My SDCC Exclusive “leashed” Doomsday arrived a few days ago. I’ll have the review up soon, but suffice to say, I think that he’s a pretty awesome toy. I love his size, the look; he’s fantastic. Since I’m not so hot on the final two Signature Series releases and while I’m excited about the Super Powers repaints and unarticulated Mr. Mxyzptlk, one’s really just a pack-in accessory and the others are repaints. So when my SDCC Doomsday arrived, I realized that he was really the swan song for what is going to be one of my all-time favorite toy lines. I was glad to finally have him, but it was bittersweet.
That same day, a pictured leaked of the Unleashed Doomsday in a packaging mock-up. It looked amazing. I had hoped it meant good things – I’ve always wanted both Doomsdays. Back when they were first revealed, I had hoped for both since Mattel had both in their possession, that they had displayed both, that we would get both. I pushed for Mattel to release both Doomsdays if we hit Tier 2 on the DC sub. Of course, we didn’t hit Tier 1, so it was moot. When the regular Doomsday was announced as an SDCC figure, I assumed the boat had sailed on Unleashed… until I saw the leaked picture this week. Even when Mattel dismissed it as a packaging mock-up, I was cool with it because it meant it was still a possibility. And the good news is that we didn’t have to wait long!
MattyCollector posted this on their Facebook page yesterday:
Celebrating the official end of the Four Horsemen 6″ DC Universe line, Mattel is excited to partner with Warner Bros. and DC Comics to bring you the long-in-coming “Unleashed” Doomsday figure! He will be available this winter in an amazing window box diorama as a standalone day-of purchase! Images and full details to come, but we couldn’t wait to share this news with our fans! This final figure will celebrate the end of a fantastic toy line.
This is a great announcement for fans of the line. As long as he’s faithfully executed, this will be a great figure to end the line on this year!
Haha, the end of the line brought by DOOMSDAY!
But seriously this is great that they managed to get this out. The suited one is a beast already.
It’s unwittingly perfect.
you know, i can’t help but observe… he looks like a great figure, i may even bite myself, this is the doomsday everyone was asking for…
but AGAIN mattel sticks the sucker right at the holiday season where decent people are generally buying presents for OTHERS. i know, mattel knows not this “christmas” of which we speak, but DAMMIT! and double damn if you’re a motucer and dc’er and want both this and the battle ram, and TRIPLE damn if it’ll be baby’s first xmas, cuz that’s a january credit card statement that hurts all the way up and down. 🙂 i feel for you homie.
That is just about the only complaint. Mattel tries to wreck Christmas every year! lol
That is the reason I missed out on the Ghostbusters Trap. I had to make a decision and that lost out. The one prop item that hasn’t been constantly available since.
I know! Every other prop rots on the site. It’s ridiculous.
head to any toy board & you’l see it’s not the only complaint. People feel misled, manipulated into buying the “leashed” edition. Ron from actionfigurepics.com:
“Sure, I know Unleashed is what I wanted from the start, but I can’t help but feel like I’ve been manipulated more than just a little bit. When the collector community questioned the “Bound” exclusive for this year’s SDCC, Mattel told us that because we didn’t buy into another year of Classics (yes, it was our fault again), they couldn’t make the Doomsday most of us wanted. And now, as that exclusive has sold out, Mattel finds a way to get Unleashed to Mattycollector. Curiouser and curiouser!
Of course, this story wouldn’t be complete without Mattel first denying Unleashed was on its way.”
It just feels like salt on an open wound. We’ve all come to terms that the line is done and they keep pulling these stunts.
“Head to any toy board and you’ll see a complaint” kinda sums up the online toy collecting community unfortunately.
Since Bound DD wasn’t in the subscription, no one was forced to buy him. If they really didn’t want it, they shouldn’t have bought it as a stand-in for what they did want. I buy stuff all the time only to have something better come along, it go on sale, or a company do something to make me wish I hadn’t bought it. It is just the luck of the draw. My advice to these folks would be don’t buy things you really don’t want just because they’re there. It’s one thing for subscription stuff, 2pks, special deals, etc. But single purchases? Don’t drink the sand, so to speak.
I will give folks that need to gripe the caveat that the timing sucked. This would’ve looked better had it been announced in a month or two, but the leak forced the timing of the reveal. Better they just announce rather than deny for two months.
I, for one, have really mixed feelings about the phrase “Celebrating the official end of the Four Horsemen 6″ DC Universe line”
Really? Celebrate?
Also, did I miss something? Now the 4H get upfront credit? Does my failing memory…um, fail? Because I seem to recall it was a LONG time before there was any acknowledgement that it wasn’t Mattel in-house work. It was KNOWN, but it wasn’t actually acknowledged. Until it was.
rargh.
It’s always been acknowledged as far as I recall. The 4H attended Mattel panels and the “S3 Sculpts” from DCSH were touted as 4H work.
That’s crazy to think Mattel has ever underplayed the Four Horsemen’s contributions. If anything it was just the opposite when the Batman line began in 2003 when some fans were angry to find out that not all figures were sculpted by 4H as they were expecting them to be. Also Noisy reminded me about the “S3” labeling which Mattel even put on the Superman Returns stactions the 4H sculpted. Maybe Mattel never put their names on the packaging but it would have only meant anything to those “in the know” and Mattel has used the internet and, when they were still around, magazines to communicate with those fans. I remember an article in Toyfare from even before the MOTU re-launch, where Mattel was talking up the Harry Potter figures the 4H had sculpted.
I forgot all about those Returns figures. lol
Obviously I’m thinking much longer ago, like late ’90s.
they misspelled it anyways… they meant “sellabrate”
No griping about the end of an amazing toy line, just a huge thanks to Toy Guru and Matty for making this happen!
I’m suddenly ready for Christmas.
Ok, I won’t go that far. 😉
If the 4H weren’t the sculptors behind the figures I would’vs bought 0 DC figures from Mattel. Same thing with MOTUC
This was the biggest sore spot for most collectors who wanted this guy as C&C since 2007.
They can still drop that Batman Beyond left hanging from BU.
I was trying to think of what else they still have. Most everything seen happened minus some key accessories or that redone McGinnis, but then I remembered… Flashpoint Plastic Man! Eww!
There have been a few that didn’t make it, including Modern Wave 1 Red Tornado, Modern Wave 9 Guardian, DCSH Bizzaro/Superman 2-Pack, DCSH Batman/Nightwing 2-Pack, Nekron’s scythe, “Wave 21” Batman Beyond, and “Wave 21” Flashpoint Plastic Man. Other collectors can probably point to other examples.
Good list. Most of those were repaints. Makes me wonder if FP Plas was tooled.
Young Justice too.
I’m just surprised they did a press release for this guy without mentioning the word “tier” since in every q & a that asked about him it was tier 1 tier 2 blah blah blah. He is cool and does want.
lol I never want to hear the word tier again.
So… if its like the containment doomsday, it’ll be $35 plus $12 S&H for a figure that’s too big… And I’ll miss it on mattycollector.com, so I’ll pay like $65 on eBay for it, then there will probably be a QC problem.
I’m still super excited, somehow
I’ve got a bad feeling it’ll cost more than the SDCC one. I hope I’m wrong.
You are probably right… classic Matty giving us a 75-80 dollar hit.
I don’t think they’ll go over $50. Fingers crossed.
I’m kind of prefactoring shipping and having to buy it on eBay cause I’ll miss it on Mattycollector. I’d be happy with $50, though
I now bring you the contents of every DC bulletin board in the world:
Frothing DC Fans: “We don’t get Doomsday ’cause the DC sub failed! Not fair!”
ToyGuru: “Okay, have the Containment Suit Doomsday. We had the tooling done, and we might as well get some money back out of it.”
FDCF: “We don’t get the Unleashed Doomsday? Not fair!”
TG: “Okay, fine, have your damn Unleashed Doomsday. Happy now?!”
FDCF: “No! You’re all liars and conspire to screw us over at every turn!”
TG: [Bangs head against brick wall]
Reasonable DC Fans: “Hey, we’re getting an awesome figure we thought we might never get! The version you’ve been loudly demanding for months! Can’t you just be happy we’re getting it?”
FDCF: “NO! You’re a Matty apologist and worse than Hitler!”
Beedo: “Where’s a grenade when I need one . . . ?”
LOL Exactly!
Sadly this seems to be true.
Awesome.
I can DEFINITELY see why people are upset about this. They were told there was no way this figure would be made so they went out and bought that stupid containment suit Doomsday to fill the holes in their collections….and what does Mattel do after it sells like gangbusters? They release the real doomsday. Not surprising giving all the trickery, misdirection, and outright lies that have been coming out of Mattel recently. Yet they wonder why people think the MOTUC subs being in trouble is a ploy? DC fans count yourself lucky you’ll be out of their clutches soon…the MOTUC guys have god knows how much aggravation to deal with ahead of us.
Well, maybe the Containment Suit Doomsday sales paid for the Unleashed Doomsday? I dunno. You’re getting a neat toy made for you, DC fans. Deal with it.
I can see why people are upset about it: those folks get upset about a lot, I imagine. It doesn’t take much.
Again, no one was forced to buy Containment Suit Doomsday (which is an awesome, real Doomsday figure, btw, if you were closer I’d have you over to play with him). If collectors really wanted Unleashed and settled for Bound, a figure they didn’t want, then that was their choice. If they decided to do that willingly, then they ought to take responsibility for that decision instead of blaming the toy company. That’s a copout.
The angry folks out there have to make a lot of assumptions about the timeline for this product to back up their feelings: when it was green lit, when it was approved, what the planned rollout was before the photo leak screwed it up, – basically what did TG know and when did he know it. The truth is though, they don’t actually care about any of that. They just want to complain.
I’m all for complaining and for working to get stuff fixed. Nothing needs fixed here. The folks who wanted Bound had a chance to buy him. The folks that wanted Unleashed will have a chance to buy him. The folks that wanted both should be ecstatic. The folks that gambled on Unleashed and passed on Bound should feel pretty smart. I suppose these folks you mention, that were “tricked” into buying something they didn’t want can be mad if they want to be, but I don’t know if they should expect a lot of sympathy from the rest of us.
Exactly this.
I bought SDCC Doomsday because I was already buying Hordak and a “Why not?” attitude. I’d actually gone pretty heavily into cherry pick mode from the rainbow lantern wave on so I was far from a completist. But I figured if nothin else I could sit on him for a few years and flip him.
Got him home and honestly I really like him. I’m definitely keeping him and opening now.
That said, bring this bad boy on. Don’t care if he’s too big. In fact I may break down and get that over priced Myx just to round out the super baddies.
Now I just need to pray to the toy gods that either the MOTUC hits 100% or enough that Matty can justify it. Daddy needs Squeeeze and Dragstor!
The Prison Suit is just a neat toy. I loved him a lot more than I expected.
I wonder if the upset collectors are primarily license collectors who buy toys instead of general toy collectors. Hmm.
Well, let’s go back in time and consider this:
If, when the whole ‘Lady or the Tiger’ choice was announced, if someone had said “everybody? Stay cool. It’s obvious they’ve cut tooling for both figures, Unleashed is going to be released no matter what the fools say” would anybody have listened? Of course not. The air would have bee FILLED with the usual “What do YOU know? YOU don’t work for Mattel! YOU aren’t (redacted) with Scott! Shut your face, this is a DISASTER!!” kind of stuff.
And honestly, I have no dog in this fight as I’m not buying it anyway. It’s the principle. This whole darn thing, the subs, the reveals, have been handled SO DAMN POORLY over the past couple of years that as a casual consumer I just bang my head against the wall.
There is no freakin’ reason on Earth that DCU can’t be an ‘evergreen’ line. ENDLESS potential, top to bottom. It could even be a way to actually drive traffic to the Mattel online store to pick up missed figures. But no.
And to be technially correct for marketing purposes, that Unleashed outer box needs to be black with the red ‘Bloody S Shield’ ala the bag around the comic. Yes I still have one of those. 🙂
Look, we live in an age where creating outrage for people to rant about is all too easy. People all over are just plain prickly lately. PRIMED to become outraged. For all I know this entire thing was DELIBERATE on Scott’s part because boy’oboy, aren’t the interweb tubes all talking about it?
I would actually prefer that to be true, because otherwise to think nobody at Mattel had a clue that this would blow up… well, wait. We know they’re generally clueless, don’t we? The last couple of years prove that.
gragh.
DC Comics isn’t popular enough to support an evergreen line. I so wish it were.
WE could go ’round and round on THAT issue, no doubt about it and the blame starts at Warner Bros.
but here’s a thing I’ve observed in 30-some years in retail. ‘Popular’ is as much defined by the seller as the customer.
Strong branding, constant presence, advertising. Good quality, decent price. Media tie-in helps but really isn’t as important as making good toys.
Look at Matchbox. Ever since Mattel bought them up they really don’t have a distinct ‘face’ or even need to exist (other than to keep the branding visible) yet there they are, usually a good solid 2 linear feet of peg space. Coasting on adult memories more than anything.
Imaginext. I’ve actually seen a couple of ads on TV but really, it has ‘up and down’ with their product, it looked to me that the Monster Inc tie-in did TERRIBLE for them but the line continues. The current ‘space’ line is very interesting and filled with imagination. Oh, and shall I mention how bats**t crazy they’re going on their DC tie-in? With vehicles and playsets and EVERYTHING!
And I stumbled across something from their current Dinosaur line that looks to be a group of dinos that actually COMBINE (via plugs and sockets on their ‘Dino Rider’-ish harnesses) to make a giant robot out of dinosaurs! a GIANT ROBOT MADE FROM DINOSAURS! I really need to look more closely into that…
A toy line can be evergreen when a toy maker decides it is one. DCU could have been evergreen, as long as Warner Bros/DC kept the partnership.
Think of how much money Mattel threw at Max Steel and nobody is buying. Yet they press on. I guess there’s even a movie on the way. It’ll probably go direct to video.
Noisy, I usually like your style, but you’re dead wrong here.
I bought Bound DD just this past Monday because by all on-the-record accounts, Unleashed DD would not be made. Today, you better believe I have buyer’s remorse. I want one Doomsday figure in my collection, and like 100/100 other collectors out there we all know which one. Knowing I wasn’t going to get Unleashed DD since it came straight from the brand manager’s mouth, I settled for the best available option, a figure I now have zero interest in because Scott Neitlich’s word isn’t worth the halitosis that carries it.
Neitlich routinely blames fans for MattyCollector’s failures and unwillingness to improve. I don’t know what your day job is, but can you imagine surviving the numerous failures this guy has weathered? Or treating your captive audience customers with such disdain?
Maybe I have higher expectations than others. Mattel has the license, and the MattyCollector team is my only option for 6-inch scale figures. They should have done a better job in this and MANY other instances.
By your argument, I should love Mattel and probably Comcast, too.
You shouldn’t love Mattel. They’re a company that wants to make money. They have no interest in you other than as a dollar sign and we should only be looking to them to get toys. I know that sounds harsh, but save your love for smaller companies that do care like Onell or the 4H. Truthfully, I’d rather only buy from them, but we’re slave to our favorite licenses.
They should’ve absolutely done a better job on certain figures. That’s always a point around here. Toy Guru should interact with fans more carefully, or preferably, not at all. That’s a point around here too. Some complaining is absolutely necessary. The failures thing is kinda silly – are there not awesome MOTU & DC collections? They look great over here at my house, even with some bad figures peppered in. His successes out weigh the failures as far as my shelves are concerned. The halitosis comment also betrays you a bit. Why is that necessary in a discussion about the circumstances surrounding DD?
By your own admission, if you feel you can’t trust anything Scott says, why did you believe we’d never get Unleashed Doomsday? See, I don’t think Scott tells the truth 100% of the time, but I don’t expect him too. I’m a skeptical customer. But that skepticism, ironically perhaps, allows Scott to say Unleashed DD isn’t going to happen before DC gives the okay. He doesn’t know and saying it could happen is dangerous business with our lot. That’s the right thing to do. I’d do the same. (And, heck, I’ll fuel the assumptions & speculation, if I saw things like you, that everyone wanted Unleashed and not Bound (that’s not true), then would you announce Unleashed DD early and torpedo your Bound sales? Talk about getting fired for something…)
FYI the link on the picture for this story goes to a MOTUC story from June. If you click the headline link it brings you here.
Thanks, Stranger!
I skipped the SDCC Doomsday because I didn’t want a huge containment suit variant to go with my tiny DCSH version. Now that they’ve announced this one is coming out I quickly ordered the bound Doomsday from amazon before prices shot up.
Can’t wait to get this guy. He will look great when I adopt him into my MOTUC collection.
I’m thrilled to get both. The folks upset they bought Bound just need to hook up with folks like you and sell it off.
I’m sure there are more collectors out there that all of the sudden are more interested in the SDCC figure.
It’s sad that I’m not really surprised at how many people seem to be upset about this figure’s release, although I thought most of this type of angst was reserved for MOTU forums. What really gets me is the “THEY LIED” gripes. You don’t know they lied Mr. DC fan, you assume they lied. I assume plans changed. Neither of us can know for sure but only one of us comes across as pretty miserable right now.
I also just realized how odd that may have sounded when I mentioned MOTUC for Doomsday. That’s because I rarely buy figures for the character, I buy figures that I think look really cool and fit in together aesthetically. Most of the DCUC CnC figures I have, and a couple Marvel Legends are in with MOTUC because they all look great together.
I wish my website had a like button. You are dead on about the difference between positive and negative assumptions and what it tells us about the people making them. I would rather be called naïve than be actually miserable.
And, y’know, I didn’t bat an eye at Doomsday & MOTUC. I am a toy collector first and foremost. I do buy some figures for characters (that’s how I explain owning the bad ones!), but I will snap up a great toy of a bad character in a heartbeat. Those are usually some of the best.
Mattel stated multiple times, the only way this figure would be released is if the sun hit the tier two goal. Tier 2 was not hit, the figure is coming out. That. Is. A. Lie.
If they were better with their Pr and said there “we’re no current plans” or “not for the foreseeable future”, then that would be a “plan changing”.
So it’s a lie if they state they can’t make this figure without the sub, because that’s what they were counting on to pay for the cost of the figure, then 8 months later realize they can still turn a profit if they go through with it?
Mattel can’t win to save their lives. They try to do something cool and release a figure people have been asking for, and release it without making customers commit to a sub, and they’re still raked across the coals.
Thank you angry fans for getting me to participate in what has to be the dumbest topic for an internet argument in a long time. I’m sorry your feelings got hurt because the big bad toy company broke their promise not to make this figure.
I recommend you avoid Mattel at all costs in the future, because they will just keep hurting you.
I have a friend that always said, “I’m never going to get married”.
She’s married now and I don’t imagine any of us consider her a liar. I certainly don’t. Circumstances change. Things happen.
I’d like to think most people are angry because they see that they were straight up lied to. The Unbound Doomsday was only going to happen if the DCUC sub reached 100% it’s goal. That was what was told straight from Scott’s mouth.
When they revealed that the Bound Doomsday was coming as a SDCC exclusive, people asked why they could get Unbound DD instead, and of course… ‘You guys didn’t reach the goal for the sub.’
The Unbound one was never going to happen because WE failed to subscribe and that the Bound DD was one was the only one completed in the tooling department supposedly.
WE were at fault, WE were being punished because WE didn’t subscribe to a toyline.
So many excepted it, and bought the Bound DD on the thought they’d never get a larger scale regular Doomsday…now here we are a month or so later and suddenly the Unbound DD is revealed as coming out after all. So again, I can honestly see why many people are upset.
Honestly, I don’t care anymore as I got sick of the DCUC line a year back and sold my entire collection. It was all sitting in boxes stored away anyway.
I’m not subscribing to the MOTUC this year either as I pretty much got everything I wanted from the line. Ninjor I may ebay, but otherwise, I’m good. I have other things I want to spend my money on right now anyway.
Exactly this, Beedo.
Mattel manages to find a way to make something the fans are demanding, and the fans get upset.
All I’m hearing is a bunch of tin-foil-hat-wearing conspiracy theorists having a hissy-fit. Nobody held a gun to your heads to make you buy the Containment Suit Doomsday. It was completely optional. You didn’t want it, you shouldn’t have bought it. End of discussion.
You have an opinion. You are entitled to it. I have a different opinion. When given the information and opportunity, I don’t enjoy doing business with dishonest people, corporations included. In following, I do regret purchasing Bound Doomsday and had I been given all the information that was known to Mattel when I bought this item from them approx. 1 week ago, I would NOT have purchased it. End of discussion?
I’m excited that now I can just buy the Unbound Doomsday without having to commit to a $300-400 sub just to get him. Saying that we were lied to sounds a little strong. I’m sure they had no plans on releasing this figure once the sub didn’t go through, but I bet somebody (maybe Scott, maybe the Four Horsemen) kept pushing for it to get made and finally got the people who had final say to listen to them.
Plans change all the time, and this time it’s a real benefit for people who wanted to get him. I’m not going to be pissed because I was told that I wasn’t going to be able to buy a really cool figure, but now I am.
From January 13, 2014:
DC Fans,
2014 is dawning and it’s a great time to be a DC collector on Mattycollector.com!
First, let’s get the Kilowog in the room out of the way. We all know that the 2014 sub did not go through as we only sold about 60% of the minimum quota we needed to move forward. A lot of fans have been asking, “what can we do to keep the sub” or to “still do the larger Doomsday figure.” Let me address this one more time to clear the air before we move forward into the awesomeness that is 2014…
In order to run a collector line, specifically 6” highly detailed and articulated figures, we do need (in today’s economy) a minimum commitment from our customer/fan base. This is exactly why we run the sub program (sold in the weeks following San Diego Comic-Con each year). The full year is like a jigsaw puzzle where all the pieces need to fit together and work holistically in order to make the line work.
So, for example, the 12 partial tooling figures (with new heads and capes – tooling means the molds to build new parts, BTW) help offset the cost of fully tool’d figures. In order to produce the fully tool’d figures (like Doomsday would have been) we need to bank his cost against the costs of the less expensive (overall) partially tool’d figures. Doomsday alone is very expensive to make. We can’t make him as a stand-alone figure, but rather he was baked into the cost of the full year line, assuming we had hit Tier 2 or, at minimum, Tier 1. The high cost of Doomsday with so many more parts is banked against the relatively lower cost of the 12 partially tool’d monthly figures.
When we did not even hit the minimum Tier 1 level for the sub, that pretty much put Doomsday off the table. A lot of fans are asking what they can do to still get him, and unfortunately, the time when fans could “do something” has passed. That time was the sub buy-in period.
BUT… just because we can’t get to a full year sub is in no way an indication that DC figures are not alive and well. In fact, the first four figures intended for the sub (well, the first three and what would have become the final fig) have now been reshuffled and will be offered as “quarterly” figures, ideally in the final month of each quarter (March, June, September, December) during our regular monthly sales. And if you have a MOTUC sub (the only sub that went through) these figures will be available to you during Early Access.
Speaking of Early Access, I know a lot of DC fans have asked if they can still have Early Access, but unfortunately the answer is no. Without hitting at least 100% of Tier 1, we simply can’t move forward with the DC sub, which would have included the other benefits like Early Access. But these figures will be offered during All Access (as long as they don’t sell out during Early Access) at a lower production quota than they would have been had the sub gone through. For this reason, the price per fig for these four will be $25 each. We should have final samples of all four quarterly figures at New York Toy Fair on February 16 at our press-only collector event from 12pm-3pm PT. (For all the reveals, check our news section on Sunday, February 16 right around noon.)
In addition to these four quarterly figures, we are also excited to bring the Doomsday prison suit figure out as our SDCC figure. This figure was originally intended as the Tier 1 sub-only figure, but as he was developed already, much like the four quarterly figures, we wanted to find a way to still get him out there.
I can confirm that 2014 will most definitely be the final year for 6” Four Horsemen style figures. We were very successful in using Mattycollector.com as a channel to get two and half more years of product to fans after retailers moved away from the 6” form factor to some more retail-friendly product. Unfortunately, with rising costs (something we have very little control over), producing the DC figures, at about 250+ characters, has for the most part eclipsed what some fans are willing to pay.
While the quarterly releases and Doomsday Prison suit are the final figures in this line, we are just too in love with this form factor to let toy history fade away. So I can announce officially that there will be a surprise at New York Toy Fair next month to commemorate the end of an era. (No, it is not Unleashed Doomsday; again, he needed the full year at Tier 2 level to move forward and we didn’t even hit Tier 1). What will this surprise be? Let’s just say it is something a lot of fans have been asking for and a great way to give a heroic sendoff to one of the greatest toy lines of all time! More details on February 16 at MattyCollector.com.
Next up on the docket, we have our very exciting Total Heroes line. This is a brand new line of 6” figures designed specifically to hit a lower price point at retail while maintaining a favorite scale. You will see the big guns of the DC world hitting retail all year, including Batman, Flash and Superman. And only on Mattycollector.com, collectors will be able to complete their new Total Heroes collection with four quarterly releases of Total Heroes Ultra.
The Ultra figures will be priced at $20 each and will offer plus’d up characters with additional piece count (compared to the retail releases), as well as more collector “friendly” characters. Included in the Year 1 release schedule is a Green Lantern Corps figure (with heads for John Stewart, Tomar Re and Green Man), as well as three sets of hands and three constructs to arm up your Corps! This release will be followed in Quarter 2 with Black Manta with three heads (two unmasked, one masked) and a ton of accessories including a four-pronged spear and hunting knife. Quarter 3 will bring Batman Beyond with a Terry, Old Bruce and a masked Batman head, as well as a Batarang and a mini Micron sidekick figure. The fourth and final Total Heroes Ultra figure will be revealed next month at NYTF!
There is still a ton of great DC product coming your way from Mattycollector.com. As always, we can only make product and collectable figures when there is an audience to support it. So if you want to see more Total Heroes in the future, be sure to let us know and support the 2014 releases!
Scott “Toy Guru” Neitlich
So Mattel tried to get people to buy into the sub, my guess is because they like to make money? They have a stupid 2 tier system with backfires, and I think is a big reason the sub didn’t go through. Without the guaranteed profit from the sub, they said they couldn’t invest in this large Doomsday.
However, they’re still trying to make as much money as possible. After the sub failed somebody in that company was convinced it would be worth their time making this figure.
This is a no win situation for them obviously. I’m sure they thought this would be a great surprise for many people, and all they are acting like Mattel should not release this figure for…the principle of it?
I’m not blind that Mattel makes a lot of shady statements and get caught in lies a lot when it comes to these collector lines. Feel free to look through years of comments here, poeghostal, thefwoosh, etc, and you’ll find me pissed at them plenty.
This is just not one of those issues that bothers me. I guess I’m lucky, because I won’t feel dirty or like a sell out when I purchase this figure and add him to my collection.
“That pretty much put Doomsday off the table.”
Pretty much? Yep. Not entirely though after all.
I compare Scott’s handling of the brand to Michael Bay’s handling of the Transformers franchise. In the TF movies, the plots are poorly developed and incredibly derisive to the fan community, but fans turn their pockets inside out to consume TF product because it is our only option to do so. Sure there are some extremely cool moments, but on the whole the majority of fans, and even the most devoted are left questioning the commitment of the director to something the rest of us hold dear.
It is likely that there are other more effective, strategic, thoughtful, & dedicated professionals that could do a better job, but we’ll never find out because so many fans will blindly buy whatever product that gets spit out the end of the line, and the powers that be with the authority to make a change in leadership aren’t motivated to do so because of the mediocre-but-acceptable outcomes.
Scott’s failures and refusal to improve the system have driven customers away. I wonder what could have been if he were a little more dedicated to this brand and/or a more competent brand manager. Without the loss of customers no longer willing to endure the same ol’ same ol’ year in and year out, we could have had subscriptions for years. Scott needed only to rise to the challenge. Unfortunately, he seems to be more content with blaming customers for not accepting repeated poor service, poor pass-through cost controls, and consistently blatant dishonesty.
I blame you tin-foil hat wearing lot for blindly refusing to join the rest of us and demand better leadership and brand management.
I’m sad you see a string of failures whereas I have great MOTU & DC Collections. Hopefully the next iteration of the lines either suit you better or that you’re at least better able to appreciate them.
I’m talking about the DC sub, but I wouldn’t fault anyone who recognizes problems common to the respective subs. I don’t collect MOTU.
I don’t even know that I agree that we were lied to. Did the circumstances change? What deals were done behind the scenes to get this done? If I answer a question in January about something and things change in March, then is my January statement a lie in April?
People’s reaction to this announcement says a lot more about them and how they approach collecting than it does about Mattel.
Allright, Noisy. This past January I told you I was going to 1 million dollars for your toy collection. In April, I explained that I’d had some deals and circumstances have changed. Now I’m going to give you 500k, but you have to file a claim and the money is overseas. Would you call me a liar? I would.
People’s reaction to this announcement says a lot more about Mattel and how they approach collectors than it does about the collectors themselves.
In your example, you’re not a liar unless you never intended to pay. You are bad at analogies though. lol
there is something to be said for circumstances changing, but then, the statement scott initially made should have been worded “That pretty much put Doomsday off the table unless circumstances change.”
and to attempt to fix burt’s analogy… let’s say i get married. 6 months in, i cheat on my wife and she finds out, and i respond “circumstances changed.” now, i’m not a liar, circumstances most certainly changed, but i’m not winning any popularity contests for pointing that out, am i?
yes, matty probably doesn’t need all the static from getting fans a figure that they asked for… often… over a very long period of time… but then some folks are likewise entitled to be pissed, because they were misled. you can’t play the “but i expect him to lie to me,” because you’re admitting he lied, and no one, even in a business relationship, should expect to get lied to unless they know they’re dealing with a crook. honest business people want to earn your money by offering you a good product for an honest price, it’s only crooks who feel the need to make the sale despite customer reticence, or are willing to resort to underhanded tactics like a bait and switch to make a sale.
I’m pretty sure that “pretty much” implies that even the circumstances didn’t need to change.
Your analogy is marginally better, but still flawed as there is no covenant between us & Mattel… Unless you’re not telling us something? They’re a business and we’re a customer, and maybe I’m more cynical than you, but that’s not a relationship about anything other than money these days.
The word entitled is a great word to describe the folks that are upset though. I’ve been hesitant to use it.
a covenant is an oath of action, but a marriage is an investment in commercial property, no? i mean, i can commit my heart and my emotions to someone sans jewelry, right? there’s no pact between me and my partner of choice that we can intend that ought to create need for catering, or allow us a tax break, or better yet, make our communications considered private in a legal sense? a marriage is totally commercialized.
but you’re missing the truth in the analogy, that in both cases, two parties entered into a mutually beneficial transaction, and those actions were wrapped in a given context. using a changing context to alter or renege on either deal is unscrupulous, even in regard to the altered context of the arrangement because one party took a statement of intent, and warped it’s face value in a way that benefited itself at the expense of the other party involved in the transaction. every purchase is a contract, just like a marriage certificate, and in this case, they created a false sense of security in a given condition and it certainly created sales for an alternate product that some people feel duped into buying because the option to pursue action A was not fairly represented to them.
entitled is not a bad word, not even kind of. i know the internet has attempted some word-fu trying to create this idea that somehow, if you feel entitled to something, it’s your fault for your presumption of position. that’s not at all true though. i am entitled to social security benefits because i paid in to that system to get the benefits, not because i misunderstood a social contract that said i should pay funds to be laughed at by conservatives and then left with nothing. people are entitled in this case to feel as though they’d been duped, because they were in fact duped. even if you feel superior enough to say you didn’t get duped by the same statement, they were, and there is absolutely room to read that statement in more than just the way that allows you to feel smart. so yes, they’re entitled, in the righteous kind of way that says “well, you were in fact misled, and the statement is certainly open to being used in a misleading fashion, and that is precisely what transpired, so you are not gullible, you read the statement as written and came away with a valid conclusion given the data you had.”
self-superiority is a slippery raft to take to sea.
caveat emptor makes sense to most people, but it shouldn’t have to, it speaks to the low moral character of the merchant involved, and absolutely implies one should move on to another merchant of the same goods. one could certainly advocate at this point that the most appropriate response to the mattel shenanigans is paying some right minded chap to customize a doomsday for you out of a marvel select hulk; THAT would be an entirely apropos thumbing of the nose.
Trust me, I’m not missing anything. We’re so far removed from the point by now it’s silly.
I know this is annoying the living heck out of you, Noisy, and a much as you bundle me in the ‘tin foil hat’ team, there’s really something true and fundamental going on here.
It’s hard to celebrate an end of anything, let alone something beloved that ends with a whimper. Much of it is poor PR handling.
Look back at that quoting of Scott’s posting about missing the mark and so, because WE, the fans, failed we just could not have Doomsday Unleashed. Read it, don’t skim and say “Yeah I remember, so what”. He flat out told us it wasn’t going to happen because WE didn’t do our job.
BUT, I swear on a stack of anything you consider holy, Scott KNEW, at that moment, that Unleashed was getting a release. Given the stated timeframe for production and approval, it had to be too far along the process to stop. The message written COULD have been spun as ‘corporate love’, “Look, we didn’t meet the goal and the line ends, but this figure is too awesome to cancel, so as a thank you for all the loyalty and effort, we’re going forward with it. Details to come!” That’s all it would have taken. Nothing changes in the ‘back of house’, everything is as it was, just that one line.
Didn’t happen that way. People feel tricked. Logic be damned, many feel there WAS an emotional ‘contract’ with Mattel. The reason you HAVE a ‘public face’ for a brand is to EVOKE that emotional connection. Even if you feel the dude is a shill and complete tool (or tool’d? 🙂 ) you still FEEL he’s somehow on ‘your’ side. And in the last days he sits and laughs at how he’s manipulated us as he packs his desk. That’s the FEELING and that’s just not something to blow off. I understand it completely. I have tales of similar events I could tell you…
Steve, there’s nothing fundamental going on here. You guys aren’t even the majority on this page. And you’ve gone beyond ridiculous. You swear you know what was going on in the man’s mind now? Good lord. I’m done.
I failed to frame proper context in the last paragraph, and for that I apologize. The fault was mine.
I wasn’t saying I knew Scott’s mind. I was trying to say the PERCEPTION that many may FEEL is he’s just having a good old time over this. My entire post there was about the feelings and why some feel unable, at this point in time, to praise the lemonade in the face of the stack of lemons.
I do stand behind my statement that Scott knew Unleashed was going forward. The logic of the mechanics of making a toy, as explained over the years, shows that. There do seem to be a fair number of shared parts with Contained, so cutting the tooling for the rest of Unleashed makes sense. As Brand Manager there is no way tooling could be cut for production without him knowing. It’s his job.
I, for one, am glad we are getting both; and they are superb.
Love the containment suit D-day, and really looking forward to Unleashed. Hope he is reasonably priced and not to difficult to acquire.
Thank you, Dean. 🙂
Yep, colour me ecstatic (and Canadian, as betrayed by my spelling) that Unleashed is now on the way. As great as the Bound version is, I no doubt wouldn’t ever not feel a whisper of resentment towards him for not being his more tricked-out self. Nothing’s worse as a collector than being shown something and then told you can’t have it. Now we’re getting the cake and eating it too. Don’t really care whatever machinations, real or imagined, took place to make this happen. And it’s a much more satisfying end-stop for the line.
That’s the way to live, brother!
I have to wonder about something… Nowhere in that statement did it say that Doomsday would be available on Matty. I have to wonder if perhaps an online retailer like BBTS or EE got this pushed through as an exclusive or, maybe, this is something for WB’s online store like the Bridge Direct Smaug that was just announced.
And Smaug looks beautiful, huge and all new tooling. I suspect at $79 he ends up cheaper than Doomsday Unleashed. Only 3000 units. How does THAT work again?
there’s a gent on the fwoosh called grownnerd who did the math on that smaug… he’s no where near as big as he sounds. the wing span and body length are about the size of the mcf dragon series 2 eternal clan dragon, if that helps you get an idea of how big he is. or he also measured the DCU manbat, who has a 15 1/2″ wingspan… not that smaug doesn’t look good, but he’s definitely not as huge as the measurements might imply.
I have zero idea about the dragon you reference, but that’s OK. 🙂
So OK, he’s no Fin Fang Foom. It’s still interesting that all the tooling, nothing re-used or ‘buck’ generated to guesstemate R.O.I. and they know that 3000 units at $70 MSRP generates a profit for Mattel so forward they go.
But back in Jan. they were SO unsure they could sell at least 3000 Doomsday Unleashed they said they just couldn’t do it. And that’s with the tooling ALREADY CUT, so they were willing to eat that money! (altho it’s possible they could get a credit for the tool steel and beryllium being melted down for a new tool).
Well, the big point is going to be how much it costs, isn’t it? Noisy hopes for $50 (and the shipping, that stupid overly pricy shipping), I expect it will be $75 USD. If it does happen to be the price I expect, will all the ‘shut up don’t be a downer’ talk shift a tiny bit? What if Mattel in their infinite intelligence decides that $100 USD is a much better price for such an ‘exceptional’ farewell event? is THAT happy making?
baaaaaaaah.
No, because downers are never going to have it easy around me.
Mattel put out the Griffin, which has an 18″ wingspan and is 13″ long. Granted, he doesn’t have the benefit of being half-tail like Smaug and he’s got more moving parts from the look of it, and sold several thousand more units, but he was only $35.
I don’t “hope” for $50 anymore than you “hope” for $75. You gotta watch your word choice there. Mattel sold all their sub C&Cs at $30, but that was two years ago and in the safety of the subscription, so it’s going to be higher, but your “expectation” that it will be 250% of that price is not something I’d take to the bank.
smaug looks good, i’m not refuting that, just reminding that he doesn’t have to be huge, or even in scale with the 3.75 in line, to have the measurements he’s being solicited as having. next to motucs, for example, he will not look enormous like say, the jakks godzilla does. his wings will be nice, but the body section of him is going to look small indeed.
and of course noisy doesn’t mention the battle ram, which is half already tooled, and comes with a figure that is entirely already tooled, and will exceed 3000 units sold, is clocked at $110. the half of the thing that is tooled cost $45 when it debuted, and it came with a figure who required more new tooling than the one with the $110 toy does. so there is, mathematically, something very different going on at mattel than is going on at the bridge direct as it pertains to profit margin, especially since tBD has a very expensive license to cover in the sale cost of their goods.
Mathematically, the sled isn’t even close to half the Battle Ram.
I do appreciate you coming to the defense of the tinfoil brigade, you’re better suited to go toe-to-toe, but I don’t care to argue these semantics anymore.
Griffin was mostly built on a Battle Cat buck, wasn’t it? That’s your cost reduction right there.
After reading all these comments, I’m still confused as to how having two Doomsdays is a bad thing. I could totally see if Matty was trying to pawn off another Bats or GL repaint, but these are essentially two completely different toys. Yeah, we were misled by matty a little bit, but what else is new? At least we’re getting two pretty damn sweet figures by the 4H! If you don’t like your sdcc DDay, well, that’s why God invented Ebay. Sell it and make a little profit, you scalping sunuvabitch!
I am happy we are getting this version and it will be nice to have both. Some people will be mad no matter what the result and I am not faulting anyone for their hatred of Mattel, and while TG has made some misteps, i think his interaction with fans is far beyond anything we get from any other major company and we have to remember Mattel is about making money. End of story. I do not think TG is in the business of giving us the runaround just because he can. I would think he has more interest in keeping his job and sometimes he has to play the role of a politician, never fully committing to anything and leaving the door open to other options. The tooling is already made for Doomsday, so sales will help cover the cost. I imagine that is why he is being made and it get fans what they want. A now I can get him without having to get the sub and 10 figures I was kinda meh about. This figure will round out my collection nicely, and while I am sad we never got anymore Fatal Five figures to go with Validus or more Doom Patrol, this line had a great run.
Has it occurred to anyone that perhaps the sales from the Containment Suit Doomsday help fund the Unleashed Doomsday?
It has actually, but that brief moment of clarity was quickly beaten into submission by the need to complain and s**t all over Scott Neitlich.
I am very happy we are getting this figure. I think people just like to complain for any reason they can when things don’t go 100% the way they want them. Scott never said we wouldn’t get the figure. He just stated it wasn’t feasible at the time to be made. Yes, the timing of the announcement after Bound Doomsday sold out is shady, but that is the way most business’ are run. With Bound Doomsday, and I’m sure, Unleashed Doomsday selling out so fast, I hope this could lead to Mattel doing some more DCUC figures. There are many more characters that people have been screaming out loud for, just like Doomsday was. There are a lot of easy characters needing only new heads and capes. The Legion 12 pack sold very well. Another Legion 12 or 5 pack would be great, and how about a set with Doc Magnus and the Chief. These would work well as yearly convention exclusives. I guess I’ll never give up the dream of more figures.
The last DCUC figure will be my first DCUC figure. Never collected the line but I can’t resist Doomsday!
Hey Noisy, now the DCUC checklist page has to be updated.
I’m sorry to say that I will be celebrating the end of the line by purchasing this, but it will be a last hurrah. Mattel has seen the last of my money once this and Damien Wayne hit the mailbox. I have hated the blame and the haranguing for their poor business model. While I love the figures that they’ve produced, the company has left a very poor taste in my mouth and I will be seriously thinking before I engage with them again.