I don't think it sounds all that impossible to patent a design. I doubt it's the case but... who knows?

Quoted because it seems like such a great idea.

I dont know- I think thats what Super Hero Showdown Figures were compared to Marvel Legends-- and those things fell apart if you looked at them funny-- as much as you want to scale down the design-- you also have to consider the materials being used, what may be a good material for a joint at one scale-doesnt neccessarily work at a lower one- which in turn could impact how the joints work.. Part of the reason they used the different materials and articulation when they scaled the sculpts up for the Giants of Justice line..

Mattel is run by a group of people that just don't get it apparently. They make decisions about toy lines that seem completely uniformed by market trends, character popularity or anything else for that matter.

It seems like Mattel has looked at what Hasbro has been doing with the Legends and Universe lines and said to themselves "Hey, how can we do that, but make it worse so nobody will buy it?" and there you have Infinitely Crappy Heroes or whatever the terrible small line figures were called.

I just really don't understand why they cant get their heads around a good concept or support a concept that has appeal and put some effort into.

Ideally I would love for Mattel to do an all encompassing animated series of figures and call it the DC ANIMATED UNIVERSE and have on coherent, stylized look across the board. They could cover all the bases but making figures from every corner of the DCU and have them all in one style that was or is heavily based on STAS/BTAS/JLU.

If they did something like this I think it would be a good bet it would sell. JLU hasn't lost any love from collectors and customizers and kids dig the style, which is being used again in the new Green Lantern animated series.

Just think, you could have series 1 with a Red Lantern, a Green Lantern, a Teen Titan, a Bats villain, a Supes villain and who knows whatever else.

I know DC has put restrictions on certain characters for some reason which has always perplexed me, and if they just free up all the names, they could cover all the bases and release a series that would appeal to literally everyone!

I just have never understood the hangups they impose on licensing characters for certain lines cause it just kills the potential livelihood of said line.

DC ANIMATED UNIVERSE could be potentially the greatest thing ever in figures, if only they could get their heads out of their asses long enough to see how well Marvel does with their Universe line which seems to not have any restrictions on character usage and sells like hotcakes!

My two cents.

Here's what Mattel has - actually market numbers.

Here's what fans have - a lot of speculation and personal opinion.

I have an addendum:

Here's what Hasbro has - a successful business model.

It can't be that successful... they just laid off 300 people... including the brand manager for Marvel Universe.

Dan, you have to admit that Mattel's choices with the Young Justice line helped to bury it. I just don't know how anybody can argue that price point didn't almost single handedly kill this line. I don't need a marketing degree to know that there is a limit to which people are willing to pay. Mattel may have had some collectors paying those inflated prices, but Mattel has always said that Moms and Dads are the ones keeping figure lines afloat by buying for their kids. There is no way I would spend $10 for a YJ kid flash for my son. Not enough bang for the buck. For me, I was willing to choke on the inflated price because I have a little history invested in these characters. YJ was just handled poorly. Which is sad, because it was turning into a really cool line with a great diversity of characters.

Bazinga

You're in my spot.

For what it's worth, the same four Marvel Legends figures (from the first relaunch wave) have been sitting, untouched, at my local Walmart for about a month.

Come on now, you now or at least you should know, that layoffs don't mean something is not successful. A company is beholden to the shareholders and will do whatever they have to so the numbers are always in the plus column.

The line has been successful and layoffs could account for any number of variables.

Lets all remember, correlation does not imply causation.

If they laid off the Marvel Universe brand manager then Marvel toy sales are definitely down. You don't choose to lay off someone if they are making you money. Sounds to me like toy lines across the board are suffering because of a bad economy and rising toy prices.

People get laid off all the time for various reasons regardless of a line making money or not. DISNEY owns Marvel now and working with Hasbro they could be restructuring how this division works and consolidating it under another manager for all we know, remember, correlation does not imply causation. Just cause A happened doesn't mean it was because of B or C.

Indeed, there are many factors involved and the economy being in the tank is one of many. Granted I don't have the sales numbers on MU but I can tell you from the experience of what I've seen in Virginia/Maryland/DC area that they sell really well and don't sit on the pegs around here.

All I'm saying is, correlation does not imply causation, so them laying off people does not imply necessarily the line is doing poorly. There are many factors to weigh in and a company is always going to pick keeping the numbers in the plus over employees and will cut employees they see as not being essential to do so, so layoffs do not speak directly to the success or failure of a line.

This is just me making a statement based on what I've seen and what I understand about how things work, I'm not saying this is the bible of how things are, I'm just saying this is what I've gathered.

I really don't know anything about the market, and I don't even read all the opinions/speculation, BUT

Here's what Marvel toy collectors have -

Here's what DC toy collectors have -

Including me in the group

It is this simple why Marvel is doing better.

Since 2000 these are the movies of your more A-B list characters in each.

Marvel has:

Iron Man I and II
Thor
Captain America
Hulk (2)
Avengers
Spider-man 1, 2, 3, (Amazing coming)
X-men 1, 2, 3 and First Class
Wolverine
Fantastic Four 1, 2
Daredevil
Ghost Rider 1, 2

That is 21 kid/family based movies. Ghost Rider might be a little dark though.

DC has:

Superman Returns
Batman 1, 2, 3
Green Lantern

That is 5 movies and 3 of them are not what I would consider kid friendly.

And it will only get worse for DC as they have Man of Steel in the works and Marvel has Captain America 2, Iron Man 3, Thor 2, Deadpool, Amazing Spider-man 2 and The Wolverine.

DC needs movies.

The End.