Mattel DC Figures

[secondwhiteline]

So what are we thinking about other sub-lines beyond Batman? Superman? Justice League? JSA? GLC? Seems like a lot of peripheral characters in the DCU don’t have much of a chance otherwise. If Alan Scott can’t be a wave anchor anymore, then there’s pretty much no chance of Mr. America, Tomcat, or Judomaster ever getting made without a JSA dedicated sub-line.

I do mean eventually, not all at once. I’m trying to think about the long game that Mattel has to play to make this work. I’ll assume that we go for at least 20 years.

Alan Scott can't be a wave anchor because you need more recognizable anchors than Alan Scott. That doesn't mean that the last couple of slots in a wave can't be obscure, it means that the leading slots have to be characters retail buyers know.

Boy if they want Lantern Corps to prosper in the modern sphere, they are really going to have to figure out how to disconnect the theme from “space cops”. Hard to imagine anything more tone-deaf right now than a small group of detached old guys sending highly armed “deputized” agents whose only qualification is “being fearless” to go around firing lasers at anyone they deem a “threat”.

"Hey, kids! How are you enjoying this franchise where white guys in masks have military-grade weaponry and total authority over sentient beings who don't look normal?"

 

[AceofKnaves]

Also Alan, like Judomaster, is about to be a character in a live-action DC show that will be heavily promoted. He is about to be significantly less obscure.

They turned out Mr Terrific. Let them cook.

 

[PantherCult]

My hope is that it doesn’t go that high. I somehow can’t picture Zaslav sitting in his office looking at action figures unless it’s for a 100M + budget movie. At some level, all these people in charge and involved, know how successful Marvel Legends have been

But Zaslav is now going to report to David Ellison... and Ellison is 100% petty enough to get involved with decisions to eliminate "woke" messaging. Look at what he's done putting Bari Weiss in charge of CBS News. Rumor is now, when this merger goes through that Weiss will be in charge of CNN as well. Trump put his thumb on the scale to scuttle the Netflix merger because he wants state controlled media, or as close as he can get.

DC Comics is unlikely to be immune. The messaging from the top will be to stay away from 'woke' storylines, and sure the existing infrastructure will resist, stall and obfuscate... but eventually it will have the desired outcome.

 

[Niko (protozoalord)]

I don't think there'll be another "subline" other than Batman. There's nothing else with a pull THAT big on its own for DC. What we will get is figures that link together within each wave, and subsets that get built upon throughout waves. (As most toylines tend to do)

If we even get themed waves akin to "Bring on the Badguys" or "Supernatural" that Marvel has, but THIS early, we'd be lucky and Mattel would be insane. This will not happen. Only themed waves so far will likely be movie specific.

 

[Reno]

From a mainstream standpoint there are 3 major DC properties that would likely sell well at retail: Batman, Superman and Justice League.

The next group of secondary properties or sublines would probably do better as online exclusives: Teen Titans, Flash, Green Lantern, LoSH, JSA, etc.

 

[Damien]

I think 'what would do well at retail' also has to have the caveat of 'what is currently on TV?' Teen Titans Go! was getting product out there when it was at its height of popularity. At the same time, could a smart company making DC product have gotten regular Teen Titans out on store shelves? Probably very easily, actually.

As with all things, sometimes it really just depends on timing.

 

[Xavion2025]

Alan Scott can't be a wave anchor because you need more recognizable anchors than Alan Scott.

Do you know who ELSE can’t be a wave anchor?

MY MOM!

(Sorry. I’ve been binging The Regular Show again.)

 

[secondwhiteline]

From a mainstream standpoint there are 3 major DC properties that would likely sell well at retail: Batman, Superman and Justice League.

The next group of secondary properties or sublines would probably do better as online exclusives: Teen Titans, Flash, Green Lantern, LoSH, JSA, etc.

I think you can potentially do Titans at retail because successive recent generations of kids have grown up on Titans cartoons and TTGO is still airing. There's some risk in that there's not a Batman-level anchor, but I think you've got enough A- people to pull off one wave a year off the team's visibility alone, provided you've got some of the cartoon-familiar Titans in there (and one of them has to be a Robin the first time out, obviously). Say they employ a strategy of rotating sub-lines in 4-figure waves like with Mattel WWE's quarterly event waves, where every year we're getting Superman, JLA, Titans, and any property that has a new movie or show out. I think that's achievable.

Batman would be a persistent sub-line, of course. Multiple waves a year. Bat-Coffee is for closers.

Do you know who ELSE can’t be a wave anchor?

MY MOM!

(Sorry. I’ve been binging The Regular Show again.)

I would never ask an apology for binging Regular Show. In the words of my people:

 

[Atomic Knight]

For the record, I’m not expecting a Titans or JSA sub line, regardless of how cool it would be. But the occasional wave would be awesome nonetheless. Like waves 8, 14, and 19 of DCUC, loaded with JSA goodness.

But Superman and the Justice League are teed up for sub lines. Could Lana Lang Irons as Superwoman or crazy old villains like Vartox make it in the main lineup? Doubtful.

The League has close to 150 members, many of which are not exactly household names. And that was before the comic JLU started. They gonna put Manitou Raven in the main line? Doubtful.

 

[Super Camel]

I'm just so excited about this kids line of DC figures from Mattel. I think I have collected so many adult collector lines of DC be it from Mattel, DC Direct/DCC, McFarlane, Mezco, etc. I am excited to just get a fun line of DC figures that are just toys. With all the attachments and play features, that Batmobile and the deluxe/electronic figures.

I may end up getting Mattels DC adult collector figures, but I may not, and I'm not even caring about them right now. I keep watching all the different videos from Toy Fair of all the walkthroughs from the Mattel DC booth, and I am amped.

I'm going to collect the shit out of these DC kids toys.

I hope we get a good assortment of characters in the kids line, but I'm also just looking forward to all the main characters and possible accessories and attachments they might have, and what other vehicles and maybe even playsets Mattel might come out with.

Just 3 more months.

 

[Alt]

Question for the collectors:

Do we even need Anchors? Are Anchors outdated? Why is Alan Scott, with a Lantern logo and name, less valid than Neon Maroon Banana Hammock Batman With a Laser Disc Shooter?

Todd just slams out random waves, and specifically, non-waves with just single drops and exclusives that have nothing except S'Cool going for it.

Outside of Legends (the biggest Anchor user I know), even Hasbro doesn't really adhere to it. GI Joe has long since passed a point where the Big Names are even recently released or reissued. They just run with whatever they want. Star Wars also seems free of those concerns, sometimes eschewing even lightsaber wielders or troopers as a whole in their waves.

Jada and Storm drip feed in duos, and it can be argued they blew their wads immediately with Ryu and Ken and Chun. But I will admit the recolors could be Anchors. But even then those are getting cranked out before they even do new characters thanks to mold usage and cost out.

I'm not married to the concept, though I do wonder if it's outdated rhetoric. Anchors were to please the buyers and big box stores, right? And everything is online direct now.

 

[Thundergod31]

Besides Superman and Batman, I wonder how much shows like Lanterns and Supergirl movie will play a role as anchors for what they produce overall, through all theiir lines. I hope they mirror the wrestling line in that you can get the same "character" in the basic and elite/collector line. There are characters that I want a representation of that I dont need all the bells and whistles of an elite version. With the WWE figs you can get a basic version of a mid card wrestler with just their generic look all in the same scale. However if that mid card guy is your favorite, you can get an elite where having all the packins matter, get all their accessories. Give me the ability to grab a basic Lex in a suit and tie or armorless (under armor type gear) while also having a Lex in full battle armor with all the accessories. I hope that the type of direction there headed.

 

[Damien]

Question for the collectors:

Do we even need Anchors? Are Anchors outdated? Why is Alan Scott, with a Lantern logo and name, less valid than Neon Maroon Banana Hammock Batman With a Laser Disc Shooter?

Todd just slams out random waves, and specifically, non-waves with just single drops and exclusives that have nothing except S'Cool going for it.

Outside of Legends (the biggest Anchor user I know), even Hasbro doesn't really adhere to it. GI Joe has long since passed a point where the Big Names are even recently released or reissued. They just run with whatever they want. Star Wars also seems free of those concerns, sometimes eschewing even lightsaber wielders or troopers as a whole in their waves.

Jada and Storm drip feed in duos, and it can be argued they blew their wads immediately with Ryu and Ken and Chun. But I will admit the recolors could be Anchors. But even then those are getting cranked out before they even do new characters thanks to mold usage and cost out.

I'm not married to the concept, though I do wonder if it's outdated rhetoric. Anchors were to please the buyers and big box stores, right? And everything is online direct now.

I think you're on to something here.

 

[Xavion2025]

Yes, I believe we need anchors…at least for a DC line.

You don’t typically see a Star Wars collector that only collects Luke Skywalker, a GI Joe collector that only collects Snake Eyes, a MotU collector that only collects He-Man, a Street Fighter collector that only collects Ryu, or even a Marvel Collector that only collects Wolverine.

You frequently see DC collectors that only collect Batman and/or Superman.

It’s like DC has two A-Listers (Batman and Superman), a handful of B-Listers (Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman, Robin, Joker, Harley Quinn) and then a chasm before you even get to the C-Listers.

So not only do I believe that every wave in a DC line needs a Batman or Superman anchor, but I believe those anchors need to be 2x or even 3x per case.

There’s no need to rely on extreme versions of Batman or Superman either. The number of story specific, artist specific, end even color gradient versions to draw upon will far outlive the number of waves in this line.

 

[secondwhiteline]

Agreed, DC's a special case with a pretty fragmented audience. It's possible just to hang out in one corner of the DCU and not care about the rest. Most other franchises don't compare. ML is less fragmented but they still use anchors. G.I. Joe has never really been character-first in the same way; it's always been a This Guy is Neat I Want This One line. Star Wars only seems to have the collectors left at this point, I never really understand what they're doing.

The line we keep using as a point of comparison to Mattel's potential strategy, WWE, absolutely does use anchors. And although there's some line fragmentation (some people are only Legends collectors, some people want up-to-date rosters), and although some wrestlers have every-single-version fan collectors, almost no collector is just sticking to a small core cast. And despite that, they still use anchors.

And most importantly, we're not the only intended audience for this line. Like with WWE, I think Mattel's expecting plenty of kid & family sales for the collector-friendly line. This is why I keep saying we're not getting Alan Scott as an anchor. They're not throwing away the kid sales to feed collectors. I don't think Mattel wants the $25 line to get shuffled off to the electronics section of Walmart when they still want kids getting $25 special-occasion Batmen.

Like, the idea that everything is online direct now is extraordinarily collector-centric. We feel that way because that's how we buy figures. But Mattel's still in the business of satisfying Walmart and Target, not just Amazon. Listen to the WWE team sometime; they talk about doing stuff like prioritizing patriotic ring gear because Wal-Mart loves buying figures in red, white, and blue. They do tons of store exclusives. Brick and mortar is still going to be an expectation here.