I came across some interesting tidbits regarding Tytus’s production, and given the controversy he seems to have inspired among collectors, I thought I’d post them here.
First, there’s this post by ToyGuru on the Mattycollector forums:
Tytus also has a 100% sculpt. But at that size (13″) if we did him fully articulated he would have been very expensive. It is not the sculpting that is expensive, we pay the same amount to “sculpt” a 6″ figure as we do a 12″ figure. It is the production that costs more when a figure is larger because a larger figure uses more plastic etc…!
Gygor is not as large as Tytus so we can afford (plastic wise) to give him more articulation. At the end of the day, Tytus was just too large to produce with full articulation and keep him under $100.00. We wanted Tytus (as a giant) to be as big as possible, which is why we used Roto casting which is less expensive to keep him at the $40.00 price point.
We do have big plans for both the Gygor (gorilla buck) and Tytus (giant buck) in the future. So both were an “investment” for Mattel for future figures. We are making a deliberate attempt to spread out the big beasts and giants so that each year will have a good selection. That is why you don’t see all the big name big beasts like Panthor, Megator, etc… all in year one. I imagine in time we will get to them! Our goal is to keep the line going for quite a few years and to do that we need to save big guns for each year.
To add ball joints we would need to make Tytus completely the same way we do a 6″ figure and this would drive his price to over $100.00. We used roto casting to keep the price down but when you use Roto Casting it prevents ball joints from being used.
Would fans be willing to buy a new Tytus for over $100.00 that would include all the articulation you see in a 6″ MOTUC figure? Let us know.
Regarding the oft-discussed stylistic difference between the MOTUC 7″ figures and Tytus, the Four Horsemen posted this on their own forums:
Tytus is a newly sculpted figure. We tried to place his build somewhere between MotU Classics and DCUC for two reasons.
First, he just didn’t look correct at that height with the MotU Classics build. He just didn’t look “giant” enough. It kind of stumped his overall appearance.
Second, the hope was to have the opportunity to use the basic structure of the Tytus figure for many more projects besides just the MotU Classics Tytus. This could possibly mean that it could be used for DCUC or other characters or lines down the road. We really had to work hard to justify the cost of his tooling.
So there’s the answer–it’s very likely we’ll see Tytus re-used in DCUC.
Diego Zubrycky
The Pixel Dan review of MOTUC Tytus shows how badly articulated this figure is.
Speaking of articulation, ironically, Tytus hips and head articulation are WORST than the vintage figure.
Syntax
How is he a toy guru when he can't even use the word "buck" correctly?
A buck isn't a reused base body. A buck is a system of measurements so that different sculpts still have the same joint and peg sizes. The Star Wars Build-A-Droids are built on the same buck – all the pegs fit all the peg holes.
SDCC Galactus will cost a ridiculous amount of money because a huge blister card is ridiculous. Plus the "suitcase" wraparound to store him in. I'd expect $75 – $50 retail plus $25 in premium features.
Toy Biz, the licensed toy developer, was formally reabsorbed by Marvel. Toy Biz Worldwide, the licensed manufacturer, was a leased-by-Marvel name, so Jeff Hsieh is now operating somewhere else within the Cornerstone Overseas family of businesses.
Dark Angel
@Poe: You're so kind…What gets to me more than the obfuscation itself is the presumption of utter vacuity on our part…
Poe
@Snakeeyes22:
One thing I do want to mention–and this isn't meant as a defense of Mattel's decision not to do ball joints, just a general caveat–is that the cost of producing action figures, from the raw materials to the tooling to the factories, has jumped dramatically in the last decade. I've heard this even from non-Mattel associated toymakers.
The fact is, 6" fully-articulated action figures just aren't nearly as cheap to produce as they were in ToyBiz's time. Hell, the rise in production costs may be part of what killed ToyBiz.
@Dark Angel: I agree Mattel tends to go for the excuse (no matter how counter-intuitive, circumlocutory, or daft-sounding) rather than just fessing up.
Dark Angel
@Newton Gimmick:
You may have a point in your defense of Mattel, but…they should, in that case, say what they mean:
"We can't/won't do it."
…versus what they actually say:
"OMG, impossible! Impossible! It'll cost a fortune. Even though saying that it would cost a lot kinda undermines what we previously said about it not being possible in the first place…so, yeah, we just can't. Unless you wanna fork over some serious cash, in which case we…um…apparently can. Hey! Look at this figure we are gonna release in a few months!"
JimPansen
The 200x Roto He-Man from Mattel has Shoulder Ball joints?!?
Snakeeyes22
@misterbigbo
Galactus is only limted in the giant blister card, he'll be released in a box at retail.
Still, the issue is still there. I can't imagine the Mezco Hellboy mentioned above had a huge production run. If many more were made than Tytus, it certainly isn't a toy that will see reissue, wasn't a guaranteed sell out, and the mold is useless for any other character. I'm not too peeved about the shoulders, but since I can't just take off of work one day a month, Tytus will automatically cost me $20 more if I want one, but that's a whole different issue.
Did their large DCUC Flash have nice articulation? Is GyGor larger than Gorilla Grodd? That seems like a no-brainer for saving costs.
I think Mattel has just been at the tooling reuse game for a long time, even before others have had to focus on it more than a few repaints.
Secret Wars figures were super cheap, with costume details just painted on. Oh, and Barbie of course. I have noticed something, even about my daughter's basic 11 1/2" Barbies that retail for $5. Ball Jointed shoulders. It's not the same thing of course, but maybe adds some perspective.
I've got to wonder…how the hell did Toy Biz even stay in business selling $8 figures with Sentinel legs and comics and clamshells and a much less strict buck system?
misterbigbo
I'm not interested in Tytus but am getting a kick out of Matty doing the two-step about his tooling and costs. I'm waiting to see what the SDCC Galactus will cost before I decide how badly I think Matty screwed this one up; though they're not completely comparable I think it'll give me some idea of how Hasbro does limited run articulated giants.
Newton Gimmick
In Mattel's defense, I don't think they always mean that it's impossible for something to be done. I think they mean it's impossible for them to do it.
Why? I don't know.
I think Mattel just basically listens to whatever the factory tells them and never pushes the issues. Remember Moss Man?
Mattel didn't have a solution to Moss Man. WE THE FANS, had to figure out how to do Moss Man. Mattel was completely stumped until we came up with the workaround.
Reverend Ender
I would never buy a DCUC figure as under-articulated as Tytus is, and I would never pay anywhere near $100 for an articulated DCUC giant figure, and neither would anyone else at retail, and probably not online either. Also, Mattel sucks. I always wonder what makes it such supposedly great company to work for, that they win that award every year. I'm thinking they must give out tiered incentives for how much you can bone your customers with a given product.
Dark Angel
I have to do this…
Objection: Demonstrably untrue! A myriad of companies have produced rotocast figures with at least single-peg ball joints.
BONUS!: The most expensive rotocast figure I own with ball jointed shoulders is an Extreme Hellboy from Mezco. He was around $40 shipped. The cheapest rotocast figure I own with ball jointed shoulders is a Jakks Pacific Undertaker, who was about $13 (I may have gotten him on sale, but he certainly wasn't more than $20 full price).
Conclusion: Mattel's assertions are so bombastically absurd as to actually be insulting.
Recommendation: Please try again.
Dead Man Walking
LOL. Tytus looked stumpy when he had the standard MOTUC body. No surprises here.
Heli
Mattel can't make Hasbro figures for less than $100! Why can't you understand that?
-Matty
Kyle
Apparently Hasbro knows some secret about producing large figures that Mattel doesn't.
All of the larger figures from Mattel that I can remember were way over priced. Like the $30 12 inch DC Superheroes figures while Hasbro had some Marvel rotocast figures for $10.
dayraven
@Lemonjuice_McGee: that's exactly what i thought. also i know it was pointed out that just in early 2009, hasbro had been releasing marvel icons on injection molded bodies at 25 dollars a piece retail, but then mattel countered that it's his production run that's keeping tytus expensive… so which is it, the amount of the plastic being used, the delicacy of rotocast figs being unable to handle balljoints (even though toy biz did that w/ spidey and venom giants in 2007) or the small production run (which quite evidently, they could have made a lot more of him)? cuz it sounds like they're floundering to me, like any time someone points out that a given reason isn't really a valid limitation on getting an injection molded tytus under 100 bucks, they come up w/ a new reason… that's still hollow.
Lemonjuice_McGee
It'd be kinda cool to have the chance to buy a larger figure and not have to worry about the Collect & Connect feature.
Still, if it was gonna be at retail, then they should be able to justify the costs for new tooling and plastic that includes full articulation (ala Marvel Universe Goliath and Skrull) without it costing an arm and a leg.
Dyl
Tytus maybe stylisticall different in proportion, but he fits in very well. In all honesty I'm still waiting for him to get into the country, but from the pictures I've seen, he looks good. I'm not overally bothered by the articulation as he goes in the cabinet anyway. I wouldn't have paid $100 for him.