You know the drill...



Some interesting answers this time around which reveal some strange internal Mattel policies.

Here's ours:

Infinite Hollywood: Mattel Q&A June 1st 2012

The "interstate lottery" answer I have heard before from other manufacturers selling non-toy products.

I can accept that one as legal truth.

Its odd, but most likely accurate.

Begs the question though ... how does selling a blind boxed collectible item get around that particular bit of legalese?

Links!

AFi - http://www.actionfigureinsider.com/main ... e-1st-2012

IAT - http://www.itsalltrue.net/?p=18945

Fwoosh - http://thefwoosh.com/2012/06/ask-matty-6112

Pendragon - http://www.pendragonspost.com/2012/06/0 ... r-does-he/

Kastor - http://kastorskorner.com/wp/2012/06/02/ ... pons-more/

ToyArk - http://www.toyark.com/news/toyark-spotl ... ne-1-5853/

Elkk - http://www.elkkthunderstoyroom.com/2012 ... or-61.html

Org Thread for Smaller He-Sites - http://www.he-man.org/forums/boards/sho ... -(6-1-2012)

Mint Condition - http://www.mintconditioncustom.com/2012 ... -1st-2012/

Noisy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! thanks

That question about the 2013 sub on itsalltrue.net really hurts 2013 sub sales already. I wish they hadn't even answered that question.

Yeah, that one kinda bummed me out.

So let me get this straight... everyone stay with me and correct me please if I'm wrong... did they just say in so many words... "Yeah... you're gonna be buying a bunch of really reused molds and stuff next year BUT if you all buy enough we'll give you some really new stuff the following year!"

Is that how it went down?

Yeah, pretty much.

Sort of makes it obvious that we still won't be getting the likes of a bigger Doomsday or Lead but there's plenty of opportunity for greatness out of the sub even with lots of re-used parts... Look at what we've seen for the rest of this year so far, lots of re-use but it all works (though RR would've worked better at standard size instead of Atom Smasher size...). Just a few examples of how few new pieces would be needed to get some striking and wanted characters out there...

Vigilante (Golden Age): head, chest, feet and gun belt

Shining Knight: head, forearms, hands, lower legs, feet, tunic and sword

Vixen: head, necklace and belt

Isis: head, feet and upper costume

Elasti-Girl: head, feet, hands, forearms, chest and skirt

Johnny Sorrow: floating mask and a "neck-less" shirt-n-tie chest

Zatara: head and top hat

Speedy (to match the Kid Flash we already have): head, tunic bottom/belt, quiver and (possibly) disk/pin hands

Roulette: head and hands

Batwoman: head and belt

Jade: head

Spoiler: head, cape, belt and bandolier

Elongated Man: head and a couple of "stretched" limbs

Manhunter (Paul Kirk): head, forearms with the sleeves and vest piece

Clayface III: lots of Mr. Freeze parts with a new head and shoulder pieces

General Glory: Deathstroke with a new head

Fire: head, add-on bustier, belt and flame effects

Ice: head, furry boot tops and ice effects

I was listening to one of the Roast Gooble dinners at the Org where Toy Guru was on as a guest and he was talking about how the Mattycollector successes of 2010 (units moved, subscriptions sold, etc.) were what motivated Mattel to invest more heavily in Mattycollector for 2012 - they got more attention from the photo lab, legal, etc. in addition to Mattel wanting to expand the offerings on Mattycollector. All great news for me as a MOTU collector, but the delay between Mattel knowing the money was there and their ability to capitalize on it got me thinking about how long it would really take for CIE to turn into what I want.

When I asked, I was hopeful that some amount of additional investment could be put into the figures shown at SDCC and written off as advertisement/enticement of what's to come - that some higher tooling, but highly requested figure could be put in their as a ringer, but that's not the case. I still think we're going to see some good stuff though. I'm happy with all the 2012 offerings revealed so far (except the abysmal Rocket Red) and hopefully the last four will be enough to make me forget about him, let alone the handful of 2013 stuff we'll see.

AFi's is now live...

http://www.actionfigureinsider.com/main ... e-1st-2012

Yea, I don't think it's all doom and gloom. There are several figures that could be done without a full tooling budget and still make a great 2013 lineup. I just didn't want to hear that answer.

Q3.  What are those lessons you say you’ve learned from the performance of GL, YJ, Legacy and DCUC at retail?

A3.  Mom and kid interest is essential for a line to succeed at retail. If we want to do a collector only line, you will find that on Mattycollector.com


THATS THE LESSON LEARNED?!?!?!!

Not "Don"t release Captain Atom in abundance in 3 different lines"

Not "Don't over pack lead characters as they just sit on shelves forever"

Not "Don't release cool accessories/vehicles that standard figures can't use!"

Not "Take advantage of what makes the character cool and not try to make it a Transformer"

Not "Don't oversell wave one figures before the line has a chance to gain traction, so that the subsequent waves are harder to come by"

Not "Don't make weird hands on expensive figures that can't even hold their accessories!"

Not "Don't make an entire wave of repaints based on comics that most of the collector community rejected and kids are unfamiliar with."

Not "Dont segment your customers into kids/collectors as collectors will buy kids line if they are great and kids will buy collector lines if their great- just make great toys!"

Not "Toys that look cheap shouldn't be expensive?"

The list could go on and on.

There are plenty of figures I still want that would work with heavy re-use. Re-use never bothered me; for the sub, my only concern has been loss of focus in what is supposed to be a Collector's Line. So far, the sub has done a good job in their character selection, incorporating classic characters, team builders, supporting characters of popular ones (this is where I put Black Mask) and the modern ones that some fans what. If the formula stays the same in 2013, along with a Club figure comparable to Metron, I'm good!

I am lightly disappointed, but not surprised that there will be no Voltron subscription in 2013. But outside of the vehicles, I don't see what they could do with a sub. A modern Voltron makes more sense as a retail item, and I don't know how well that would do at retail, much less on Matty.com.

So, for 2012, we are looking at subs for DCUC and MOTUC only? I'd like to see more from Matty.com, even one-off type items (statues, staction figures like Death?) that don't necessarily go with other lines.

I didn't either. I've been hoping that the bean counters would put some other consideration into why the initial stuff needed to be cooler than the average fare, but it's still too unproven I suppose.

Maybe we can cling to the notion that they're just trying to keep our expectations low.



Added - AFi & Mint Condition to my earlier post!

The reuse doesn't bother me in the least. If they got even a little more tooling money for 2013 than 2012, I'd be happy. I'd definitely wait to see what they show at SDCC before throwing the towel in.