Ask Mattel > March 1 Answers

March 1, 2010 | Poe

1.) Extremely nerdy question: Now that we’re getting a He-Man/Superman 2-pack at retail, does that mean the events of DC Comics Presents #47 are canon in the MOTUC universe–or is this a “What If?” scenario?

There actually isn’t an official 100% canon for MOTU. Each tale, whether told in a movie, TV series, comic book, toy bio or your imagination is its own story and equally valid. [Poe’s note — I was asking whether this story was canon in the specific MOTUC canon they’re building in the bios.]

2.) Is there any chance of other DC/MOTU collaborations now–perhaps a trade paperback reissue of the original DC 3-issue MOTU miniseries, or even a new MOTUC comic series? (more…)

Guest Review > The Question (DC Universe Classics, Mattel)

February 26, 2010 | PrfktTear

Sometime between when Wave 8 and 9 of DCUC never really showed up on shelves in my area, and Wave 10 scarcely made its presence known before leaving a sea of Powergirls warming pegs like Cyborgs and Captain Colds before her, I decided that I would be cherry picking DCUC from thereon in, sticking with mostly Batman-related characters and whatever happened to strike my fancy. With the first few previews of Wave 11, one of the characters I knew I must have was The Question. Still sifting through piles of the aforementioned Cyborgs, Captain Colds, and other relics from Wave 7, I jumped on the chance to pick up The Question when I ran into him at a local comic shop. (more…)

Odds ‘n Ends > Super G Edition

February 22, 2010 | Poe

  • It shows how out of touch I am with the DCUC scene that I completely missed the fact that the Jaime Reyes Blue Beetle on display at Toy Fair had double-jointed elbows and knees. A very interesting development–has Mattel said whether this signals a new direction for the line, or if this is just something they’ll do occasionally for some figures? (I’d guess the latter, knowing Mattel.) More importantly, what do you think of it? I always thought the double-jointed elbows and knees tended to make many Marvel Legends figures seem a bit too gangling (unless they were supposed to be like that, i.e. Spider-man). Shocking from a pro-articulation guy like myself, I know.
  • My Trap Jaw should arrive today, perhaps by the time I finish typing this post. Dr. Mrs. Ghostal and I will also find out just how much of our tax refund is going to repairing the car this afternoon as well. It amazes me how often tax refunds and emergency expenses coincide. It’s like your car, house, kids etc. just know you’re going to have windfall. I assume the same goes for bonuses, though I’ve never worked at a job that awards them. Anyway, long story short, I’ll get the Trap Jaw review up this week. Probably.
  • If anyone can identify the gun in the chair in the new Odds ‘n Ends pic, I’d really appreciate it. If it helps, it attaches into this weird silver backpack-thing via some cords.
  • Over at Infinite Hollywood, Newton Gimmick has been doing retro reviews of Mezco’s Popeye figures. I own the first wave’s Popeye and Bluto, and they’re great figures.
  • Dr. Mrs. Ghostal and I saw Avatar finally (in 3D at an Imax theater). I was underwhelmed, and DMG was very much not a fan. I liked the overall message of the film, though. But frankly I’m glad I didn’t love it, because I didn’t want to have to buy the toys.
  • As I surmised, it looks like DC Unlimited is making God of War III figures, and as I suspected might happen, they’re going to have extremely limited articulation, a la DC’s World of Warcraft figures. And of course, as with DCD’s Mass Effect 2 figures, they’ll be striking when the iron has been doused with liquid nitrogen and shattered with a soggy breadstick. (On a side note, I no longer care about God of War III or whether it gets figures, because by the end of the second game I’d realized it was just not my cup of tea.)
  • On the other hand, I would happily buy a figure of Nathan Drake from Uncharted if it was as articulated as, say, Nathan “Rad” Spencer. Which it wouldn’t be, since DC Unlimited would be the manufacturer.
  • You probably all saw this, but Mattel issued a pretty extensive semi-mea-culpa on their Facebook page. If you’re interested, you can read the entire note as well as my response on the PGPoA forums.

Ask Mattel > February 16 Edition

February 16, 2010 | Poe

1.) Now that the subscription seems to have become the primary business model for MOTUC (as opposed to the monthly sales), would you consider offering a second 2010 subscription for the latter half of the year? I suspect many fans who wavered the first time might jump at the chance now.

The 2010 subscription was a one shot deal. We’ll be selling the 2011 Club Eternia subscription over July and August in 2010. Act fast!

2.) MOTUC Portal asks: Where did the classic Trap Jaw art featured on the bio of the MOTUC packaging come from? (more…)

Poe’s Point Special > Toy Fair 2010

February 15, 2010 | Poe

It would be impossible and way too much work for me to cover all the awesome stuff coming out of this year’s Toy Fair. The awesomeness seems to be hearkening back to the good old days of the early 2000s…anyway, instead of trying to list everything, I’m just going to hit the highlights of the stuff I’m excited about. But feel free to use this as the catch-all Toy Fair discussion thread.

Masters of the Universe Classics

Of course we start here. We’ve had hints and suggestions of all the stuff that was revealed, but frankly, I was never really 100% sure we were going to see Tytus or, even more insane, Gy-Gor–who looks much better than I’d imagined he would as a Gorilla Grodd repaint. Anyway, the reveals were:

Wow. Where to start with all this? (more…)

Diamond, Mattel, and the DCUC 11 Pricing Mix-up

January 14, 2010 | Poe

I’ve heard from several people that there appears to have been a pricing mix-up regarding Diamond’s order for DCUC 11, which is how most comic shops get their DCUC. So I checked into it.

It seems that due to a pricing error, all orders for DCUC wave 11 are going to be canceled and then re-offered at the new (higher) price. Each store that placed an order through Diamond will be contacted and offered the chance to renew their order at the higher price.

My first instinct upon hearing about this was to assume it had something to do with the price hike on DCUC, but it turns out the price DCUC 11 was solicited for was below wholesale cost of all previous waves even before the price increase. So this sounds like your basic clerical error (after all, the price hike isn’t forty percent). It’s not clear which side made the error–Diamond or Mattel–so let’s not get carried away with a round of Mattel-bashing.