1.) Valo487 asks: The Legion of Doom has been fairly well represented in both JLU and DCUC with a few left to finish the team in both lines, however Toyman is currently missing from both. Is he in the works for either line? Also, any chance for a non-armored Lex Luthor?
Both are a possibility, but nothing to announce quite yet.
2.) He-Dan asks: Given the recent announcement in Toyfare that key figures (like Joker and Power Girl) will be part of the Wal-Mart exclusive line, what assurances can Mattel offer that the line will be available more widely and in greater quantities at Walmarts than Wave 5?
It is up to Wal-Mart (and any other retailer) to decide which toy lines to carry, not Mattel. If you are not seeing your favorite DC or other Mattel line at your local retailer, ask for it by name!
3.) Ed asks: Some collectors have reported their DCUC figures (wave 3 specifically) developing a strange coating of white film that doesn’t seem like normal dust. I myself have seen it on my DCUC figures and even some of my old Batman figures from the original Horsemen line. A collector on Fwoosh had speculated that it’s probably just mold release working itself out of the plastic. I was wondering if Mattel had a take on this to help clarify the mystery?
An interesting question. If you have photos of this to post we’d be happy to review with our safety department and get a more complete answer. At this time we are unaware of this particular issue.
4.) How much of the Question figure, revealed recently in ToyFare, is new sculpting/tooling?
The Question is based on the DC Superheroes suit body used for Clark Kent, The Riddler and Two Face with a new head, coat and arms.
5.) Given the success of the Movie Masters Batpod, is there any possibility of similar smaller-size vehicles (such as a Batcycle) for DCUC, perhaps as a Mattycollector exclusive or a Collect-and-Connect?
Nothing is planned at this time, but if there is enough fan interest it is something we can get to in time!
Jim
Oh and although, I think Q&A's are pointless, I'm not saying you should stop these. I'm just say that enough is enough and everyone at Poe or any other site seriously needs to be given guidelines of what not to ask.
Lol…Remember those magic 8 balls?
Matty collector should sell EXCLUSIVE matty magic 8 balls….then we can ask it a question and it will do the job for the computer that's spitting out all these question. At the same time, mattel can yank out some extra sales with these 8balls! 🙂
Jim
@Poe: Just send Mattel one question:
Can you give us guidelines of what NOT to ask for Q&A's?
That or drop all the info you are ALLOWED to give us twice a month! 🙂
Poe
The next Q&A isn't due until August 1 (for August 15th), which gives me a month to decide whether to continue doing them.
Thomas B
i like the Q&As from all the dif sites i just wish the moderators would sort of communicate so everyone isnt asking the same question over and over again.
i like these sessions and always look forward to them but i don't usually think they will give us huge nuggets of info. the first quesstion for example was very good and gave us a good tease but ANYTHING is a possibility
the "ask you toy manager" response is aggravating. i am sure MANY of use WOULD ask if we knew :
A. who that was.
B. if the store even HAS one, which they prob don't
how about this question next time:
can you give us the name, email, birthdate and street address for the account rep for wal-mart, target, k-mart etc.
if we had a person to EMAIL at least for each store i am sure they'd get the point since there is NEVER a toy manager. hell i am lucky if i see someone restocking a toy in the isle that fell on the floor
monkey boy
and poe, i'd love it if you'd do me a solid and slip this in your next round of Q and A's:
dear mattel,
I would love to know what the process was behind Mattel's inclusion of the Joker, one of the most popular DC characters of all time, in an exclusive Wal-Mart wave. Forgetting for a moment the fact that an exclusive wave is automatically made in more limited numbers than a mass release and thus it's odd that such a core, popular character would be chosen for an exclusive wave, it seems like Mattel would have perhaps learned something from the lack of satisfaction many fans expressed about the availability of the previous Wal-Mart exclusive wave. Please explain what the logic is behind taking customer dissatisfaction at a very difficult to find retailer exclusive wave and using that info to include one of the most anticipated DCUC figures in another retailer exclusive wave that (if your Q&A answers are a ny indication) is going to prove just as difficult to find. Since it's assumed that Mattel was responsible for the list of characters for inclusion in the WM wave, it seems like the burden should be on Mattel to make sure that fans have a better opportunity at getting the figure. And yet the response is still "Go tell your local Wal-Mart to order more DCUC!" Some Wal-Marts just do not get exclusives, and there is nothing that can be done at a customer level. So seeing that Mattel is aware of the anger that was caused by the previous WM wave, and Mattel is responsible for the character choices in the exclusive wave, it becomes difficult to believe that there isn't somebody at Mattel with genuine disdain for the collector community. It's otherwise hard to understand how the Joker would find inclusion in the second WM exclusive wave. This almost certainly assures that MOST DC fans will not be able to get one of DC's most iconic villains. Putting the responsibility on consumers to tell retailers what to buy is not only a silly pointless request, but it's asking us to do your job. As a toy company, it's up to you to make sure that consumers can purchase your products. It's a pretty pretentious ideal to assume that consumers should be the ones begging for product. Mattel, as a company, should assume responsibility for getting its product to the consumer.
Jim
@monkey boy: Preach on bro! lol Answer #2 is like one of them computer made fortune cookie fortunes or something.
Jim
@Prfkttear: I think your on to something.
Thus, there seems to be a pattern combined with common sense regarding what they can or can't reveal.
So if they give us these Q&A's out of courtesy, I think they should give guidelines for these Q&A's to put a cap on the ridiculousness of it all.
Tell dcuc/jlu fans HOW to answer questions. Basically, what not to ask: production numbers, character releases, walmart availability, etc. etc.
The guidelines won't cover ALL the details of what not to ask but it's a step towards writing the CORRECT question to ask.
If not, then we might as well ask the questions….and find the cookie cutter answers that match that "type" of question from previous Mattel Q&A editions.
monkey boy
ok ok ok…come on now…is ANYBODY out there feelin' good about mattel's answer to number 2? ANYBODY? because to me that's a BIG HUGE MIDDLE FINGER TO EVERYONE. how DARE they blame wal-mart and tell us to go talk to the toy aisle employees again.
wal-mart didn't say, "oh hey, can we get power girl and joker in that exclusive wave?" that is, perhaps, the STUPIDEST DECISION MADE BY A TOY COMPANY, EVER. and that includes every fucking stupid decision mattel has made up until this point.
what i personally get from these Q and A's, poe, is that mattel's attitude toward its fans is basically, "hey guys, bend over for a second, i've got something for you".
Jim
Oh and the "white powder" is so the joints don't get stuck. It's on most of the joints on the dcuc figures to prevent joints from sticking together due to dried paint between the joint slots.
Jim
@Poe: Personally, I think these Q&A's are pointless.
Mattel should just GIVE the info they CAN give us. Instead of "we cant tell you that…we can't tell you that too….we can tell you that either", Mattel should seriously just dump all the news they can give on our laps.
Seriously, how many times have we heard…"WELL…TELL YOUR FAVORITE RETAILER TO ORDER MORE DCUC IF YOU WANT TO SEE THEM SOME MORE" lol
It's same b.s. cookie cutter replies that make us seem like a bunch of crazy people asking questions to a rock.
Mattel's Q&A should be "Matty toyline news" and they can just dump everything they are allowed to tell us right then and there.
RageTreb
Reading number three had me checking my wave 3 figures, lol. The only problems I ever had with mold release/mysterious lubrication was on a few Robot Heroes figures. They were so bad I needed to wash them off throughly right after opening them.
PrfktTear
@DtB: Very true. Keep in mind also, Poe has been kind enough to allow readers to submit questions as well, so many of the questions we're getting are from fellow Poesters. As valid as He-Dan's question (#2) is, it was pretty much doomed from the beginning.
I think Question #4 about The Question – the figure is a good example of a good question to aks. Also, they may not be providing us with the answers we want to hear, but at least they are giving us answers.
Asking more open ended questions may be better moving forward rather than trying to get them to pigeonhole themselves. Asking about specific characters like Toyman or Luthor, aren't likely to to yeild answers we want to hear. How often do they actually announce upcoming figures via Q&A? They're just basically saying its a possibility, but they're not ready to announce anything.
The question about a DCUC scale vehicle was a good example too. They gave us an answer, again, just not one we might want to hear. Still, an answer be it negative or vague is better than no answer.
DavetheBrave
I don't mind the Q and A, I just think you need to be careful with question choices. Don't ask about character selection or availability, as we always get the same answer. I think that quality control question was perfect. Ultimately, I think the key to getting use out of these Q and A's is to be really selective about what you ask them.
Andrew
Absolutely not Poe, the Q&A is our most direct contact with the company we both love and hate. I appreciate that you do these for us.
Poe
So what I'm getting from you guys is, you want me to stop bothering with these Q&As?
The Flash III
I can't believe they were able to fit "It is up to Wal-Mart (and any other retailer) to decide which toy lines to carry, not Mattel. If you are not seeing your favorite DC or other Mattel line at your local retailer, ask for it by name!" onto one of the sides!
By the way, "Thanks a pantload, Mattel!" is on my die for responding to their responses.
Fengschwing
"It's a '4' give them the 'ask your toy aisle manager' one again."
PrfktTear
@jestergoblin: give 'em credit, they must at least have a 12-sided die! 😉
jestergoblin
wow. that was pretty uninformative. i feel like mattel just has stock answers, they just roll a 6-sided die and paste what comes up.
Fengschwing
The Two-Face suit rides again!
We didn't see that coming!
I wonder when Bones is going to arrive?