Originally, my plan had been to take off until next week, but I’ve been drawn back early by the news from Mattel yesterday. For those who are unaware, many collectors have been having problems with their Goddess figures. I have. In fact, all the ones that came to IAT last week were affected. The problem is the neck peg is incredibly loose in it’s socket. Basically, if you hold the figure by the head, you can shake her body like a rattle. Or, if you prefer, she’s a bobblehead.

Now, this is annoying on a toy that costs over twenty dollars. And when people began to complain, Mattel responded with this:

“Hey He-Fans,

We’re well aware that a lot of fans are receiving Goddess figures that have a “bobble head” effect. Here is the 411 on that:

In order to have removable heads, the pin used to connect the head and neck is creating the undesired effect. We’ve already looked into it and here are two options we can explore to correct this:

1: Make the head non removable on future female figures (no future females will have a second head option)
2: Use a larger pin, but lose all up and down articulation. Head will only move left and right.

What are your thoughts folks?”

What are my thoughts? I choose option 3: “None of the Above.” And I’m not alone. Both Noisy and Poe Ghostal (via poeghostal.com) brought this issue up in their columns. We all agree, the simple options given aren’t good enough for MOTU Classics. Here’s why.

Choosing the first option won’t really hobble the line much. There aren’t that many more female characters that really need more than one head. This decision would cause me to lose out is a modern Evil-Lyn without her helmet (I loved that short sexy white hair). There might be a few characters I’m not remembering, but isn’t it possible to release the handful of “second head” characters as Bonus figures? Let’s face facts, if you love a character so much that you want that second head, you’re going to buy an extra figure for that head to go on. A lot of collectors do this already. If you only like the second head, then only get the bonus figure. If you have a subscription and got stuck with the first head you didn’t want, then sell it and wait for the bonus figure. It’s really not that difficult to live with option no. one. If this awful choice had to be made, I suppose I’d have to pick the first one. There’s too many simple solutions around the problems created by option one.

The second choice shouldn’t even be an option. The problems that it creates for the line can’t be easily fixed. And why do we need to lose more articulation on the female “buck” to fix this issue anyway? Many fans at the .Org have demonstrated that shortening the peg will fix the problem. Or, if the lower ball fit more snugly inside the torso (like it does on the male figures) bobblehead action would be prevented. Ironically, DC Classics seems to have the inverse problem. The neck articulation on them is so sturdy, that they no longer have functional use of their neck joint. I never realized how much trouble this one spot is. I guess if I make it to heaven, I’ll have to remember to give God my compliments on not screwing up that joint on humans.

Ultimately, what I want to see is Mattel fix the problem while keeping the original articulation and the swappable heads. This isn’t unreasonable, there are Marvel Legends figures at Toys R Us right now that are capable of this insurmountable task and they’re not $20 a piece. Mattel has told us that MOTU Classics has been far more successful than they planned for. So successful that they have even upped the production of the monthly figures. Those extra figures beyond what Mattel planned for are gravy. I don’t expect the cost of the figures to go down, but I do expect to see better tooling when it’s called for instead of two cheap fixes. I don’t mind paying twenty dollars plus shipping for a figure, but I expect near perfection when I do. If there’s a design flaw, I don’t even want to know about it. I want it fixed before it even gets to me.

Is that too much to ask for? Of course not.

My friend, Vault, gets those Japanese import toys pretty regularly. He says on average they cost about five to ten dollars more than a MOTUC, and he’s had very few problems with them – including ones that have interchangeable heads and ball-joint necks. I’ve been known to buy GI Joes and Star Wars on occasion. Both toy’s heads pop on and off easily and there’s no difficulties. And despite Mattel’s confusion about making this joint work, even my Teela has a fully working ball-joint. So what’s the difference between those two figures? So why can’t Mattel successfully replicate what many other toy companies have done? Why can’t they replicate what they did themselves just two months ago?

I love the MOTU Classics line, but it shouldn’t be the responsibility of the fans to “fix” the problems. Mattel should know how to fix this stuff and be willing to do it.