- While you can’t order MOTUC Beast Man or He-Man off Mattycollector.com anymore, on Mattel’s Facebook page they wrote, “with only a few hundred units left, we wanted to close down sales so we can have just handful for NYCC and SDCC to help spread the word on this amazing toy line at the summer conventions.” I’m glad Mattel appears to have met their sales goals with this line–it bodes well for its future.
- The wait for my shipment of DCUC6 is just starting to get to me. After my ordeal with DCUC5, I knew I’d be OK for a while after wave six start popping up at retail. But now with the news that all we’re waiting on is for Mattel to get one last figure in, I’m getting a wee bit impatient, especially when I see all the great photos.
- Just as the coolness of the Deathstroke figure got me buying some Teen Titans trades and back issues of his eponymous 1990s series, I grabbed Showcase Presents Hawkman and The Greatest Shazam! Stories Ever Told. I have to say, though, Hawkman has the most convoluted continuity issues of any character in the DCU (and that’s saying something).
- There’s been a ton of speculation as to what the mysterious new Mattel 6″ property will be, but we now know a few things for certain: it’s not any of the Horsemen’s original properties, and it’s not Thundercats or WWE. Nonetheless, the Horsemen “can guarantee that there will be a LOT of excited fanboys.” They also say they bet we won’t guess it. According to Mattel, the first figure will be available at SDCC. I thought perhaps it might be Movie Masters Watchmen, but that wouldn’t really be a new line, since Movie Masters is pre-existing. After looking over Mattel’s previous licenses, I think it’s…I don’t know. But just to throw out some guesses: The Simpsons, Harry Potter, Captain Power, Universal Monsters.
- Wow–quite a dogfight going on in this month’s poll. Everyone’s had the lead except poor Tytus (Megator led very briefly when I picked him after creating the poll). I do think the only way the Sorceress would work as an exclusive is if she came with Zoar, though–otherwise it would feel too much like a “regular” figure, which isn’t Mattel’s MO for SDCC.
- Just forty-eight until Skeletor and the Starfire/Adam Strange two-pack go on sale!
Rinedog
Maybe the new figures with be something really out there that you’d never expect. Like, Mattel teaming with Bandai and the FH to produce Dragon Ball Z figures. They could be putting the Wildstorm and Vertigo characters in their own line (love to see some FH Wildcats figures). Along the same lines, they could be doing what Marvel Toys was doing after they quit making the Marvel Legends and tackle independent comic book characters from Image Comics, Top Cow, Aspen, etc. Maybe they say we won’t guess it because there is a new He-man cartoon in the works and we wouldn’t expect another MOTU line so soon.
George
Scooby Doo Vilans? Pshh Give me SCooby and Shaggy!!! And yes the world would come to peace with a SPAce Ghost in DCUC style.
Griffin
Scooby Doo villains with removable masks or interchangeable heads would be amazing and incredibly detailed. Plus there would be an almost unlimited supply of characters. I agree that this seems unlikely because of 4H and Mattel's tendency to go with buck body types.
Newt
Blue Falcon & Dynomutt!
But even a full Hanna-Barbera license would be cool. Scooby Doo villians by the 4H? Awesome.
But that seems very unlikely to me.
Esbat
Ooh Infinite Heroes stands… I like the sound of that.
PrfktTear
I think they better hurry up and get their "subscription" system working. At least then they could do to the suits and say, "Look we've got x number of people who are gauranteed sales."
-x
Griffin
Poe I think you have nailed it there. I was planning on buying Skeletor anyway, but am now much more likely to place my order on Thursday than to wait to combine shipping with Stratos.
Griffin
The only reason I could come up with was if they make money on the handling portion, a la people on ebay who charge $10 shipping and handling. It just seems too odd to me that they closed sales just a few days before Skeletor went on sale without selling out. If they really wanted to save some for conventions they could have just reserved x number and then let the rest sell out on the site. I hope that this isn't what they have done but it seems somewhat suspicious to me. On a better note I am glad that they seem to have met their sales quotas and that the line will continue.
Poe
Maybe I'm being thick here, but why would they care whether people combined shipping? Wouldn't that save them money, too? Fewer boxes and fewer man-hours spent on packing orders.
I think their claim that they wanted to hold back a few hundred for conventions, to help win over new collectors, makes more sense.
But maybe I'm misunderstanding you. I could see a strategy whereby they regularly pull sales of the previous month's figure a few days before the next figure goes on sale, in order to ensure you don't have people waiting five months and then ordering a bunch all at once.
The problem with that is with a monthly, online-exclusive line like this, they're going to need more frequent–and good–sales numbers to keep the suits convinced the whole thing is working. So they can't afford to let people order a whole bunch every five months, because by then the suits might have been disappointed by the sales numbers and given the line the axe. You can't just tell the suits, "Trust me–people will order!"
And so, as long as each figures at least comes close to selling out before the next figure's release date, I suspect they'll continue to pull the previous figure off the site and sell the remaining units at conventions.
PrfktTear
Griffin: You may have a point. If that is why they closed sales, then thats pretty sneaky and underhanded. I can't see the reason for doing so. I was half considering getting another He-Man, and combining the two.
-x
Cade
I'd sell something for DCUC styled Space Ghost and Herculoids…
Griffin
If it is Hanna-Barbera, they might not limit it to superheroes, opening up a lot more characters. The style differences between a Space Ghost, which I would sell my grandmother for, and say a Snagglepuss make this unlikely I suppose. Another idea I've heard tossed around that makes some sense is Amalgam figures. It fits with the "How did they do that" angle for getting the rights. I honestly can't imagine them doing well at Target because of the shear obscurity, but they might do well as a mattycollector exclusive. Speaking of which, I'm pretty sure they closed up sales to prevent people from combining shipping with Skeletor as some people had planned.
Poe
A few people have tossed around Hanna-Barbera superheroes like Space Ghost, Birdman, the Herculoids, and Jonny Quest. Problem is, are there any other HB characters worth doing after those four shows?
I'd give my left buttock for a DCUC-style Space Ghost sculpted by the Four Horsemen, but we'll just have to wait and see.
Cade
that new mattel 4h line is vexing me. I just really got know…