Ask Mattel, 2/3/2009

February 3, 2009 | Poe

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Better late than never!

1.) Please pardon this extremely pedantic question: starting with DCUC Wave 6, online retailers can order solid cases of figures to be sold as sets. Are these specialty cases packed at the beginning or end of the production run, or is it done randomly?

They are produced as orders come in during production and are not necessarily always at the start or beginning of the production run.

2.) Matty’s Facebook page appears to be quite a success. How does it fit in with Mattel’s overall online marketing and PR strategy?

Matty’s Facebook page is just an additional way he can communicate with fans. We will still continue to do Q & As and Toy Guru will post on websites. We found we were getting many of the same questions every month submitted by different websites, so Facebook will hopefully act as a central place (along with MattyCollector.com’s news section) to get information straight from Mattel.

3.) One thing collectors have often requested for Mattycollector is weapons packs. Are these financially feasible at this time, and if so, would they be more likely for DCUC or MOTUC?

The trouble with doing a weapons pack is it costs the same amount to tool a new weapon as it does a new head. So doing a weapon pack of all new weapons would be expensive as each accessory would need to be tooled and that winds up being a lot more expensive then a single figure costs. So if we did offer this, it would likely include previous accessories bundled together.

4.) There are some characters, such as Galatea, the Justice Lords or the Gray Ghost, who were created just for the DC animated universe and have never appeared in DC comics. Does your license agreement allow you to create DCUC-style figures of these characters, if you wanted to?

Well, we did do Batman Beyond in 6 inch, so anything might be possible, but all of the figures in every line is handled and approved on a figure by figure basis and in the end we work with our license partners at DC and WB to find the best line up possible. If there are enough fan requests to do Gray Ghost or Galatea in 6″ we could look at that, but it is likely we would choose to do Power Girl over Galatea first in 6″.

5.) What’s the status of the proposed DCUC two-packs, such as Lex Luthor/Supergirl and Superman/Brainiac?

We are waiting for retail customer’s to place orders for these before we can go into production on these.

Ask Mattel > January edition

January 14, 2009 | Poe

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Time for our latest round of Ask Mattel with Mattel’s Toy Guru!

1.) How soon can we expect the MOTUC character selection to branch out beyond the 1982-1983 waves?

2010 will feature both POP and New Adventures characters. We just could not fit these figures into the first 12 due to time limitation! We do have plans to get to them in early 2010.

2.) Will Faker’s chest emblem be a sticker, or tampo?

It is a tampo. We looked at doing a sticker but it just wasn’t working out and honestly, was making the figure look cheap.

3.) At the SDCC DC panel, it was mentioned Mattel had changed vendors (i.e., factories) due to quality control problems around the time DCUC wave 4 was being produced. However, there have been a greater-than-average number of reports of QC problems with the Walmart wave and the two-packs, which were, I think, produced after the vendor switch. Wave 1 and the initial shipments of wave 2 were very good QC-wise. What are the challenges facing Mattel in solving these QC issues? (more…)

Ask Matty > 12/15/08

December 15, 2008 | Poe

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Welcome to our latest round of questions and answers with Mattel’s “Matty”…

Starting with wave 6, what do you anticipate will be the average time between wave releases? (more…)

Ask Matty > November 1 Edition

October 31, 2008 | Poe

POE: Toy lines often “evolve” in terms of design and style as they go along (e.g., Batman > DC Super Heroes > DC Universe Classics). How much evolution is going on behind-the-scenes for DC Infinite Heroes?

MATTY: While we are trying to keep the general line look of IH the same, we are constantly improving sculpts, articulation and character selection. So the answer is “all the time!”

Does Mattel have any sense of how much overlap there is among collectors of JLU, DCUC and DCIH?

We spent a great amount of time both reading the fan posts and reviewing sales data broken down by stores and customer demographics so we do have a good handle over who is buying each line.

Inquiring minds want to know: who was lobbying the most for a classic Killer Moth figure? Talk about (awesomely) obscure…

Truth be told, this was a figure that actually came about due to a happy accident. Originally a different figure was planned for this slot. Killer Moth made the cut after the original figure ran over cost. We knew we wanted to do a Bat-Villain for this slot and we looked at a group of characters that had not been made as a figure before. Doing Moth was an idea that rose to the top from Mattel design and marketing and discussing possible characters with DC Comics.

We’ve had quite a few Hot Wheels Bat-vehicles. Is there any chance of expanding into other DC superheroes, such as Wonder Woman’s invisible plane or Blue Beetle’s “Bug” airship?

Yes, but you will have to wait until 2009!

Is there any possibility of offering a DCUC accessory pack on Mattycollector.com that might include accessories that were sculpted but didn’t come with their figures, such as the Penguin’s robot penguin, Ares’s mace and spear, Despero’s sword, and Grodd’s hand-weapon-doodads?

It is more likely we will include these “lost” accessories with other figures. For example, Kalibak was sculpted with additional Apokolips weapons and one of those will come with a future New God figure.

Ask Matty > October 15 Edition

October 15, 2008 | Poe

POE: Now that Mattycollector.com is here, is there any chance we might see a Halloween or holiday-themed figure or repaint exclusives at some point (DCUC, JLU, MOTUC etc.)?

MATTY: That is a cool idea, but nothing is planned right now to tie into any specific holidays. It is a bit tough to do that since most fans want a traditional version of Superman. If there is enough demand for Batman with a jack-o-lantern and Superman with a Santa hat we could certainly look into it (but honestly, we’d rather spend the tooling dollars on all new characters).

Any new estimate on when the Target-exclusive Movie Masters 6″ Batpod will start showing up? (more…)

Ask Matty > October 1 Edition

October 1, 2008 | Poe

We’re back with another round of Ask Matty!

POE: Was the entirety of DCUC series 3 produced before the transition to the new vendor’s factory?

Matty: Yes. Wave 4 is the first Wave from the new vendor.

At this point, how many body types are there for DCUC figures, and would it be possible to list them?

Lets see, we have male medium (Captain Atom, Black Manta, Atom, others), male small (Sinestro by default though a production error), parts of male teen (Robin, Kid Flash), large brute (Lobo, Despero), part of standard female (Wonder Woman and Harley), Male suit (Riddler, Clark Kent), and there may be another. We are still working on female teen, super thin male, large female, small female and a few other surprises.

What process is used to paint intricate details such as the logo on the Sinestro Corps’ Sinestro’s chest on production figures?

It is called “tempo” which is the same process we use on CARS and Hot Wheels to apply decals. It is essentially a computer created “sticker” that is heat sensitive so it sticks to the plastic to look like a paint op in the end.

Would Mattel consider creating a new BAF Doomsday, or is that unlikely since he’s already had a figure?

Definitely on our short list. (although we would likely use the same sculpt, just scale him up to size.

Now that Mattel has a working relationship with DC Comics, is there any possibility of new DC-produced Masters of the Universe comics?

Could be down the road but nothing is in the cards at the moment to announce quite yet.

Ask Mattel > September 15 Edition

September 15, 2008 | Poe

Poe Ghostal: Are earlier versions of characters, such as a Dick Grayson Robin, a possibility for inclusion in DCUC?

Mattel’s Scott Neitlich, a.k.a. “ToyGuru”: Yes.

Does Mattel still plan to get DCUC waves 4-6 out by Christmas? (more…)

Ask Mattel > September 1 Edition

September 2, 2008 | Poe

Man, I’m makin’ up for lost time today! Here’s the latest round of Q&A with Scott Neitlich, a.k.a. Mattel’s “ToyGuru.”

POE: I’m sure you’re going to get asked this more than once, but why is Sinestro so short compared to Hal? Was this by design, or was there an error in the production process? In the comics, Sinestro is said to be 6′ 7″–five inches taller than Hal. (more…)

Ask Mattel > August 15

August 15, 2008 | Poe

We’re back with another round of questions with Mattel’s “ToyGuru,” Scott Neitlich!

PG: The classic-suit, be-mulleted Superman in DCUC Wave Six looks great. Given that the Eradicator figure in Wave Five has a classic-looking Supes head, is it possible we’ll see a new classic Superman with the short-hair look–perhaps as a Mattycollector.com exclusive?

SN: Definitely something we are looking into.

With the DCUC case packs moving up from six figures to ten per case, will there be a greater likelihood that by ordering a case, collectors will be able to get all the variants in a given wave?

The variants will continue to be chase figures.  The extra spots in the case packs will be filled with All Star figures on re-released cards such as Wonder Woman, Green Lantern and Batman. Our goal is to keep new figures coming for collectors while having the big 7 at retail for the casual buyer or the “Mom” purchase.

When will the Movie Master Batpod ship to Target?

It should be on shelf now.

As of right now, does Mattel have any set plans for Movie Masters beyond the Nolan Batman films?

Nothing to announce quite yet but we have big plans in the works.

Any possibility of a Mattycollector.com exclusive space-motorcycle for Lobo?

Not at this time.

Ask Mattel > July 15

July 15, 2008 | Poe

Another month, another round of Mattel Q&A! Just a few questions this week.

Our astute reader EL noticed, in the press photos for the Movie Masters Batman/Scarecrow two-pack, that the gauntlets on both the regular and demonic Batman appear to have been accidentally reversed (that is, the gauntlets have been placed on the wrong wrists). The “grid” should be on the inside, not the outside, of the gauntlets. Was this just an error with the prototypes or test shots?

Good eagle eye! Yes, this was just a pre production shot and will be fixed when the toys hit shelves.

[Poe’s note: From the photos posted online by collectors, the initial shipments of the second wave of Movie Masters figures appear to have this error. It’s possible it will be corrected as a running change.]

Aside from the Joker’s knife, why weren’t any Batarangs or other in-scale accessories included with the Dark Knight Movie Masters figures?

Including extra accessories might be a great choice for re-releases of these figures!

In the interest of making sure DC Universe Classics has a long healthy lifespan, does it make a difference whether collectors buy the figures at their local Target, Wal-Mart or Toys ‘R Us or order a case from an online retailer?

If you truly want to support the line, buy triples of each figure, one from each retailer! Seriously though, we are proud that so many retailers and online dealers are supporting this line.