McFarlane DC Multiverse

[Reno]

Can you elaborate on #3?

This was in reference to my avoidance of soft goods.

Unless you've got them in an enclosed display I've found that they can tend to have a pretty short shelf life before they have to be disposed of altogether. That can vary greatly though based upon quality, of course --- but dust, humidity/moisture, direct sunlight/heat and even bugs/insects can all have bigger impacts to soft goods than most plastics. I live in Iowa where I like to keep my windows open several months of the year rather than running AC/heat, so all of these things can impact my displays -- but I've got really nice built-in 7-foot-high bookshelves so I'm not going to replace those with enclosed glass cases.

I don't like to buy figures to have to replace them in 2-3 years.

 

[Schizm]

Had a thought: Harley is a 90s creation, along with Spawn. Did she win a "Best new 90s character" competition at some point and that's why Todd hates her?

 

[altcunningham]

Neither are Witchblade, so both can take seats.

 

[Atomic Knight]

Bought Gold Label Jim Gordon today from ebay. Not an outrageous price. Not sure why I did it either. I’m not much on civilians. But I got Steve Trevor so what the hell. Gonna start back checking and filling some holes as we wind down. I more or less already have the stuff I want from Todd. Just gonna confirm over the next few months. No FOMO for me once we’re done.

 

[mystic_man]

I just saw a Toybiz Dragon Man sell at auction for $55. I have to think McF DC figures will go this way one day.

I wouldn't mind getting that grey Knightfall Catwoman or the classic colors Hawkman.

I think it’ll have more to do with the scale of Mattel figures, and which characters get made again or upgraded. Toybiz Dragon Man was $200+ until Hasbro released an updated version.

If Mattel follows Masterverse scale and releases an accurate classic Hawkman, the McFarlane version will probably tank. Ditto for other “close enough” figures.

But personally, I’m not banking on much going down. There are so many limited run, chase variants that I can’t imagine many of them will be made again. No guarantees on a 7” scale DC line from Mattel either. That Wonder Woman isn’t going down if we never get another one in that scale. If I really want a figure now, I’m trying to get it at a reasonable price.

 

[RichardSimmonsRobot]

The plus side of McFarlane's license ending is my action figure spending will likely drop by 30-40%. I like the details of most of McFarlane's stuff. Mattel's stuff looks to waxy and bland for my taste. I may buy a Batman or so if it looks exceptional, but I'm leaning harder on "I got what I got and now I'm done" on DC stuff for the most part.

 

[joshsquash729]

I'm not gonna say I'm never gonna buy any DC figures again, because inevitably Mattel will make something that catches my eye (any Scarecrow stuff, probably the new live action stuff, etc.), but I agree, it's gonna take a lot. For as much crap as I give Todd, he really did knock a lot of these figures out of the park, especially the live action stuff (for the most part), and I don't necessarily see Mattel one-upping him, at least at first. Do I think their new output will be exactly like their old DCUC? No; it would be foolish to backslide so much, but I do see it perhaps being a bit more "generic" than Todd's output. Which is fine- not every figure needs to be some phenomenal innovation; less is more sometimes.

I know we probably won't see previews of their stuff for a while- maaaaybe ToyFair? But wouldn't surprise me if it was later than that. At this point I just wanna know what they're gonna look like an entail- sculpt, articulation, price point, etc. just so I can know where to put my excitement and expectations. But as is inevitable with any toyline, I'll get used to the Mattel stuff and start to favor them, and then some other company will come in to swipe away my interest.

 

[Reno]

I'd be happy to just know what primary scale that Mattel is planning on. That would be a start. It's possible that they may plan on multiple scales. In fact they probably are. I'm sure that there will one primary collector's line and a couple of different kids' lines.

I'd expect to see their first product at SDCC next summer but we'll probably have leaks and details before that.

 

[Atomic Knight]

The problem with losing Todd is that we’re losing his vision. Yes, I understand that he’s an egomaniac and he makes things more difficult than it needs to be. He’s stuck in the 90’s collector paradigm. He favors scalpers over customers in some respects, and a host of reasons to not like him or his company.

But who else is gonna make a fleet of Batmobiles? An oversized Titano? A Quisp pack-in figure? Captain Carrot? Steve effin’ Trevor? I just can’t help but think that anything Mattel does will be a step backward in terms of character selection. A few pages back I posted about an oversized Damage II from New Age of Heroes. I wasn’t joking. Given enough time, I think Todd would get us there. If I’m being honest, I have to know that stuff like that is at least possible. I’ve little confidence in Mattel for that.

 

[Reno]

Yes, Todd gave us some deep cut characters that were surprises (Lucius Fox, Grifter, Connor Hawke and the Frankenstein mega-figure are my favorite figures in the line), but let's not pretend that Mattel never gave us deep cuts. They gave us stuff that Todd would never touch also. The Legion of Super-Heroes 12-pack might be my favorite DC action figure purchase ever and I also loved their Watchmen, Doom Patrol and Super Friends figures (Apache Chief vs Giganta!), also Stargirl and STRIPE! DCD did great stuff as well as Silver Age Perry White and Jimmy Olsen are still among my favorite DC figures in my collection. DCD also did a ton with the Vertigo characters and I still have all of those Sandman and the Endless figures. All 3 companies have gone out of their way to provide more obscure characters is what I'm saying.

Now the vehicles, that's another story. It will be interesting to see if other companies try to emulate him on that, and I'm not talking about just Mattel. Todd chose to make large, cheap and fairly low quality vehicles that still fit with the collection and looked good with them -- Hasbro too should maybe take some consideration into that rather than trying to make them too detailed and expensive. Do a scale accurate vehicle for under $100 and people will buy - it doesn't have to have a ton of bells and whistles. Hell, I just paid $100 for the damn Duck, of all things. I've bought every single vehicle Todd has done and I'd love Hasbro to do something similar in their Legends line - but not at a $350 price point like that HasLab Hellcharger.

 

[Atomic Knight]

Yes, Todd gave us some deep cut characters that were surprises (Lucius Fox, Grifter, Connor Hawke and the Frankenstein mega-figure are my favorite figures in the line), but let's not pretend that Mattel never gave us deep cuts. They gave us stuff that Todd would never touch also. The Legion of Super-Heroes 12-pack might be my favorite DC action figure purchase ever and I also loved their Watchmen, Doom Patrol and Super Friends figures (Apache Chief vs Giganta!), also Stargirl and STRIPE! DCD did great stuff as well as Silver Age Perry White and Jimmy Olsen are still among my favorite DC figures in my collection. DCD also did a ton with the Vertigo characters and I still have all of those Sandman and the Endless figures. All 3 companies have gone out of their way to provide more obscure characters is what I'm saying.

I’m not gonna argue over what a “deep cut” is. Suffice it to say that we don’t agree on where to draw that particular line. But in my view, Mattel really only has a couple. J’emm and B’Wana Beast. The rest can fall under the umbrella of JLA, JSA, or the Titans. Members and associates. Even Creeper is Batman adjacent.

I really don’t think that there’s anything Todd wouldn’t touch given enough time. Including Doom Patrol, Metal Men, and more New Gods. Mattel only made one civilian. Alfred Pennyworth.

You mention Jimmy Olson. I’d love an oversized Jimmy Olson Turtle Boy. Think Mattel is gonna step up for that? Todd would.

 

[Schizm]

I really don’t think that there’s anything Todd wouldn’t touch given enough time.

Female characters.

Hey-o, easy shot. Also - accurate.

B&R Ivy has three distinct looks - we've only gotten one when every Bat villain who can have a variant gets one. Why? Todd.

Lois, The Engineer, Hawkgirl? No. Todd.

Ratcatcher II? No. Mera? No. Aquaman Nicole Kidman, who kicked a surprising amount of ass? No. TDKR Talia? No. Cheetah? No.

An affordable comic Wonder Woman? HELL NO.

Will he even make the second lead of the Supergirl movie, Ruthye? Honestly- she's 50/50 because she's a she.

Anyway, dead horse - *kick*

BTW, RichardSimmonsRobot, "waxy" is a great word to describe Mattel's output. I hope given the 2026 of it all, their figures will really surprise us all with how good they are. Leave all the old stylizings of the previous line behind!

 

[joshsquash729]

Female characters.

Hey-o, easy shot. Also - accurate.

B&R Ivy has three distinct looks - we've only gotten one when every Bat villain who can have a variant gets one. Why? Todd.

Lois, The Engineer, Hawkgirl? No. Todd.

Ratcatcher II? No. Mera? No. Aquaman Nicole Kidman, who kicked a surprising amount of ass? No. TDKR Talia? No. Cheetah? No.

An affordable comic Wonder Woman? HELL NO.

Will he even make the second lead of the Supergirl movie, Ruthye? Honestly- she's 50/50 because she's a she.

Anyway, dead horse - *kick*

BTW, RichardSimmonsRobot, "waxy" is a great word to describe Mattel's output. I hope given the 2026 of it all, their figures will really surprise us all with how good they are. Leave all the old stylizings of the previous line behind!

Just to play Devil's Advocate, it's not every Bat villain- we still haven't gotten variants for Eckhart or Jones Two Face, no battle Damaged Catwoman, no Freeze variant. But I know I'm picking nits here- you're totally right. Maybe he just doesn't think they'd sell, and maybe he'd be right. I'd totally take any and all variants of Uma Ivy- she was a camp icon to little me, but most folks probably don't need all her looks. The Batman & Robin wave, ironically, feels like the hardest to put the whole "Todd hates females" critique on because he gave us both Ivy and Batgirl, which I wasn't expecting. Might be the one and only time he's given us 2 females from something in one wave.

I think the one that hits hardest for me is, and will be, Ratcatcher II. For whatever reason, I really glommed onto her in the movie, and it doesn't help that she's the ONE team member missing. Some folks might count Flagg too, but I can live without him. Maybe it's just my love of Scarecrow, but I love me a good gas mask too (a sentence I never thought I'd say). I have the Iron Studios Ratcatcher II statue to fill in her spot, and it works well enough if you can overlook the scale issue, but still.

Anyway. I'll let the poor horse rest in peace (for now).

 

[Schizm]

Freeze got the Black Light variant. Which is a cool idea for that character and if he ever got cheap enough I may pick up.

I did think about this and I know Eckhardt spent a lot of time not burned so that's his variant, but did TLJ have another outfit? Other than a flashback? I can't remember.

 

[joshsquash729]

Fair point about Freeze; I didn't consider that one, since it was the same costume, just glowy. I was thinking more along the lines of his wingsuit or his robe look.

The one we got was definitely the most iconic, but he did wear something different at the circus and later in the movie. I feel like the later look would've been a pretty easy variant- mostly a repaint. Same with Eckhart Harvey- just a different head sculpt and a reuse of the non-burnt suit he's made a few times.

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