Mattel DC Figures

[Atomic Knight]

If I had my way, I’d like Mattel to do distinct lines of all movie/TV, all animation, all game, and all comic figures. In my opinion, rolling them all together is unnecessary and unproductive. Todd may not have had the resources, but Mattel certainly does.

 

[joshsquash729]

Arkham sub-line means the chances of me owning a second Lady Shiva figure go way up, so I'm all for it.

I'd do some pretty gnarly things to get some well articulated versions of some of those early figures- Zsasz, Ivy, Black Mask, Mad Hatter, and so on. Heck- a lot of the figures that really needed some good articulation- Talia, Copperhead, Firefly, etc. were middling at best, and didn't get a better redo like AC Ra's. Not to mention a lot of the characters we never got in figure form- mostly Arkham Knight villains like Riddler, Ivy, Nyssa, Blackfire, Calendar Man, etc.

 

[gpmartin414]

If I had my way, I’d like Mattel to do distinct lines of all movie/TV, all animation, all game, and all comic figures. In my opinion, rolling them all together is unnecessary and unproductive. Todd may not have had the resources, but Mattel certainly does.

It seems to be better for sales, though, especially when there’s a BAF and it’s tied to a current media property. This is predicated on the movie/tv show/video game/whatever actually being popular.


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[joshsquash729]

If I had my way, I’d like Mattel to do distinct lines of all movie/TV, all animation, all game, and all comic figures. In my opinion, rolling them all together is unnecessary and unproductive. Todd may not have had the resources, but Mattel certainly does.

This would certainly be best. It's probably the only way they'd ever be able to even touch a lot of the older properties. With all the new comics and movies, some of the older stuff is undoubtedly gonna draw the short straw, but many of them still have audiences out there. I'm sure things like BTAS will get its due just because of the overwhelming legacy, but everything else is so up in the air, dare I say even the Arkham stuff.

Unless they go the Marvel Legends route and tie in some comic figures in a movie wave, and vice versa, but that would just take twice as long to get everything out.

 

[Reno]

If I had my way, I’d like Mattel to do distinct lines of all movie/TV, all animation, all game, and all comic figures. In my opinion, rolling them all together is unnecessary and unproductive. Todd may not have had the resources, but Mattel certainly does.

I'd take that even a step further and keep the comic figures under the DC Universe banner and put all of that other stuff from other mediums under the DC Multiverse banner.

For me personally I felt like that was where Mattel started to fail last time. I really enjoyed the DC Universe Classic comic figures but when they transitioned to doing more live action under the DC Mulitverse brand it seemed to go to shit pretty fast. That was my take. Others may disagree.

 

[secondwhiteline]

Could someone who collects the Mattel wrestling stuff explain how they approach collector figures? How many waves/figures come out a year? How easy are they to obtain? What’s the character mix (A-listers vs. everyone else, themed waves or mixing of different eras, etc.)? Are the kids lines and collectors lines meant to be separate or complimentary (like some characters only come in the kids line)?


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They produce A LOT of stuff, but here's a quick overview.
WWE Main Event: the lowest-tier line. About $10-12. 5 figures a wave plus a chase variant, and they release...God, I don't know. 8 waves or so a year? More? They're up to wave 165 of this thing in preorders.
Main Event Showdown: The Main Event line, but 2-packs featuring tag teams or major rivalries. 3 packs per wave, maybe like 5 or 6 per year?
Top Picks: Re-releases of popular Main Event figures. I think there's 3 to a wave? One wave per quarter.

WWE Elite: The mid-tier line that's friendly to both kids and collectors. Anywhere from $22-25ish. Usually 6 figures/wave, plus a chase variant. Fully compatible with the basic Main Event figures, but with better articulation. Unlike most Main Event figures, come with numerous accessories, including entrance gear, extra hands and heads, and props. Probably...6 waves a year, maybe a bit more?
Elite Top Picks: Re-releases of popular Elite figures, although sometimes they have a simple repaint in there. 3/wave, one wave per quarter.
WWE Elite Legends: Target exclusive (although I think Mattel Creations also carries these now). I think they're 4 to a wave at this point? Same articulation and price point as the Elites, but all retro wrestlers.
Quarterly event waves: These are themed to WWE's big events (WrestleMania, Royal Rumble, Survivor Series, Summerslam) with wrestlers in looks from those events. 4/wave, released quarterly. Generally include a BAF of a non-wrestling personality like a manager or ref. I think they used to be exclusive to Target, but they're available through Ringside Collectibles now.
Various Ringside Collectibles exclusives: They have a ton of these, including a re-release series of older and harder to find figures called From the Vault.

WWE Ultimate Edition: The higher-end line, around $35-40. Usually 3 figures per wave, maybe about 5 waves a year? Fully compatible with the other tiers, but the most advanced articulation. Also the most accessories, including things that never cost out for Elite waves like some more elaborate entrance gear. They also do occasional re-release waves for these, as well as exclusives through Mattel Creations; there's a whole MC exclusive line of Legends with packaging designed after the old LJN wrestling figures.

And then you have various rings, both in affordable scales and the massive Real Scale rings (those usually include an Ultimate Edition exclusive with them). And there are various crossover lines, like the WWE/Street Fighter one they're doing now in the Elite articulation format. And they also have numerous other formats, including the Wrekkin line for kids that has things like destructible vehicles, and there's a line for kids with mini figures and a ton of destructible environments. Collector-friendly novelty formats include one that replicates the old Remco wrestling figures, one that replicates the Hasbro figures of the 90s, and one that replicates the LJN figures of the 80s.

 

[secondwhiteline]

Some more on WWE, regarding wave structure.
WWE Main Event: The basic template is 3 main eventers, 1 Legend, 1 female wrestler, with some variation. (Like, there's room for a midcarder in there if it's a really popular female wrestler like a Rhea Ripley or Becky Lynch or if the Legend is a Hogan or Austin level guy, that kind of thing.)

Elite: I mentioned this earlier in the thread, but it's basically 2 Main Eventers, 1 female wrestler, and 3 figures from some combination of Midcarder/Retro Midcarder/Tag Team Wrestler/NXT Wrestler (their developmental brand). With some variation, of course.

Ultimate Edition: It's pretty much all big names here.

 

[gpmartin414]

They produce A LOT of stuff, but here's a quick overview.
WWE Main Event: the lowest-tier line. About $10-12. 5 figures a wave plus a chase variant, and they release...God, I don't know. 8 waves or so a year? More? They're up to wave 165 of this thing in preorders.
Main Event Showdown: The Main Event line, but 2-packs featuring tag teams or major rivalries. 3 packs per wave, maybe like 5 or 6 per year?
Top Picks: Re-releases of popular Main Event figures. I think there's 3 to a wave? One wave per quarter.

WWE Elite: The mid-tier line that's friendly to both kids and collectors. Anywhere from $22-25ish. Usually 6 figures/wave, plus a chase variant. Fully compatible with the basic Main Event figures, but with better articulation. Unlike most Main Event figures, come with numerous accessories, including entrance gear, extra hands and heads, and props. Probably...6 waves a year, maybe a bit more?
Elite Top Picks: Re-releases of popular Elite figures, although sometimes they have a simple repaint in there. 3/wave, one wave per quarter.
WWE Elite Legends: Target exclusive (although I think Mattel Creations also carries these now). I think they're 4 to a wave at this point? Same articulation and price point as the Elites, but all retro wrestlers.
Quarterly event waves: These are themed to WWE's big events (WrestleMania, Royal Rumble, Survivor Series, Summerslam) with wrestlers in looks from those events. 4/wave, released quarterly. Generally include a BAF of a non-wrestling personality like a manager or ref. I think they used to be exclusive to Target, but they're available through Ringside Collectibles now.
Various Ringside Collectibles exclusives: They have a ton of these, including a re-release series of older and harder to find figures called From the Vault.

WWE Ultimate Edition: The higher-end line, around $35-40. Usually 3 figures per wave, maybe about 5 waves a year? Fully compatible with the other tiers, but the most advanced articulation. Also the most accessories, including things that never cost out for Elite waves like some more elaborate entrance gear. They also do occasional re-release waves for these, as well as exclusives through Mattel Creations; there's a whole MC exclusive line of Legends with packaging designed after the old LJN wrestling figures.

And then you have various rings, both in affordable scales and the massive Real Scale rings (those usually include an Ultimate Edition exclusive with them). And there are various crossover lines, like the WWE/Street Fighter one they're doing now in the Elite articulation format. And they also have numerous other formats, including the Wrekkin line for kids that has things like destructible vehicles, and there's a line for kids with mini figures and a ton of destructible environments. Collector-friendly novelty formats include one that replicates the old Remco wrestling figures, one that replicates the Hasbro figures of the 90s, and one that replicates the LJN figures of the 80s.

Thanks! If I’m reading this right, you’re saying all these lines can go together (even if the upper tier is more articulated and has more/better accessories)?

Trying to understand if Mattel will do something similar with DC, and if the figures shown at this Toy Fair will go along with the collector line.

With Marvel Legends, Hasbro doesn’t have different tiers. Their kids lines are different scales and don’t go with ML.


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[AceofKnaves]

Thanks for the WWE rundown!

Sounds like if that formula were applied directly to DC, there would be plenty of room for prior eras (“Legends”) and B-C-listers (“mid-carders”) and women. And it sounds like we would get A-listers at all levels, but a fair amount of diversity up to the Ultimate level, where we’d be getting something closer to “Marvel Legends Maximum” treatment for Big Guns and characters getting a big “push”.

And if all the “tiers” are baseline compatible in scale/style and enough basic POA are there for the “Main Event” tier, this could be a very robust line. I’ve also heard of folks swapping heads/accessories between tiers for their personal “best version”.

 

[gpmartin414]

Also, this sounds an insanely complicated way to market action figures that are essentially the same thing. They really have segmented their market.

I hope whatever Mattel does with DC is not that complicated.

I did take a look at what Mattel had for DC at Toy Fair and none of them feel like figures I would want to buy. They still look very kid-ish to me and not comparable with like Marvel Legends.


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[secondwhiteline]

Thanks! If I’m reading this right, you’re saying all these lines can go together (even if the upper tier is more articulated and has more/better accessories)?

Trying to understand if Mattel will do something similar with DC, and if the figures shown at this Toy Fair will go along with the collector line.

With Marvel Legends, Hasbro doesn’t have different tiers. Their kids lines are different scales and don’t go with ML.


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Yeah, the Main Event, Elite, and Ultimate lines are all in the same basic style and scale. There's even some parts sharing between the lines, like hands or head sculpts. They've even updated and improved the Main Event articulation scheme in the past year or so, although it's still more limited than the other two lines.

They have kids' lines in unique formats (like the mini figure line, Knuckle Crushers), but the division for the three core lines is less kid vs. collector than it's pricing tiers. The WWE team at Mattel has said that kids and families still make up a majority part of the customer base even for the Elite line, which makes at least some sense; a kid might get a Main Event figure on a random store trip, but if he's a big Cody Rhodes fan he's probably getting a Cody Elite for his birthday or Christmas, because it's got an entrance jacket or something and the kid is going to want that. The Main Event line isn't totally unfriendly to collectors, either, as it tends to be the first release format for a lot of up-and-coming or lower-card wrestlers, especially for their NXT developmental brand. So if you're a full-roster completionist, you're buying a lot of Main Event.

 

[secondwhiteline]

Thanks for the WWE rundown!

Sounds like if that formula were applied directly to DC, there would be plenty of room for prior eras (“Legends”) and B-C-listers (“mid-carders”) and women. And it sounds like we would get A-listers at all levels, but a fair amount of diversity up to the Ultimate level, where we’d be getting something closer to “Marvel Legends Maximum” treatment for Big Guns and characters getting a big “push”.

And if all the “tiers” are baseline compatible in scale/style and enough basic POA are there for the “Main Event” tier, this could be a very robust line. I’ve also heard of folks swapping heads/accessories between tiers for their personal “best version”.

I've absolutely bought Main Event figures just for a new head sculpt I can put on an Elite figure, definitely.

And I think this format applied to DC would fundamentally work, although obviously we're already seeing way more accessories for the kids' line than Main Event gets, but that's also an IP difference. Most wrestlers can't create light constructs and the use of thrown projectiles is largely considered unsporting.

I think the biggest difference in how to apply this scheme to DC is that WWE figures necessarily have to be very of-the-moment, because wrestling is on multiple times a week and things change fast. So there's maybe a little more of a cushion for less-proven names when even those names are on the shows you're watching every week. Wrestling fans are maybe a little more open to newer names than comic book fans are for newer characters, especially ones not connected to major names. But the Legends figures also still seem to sell, with the Elite Legend line about to hit Wave 31 and a ton of specialty product in that realm, so I think they've figured out a lot of ways to cushion all their niche subsets.

 

[Xavion2025]

If I had my way, I’d like Mattel to do distinct lines of all movie/TV, all animation, all game, and all comic figures. In my opinion, rolling them all together is unnecessary and unproductive. Todd may not have had the resources, but Mattel certainly does.

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.

 

[Damien]

Also, this sounds an insanely complicated way to market action figures that are essentially the same thing. They really have segmented their market.

I hope whatever Mattel does with DC is not that complicated.

I did take a look at what Mattel had for DC at Toy Fair and none of them feel like figures I would want to buy. They still look very kid-ish to me and not comparable with like Marvel Legends.


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In addition to what SWL was saying, I do want to point out that it -sounds- complicated when you sit down to explain it all, but it's actually very simple at the collector/store level. You've got 6.5" figures with less articulation, 6.5" figures with more articulation, and 6.5" figures with the MOST articulation, and each one is at a different price point suited to certain demos:
Basic: Priced for parents
Elite: Priced for regular/want everything collectors
Ultimate: Priced for hardcore collectors

But since it all works together, you can literally go to a store and buy any figure you find of a character you like and it will fit into your collection.

I have a lot of problems with how DC handles WWE, but I think the actually structure of the line is basically genius.

 

[secondwhiteline]

Yeah, I probably made it seem way more complicated than it is by throwing everything out there. Because they do have a ton of SKUs and sub-lines, which also contributes to line health by ensuring faster sell thru (while also having the Top Picks waves to ensure popular wrestlers are perennially on the pegs!). But fundamentally, all these lines are three pricing tiers of the same line, the same way you can get a basic new car or keep adding on the options.

And I'm in agreement, I think it's a really well-constructed way to build out this line and offer these figures, allowing for different levels of buy-in and acknowledging that your audience runs the age spectrum from kids to adults and has different resources and wants. It also lets you buy in differently for different wrestlers depending on your level of fandom for them.