McFarlane DC Multiverse

Stoopid_Sandwich said:
Most of Mattel’s offerings are sold directly through Walmart or Target and distribution has been known to be very hit and miss. So no, don’t expect finding DC figures to get any easier with time. Whatever inconsistencies you have experienced with MoTU and Jurassic World; that’s going to be your baseline


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I don't collect those lines. I did collect DCUC, though. As much trouble as I thought it was collecting that line, it was 100x easier than McFarlane the last two years.

Hoping that Mattel's DC line is readily available through Amazon and "fan channel."
 
My experience with Mattel was difficult. I found most everything I wanted, but I was persistent and admittedly got very lucky sometimes. My work was more flexible at that time as well. No, Mattel didn’t and probably won’t have all of Todd’s crazy exclusives. But I expect them to be as difficult to find and sell out just as fast online. Mattel isn’t the Silver bullet for all of Todd’s shortcomings.
 
I honestly don't remember ever having any trouble acquiring anything Mattel ever did in their DC line. It's possible that it's been long enough that I'm just having selective memory, though. However I also never depended on finding anything at brick and mortar retail, ever. If there's something I want then I pre-order it 100% of the time. That's not even possible with some of Todd's "chase" stuff, at least not domestically here in the States. I also subscribed to that MattyCollector.com "Signature" line for both DC and MOTUC when those were a thing.

From memory, the only thing I remember having any difficulty getting or having to overpay for was Gleek that was a SDCC exclusive, but I still paid less for him than I've had to pay for some McFarlane DC Multiverse offerings on the secondary market. I still to this day haven't been able to track down a McF James Gordon for less than $40. I had to pay $50 for Geo-Force on ebay because my Targets refused to stock him.

I have at least 1 version of every character ever done by all of DCC/DCD, Mattel and McFarlane - and McFarlane has by far and away been the most frustrating to acquire what I've wanted from.
 
Reno said:
I honestly don't remember ever having any trouble acquiring anything Mattel ever did in their DC line. It's possible that it's been long enough that I'm just having selective memory, though. However I also never depended on finding anything at brick and mortar retail, ever. If there's something I want then I pre-order it 100% of the time. That's not even possible with some of Todd's "chase" stuff, at least not domestically here in the States. I also subscribed to that MattyCollector.com "Signature" line for both DC and MOTUC when those were a thing.

From memory, the only thing I remember having any difficulty getting or having to overpay for was Gleek that was a SDCC exclusive, but I still paid less for him than I've had to pay for some McFarlane DC Multiverse offerings on the secondary market. I still to this day haven't been able to track down a McF James Gordon for less than $40. I had to pay $50 for Geo-Force on ebay because my Targets refused to stock him.

I have at least 1 version of every character ever done by all of DCC/DCD, Mattel and McFarlane - and McFarlane has by far and away been the most frustrating to acquire what I've wanted from.
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DCUC was way easier to get than McFarlane DC Multiverse but harder to get than mainline ML is now.

I bought the line brick and mortar first and then a lot online through like BBTS and MattyCollector. The SDCC exclusives could be hard to get, and they specifically had add-on’s like Gleek and Starro spores that you could only get as an attendee. But overall, availability was much better, especially toward the end. If I remember correctly, product was actually clogging shelves by the end.

The only waves I remember being a real challenge to get were the Metallo and Giganta ones.

By toward the end, when it transitioned into Mattel DC Multiverse, it was very easy to order online. The very last wave or two may have been hard to find, though, because retailers stopped ordering the line.


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Yeah, Mattel had distribution problems, exclusives (like the infamous first Walmart wave with Metallo BAF) that could be difficult to grab especially at that point in the evolution of Internet shopping, and of course the hilarious self-serving ineptitude of ToyGuru.

Buuuut Todd makes his line hard to collect ON PURPOSE. That’s a FEATURE of his process, not a bug. And that is what truly grinds my gears. I am waaaaaay past tired of being stuck at the antiquated whims of an out-of-touch CEO-bro who thinks it’s still 1993 and hunting down the equivalent of lenticular comic covers is still “hot”. He’s no genius, he’s just an old man set in his ways who wants to force everyone else into the same regressive mindset he has. It’s frustrating, it’s boring, and I’m ready for a new approach not tied to one dude’s preferences.
 
I’ll admit, I’ve not played the long game when it comes to collecting. My DCD and DCUC figures are all long gone. Even with McFarlane, I’m always evaluating individual figures and its place in my collection.

But being honest, McFarlane is my favorite DC line to this point overall. I simply prefer the product outside of the almost useless toe joint. DCUC has an ever so slight edge in terms of character selection. That is rapidly evaporating as Todd moves forward.

What I’ve always wanted and will never have is a long running, internally consistent line of DC action figures. Like Marvel Legends. 25 years when you include the Spider-Man Classics from 2000. 23 years from wave 1. 18 years from when Hasbro took over. Wow. In that period DC has gone from Hasbro to Mattel to McFarlane and back to Mattel with DCD running parallel the entire time. Blending all of these, even if I still had them, wouldn’t be possible for me. That’s my OCD.

So even with all of the stupid exclusives and the inherent challenges, I will miss the product if not the delivery system. I wasn’t optimistic about Todd at first. Now I’m a convert. I even like 7” scale.

Starting from scratch probably isn’t going to happen for me. But ya never know. It’s why I’d still like Todd to keep a piece of the pie, if not the entire bakery.
 
The Batman Professor said:
To address the poster who was dismissing McFarlane’s Monsterverse in favor of HIYA,
all I can say is to each their own. I’ll take something with some shelf presence with limited articulation over an overpriced miniature that can do the moonwalk.
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Well, as you said, to each their own. I don't view HIYA's stuff as being "overpriced miniatures". They are a decent size, incredibly detailed, and can be put into lots of cool poses on a shelf or in photos. To me, McFarlane's monsters are just big chunks of plastic that don't have nearly the detail to justify the price point, and take up way too much real estate on my already crowded shelves. If you enjoy them, great...but I don't see them as being something that is worth the price for what you're getting.
 
Chooch555 said:
Unsure if there's sarcasm here. But to be clear, we're on the same page that Red Platinum bullshittery is bad, right? I'm lamenting the ability to buy the figures not commenting on the figures themselves.
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Sarcasm like crazy my man. But I thought you were inferring I was psychotic. When I’m clearly OCD and neurotic.

And yeah, Red Platinum is bad. But at least to me, it doesn’t make Steve Trevor any less desirable. And since I’m not flipping him, more frustrating. And if it’s the only way some of these characters get made, I’ll very grudgingly accept it. This is the only line I collect and likely my last. I’ll deal with it in the narrow window that we still have. If I’m more willing to make some allowances, then I’m guilty.
 
Gardner Grayle said:
And if it’s the only way some of these characters get made, I’ll very grudgingly accept it.
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That is the lie that McFarlane keeps telling, but sorry, I don't buy it. If they can put out Grid as a mass release Collector's Edition, they can definitely find a better way to release Jade, The Question or Steve Trevor. This is just McFarlane feeding into the hype/chase mentality, nothing more. I get paying extra for a character you want, but don't buy into narrative that this is the way it has to be.
 
scottg10 said:
That is the lie that McFarlane keeps telling, but sorry, I don't buy it. If they can put out Grid as a mass release Collector's Edition, they can definitely find a better way to release Jade, The Question or Steve Trevor. This is just McFarlane feeding into the hype/chase mentality, nothing more. I get paying extra for a character you want, but don't buy into narrative that this is the way it has to be.
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I don’t accept that it’s the way it has to be. Only the way it currently is. I don’t enjoy the hunt, but I’ll do it when necessary.
 
Stoopid_Sandwich said:
Most of Mattel’s offerings are sold directly through Walmart or Target and distribution has been known to be very hit and miss. So no, don’t expect finding DC figures to get any easier with time. Whatever inconsistencies you have experienced with MoTU and Jurassic World; that’s going to be your baseline


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Why can't I just order them online? This is a legit question, not sarcasm. Its been a long time since I've collected a Mattel line, so I want to know what may await. I get that exclusives can be harder, and that they were doing some first to Walmart releases for a while (like MOTU Classics exclusive to Walmart for a year, I think), but are the majority of releases that hard to get if you are happy to just buy online?
 
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