Ask Matty
December 1st Edition



Ask Matty – December 1st Edition

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MOTUClassics.Com: First, thanks for giving collectors the full complement of He-Man accessories in Faker colors! Looking ahead, has Mattel put any focus on producing more axes and shields to match the various swords already released with figures like Wun-Dar & Prince Adam?

This would certainly be a good addition to future Weapons Paks, but nothing to confirm right now. Great suggestion!

MOTUClassics.Com: Will Mattel give any additional back stories to the Palace Guards besides naming Lt. Spector? Some fans of the bios would like to see the individual guards get their proper due in the Classics mythos.

Right now we don’t have plans to do so. The idea was for the Guards to be a bit more generic, allowing fans to make up their own adventures. In time we may explore more detail in the future if enough fans demand this!

DCClassics.Com: Last December 1st, we asked about the inclusion of pet/animal characters like Krypto, Streaky, Ace, Rex, and Detective Chimp. Seeing that 3pk of smaller characters in the Green Lantern line has us even more ready to get these characters in DCUC. Are similar packs planned for the main line anytime soon?

We are looking into a few ideas. Nothing to announce yet, but it is something we are working on.

ItsAllTrue.Net: When will we see the Retro Action Ghostbusters hit store shelves?

Ideally in early 2011.

DCClassics.Com: It’s getting near to be the end of the year and we’d be remiss if we didn’t ask about the Golden Age Hawks 2pk. Many JSA fans keep hoping the next announcement will include those two characters one way or another. Is any significance given to those characters since they were announced and never released?

For the record, these figures were never announced. They were on an early list of figures proposed to retailers to gage interest. Not enough retailers were interested so it never went past words on paper. This was not a set Mattel ever announced, which is why it is unfortunate when retailer lists are leaked. It often sets expectations that will not be fulfilled. Fans should only accept offical announcements from Mattel, not leaked retailer lists.

Editor’s Note: Toy Guru made an (un?)official announcement on the AFI Boards about the Hawks 2pk here in response to the retailers listing the 2pks back in Dec 2008. While he didn’t characterize the release of the names as leaks in that post, this answer seems to indicate that the online retailers were being asked to gauge fan interest without naming the 2pks.

Also of note, in SDComics SDCC SDCC 2010 coverage at Critical Mess, Four Horsemen Eric “Cornboy” Mayse had this to say about the figures in the Hawk 2pk…

…the cowled Hawkman and Golden Age Hawkgirl are done and they’re in the 4H studio. They were supposed to be in the aborted Golden Age Hawkman and Hawkgirl 2 pack. He has hopes that they’ll eventually be released.

Maybe some day…

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20 thoughts on “Ask Matty
December 1st Edition

  1. the answer to the hawks question makes no sense… if only retailers were sent this proposition, and they weren’t to “leak” info to the fans, why is TG saying that the only way these will see production is if there’s enough fan interest? and more significantly, since that info was before DCUC two packs got picked up by the big boxes, why didn’t we proceed w/ the full run? sounds like more ignorance from the matty brass.

    dude, if i might, we can discuss this more in the forum if you like, but i think getting the complete he-man panoply in every one’s color is kind of… dumb. it makes every he-dude a generic clone… like getting faker’s stuff makes sense, he’s the anti-heman, but he-man doesn’t need a gray CE laser, so why does wun-dar need a black shield? like part of the virtue of what SMC is doing is, to me, adding some diversity to the shelf, so that unique characters can have some unique accessories. getting adam a magneta sheild and axe not only makes the narrative feature of “he’s not he-man, he’s in disguise” seem less likely, it’s also just a glut of ugly unnecessary accessories… adam’s not the soldier, he shouldn’t come w/ a load of gear. he also would have to carry all items immediately on his person cuz he lacks a frog for the sword or axe. just saying, you have to really favor homogenity to want all the he-gear in all the he-colors… and besides, we’re NOT complete on faker… no orange mecha-sword, which, in character, makes more sense for faker than it does for he-man… think about it. 😉

    1. I have to side with DR here on the rainbow of He-Man weapons. If they want to toss a bone to Prince Adam and give him a magenta shield, OK, that makes some sense, but I really don’t think Mattel needs any more reasons to cheap out on a release by playing with the color wheel.

      As to the Golden Age Hawks. Well, what the hell does Mattel expect? What they really mean by ‘lack of retailer interest’ is they couldn’t talk Walmart into it. I think it’s as simple as that.

      Look, reality is, mass retail is pretty much dead now, they have just a handful of national retailers (Walmart, Target, Toys R Us, Kmart and yes, that’s in order of importance, salesewise.) and the few (around 2500 nationally, IIRC) comic shops. That makes anything, ANY TOY that isn’t a mass event tie-in (movie, TV show) a niche, boutique product.

      And the Big 4 that remain are all putting their focus on that mass event tie-in product, because it’s seen as something they can burn thru within a quarter and move on to something else instead of the high cost of policing the shelves, refreshing product and all that.

      Hot Wheels and Barbie are ‘evergreen’ and has different rules, altho I note that even Hot Wheels can have massive failures, see the attempt to relaunch ‘Sizzlers’.

      Mattel really needs to wake up, accept that they’re making niche products and EMBRACE that market, and I don’t mean feed the @#$$#@ scalpers.

    2. 1) I really favor homogenity.

      2) I don’t view the shield/axe as He-gear. I want that stuff in Scareglow’s colors for Scareglow too.

      1. says the guy who is into glyos.

        the axe/sheild are he-gear, in the vintage, he’s the only dude that came w/ those… they’ve already super-cheaped us by conning people into buying the gear again in faker colors… anything they do on this front is basically THE reason why we should be getting millenium pack-in heads and unique sculpt elements… and that’s the ONLY logical reason to support the weapon packs. otherwise, the money spend on development for these things, and then consequently the cash spent to own them, should by right be going to items that count cost out as pack-ins, like the jet sled, the mega-laser, etc… that allowed more unique options to be had for the line. contrary to popular belief, motu wasn’t a lock-step aryan line… the diversity of the character types, and their gear, was one of the defining features of the property. the last two waves in particular, not a single re-use of parts. and even the guys who reused parts weren’t generally as generic as faker was, most everyone had unique elements of varying degrees. this is part of why i always cringe when someone accuses motu of the “hero clone” syndrome like the early batman lines… those were straight repaints… each and every skeletor and he-man re-dux was in fact a unique sculpt, w/ unique features… least till we got to the millenium line, THEN we were finally forcefed straight repaints… and you see how that line went.

        1. That’s all well and good, but I still want a glow in the dark Power Sword with a green hilt… and then the axe and shield to match. 🙂

  2. I guess the info they sent to retailers was used by said retailer in whatever way they deemed necessary to get the info they wanted. Though how Mattel expected them to do it without actually mentioning names is beyond me. Maybe it all boils down to, “the hawks are too expensive” whereas everything else is just a craptacular repaint of a cheaper toy. They’re all still available in abundance at our Toys R Us. I don’t even buy the damn things and I notice them sitting there on the shelves all the time. Way to go gauging interest on those peg warmers. Now Captain Cold has some company.

  3. What did they say about Detective Chimp and the other animals last year? Was it the exact same thing?

  4. I think your last picture pretty much sums up all the Ask Mattys.

    I guess the answer for the Hawks is in there, a resounding NO we won’t be completing the JSA in 2011.

  5. You guys should really just make your own figures instead of getting your bile bubbling over this kind of stuff. Or hire a customizer, gee, I wonder where we could find one of those? xD

  6. Great pic at the end! Subtle nods to the Hawks and to Flash.

    If CB says they are sculpted and TG says they are ideas on paper, who are you going to believe?

    That’s what I thought. Mattel needs to quit holding them hostage.

  7. I love the Editor’s Notes on these Q&A’s that show Mattel being completely and utterly wrong! 😀

  8. So the 4H confirmed that they sculpted a GA Hawkman? Thinking about the other sculpts they must have around there makes me want to cry. I wonder how many will never see the light of day.

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