covered in past Q&As, but is Mattel aware of the fan bracket going on at Action Figure Insider? And, if so, are they planning on taking the results into consideration when considering future waves?
Luquetoo
I just don't understand why it's so hard to produce figures of DC characters. DC Direct can't get it right and now Mattel is having problems, and they both seem to blame everyone else. It's the manufacturer, it's DC, it's the 4H, it's distribution, etc.
And, they play dumb every time they are confronted with issues. Scale issues? What scale issues? Bad paint apps, low quality plastic, impossible to find…what a complete mess these people are.
I never hear that the latest Star Wars figures didn't make it in to stores as planned because of the manufacturer. I don't see R2-D2 towering over C-3PO because some schmuck signed off on the sculpt.
What's the problem here folks?
Poe
@JPL: The way I understand it, the bracket at AFI is "endorsed" by Mattel–i.e., they either suggested it to AFI, or AFI suggested it to them and they said "sure"–but it's just a way for Mattel to gauge interest in which characters people would like to see. It's not an official poll–that's what the ToyFare poll was for.
@Luquetoo: While I don't have quite the same negative view of the situation as you do, I think Mattel's struggles are largely due to the difficulties of producing a 6" figure line in today's economic climate. Crude oil–and thus plastic–prices are high, while China is no longer the manufacturing bargain it has been for decades. Scale becomes a problem when it costs significantly more to create a larger figure than a smaller one, particularly when you're trying to keep all the figures at a relatively fair price point.
And let's be fair here–Hasbro hasn't exactly endeared its fans since taking over Marvel Legends. Reduced articulation, less detailed sculpts, and many of the same scale issues as DCUC–the only thing Hasbro's handled consistently better than Mattel is distribution.
Esbat
I like to think that the reason I've no DCUC Power Girl yet is because she'd require a whole new Mold.
Yessssssss.