Mattel DC Figures

[tenzilkem]

I don't know if anyone else can back me up on this but I thought one of the main reasons DC went with Mattel is because they have a larger global presence. I know I read that in some article posted when it was first announced, I could not have made that up, but I can't remember if it was here or on thefwoosh or even toynewsi. It all seems like a business deal and not who makes the better action figures, which seems to be the main point for some.

I for one can't wait for the change. I was hoping to be done with McFarlane by the middle of this year instead of the end of the year. I know I can stop anytime I want to, but I like collecting DC characters and building a universe so I want to see it until the end. Besides, there are others who comment on how they hate this line but buy almost every figure. Logic is out the window.

I was never excited with McFarlane. You would think he would have done wonders with this line being a comic book artist, but it was all very disappointing in my eyes. This is the person you would have thought would have gotten the looks correct on every figures instead of the wrong boots on a character or problems with the emblems (the melting Superman shield on his chest). When it started, they had the whole DC Universe but mainly focused on Batman (who sells the best) and a few others characters. They could have been making the characters they are making now, then. When Mattel got the DC Universe license after just having the licenses to Batman and Superman, they went all out. There was variety in each wave.

Since it was new in the beginning, there were original sculpts. Some were great like the Dark Multiverse figures and then there were certain molds used over and over and some not correctly. Also, it was very dark in the beginning focusing on Batman, the Dark Multiverse and Metal figures. Now there is more color to the line.

I know McFarlane started during covid, but that first year you could find product on the shelves and they weren't hard to find or obtain. By the second & third year, everything seemed to be peg warming and stores were always having clearance sales. I know I waited on buying a lot of items because they would be on sale. Then it seemed like McFarlane produced less items and they were harder to obtain. Maybe the stores weren't buying as much because it would sit. So now some figures are still peg warming and other figures are hard to find. I'm personally tired of the chase figures and the chase of hunting them down. This should be a fun hobby and not a scavenger hunt battle.

With all of that said, I can't wait to see what Mattel has to offer but I probably will stop collecting after McFarlane is done. I might check them out and pick up something if it fits in my collection. I'm in my 50s anad don't feel like starting something new. Also, this is getting more expensive as I get older. I used to read comic books but quit before covid, becasue I just don't enjoy the stories like before. I remember comic book shows at the mall when I was a young teenager and I would look through the back issues and there were always older guys walking by saying "I remember when comic books were 10¢ when I was a boy". Now they are $4 or $5 an issue and I remember when they were 50¢. LOL

 

[Stoopid_Sandwich]

I don't know what you're looking at, but I'm 99.9% sure those do not have butterfly joints. And they also don't have ankle joints, in case you didn't see that.



That is my advice whenever dealing with Mattel. There are some DEEPLY stupid people there.



As above. Deeply. Stupid. People. And they're often the ones making decisions.
That's why it always feels like Mattel makes 1 stupid decision for every 2 good decisions. It's a constant battle over there between people that actually know what people want, and people with all kinds of other 'ideas' about how things need to be (whether for marketing, for IP reasons, for financial reasons, for trademark reasons, or just for 'I contributed!' gold star on the forehead reasons).

Even if this new line does what people largely want and expect, there's GOING to be decisions that anger or confuse collectors. Because there are just going to continue to be people in decision-making roles at Mattel that are fucking dumb and GET to have a say no matter what. All we can hope is that enough people in upper level positions, as I've heard, have a pretty good bead on what collectors want to see and are fairly desperate for the new DC line to be -their- Marvel Legends. Maybe pure greed will give us a pretty good DC line.

This is why we need collectors and artists in charge at toy companies instead of engineers and kiddults who still like to “play” with their toys. These people have a completely different mindset than most action figure collectors and die hards. Yes engineering is incredibly important but so is how the figure looks when it’s displayed, how it’s curated. Does it dazzle us with incredible sculpt and paint decos? Does it move smoothly?are the toys artist specific? Do the people in charge of this toyline respect the lore of the characters in addition to knowing what it takes to make these figures feel like they kept off the page of a comic book or a television series? Is there a devotion to producing entire teams from specific eras as well as the depth in character selection?

Objectively speaking, that’s what most collectors want in a collector grade toyline. Essentially we’re looking for the calibur of a legendary customizer who was good enough at his hobby that he went pro and now all of these insanely cool figures are being made available to the very community that he is still a respected member of.


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[AceofKnaves]

kiddults who still like to “play” with their toys

It may fascinate you to know that some “kiddults” like me want these things to look good on a shelf AND ALSO want to play with them. And no need for quotation marks, I feel no zero embarrassment when I enjoy playing with the literal toys I collect.

There is a whole world of statues and such for people who see playability as a downside.


Also: you aren’t speaking objectively, you are speaking subjectively.

Honestly I want most of the things you want, but let’s not pretend these are anything but mass-market toys intended to be played with as their primary function.

 

[docsilence]

Yeah, I don't want some master class piece of art. I want something that poses well, doesn't break when I swap out the hands, can survive the occasional shelf-dive or nephew handling it when they visit, looks fun when I photograph it, and feels fun in hand so I actually want to touch it instead of worrying it'll fall apart on me. Playability is the first thing I test out when I crack open a package, and you can really tell when a toy line sculpts first and engineers later.

Hell, they're action figures. It's right there in the name. I want a design team that wants to play with their stuff. (Watching Lenny and team absolutely dork out during their videos is my favorite part of those previews, they're like, giddy about it.)

 

[Atomic Knight]

I’m genuinely curious/confused about something. Any insight is appreciated. And I’m not reading anything into this. I just think it’s odd.

In 2019, when we heard Todd had taken over the DC license along with Spin Masters, they didn’t or weren’t allowed to start their marketing campaigns or show any product. Then early on New Year’s Day 2020, pictures of Todd’s first wave of figures started showing up on the internet. Fast forward to late last month and Mattel leaks their first wave lineup. Yesterday, it seems the marketing campaign has begun in earnest. Five months ahead of an official release date.

So why the double standard? No one can step on Mattel, but Mattel can step on anyone. I don’t get it. Thanks.

 

[AceofKnaves]

So why the double standard?

I don’t think it’s a double standard:
What Mattel has shown doesn’t technically compete with McFarlane. It’s the “kid stuff”, which Todd doesn’t make. Mattel is clearly not showing the collector stuff right now while Todd finishes up.

 

[Niko (protozoalord)]

The only thing really gleanable from this assortment is the philosophy they might be approaching the collector's line with, and it's a lot of incredibly classic designs with some contemporary elements. Classic "straight" lightning bolts Barry Flash, but with the modern chin strap. Tim Drake Robin, but with the Dan Mora boots. Mostly classic blue Batman, but with the Rebirth symbol and armored gloves/boots. Deathstroke, with some modern lace-up boots. When it takes the jump from kids to collector's, I imagine the contemporary elements will be more of a mild modernization akin to Legends, with separate "current comic" figure releases. At least, I hope this is the case.

Looking at the promo picture again, it might just be how shit the photos are, but are those capes photoshopped on? They all look so artificial and fake. I'm curious to see what material they'll use when we get to physical prototypes at Toy Fair.

 

[Atomic Knight]

I don’t think it’s a double standard:
What Mattel has shown doesn’t technically compete with McFarlane. It’s the “kid stuff”, which Todd doesn’t make. Mattel is clearly not showing the collector stuff right now while Todd finishes up.

You’re probably right. But I also thought Spin Masters was still in the game. Maybe they don’t really care as their figure production seems secondary in some ways to their other products. Maybe they’re getting out of that end of the pool next year.

 

[tenzilkem]

We don't know what is in the contracts. Maybe there is a given time when they are able to market the product. Also, looking back on some old interviews I think McFalrane intentionally waited until January 1, 2020 to show anything. I don't think they were forbidden from showing anything before that date. They were probably trying to build suspense or knew fanboys would bitch about the figures before they came out, so why not wait until the day of release.

 

[Damien]

The parent company absolutely does not give a shit beyond what the deal looks like on a balance sheet. That's true of Warner, Disney, Paramount, etc.

This is 100% accurate and it's true of every single thing you love. No one making money decisions, on average, gives a single fuck about the thing. If you're lucky, as you said, it gets passed off to someone that DOES care. But expecting the people in the biggest chairs to care is a fool's game.

The single smartest decision any collector can make is to sell all of their McFarlane figures.

They fucking suck anyway....

The more I hear about the executive leadership at Mattel, the more I think it's a fucking miracle that Marvel Legends are as good as they are.

From what I've heard, Mattel is -especially- bad and Hasbro has slightly smarter people. Hasbro's biggest challenge, and I know less about them to be fair, seems to be bean-counting. Too many people with too much power that would rather make 6 cents more profit on a figure than give it an extra swappable hand kind of decisions. But more of their upper management are -relatively- plugged in to what collectors and toy fans generally want to see. From what I've heard.

It all seems like a business deal and not who makes the better action figures

That is literally -always- the case. I don't think a single action figure line has ever come about based on 'who makes better action figures.' The people passing out licensing rights don't even know what makes for a good action figure or the public rep of any given company. It's just about spreadsheets. If Mattel can offer them a higher percentage and/or reach a significantly larger audience, and in either case make the IP holder more money - that's the winning decision 9 times out of 10.

This is why we need collectors and artists in charge at toy companies instead of engineers and kiddults who still like to “play” with their toys.

By that logic, I couldn't run a toy company because I like to 'play' with my toys. And I still believe -toys- should be playable or they're not toys anymore. And if you're selling toys in retail stores you still have to pass engineering standards as a toy as well.

Objectively speaking, that’s what most collectors want in a collector grade toyline. Essentially we’re looking for the calibur of a legendary customizer who was good enough at his hobby that he went pro and now all of these insanely cool figures are being made available to the very community that he is still a respected member of.

I would disagree that there's any specific thing all collectors are looking for. I don't think individual collectors are even looking for the same things in different lines they collect. Look at the number of people that collect fairly wildly different styles and types of toys. For instance, I'm a HUGE fan of Origins, but I also don't think it meets your very specific definition of 'what a toy collector wants.' But it WAS what I wanted and I'm very happy to have it.

By the same token, some Joe collectors just want better, updated, and -more- O-Ring figures. Some want Classified. Some want Classified to be ARAH designs only. Some want Classified to be more than that/different from that. Some people like the ReAction type stuff.

I think there's a happy middle ground between everyone in charge of a toy company being a king amongst collectors that can create the unicorn toyline that every collector will love, and bean-counters that literally couldn't care if the you put a piece of dogshit into a box and labeled it 'Ghost Rider' as long as the name sells the box. And I think there are a lot of people within the toy world (in fact, I KNOW this to be true) that are huge fans and love what they do and are active toy collectors with passions for making great toys. They will all have their own idea of what that means, but I think they all mean well.

Those people just aren't usually at the top of the food chain. And, if I'm being honest, they probably never could be. Deeply creative people don't manage well. They don't math well. Someone does occasionally have to snap the leash and say 'you can't do that or we'll go out of business.' I'd just like to see it lean a bit more in the creatives' favor than it currently does.

 

[docsilence]

From what I've heard, Mattel is -especially- bad and Hasbro has slightly smarter people. Hasbro's biggest challenge, and I know less about them to be fair, seems to be bean-counting. Too many people with too much power that would rather make 6 cents more profit on a figure than give it an extra swappable hand kind of decisions. But more of their upper management are -relatively- plugged in to what collectors and toy fans generally want to see. From what I've heard.

I've got a friend who does a ton of freelancing for Hasbro and says among his clients, they're the least bad he'd dealt with. He does not say BEST, he says LEAST BAD. Like they have their heads up their asses only to the tops of the ears instead of all the way to the neck. But yadda yadda blind men yadda yadda one-eyed man is king and all that.

 

[TheSameIdiot]

They fucking suck anyway....

To be clear, that's what I was insinuating. I'll take any opportunity to dunk on McFarlane.

 

[Damien]

To be clear, that's what I was insinuating. I'll take any opportunity to dunk on McFarlane.

Oh I know. I was offering you my traditional 'blunt as fuck, hey guys he says this is bullshit' words of support.'

I've got a friend who does a ton of freelancing for Hasbro and says among his clients, they're the least bad he'd dealt with. He does not say BEST, he says LEAST BAD. Like they have their heads up their asses only to the tops of the ears instead of all the way to the neck. But yadda yadda blind men yadda yadda one-eyed man is king and all that.

I think that's generally the way to look at it. There's just no such thing as a company the size of Hasbro existing in this version of Capitalism without including some useless dipshits whose entire existence revolves around being a smug prick and collecting a paycheck for doing nothing or, in fact, actively getting in the way of progress.

 

[Stoopid_Sandwich]

By that logic, I couldn't run a toy company because I like to 'play' with my toys. And I still believe -toys- should be playable or they're not toys anymore. And if you're selling toys in retail stores you still have to pass engineering standards as a toy as well.



I would disagree that there's any specific thing all collectors are looking for. I don't think individual collectors are even looking for the same things in different lines they collect. Look at the number of people that collect fairly wildly different styles and types of toys. For instance, I'm a HUGE fan of Origins, but I also don't think it meets your very specific definition of 'what a toy collector wants.' But it WAS what I wanted and I'm very happy to have it.

By the same token, some Joe collectors just want better, updated, and -more- O-Ring figures. Some want Classified. Some want Classified to be ARAH designs only. Some want Classified to be more than that/different from that. Some people like the ReAction type stuff.

I think there's a happy middle ground between everyone in charge of a toy company being a king amongst collectors that can create the unicorn toyline that every collector will love, and bean-counters that literally couldn't care if the you put a piece of dogshit into a box and labeled it 'Ghost Rider' as long as the name sells the box. And I think there are a lot of people within the toy world (in fact, I KNOW this to be true) that are huge fans and love what they do and are active toy collectors with passions for making great toys. They will all have their own idea of what that means, but I think they all mean well.

Those people just aren't usually at the top of the food chain. And, if I'm being honest, they probably never could be. Deeply creative people don't manage well. They don't math well. Someone does occasionally have to snap the leash and say 'you can't do that or we'll go out of business.' I'd just like to see it lean a bit more in the creatives' favor than it currently does.

I’m it suggesting that artists and collectors work at the executive level at places like Mattel. I’m saying they should be the ones in charge of designing the products that cater to our ilk.


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[Atomic Knight]

I remember reading about how the 4H were actively impeded by Mattel when wanting to level up the sculpts and accessories in DCUC. Part of it was penny pinching and I’m gonna say part of it was power tripping. This was also outside of the meddling of Toy Guru.