Mattel DC Figures

It all also sounds like a good way to keep Batman/Superman/Joker on shelves perpetually. And let’s be real: in one form or another, the Big Guns need to be front and center. But maybe they don’t need to take all of the collector-oriented spots if they are always in good supply in the parent-priced tier.
 
The volume seems very high (120+ releases a year based on the above). Hope it’s not that many for DC.


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I don't know how, but I genuinely forgot there was going to be a deluxe price point from the jump. Fuck everything I said, we know as a fact that we're going to get all the main A-listers in the "Ultimate" pricepoint, so give us the niche weirdos in every wave the moment the line starts. Literally does not even matter with this formatting.
 
It's an absurd amount of figures, yeah. But wrestling moves extremely fast, WWE maintains multiple shows that all have their own rosters, and there's also a portion of the audience that's mainly concerned with retro and classic product, so you have to serve that too. It's a very demanding license from that perspective.
 
gpmartin414 said:
The volume seems very high (120+ releases a year based on the above). Hope it’s not that many for DC.
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It may seem that way but both McFarlane DC Multiverse and Hasbro Marvel Legends put out more figures than that # in 2025. I believe that they both finished at over 150 based upon a video I recently watch from Strong Collectors where they had counted them and broke them out by character family.

I didn't buy anywhere close to everything and I know that I bought more than 100 new release figures from each of those lines last year.
 
scottg10 said:
Thanks, @secondwhiteline for that wrestling rundown. That, all translated to DC (except the chase variants), would be awesome.
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No problem! And actually, the WWE chases are super easy to get, honestly. Most of them you can preorder through Ringside Collectibles, and I've found plenty of them in store. They're also just gear repaints, not like totally different characters like you might get in a superhero line (which I personally don't mind for characters who are tougher sells, like when Starfire has a Blackfire variant).
 
With wrestling figures, though, how much part re-use is there? I'd imagine quite a lot, since a lot of them have similar body types. And how many releases are just the same wrestlers over and over? I know there's not just a handful of wrestlers- there's a bunch, but surely not that many. Is there often much difference to each release, versus maybe a new face sculpt or a robe or something?

I'm not expecting all of that with DC. Don't get me wrong- I think you easily could do that much with DC, but the re-use would get a little old after a while, I'd think. Granted, DC's roster is probably far bigger than maybe even all wrestling things combined, and I'm expecting a fair amount of reuse. Maybe not to DCUC levels, and if they keep the swappable face plates going and everything, that could also help things feel a little more fresh.

For my own sake- mental and financial- I'm just gonna keep my expectations low, and hope to be surprised.
 
joshsquash729 said:
With wrestling figures, though, how much part re-use is there? I'd imagine quite a lot, since a lot of them have similar body types. And how many releases are just the same wrestlers over and over? I know there's not just a handful of wrestlers- there's a bunch, but surely not that many. Is there often much difference to each release, versus maybe a new face sculpt or a robe or something?

I'm not expecting all of that with DC. Don't get me wrong- I think you easily could do that much with DC, but the re-use would get a little old after a while, I'd think. Granted, DC's roster is probably far bigger than maybe even all wrestling things combined, and I'm expecting a fair amount of reuse. Maybe not to DCUC levels, and if they keep the swappable face plates going and everything, that could also help things feel a little more fresh.

For my own sake- mental and financial- I'm just gonna keep my expectations low, and hope to be surprised.
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Well, the reason wrestling and superheroes are the two most perennial action figure concepts is the parts reuse. It's not like any Mattel DC line is going to be lacking that. A lot of superheroes are just dudes in form-fitting bodysuits. Reuse is going to happen no matter what, that's how superhero lines live.

Wrestlers change up their gear all the time. Mattel has the Top Picks line that's mostly re-releases, but these figures are generally very different. It's extremely commonplace in wrestling now to have multiple colorways of your standard gear and also to wear special gear at bigger events with even more elaborate entrance stuff. Obviously they do new face scans and head sculpts all the time too.

That all being said, even like 120 figures a year might not cover the entire WWE roster. They have so, so many people. Most wrestlers are getting one Elite a year, if that.
 
I think we’ll need to expect there to be significant reuse of (hopefully) several base bodies, especially for spandex-clad folks. Hopefully that will come with more mix-and-match of parts than the old DCUC days.
 
AceofKnaves said:
I think we’ll need to expect there to be significant reuse of (hopefully) several base bodies, especially for spandex-clad folks. Hopefully that will come with more mix-and-match of parts than the old DCUC days.
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And unlike McFarlane, hopefully they plan this well upfront. McFarlane clearly never had a plan on buck reuse, leading to a lot of questionable reuse when they then decided it wasn’t worth it doing all unique sculpts anymore.
 
AceofKnaves said:
I think we’ll need to expect there to be significant reuse of (hopefully) several base bodies, especially for spandex-clad folks. Hopefully that will come with more mix-and-match of parts than the old DCUC days.
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Anyone saying anything to the effect of 'I'm only going to collect this line if every character has a dedicated, unique sculpt' is so massively out of touch and ridiculous that I wouldn't even know how to engage with such nonsense.
 
Xavion2025 said:
In theory, that sounds great to me. In practice, big box store buyers seem to prefer toys that have multimedia tie-ins.

Also, my gut feeling is that Mattel and DC want to stay in the toy aisles and out of the collector aisles.
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Let me first state that I know every fan/collector is different. Every region of the country is different. Virtually every store is different. So this is my anecdotal observation. At least from back when I tended to hunt more. My experience is in the mid Atlantic area of Virginia/North Carolina. The comic stuff sells first in mixed waves. At least around here. Comic figures tend to have higher prices on the secondary market, and tend to hold that value longer. Again, my observation not empirical. Any number of people on this forum and others have stated that all they buy is the comic accurate stuff.

DC Comics is absolutely resurgent. Pun not intended. I’ve been monitoring ComicsPro news today. The best Marvel has is another Hulk war. The Absolutes are all strong and growing. Next Level has the makings of being fantastic. There’s a Batman event coming up this year and an Absolute event. Barbara Gordon has a Prison Break style comic coming up that must be fantastic to have even gotten the green light. Kid Jon Kent might be returning. Elseworlds has returned. Vertigo has returned.

After a decade plus of DiDio vs Johns, Jim Lee has slowly, quietly, patiently, pulled the DCU back together. Sure he had help, but his steady leadership has created a comic renaissance ahead of James Gunn bringing his media plans together. Which is exactly what needed to happen.

So a dedicated line of comic accurate figures would theoretically help with sell through and cut down on peg warmers. Let’s allow the media stuff to stand or fall on its own.
 
I don't keep too close tabs on the talk here (too early for me) and I don't know if it's been mentioned, but the articulation scheme that's being shown with the MOTU movie figures is looking pretty sweet. Judging by early looks, it appears to be all state-of-the-art articulation. That's the level Mattel SHOULD be going with their DC stuff. But if they water it down with the "because licensing fees" excuse, I'll be miffed.
 
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