Poestradamus

November 13, 2008 | Poe

Back on October 30, I posted a guess on the Fwoosh as to when the next few DC Universe Classics items would be available:

  • Wal-Mart DCUC wave starts appearing mid-November
  • DCUC wave 2 re-ships in early December
  • DCUC TRU exclusives start appearing early December
  • Adam Strange/Starfire ships late January
  • DCUC wave 6 ships early March

With the Wal-Mart wave just starting to trickle into stores now and the announcement that the Adam Strange/Starfire pack goes on sale January 15, I’m already 2 for 5. Anyone care to weigh in on my other predictions? The only one I’m not that confident about is wave six…it’s possible that will hit in late January. I’ll eat my invisible intangible hat if it shows up before December 31, though.

Maybe it’s time for another Pool contest…

Future DCUC figures leaked?

November 6, 2008 | Poe

Action Figure Insider has posted a list of DCUC figures that have shown up in Wal-Mart’s computer system. Take it with a grain of salt, of course, but here are the previously unannounced figures:

We know the Question isn’t due out until late 2009 (or maybe early 2010), so we may not see some of these figures for a long time. Still, I sincerely hope we are getting all of these–John Stewart, Shark, Mantis, Green Arrow, and Deadshot!! are awesome. I can’t wait to see a Four Horsemen Shark (though I suspect it’ll be more of a classic-looking Shark than the more monstrous modern one).

And yet, still no Martian Manhunter! What’s the deal with that? Maybe he’ll be the SDCC exclusive, with alternate heads or something…

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.

Intereviews > Despero (DC Universe Classics)

October 29, 2008 | Poe

Oh man, am I finally on the last one of these? I think I’ll go back to the round robin format next time. That, or spread the intereviews out over a longer period. Anyway…

My intereview today is with Despero, one of the Justice League’s oldest and most formidable villains–

Puny human! What do you want? Explain to me now or die!

Oh, great–this is going to be one of those interviews. (more…)

Intereviews > Ares (DC Universe Classics)

October 27, 2008 | Poe

Welcome back to my week-long series of “intereviews” with the members of DC Universe Classics Wave 4. For those unfamiliar with the format, I basically pretend the figures are real and “interview” them, sneaking in my review in the process.

My guest today is Ares, the Greek God of War. Thanks for being here, Mr. Ares. Can I call you Ares?

Well, you own me, so it’s not like I have much choice, right?

I was only trying to be polite. Now, I’ll be frank–

–and I’ll be Ares! (more…)

Intereview > Cyborg (DC Universe Classics)

October 24, 2008 | Poe

In the early 1980s, the New Teen Titans were DC Comics’ answer to Marvel’s enormously successful X-Men, and both series sold very well. One of the new Titans introduced during that era was Cyborg. After an accident in which Victor Stone’s mad scientist father accidentally released a gelatinous extradimensional horror that killed Victor’s mother and mutilated Victor himself, his father grafted a number of cybernetic enhancements onto his son to ensure his survival. Initially repulsed by his new appearance, Victor eventually learned to accept it and became a superhero. (more…)