As part of our continuing Comic Con coverage, AFi’s own "Godfather of Comic Con" Mr. Mike "SDComics" Walker put together this great interview for us with the Mattel team on Preview Night of SDCC 2010. Take it away Mike!
Scott Neitlich, known as Toy Guru to fans online, is the brand manager for DC Comics, Ghostbusters and Masters of the Universe at Mattel. Being that Mattel is the biggest toy company in the world and DC is one of it’s biggest licenses, you can pretty much guess that Scott is a very busy man at fan events like the San Diego Comic Con. Everybody and his brother wants to ask him questions and spend time with him. Thankfully, Scott graciously granted our request for an interview. He was very generous with his time and thoughtfully answered all our questions. A million thanks to him and the publicity department at Mattel for allowing this interview to happen. (And a big thank you to the men of
Critical Mess for coming up with some great questions.)
And so, on Preview Night, a couple of days before Mattel’s DC panel, Scott and I found a quiet little corner of San Diego that no one was using. I turned on my tape recorder, handed him the microphone and off we went.
SDcomics: There often seems to be at least one nice surprise in each DCUC wave. Does the Mattel team specifically like to choose characters that have never before seen plastic, 6" or otherwise, as a welcome challenge, or is that even a consideration in selection?
Toy Guru: That’s absolutely something we look at. I mean, it’s always about keeping that balance of making sure the core guys are out there, both the core guys that moms and kids know, like Batman, Aquaman and Flash, and the core guys that fans know, like Blue Beetle and Martian Manhunter, and then on top of that, doing characters like Jonah Hex and Golden Pharaoh. We love doing characters that have never seen plastic before. Kamandi was a huge one, because he’s never had a toy. Ever.
SD: We seem to be halfway through the projected ‘five-year-plan’ for DCUC. Has the line developed as it was originally mapped out, especially in respect to character selection and team/group building? What sort of changes, if any, have occurred, and why?
TG: Well, I actually should clarify something. There’s never been a "five-year plan". That’s something that fans have propagated. With Masters of the Universe, we actually do have a Seven Year Plan and we know who’s coming out but that’s because we have a finite number of characters with them. With DC, we make sure that each year we do a nice representation of fan demanded, obscure and mom friendly characters. It changes everyday. It’s a constantly changing animal. There is no master plan. We had characters we knew we wanted to get to, like we held Martian Manhunter for a later wave. We wanted to make sure we didn’t burn through characters too quick. But we don’t have a master calendar listing every character like we do with MOTU.
SD: Do you ever worry about running out of iconic characters?
TG: Not with the countless variations that DC has. I mean, you have Aquaman, and you have bearded Aquaman, and classic Hal Jordan, and White Lantern Hal Jordan, and Batman has had a zillion outfits. So … no.
SD: The success of the Batman: Brave and the Bold animated series has brought a wealth of obscure and under-represented DC characters into the mainstream. Has the cartoon had an effect on what Mattel might consider too ‘out there’ for DCUC, as well as other lines?
TG: Well, we do love the fact that the show has gotten out so many obscure characters. There was Kite Man. Kamandi was in two episodes. It’s been great that kids recognize them more. But at the end of the day, the DC Universe Classics line is not aimed at kids. We felt confident that we could have done those characters even if they weren’t on the show. It’s awesome that they were. I mean, there might be characters that appear on the show that might make us say "Oh, we should totally do him!" but we would have done them anyway.
SD: So you don’t necessarily worry about media tie-ins with DC Universe Classics?
TG: It’s great when they happen, like we’ll be doing Jonah Hex around the time that the DVD comes out, but other than that, no. It’s all fair game.
SD: Does the classic colored Robin repaint from the Wal-Mart 2 pack mean we will not see a newly sculpted Robin in his iconic costume he had for nearly 20 years?
TG: Not at all. That does not take the place of a classic Robin at all. That was actually aimed at moms. I’ll confess. Those Wal-Mart packs are aimed at moms. Anytime you see main characters paired up, it’s a mom pack. We know that collectors want a classic Robin, and that does not take the place of one.
SD: Okay, but for the most part, DC Universe Classics is aimed at adult characters?
TG: It is, but it has to have that "mom" interest too, to keep going. That’s why you always see Superman, Batman and Aquaman out there. But we find ways to get them out there, like in the two packs, as opposed to putting them in the main line over and over again.
SD: Are we any closer to an accurate George Perez/Crisis on Infinite Earths Lex Luthor battlesuit in DCUC?
TG: We get that one a lot. We’d love to. The problem is that would take the place of another re-tooled figure. I know that the version that came out was not 100 percent correct for the comics. But at the time that it was done our license was more limited than it is now. So now we do have the rights to that exact look. The question is, do we do that or do we tool a new character? And usually, it’s like "Do we not do Obsidian in wave 14 so we can do a Battlesuit Lex that’s slightly different?" Yeah, we can do that, but it’s tough, because that would cancel out another new one. Yeah, it’s a tough one. We do wanna do it, but there’s nothing on the books now.
LOTS MORE Q & A AFTER THE JUMP!
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Pawtucket, RI – July 30, 2010 – Hasbro, Inc. (NYSE: HAS) is kicking off the start of the first ever official TRANSFORMERS fan convention to be held in Asia, “TRANSFORMERS Cybertron Con,” at the East Asia Exhibition Hall at the Shanghai World Expo. Building on the tremendous momentum and enthusiasm for Hasbro’s popular brand around the world, the Company is presenting an extensive collection of historical TRANSFORMERS items from throughout the brand’s 26 year history. In a visually stunning exhibit, Hasbro is welcoming fans to experience a wide variety of offerings from the brand’s current toy line and entertainment. 
I meant to get this news up week before last, but Comic Con prep over took me. But better late than never!
