Ask Matty
December 15th Edition

NoisyDvL5



Ask Matty – December 15th Edition

DCClassics.Com Asks: In a previous Q&A, Mattel stated that Atrocitus would be the size of a standard figure. Is there no possibility of utilizing previously tooled pieces such as taller feet, longer calves, longer pelvic piece, or even the Public Enemies buck instead of just consigning the figure to be inaccurate?

We have explored using elements of the Public Enemies buck. We are continuing to look into this. In any case, know that we will work to deliver a great figure.

DCClassics.Com Asks: An unannounced Reign of the Superman pre-order wave is showing up at some online retailers. Is this a legitimate wave?

There will be no “Reign of the Superman” wave. This information is not correct and was not announced by Mattel.

ItsAllTrue.Net Asks:When the Club Ecto-1 subscription was cancelled in September, a “thank you” was mentioned for subscribers. Is there any news on that front?

We’ll be announcing that news shortly.

MOTUClassics.Com: Taking it account the vintage-inspired Snout Spout’s one-day sellout, has Mattel given any thought to a “Battleground” type release that incorporates more modern, but classicized elements like the tusk anatomy for the head, the hooves, or even a handful of armored/techno body parts that would be more complimentary to his current head sculpt?

No. While we will include some Classic-sized version of 200X armor and weapons we won’t be doing 200X versions of figure’s heads or bodies. All the looks for MOTUC will be based on the Classic look which is a modern update on the vintage design.

MOTUClassics.Com Asks: Speaking of cybernetics, is a new basic buck that features a slightly more armored/techno look possible? It would’ve greatly improved figures like Snout Spout and the upcoming Snake MAA, but would adding armored/technical bits to the basic buck skew to close to hyper-anime detail?

If a figure calls for more parts with tech on them we certainly could do it. We tend to leave these type of choices up to the Four Horsemen.


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Note: The next Q&A will be Jan. 15th!

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24 thoughts on “Ask Matty
December 15th Edition”

  1. Noble effort on the Snout Spout question.
    You guys didn’t even mention “200x” once.

    I also applaud the last question. I have been asking for a a “suit” buck since before any “suit” characters were released.

    Surprisingly, I was met with quite a bit of fan backlash from people who have no problems with Man-At-Arms’ green nipples and belly button. I call those people narrow-minded and short-sighted.

    1. Clawful, Buzz-Off, & Whiplash all greatly benefit from the added detail to their scaly buck. So, it seems only right that some of the more questionable cybernetic characters should get an armored form, right?

      I don’t know if I mentioned it my review or not, but I was very thankful that Snout Spout’s Harness covered up his nipples! It’s not as bad as DC Classics where folks like B’Wana Beast go without much needed nipples, but it’s silly at this point that so many figures have the same torso. I’m curious to see what happens to Snake MAA…

    2. you know what i love about the “that’s a design choice we leave to the horsemen” answer? it completely obfuscates the truth, that mattel makes final calls on the horsemen’s designs all the time. trap jaw had accessories pulled, some guys have been sculpted like 8 heads, prince adam had a sword frog on his back, etc… all thanks to the horsemen (i’ll forgo mentioning my own personal scab, the accessories for drago-man… oh, wait, no i won’t, i’m a bitter prick) that mattel has lanced like a hot needle through a boil. so let’s get real, every time they say “we leave those choices to the horsemen” what they mean to say is “hey, fanboy, why don’t you turn around and go back the way you came?”

  2. I think the “Reign of Superman” wave is actually a box set. Matty weaseled through that loophole in their response. Again.

    Good to see they might alter the Atrocitus figure though.

    1. Oh now come on. You have to know they’ve already got that figure locked down and tooled by now, there’s not going to be any changes at this stage.

      I mean, I have no skin in this particular game and if they do make changes I apologize in advance for doubting, but it’s Mattel. MATTEL. The company that can’t be arsed enough to figure out how to make Ram-Man but boy-o-boy they sure were quick to throw Development money at that vanity figure for ToyGuru. 🙂

    2. “We originally considered creating the Superman themed mix to hit shelves in between Wave 20 and the first mix of the All-Stars. We then decided not to proceed with this mix in order to get the All-Stars to shelf as quickly as possible.

      -FanGirl 2.0 ”

      This was posted over on matty.com’s DC “Ask Matty” boards. Kinda surprised to hear this much info on an executive decision!

      While they didn’t use the exact wording, both the first and last question’s answers sound quite similar to the Matty standard answer, “it was a design choice by the Horsemen”. Especially the last one. Man, am I getting tired of reading that every 1st and 15th!

      1. Oh, I speak Corporate!

        “We then decided not to proceed” = “we showed this to the few retailers who still carry toys and met with a resounding ‘WTF is that?! We don’t want that!!’ from them, so we decided not to do it”

        (probably Walmart. TRU is still smarting from the huge dooky that was the DC Vs MOTU 2-packs)

        1. HAHAHAHAHAHA *snork*

          Oh, Mattel, caught in the ‘left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing’ problem, eh? 🙂

          I can think of several explanations, actually.

          1. Matty meant what they said, but they REALLY meant ‘retail at the B&M level’ (the major accounts) and selling to the comic book trade doesn’t count.

          2. Someone at Matty either forgot to tell Diamond to pull the solicit back when the decision was made (several weeks ago), OR they figured that since the money for the solicit was spent, why not let it go and see what kind of interest it generates (as in how many comic shops order it), because those comic shop retailers are used to product not shipping.

          It’s important to note that having a solicit in Previews isn’t really a contract to produce the item. If the order numbers don’t meet what’s required for the company to make a profit, that is if minimum numbers aren’t met, they can just not make it (or sell if it’s something already existing such as various Bandai toys). I can’t tell you how often there’d be something really cool in Previews that I would order thru my local comic shop only to see it listed in a later issue with the code that basically meant “not gonna happen but we won’t actually state that”.

          It’s a question on how much lag there is in the production of Previews. In this modern age it’s hard to believe a solicit can’t be pulled right up to press time. As mentioned elsewhere the decision to not do this Supes box had to have been made some time back and NOT the day when the Matty Questions thing ran, right?

          Oh, such comedy! 🙂

          1. yeah, my LCS got fed up with some of those delays and being left having to sell higher price product that only a couple customers would be interested in, they decided that if there was a reasonable chance of such a delay, they refused to order with it. Same for ordering cases of figures that would be readily available at retail after one too many “I already got that down the street at Target!” (or Amazon/TRU/etc) refusals. I think they finally dumped that Lady Deathstrike ML in a Toys for Tots bin.

  3. I’m sure in a previous ask matty they insisted, somewhat oddly, that there is no ‘public enemies’ buck and that those figures used the standard DCUC body (despite evidence to the contrary supplied by, um, looking at the figures with your eyes).

    1. well, there’s your problem right there… mattel figures are meant to be looked at with your butt.

  4. Based on their answers about Atrocitus, it sounds like they are going to make some attempt to make him taller or bigger in some way. I am not sure why they would even use a standard buck on a character that is always depicted as taller than most heroes. Not sure what that might entail, but I hope they do something. And like Clay said, there is no way the PE buck was the same as all others. They definitely had a rounder more animated look to them…

    1. Maybe they will give Atrocitus lifts? They either lied in the beginning when they had the prototype of him as a normal buck and people screamed loudly about it, or are lying now about making any attempt to change him.

      But whatever happens to Atrocitus remember that “it was a design choice by the Horsemen”.

      1. Lifts like Martian Manhunters calves? Still wouldn’t make sense when just using the (whole) aforementioned Public Enemies buck would be all that would be required to give him the right height and bulk. They’ve mentioned it, and hopefully they’ll actually do it.

  5. BTW, loving the virtual weapon builder!! since getting those kinks worked out, the interface is excellent, and it’s definitely helping me budget for the upcoming SMC onslaught of purchases. thanks noisy. bet that took a lot of work. 😉

  6. ok, i’m commenting a lot here… take away my net privileges… motucfigures.com number 3 Q & A was basically a giant cyber finger to every matty customer. am i reading too much into that? cuz it sounded like the kind of tone and verbiage that, at my house, means FU.

    1. No, I read it the same.

      Mattel has these ideas about what to do to make collector hype stay active around a line.

      And while they do get it right sometimes (much to my chagrin) what they don’t realize is if they just ran this thing like a damn normal collector toyline and gave the “chase” crap a rest, they’d be selling more figures.

      It’s 100% true. If you pull things artificially before a true sell-out in order to prevent collectors waiting until next month’s releases to combine shipping, you might put them off buying the figure altogether.

      I know several instances where I would’ve been happy to buy certain figures at MY convenience, but with Mattel meddlings of one sort or another, I couldn’t buy on Matty, and then months later after the initial “buzz” wore off, I realized I really didn’t need the figure, so it went unpurchased, permanently.

      And if they just did things like HTS or whatever, they wouldn’t likely need to have the deep discount blowout sales either.

  7. awwh… my 12-pack suggestion for a “Women of the DC Universe” set was asked on Poe’s site, and they answered that future 12-packs would require too much effort for a limited-run item.

    I’m sad. I’m also a little surprised that we got a “That’s too hard” answer, instead of the usual “anything is possible”. Isn’t everything on Matty a limited-run item now that there are no re-issues? I wonder how far this logic will stretch…

    1. I think the problem is, once again, limited imagination at Mattel. The idea of a 12-pack of ‘collection filling’ women is like a wet slap in the face with a Monk fish. “everybody” knows that female figures just don’t sell!

      Hey, Noisy, where’s that LSH review, huh? HUH? I DEMAND TO BE ENTERTAINED! 🙂

      There is so much potential when it comes to DC chara and action figures. So damn much potential. Makes me just gnash my teeth in frustration, it does. Just have REASONABLE, REALISTIC expectations, Mattel. Don’t expect every single figure to sell 50k like a Batman or Superman can do at retail.

      I can go to the store right now and have my pick of Eclipsos. Wee. Creeper is starting to show up and warming pegs now as well. If he looked more Ditko-ish I’d grab him.

      Rant ranty rant. 🙂

  8. I wonder how a “Women of the LEGION DC Universe” 12-Pack would sell?:

    1. and 2. Duo Damsel
    3. Shrinking Violet
    3. Shadow Lass
    4. Dawnstar
    5. Princess Projectra (or Sensor Girl)
    6. Dream Girl
    7. White Witch
    8. Light Lass
    9. Phantom Girl
    10. Supergirl
    11. Insect Queen
    12. And “Token male” Bouncing Boy

    It would be a pretty awesome Companion Piece to the Legion pack we already have…

    1. I would buy this. 🙂

      But what about Triplicate Girl, who became Duo Damsel?

      And of course there’s the question of which costume/era to depict…

      (’70s of course, the Cockrum/Grell years)

      Rargh. see, me getting angry again! So much potential for single figure releases of these! Some nice variations possible!

      1. Whatever era they choose to depict would not be the same one as the original set. I had a few nitpicks about that one, but characters like Luornu I’m not even going to hold my breath for. (TRIAD!!!)

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