Mattel posted a couple small news bits after NYCC–here they are for your convenience. (more…)
NYCC Mattel news roundup
Mattel dropped a LOT of news on us yesterday. (I’ll do a general NYCC news roundup tomorrow.) (more…)
Toy review roundup (via Fanmode), 2/4/09
Poe Ghostal reviews the NECA Bionic Commando Nathan “Rad” Spencer figure. Excerpt: “… a great action figure.”
Shocka reviews the SOTA Street Fighter Revolution Zangief figure. Excerpt: “This will be the only Street Fighter Revolutions figure I’m reviewing for OAFE because the others all had the misfortune of breaking before I got them out of their boxes …” (more…)
Ask Mattel, 2/3/2009

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.
Mattel news and Q&A roundup

Mattel has posted a couple updates on their Facebook page.
Due to Feb 15th falling on a weekend, and that being followed by a holiday (in the US), Stratos will therefore go on sale Tuesday the 17th at 12:00 eastern.
and
So we’ve asked our official research group to get some numbers behind collector interests as we move forward with even bigger and better figures both online and at retail!
Check out the link below if you would like to voluntarily tell us a bit about what you want from Mattel in the future!
Matty
https://deploy.ztelligence.com/start/index.jsp?PIN=13AWQ2NC598UD
Calling All Action Figure Collectors!
We’d like to invite you to participate in our new action figure research survey. As we strive to best meet your needs for action figures and collectibles, your responses are very important to us and will help us in our development of future products. Please take a few minutes to complete this survey and all of your answers and information will be kept strictly confidential.
I’ve filled out the survey, and it’s quite in-depth. Here’s hoping it has some significant effects on the future of DCUC and MOTUC.
Here’s a round-up of all the Mattel Q&As from yesterday:
- Kastor’s Korner
- The Fwoosh
- Action Figure Insider
- DC Collector
- Critical Mess
- Batman: YTB (scroll to bottom)
- Toy News International
- Poe Ghostal’s Points of Articulation
- Figures.com
Mattel also put up a new ad for Stratos.
Mattel: You’ll see MOTUC He-Man and Skeletor again (plus movie news)
Mattel posted some info on their Facebook page which should help calm those who missed out on their first releases and are worried they’ll never be able to get the figures at a fair price. (more…)
January poll results
The “Which character would you most want as this year’s MOTUC SDCC exclusive?” poll is now closed. Here are the final results:
- The Sorceress (w/ Zoar) – 67 votes
- He-Ro – 47 votes
- Fearless Photog – 29 votes
- Megator – 10 votes
- Tytus – 4 votes
In retrospect, perhaps I shouldn’t have had the Sorceress on that list–she’s a shoo-in for the line, if it lasts long enough. I’m not suprised He-Ro is number two, and I’m impressed Fearless Photog managed to come in third. Megator, on the other hand, has disappointed me.
The February poll is up now–it’s about what 1980s toy properties you’d like to see redone for today’s collectors, like G.I. Joe 25th Anniversary or MOTUC. I skipped the most obvious properties, like Thundercats and Silverhawks, because I wanted people to have to actually think about who they want to vote for.
Toy news roundup, 1/28/09

- Skeletor is sold out. Damn, that was fast. Bodes well for MOTUC, though. (Mattycollector)
- Go Hero is making a Commando Cody 1:6 figure, which I find interesting mostly because CC was featured in a number of Mystery Science Theater 3000 episodes. Incidentally, where the hell are my MST3K figures, world?! (Figures.com)
- More pics of Terminator: Salvation toys by Playmates…that thing with the treads will look great next to my 1988 Kenner Ed-260. Y’know, I feel kind of bad for picking on Playmates, since they produced the excellent and beloved TMNT line and the popular Simpsons figures, but these are inexcusable in this day and age. (Figures.com)
- Diamond Select Toys’ latest Q&A. (Art Asylum)
- Dude, this Star Wars horror novel’s cover totally ripped off my Odds ‘n Ends pic. Ha ha! Okay not really. (Topless Robot)
More Mattel updates
Mattel has updated their Facebook page once again with a virtual cornucopia of interesting information… (more…)
MOTUC Skeletor almost sold out
Mattel announced on its Facebook page that Skeletor is almost sold out, so if you’ve been dawdling, now’s the time.