Mattel Q&A Round-Up For March 15, 2010

by Jay Cochran
March 16, 2010
In order to make it easier for you to check out all the different Mattel Q&A's that are posted around the Internet, we have gathered up all the questions with links to the actual sites where you can easily go to and see the answers. Here is the round-up for March 15th batch of questions. Click here to check out the TNI ones.


Figures.com

1) There has been a lot of talk about Gygor being a re-tooled DCUC Gorilla Grodd and I completely disagree. Can you help lay these rumors to rest and share more details with us regarding this new 2010 MOTUC bonus figure?

2) It was great to see that we will be getting two brand new 200x-based figures (Marzo and Keldor) during the first half of 2010. Can we look forward to any additional characters that only appeared in the MYP series this year?

3) You have previously stated that Orko would be released in 2010 but not as a Comi-Con exclusive. Due to the size of this character, it would not be logical to release him on a blister card like the other MOTUC figures so will he be packed in with another figure or sold as a separate SKU for small scaled figures?

4) The Castle Grayskull diorama bases are a great display option for the MOTUC line but many fans have stated that the bases should have included a higher quantity of pegs. Will you be catering to this request when they are re-released or will you make additional pegs available via customer service or mattycollector.com later this year?

5) Now that Peter Venkman is finally scheduled to release later this year, when can fans look forward to a re-release of Egon and what accessory or deco changes will he have?


Kestors Korner

Kastor: If/When the popular Ram Man gets made for the MOTU line would he be considered a large scale figure or do you plan to try to fit him on a standard card?

Kastor: You have stated recently that once a figure is shown to the public it is too late to make any changes in the production of the figure. Moss Man and Firestorm are the exceptions to that rule, but Harley and Dr. Fate are very sore spots for collectors, so how can we help to fix issues that arise in the deco area?

Kastor: The DCUC line has recently been labeled for the adult collector, and because of that many retailers are unwilling to order large quantities (more than a case at a time) for their stores. This can cause a store to be sold out for a month or more at times. We have spoken to ?Target and Walmart and both have said this is due to the DCUC line being labeled as a collector line and not a toy line. Why classify them as adult collectibles and not boys toys or strictly action figures so collectors and kids can get these more readily?

Kastor: With both Walmart and Toys R Us getting DCUC multipacks this year will Target be also be getting DCUC multipacks in 2010?

Kastor: Can you clarify the tentative release schedule for DCUC:


The Fwoosh

1. Can you tell us why, from a design/engineering standpoint, was the choice made to put a hole in the forehead of the “original toy” head on the MOTUC She-Ra figure? Was it not possible to have it “clip” on the side of her hair? Many fans have expressed concern for future characters with masks (like Catra), are you looking a a more aesthetically pleasing way to attach the masks?

2. Looking down the road a bit – if/when Ghostbusters 3 hits that big screen, should the current GB line go to retail would an in-scale (i.e. 1:12 scale or Movie Masters scale) Ecto-1 be a real possibility at retail? The car is such an iconic part of the team, we must have one for our collections!

3. You have hinted at there being some different (not 2-packs) SKUs for DCUC on Matty Collector in the future, is that still in the cards for something like boxsets or the like? If so, when can we get a reveal?

4. So, Battle Cat sold out fast – you have to consider him a success, correct? Since he is a huge, articulated figure would something like an unarticulated Sky Sled (mimicking the original) be a real possibility now in the MOTUC line? It seems like it would be smaller and require less tooling so it feels like it would be an option.

5. While the DCUC line is building a gigantic collection, there are still TON (probably hundreds) of characters still left out there to do. Getting them in by 2012 would seem like a long shot, even at this point. Does your current agreement run through the END of 2012 or is the first of that year the cutoff? Has it been re-upped yet?


Italltrue.net

1. Vault asks: In the first year of DCUC, I was excited about the healthy mix of characters from different decades. I was especially happy to see the 90s represented well. But in 2009, I don’t think a single figure was made that could call that decade home. In 2010, we’re seeing Tim Drake & FA Superboy early on, is that a sign of more 90s characters to come? I know you can’t comment on specifics, but DC gained a lot of new readers in the 90s, with Morrison’s JLA in particular, and some fans want to see those characters represented…

2. Tekwych asks: In Japan many companies participate in Wonderfest. The event allows customizers a chance to purchase a 1-day license to sell their own interpretations of licensed characters in limited quantities. These are often resin ‘Garage kits’ that need assembly and painting and must be 100% original work by the artist. If other North American companies also participated would a North American ‘Wonderfest’ be something that Mattel would be willing to participate in?

3. Mo asks: Hawkman and Hawkgirl gave Mattel wings, but you haven’t used them since. Are there any other characters on Mattel’s radar that could take advantage of those already-tooled wings?

4.Mr. Rant asks: Battle Cat is spectacular. I have to give Mattel and the 4H props for that, but Panthor is going to have a unique head sculpt, right?

5. Noisy asks: Will any of the inevitable future versions of He-Man (Adam, Thunder Punch, etc) have a head with a different facial expression? With MOTU being an adult collector line that can swap heads, it’d be great if we could get an angrier head or a closed mouth head on some future versions when the tooling budget allows.


Pendragon's Post

1. Can you please address the "modern" Cheetah deco change? The original photos fans were given had a full body cheetah deco, but now fans are seeing a version with black clothing. Can you clarify which is the official deco and the availability of each? Since we're already getting a superpowers and modern variation, I don't expect we'd be lucky enough to get all three unless one was some sort of Mattycollector or convention exclusive.

2. There have been conflicting reports about whether the double joints on Blue Beetle III will be the new standard for DCUC going forward or whether it will only be used as needed. Can you address this?

3. On the Maters of the Universe/DC Universe classics 2 packs, is this a way for Mattel to test the market to see how Masters of the Universe would sell in retail? Also, any thoughts as to producing more of the 2 packs?

4. Last round of questions, we asked about lowering the qty of per item from 10 to something lower. You answered: “Actually, very few customers are buying more than two figures. We want to keep the ten options for those international customers who requested this to help with shipping.” If few customers are buying more than 2, why keep it that high? One would assume, the few customers include international customers. While the logic is there about lowering shipping costs, it still doesn’t answer the question about keeping a single item with a qty of 10.

5. You have announced that DCUC Wave 14 that will be another Walmart exclusive. Fans are sick and tired of this nonsense with trying find them at Walmart, especially seeing Walmart is not willing to put the stock out. Why continue offering exclusive waves to Walmart when people obviously have a hard time finding them? (Calling the company/store doesn't work.) Can you give us a promise they will be available on either Walmart’s website or Mattycollector.com?


Popculturenetwork

1) Some time ago, you answered our question regarding possible future Batman Beyond figures, for which we thank you. Now we have the same question about Static Shock. Do you have license to produce figures from the Static Shock cartoon?

2) A while back we asked about a checklist for Infinite Heroes and you said one was on the way. What happened to it?

3) Way too late for She-Ra, but after seeing the giant hole in her head I was wondering if Mattel had any plans for working around that on future figures. Palisades was very successful at installing small magnets into the Muppets line that would secure hats to the figures heads without taking away from the figure's overall appearance, and still allow the items to be removed, in fact it worked well enough that every figure with a hat released in the line beyond wave 1 had the feature. Has Mattel thought about applying this feature to figures like She-ra, Randor, or Queen Marleena, who have crowns or masks?

4) Question regarding Subscriptions: It was stated that the subscriptions wouldn't be able to be tiered, However do you think it would be an option to have the larger toys, like Battlecat, Tytus or Gygor as a seperate subscription all together, for fans who can't afford to spend an extra $30-$60 for these figures? Adding a $60 price tag in a month is a huge differance over the $20 for a bonus figure.

5)The diorama stands sold out on day one proving very popular, will these be seen again or will there be a new design every quarter like the weapons pack?


ActionFigurePics

1. With Guy Gardner coming soon in the Green Lantern 5-pack, it dawned on me – we’re pretty darned close to having the core team members from the JLI. I won’t ask about our favorite Oreo-craving Martian, but will it be more difficult to get Fire and Ice in a regular Collect and Connect assortment because they’re female and not that active in today’s comics? And since Black Canary has seen a more classic release recently, is her JLI look off the table for the foreseeable future?

2. You’ve said in prior Q&As that you were forgoing making figures for Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths because you wanted to see how the Superman Batman Public Enemies figures performed. Now that series 2 has hit retail, did the line do well enough to explore making more figure lines for the DC animated movies? Is Batman: Under the Red Hood under consideration, or is that coming too soon?

3. On a related note, collectors have been hoping for more Crime Syndicate figures, and Crisis on Two Earths is helping to fuel the fire. Is there any reason why you couldn’t include those figures in the regular Collect and Connect assortments? After all, they’re just evil versions of the DC big hitters. Or would you prefer something like a box set if you were to do more Crime Syndicate characters?

4. You’ve really piqued our interest in your description of the potential Club Eternia subscription – in particular, the description of oversized figures that may range from $30 to $60. Tytus is ginormous, but he’s only $40 – what could be big enough to warrant a $60 price tag? Hints would be great. Is this category restricted to figures, or could vehicles and playsets qualify too?

5. We really liked the reveals of the WWE Legends line at Toy Fair. When are the first and second waves due to hit stores, and how many waves of Legends should we expect to see in 2010?


ActionFigureInsider.com

Q1. What influences Mattel’s decision on which of DC/WB’s Straight-to-Video DC projects that Mattel supports with products and which ones they don’t? Both Public Enemies and Crisis on Two Earths seem perfect for figure sub-lines, but only PE had figures made

Q2. What caused the 40% increase in the price of a JLU single figure? Can we expect to get a higher quality plastic, better QC, or a larger tooling budget for the line now? Was the increase from the Mattel production side or did Target raise the price?

Q3. Now that we have seen our first MOTUC Accessory pack, are we any closer to getting our first DCUC accessory pack? We need more lanterns for our GL Corps and I’d love to see that Kandor the 4 Horsemen sculpted in it’s original DCUC scale. Plus more bat-gadgets, mother boxes… Justice League HQ Display cases….

Q4. WAAAAY back in the day when Mattel just started doing DC 6" figures and only had the license to do 6" Batman and Superman family characters the 4 Horsement sculpted some awesome rooftop bases for figures that were shown (I think it was SDCC 2005) but never manufactured, plus they had some really cool ideas for more. Any chance those could be revived and sold as MattyCollector.com exclusives?

Q5. The new wave of singles will be hitting soon and I know a lot of people are happy. I am glad to see the singles are back.
Deadshot, Firestorm, Aquaman,Green Arrow and Barda look great ! Can we please know what the next planned wave will have for characters ? I know things got shuffled around but can we at least get 2 or 3 figures in the next JLU singles wave ? We have seen alot of carded single show but When can we expect to see Volcana, OMAC, Ultraman,(show accurate) Zatanna,Hawkman in new deco, and the (show accurate) RED TORNADO? They have been taken off the back of some of the singles,I think fans want to know if these figures are still in the line up.


BZZURKK

BZZURKK - Has Mattel got plans for smaller characters in the DCUC line such as Gizmo or maybe even Krypto?

BZZURKK - The knee joints in the upcoming Blue Beetle figure are very cool for that figure. But most hope that this isn't something that is applied to every figure. Is Mattel thinking along these lines or do you see a time when it becomes standard.

BZZURKK - The Brave and the Bold Plastic Man is awesome! Will the DCUC Plastic Man or Elongated Man include that type of technology?

BZZURKK - 2010 is among us. Are we looking at the end of the life for the JLU line?

BZZURKK - Are the buttons for the DCUC going to continue or is it just a Wave 12 thing or 2010 thing?


ComicFigs.net

1) Comic Book Resources has some great pics of the new JLU figures in packaging, on the backs of some of these are characters that weren't shown at Toy Fair; are these JLU figures going to be released later in 2010?

-Captain Atom with accessory
-Martian Manhunter (the more modern outfit; dark blue)
-Ultraman
-Volcana
-OMAC
-Red suit Superman
-Blue suit Superman
-Long Hair Aquaman

2) Some items on Mattycollector sell out extremely quickly like most MOTUC figures where as others took a while to sell out, like the latter DCUC 2-packs. What is the longest an item can take to sell out and still be considered a success?

3) The newer Dark Knight Movie Masters will soon be carried at Toys R Us. Are all of the characters produced in the same quantities? I ask because at one point, Harvey Dent was to be a chase piece, correct? So many are uncertain about if he would be difficult to find at Toys R Us once they are released.

4) Question was recently released as the winner of the online fan poll for DCUC. Does a certain amount of time need to pass before other choices from that poll are turned into figures?

5) How far along in production is the upcoming Green Lantern DCUC 5 pack? Some fans have been asking if Guy's boots and gloves are the final sculpt as he is often shown with thicker cuffs.


Poeghostal.com

1.) If the DC vs. MOTU packs sell well at Toys ‘R Us, would Mattel consider introducing more MOTUC product at retail?

2.) Given the immediate success of a larger MOTU item like Battle Cat, is there any possibility we might see some Mattycollector-exclusive larger items for DCUC, such as vehicles or large rotocast figures a la Tytus?

3.) Does owning a license, such as MOTU, make it significantly easier to manufacture a large item like Battle Cat than it would be for a licensed line?

4.) Since keeping costs down through re-use of existing tooling is a big factor in this line, is it safe to assume you have plans for other large beasts using Gygor’s parts?

5.) Robinjr asks: In regards to DCUC, will we see more modern versions of some of the major characters anytime soon? I know it usually takes six months, but in some cases like the new Batman and Robin, it’s been nine months, so are they going to show up in the upcoming waves? Perhaps a Hal Jordan in modern costume?


Toyark.com

Toyark.com: How long until you guys are able to make figures based off of the designs seen in Batman & Son or the Jean Paul Valley Armored Batman? Designs such as Damian as Robin, Ninja Manbats, Suit of Sorrows Batman.

Toyark.com: The super articulated DCIH figures debuted in the Public Enemies sets last year. Is this "it" for the super articulated DCIH design? As in, will the design stop there, or are there improved, and more refined figures coming later on?

Toyark.com: Are there any plans to do line or include some characters in the DCUC series based off the Vertigo titles such as Sandman?

Toyark.com: With Green Lantern being one of the hottest books and a big movie coming soon, will we eventually see more GL enemies in the line like Star Sapphire, Hector Hammond, Invisible Destroyer, Black Hand, Evil Star and Amon Sur?

Toyark.com: We've seen some figures from the DC SUPERHEROES line being used in 2 packs and 5 packs. Doomsday, Bane, and Killer Croc were single carded figures from that line will they be reissued or will they be resculpted and distributed as BAFs like Darkseid was?


Super Hero Times

1. The new 75th Anniversary Dc Universe Classics packaging looks great but there is no information about what Collect and Connect pieces come with each figure, which is rather frustrating. Will this be the case with the rest of this year's waves or will the package design be altered to assits collectors better with locatiing the figures they need to complete their CAC character?

2. If play sets are out of the question for DC Universe Classics would you at least consider producing mini dioramas exclusivelly on mattycollector.com? For example; you could print a picture of the interior of the Hall of Justice or Legion of Doom on a thick card stock and have some sort of plastic molded base that it attaches to.

3. When can we excpect to see images of the entire DCUC Green Lantern 5-Pack?

4. The Mary Batson 6" figure has warped legs as a result of her positioning in the package. Why not place all DCUC characters in a static regular pose like the Masters of the Universe, to prevent future figures from suffering the same fate?

5. Are there plans for any additional mattycollector.com exclusive toy lines in 2010?


If you don't see your site listed and have a Mattel Q&A Round posted and would like to see your site added to our Round-Up, just shoot us an email at Questions@Enewsi.com. The next round of questions for Mattel are due in by Februar 1, 2010 with answers due back by February 15, 2010. If you would like to send in a question to possibly be chosen for the next round, CLICK HERE.





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