Ask Mattel > January edition

January 14, 2009 | Poe

mattel logo

Time for our latest round of Ask Mattel with Mattel’s Toy Guru!

1.) How soon can we expect the MOTUC character selection to branch out beyond the 1982-1983 waves?

2010 will feature both POP and New Adventures characters. We just could not fit these figures into the first 12 due to time limitation! We do have plans to get to them in early 2010.

2.) Will Faker’s chest emblem be a sticker, or tampo?

It is a tampo. We looked at doing a sticker but it just wasn’t working out and honestly, was making the figure look cheap.

3.) At the SDCC DC panel, it was mentioned Mattel had changed vendors (i.e., factories) due to quality control problems around the time DCUC wave 4 was being produced. However, there have been a greater-than-average number of reports of QC problems with the Walmart wave and the two-packs, which were, I think, produced after the vendor switch. Wave 1 and the initial shipments of wave 2 were very good QC-wise. What are the challenges facing Mattel in solving these QC issues? (more…)

5 Questions with > Dwaltrip

December 18, 2008 | Poe

I first came across Dwaltrip‘s incredible Christmas action figure display last year on the FANtastic Forum and was blown away. I like to make a little display around my Christmas toys, but Dwaltrip makes me look like an amateur. I decided I had to quiz him about it and he graciously agreed to an interview.

bio-cardCodename: Brian S
Specialty: Toy collecting, Rankin-Bass fan, Christmas lover.
Base of Operations: Metro-Detroit, Michigan
History: Rudolph and Christmas time in general have always held a special place in my heart. I’m currently 30 years old, and no matter how bad of a mood I am in, the sound of Christmas music, the glow of a well decorated house, or the even the sight of a Salvation Army Bell Ringer as you walk into a grocery store is enough to bring a smile to my face. This holds true with coming across the yearly broadcast of “Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer” on the TV. It takes me back to a time as a child when things were simpler and of great family memories. Instead of being a scrooge at Christmas, it seems so much easier to be happy and enjoy the season for what it is all about.

I think Fred Astaire said it best in Rankin-Bass’s “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town” when he said….

“But there still are some, poor misguided folks, that miss the whole point. Lots of unhappiness? Maybe so….but doesn’t Santa take a little bit of that unhappiness away? Doesn’t a smile on Christmas morning scratch out a tear crying on a Saturday? Not much maybe…but what would happen if we all tried to be like Santa, and learn to give, as only he can give, of ourselves, out talents, our love, and our hearts. Maybe if we could all learn Santa’s beautiful lesson, maybe there would finally be peace on earth, and good will toward men.”

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Ask Matty > 12/15/08

December 15, 2008 | Poe

matty

Welcome to our latest round of questions and answers with Mattel’s “Matty”…

Starting with wave 6, what do you anticipate will be the average time between wave releases? (more…)

10 Questions with > The Four Horsemen

December 9, 2008 | Poe

The Four Horsemen are special friends of PGPoA, having opened the site with an interview a year ago and again appearing at the six–month mark. As befits their special status, they get to answer ten questions instead of just five (whether this is a privilege or an extra obligation is subject to debate, but I digress).

Once again, the Horsemen have taken time out their extremely busy schedule to collectively answer ten questions from PGPoA. (more…)

5 Questions With > October Toys

December 4, 2008 | Poe

As you know, October Toys was the kind sponsor of our Halloween contest a few months back. After much hounding (i.e., a few emails), I was able to get them to discuss such diverse topics as the history of their company, zombies, and shamwow.

Codename: October Toys
Specialty: Toymakers
Base of Operations: www.octobertoys.com
History: Formed in 2004, October Toys is a purveyor of fine toys and collectibles with an artistic twist. The three creative misfits who own October Toys – George, Ayleen, and Matt – have a lifetime of experience collecting toys and two decades combined experience working in the toy industry. They are currently focusing on expanding their new line of Z.O.M.B.I.E. micro statues and finding a cure for keepitinthepackageitis. They also host and produce the weekly Internet show Toy Break which feature toy news, reviews, and much more!

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5 Questions with > Rob Bricken of Topless Robot

November 12, 2008 | Poe

Codename: Rob Bricken
Specialty: Writer/editor
Base of Operations: Topless Robot
History: Rob Bricken was a normal, nerdy teen who simply enjoyed anime, comic books and terrible science fiction and fantasy novels in reasonable amounts until the new Star Wars figures came out in 1995. This set Rob down a dark path of insane toy collecting, which led to him waking up at 5 am on Saturdays, during college, to wait outside Toys R Us for the possibility of buying a Rancor Master figure. At a certain point, Rob realized his toy obsession had reached Trainspotting/heroin addiction-like proportions, and decided he want to know the touch of a woman again, and gave it up.

Unfortunately, he was almost immediately hired as an Associate Editor of ToyFare magazine in 2001; however, by forswearing all Star Wars figures, he managed to keep his toy-buying at a reasonable level. As Rob was the only person at Wizard Entertainment who knew why Goku’s hair sometimes turned yellow in Dragonball Z, he was put in charge of Anime Insider magazine, which he edited until 2006.

After a doomed, duplicitous internet venture, Rob was hired by Village Voice Media for incredibly low pay to create, write and edit ToplessRobot.com, the internet’s 466th most popular site for nerd news and humor, covering movies, games, anime, comics, acts of nerdery, and whatever Rob finds himself able to rant about. Since he has no other job, he tends to write for it all day, as well as editing feature-length Daily Lists of various nerd interest and discussion. Topless Robot receives about a million visitors per month, and has been mentioned by Gawker, Wired, Defamer, New York magazine, and several other far more popular and influential websites.

PG: What were your favorite toys or toy lines when you were growing up?

RB: I’ve always been a big Star Wars fan, but Masters of the Universe was my obsession as a kid (and pretty much now). The incredible variety of characters, designs, and action features just captivated me. Between my younger brother and myself, we had just about everything in the line. I honestly feel MotU is more than the sum of its parts; by having all of them, it was something far more unique and special than Transformers, G.I. Joe or even Star Wars. (more…)

Ask Matty > November 1 Edition

October 31, 2008 | Poe

POE: Toy lines often “evolve” in terms of design and style as they go along (e.g., Batman > DC Super Heroes > DC Universe Classics). How much evolution is going on behind-the-scenes for DC Infinite Heroes?

MATTY: While we are trying to keep the general line look of IH the same, we are constantly improving sculpts, articulation and character selection. So the answer is “all the time!”

Does Mattel have any sense of how much overlap there is among collectors of JLU, DCUC and DCIH?

We spent a great amount of time both reading the fan posts and reviewing sales data broken down by stores and customer demographics so we do have a good handle over who is buying each line.

Inquiring minds want to know: who was lobbying the most for a classic Killer Moth figure? Talk about (awesomely) obscure…

Truth be told, this was a figure that actually came about due to a happy accident. Originally a different figure was planned for this slot. Killer Moth made the cut after the original figure ran over cost. We knew we wanted to do a Bat-Villain for this slot and we looked at a group of characters that had not been made as a figure before. Doing Moth was an idea that rose to the top from Mattel design and marketing and discussing possible characters with DC Comics.

We’ve had quite a few Hot Wheels Bat-vehicles. Is there any chance of expanding into other DC superheroes, such as Wonder Woman’s invisible plane or Blue Beetle’s “Bug” airship?

Yes, but you will have to wait until 2009!

Is there any possibility of offering a DCUC accessory pack on Mattycollector.com that might include accessories that were sculpted but didn’t come with their figures, such as the Penguin’s robot penguin, Ares’s mace and spear, Despero’s sword, and Grodd’s hand-weapon-doodads?

It is more likely we will include these “lost” accessories with other figures. For example, Kalibak was sculpted with additional Apokolips weapons and one of those will come with a future New God figure.

Ask Matty > October 15 Edition

October 15, 2008 | Poe

POE: Now that Mattycollector.com is here, is there any chance we might see a Halloween or holiday-themed figure or repaint exclusives at some point (DCUC, JLU, MOTUC etc.)?

MATTY: That is a cool idea, but nothing is planned right now to tie into any specific holidays. It is a bit tough to do that since most fans want a traditional version of Superman. If there is enough demand for Batman with a jack-o-lantern and Superman with a Santa hat we could certainly look into it (but honestly, we’d rather spend the tooling dollars on all new characters).

Any new estimate on when the Target-exclusive Movie Masters 6″ Batpod will start showing up? (more…)

Ask Matty > October 1 Edition

October 1, 2008 | Poe

We’re back with another round of Ask Matty!

POE: Was the entirety of DCUC series 3 produced before the transition to the new vendor’s factory?

Matty: Yes. Wave 4 is the first Wave from the new vendor.

At this point, how many body types are there for DCUC figures, and would it be possible to list them?

Lets see, we have male medium (Captain Atom, Black Manta, Atom, others), male small (Sinestro by default though a production error), parts of male teen (Robin, Kid Flash), large brute (Lobo, Despero), part of standard female (Wonder Woman and Harley), Male suit (Riddler, Clark Kent), and there may be another. We are still working on female teen, super thin male, large female, small female and a few other surprises.

What process is used to paint intricate details such as the logo on the Sinestro Corps’ Sinestro’s chest on production figures?

It is called “tempo” which is the same process we use on CARS and Hot Wheels to apply decals. It is essentially a computer created “sticker” that is heat sensitive so it sticks to the plastic to look like a paint op in the end.

Would Mattel consider creating a new BAF Doomsday, or is that unlikely since he’s already had a figure?

Definitely on our short list. (although we would likely use the same sculpt, just scale him up to size.

Now that Mattel has a working relationship with DC Comics, is there any possibility of new DC-produced Masters of the Universe comics?

Could be down the road but nothing is in the cards at the moment to announce quite yet.

Ask Mattel > September 15 Edition

September 15, 2008 | Poe

Poe Ghostal: Are earlier versions of characters, such as a Dick Grayson Robin, a possibility for inclusion in DCUC?

Mattel’s Scott Neitlich, a.k.a. “ToyGuru”: Yes.

Does Mattel still plan to get DCUC waves 4-6 out by Christmas? (more…)