McFarlane DC Multiverse

We're what, about 15 months in to Absolute? How long do you think it takes to plan, design, get an approval and manufacture a figure? I'm going to guess that it's safely more than a year for a big company.
It’s really more than that. Todd can get WIP looks if he wants ‘em. Jim Lee runs DC. Todd and Scott Snyder have become pals through Greg Capullo. Todd could’ve seen this stuff in development six or eight months ahead of publication and gotten the jump on figures. So now I’m kinda wondering why he didn’t? Maybe no one foresaw the raw sales numbers these books have generated. Or the critical success and fan excitement that’s been generated. Whatever it is, I’m mystified.
 
Definitely the end of an era, but I think NECA dropping TMNT would be more significant. Also, the TMNT license is spread all over the place. If the inference here is that this has some significance to things McF may or may not do . . . I don’t think it’s a secret that McF is making TMNT. Does this mean they will make more or less than they otherwise would have? Dunno, and not sure it matters. Unless one is just cheerleading for Todd.
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I would be really surprised if Viacom didn't want to keep a kid-friendly line out there, and I don't see McFarlane doing that. Someone like Spin Master seems more likely to me. Maybe I'm wrong and the kids market for action figures just isn't that big anymore...

Either way, it is an end of an era, but at the same time there is so much other TMNT product from other companies that it almost feels like an anticlimactic ending. To be fair, Playmates seemed to be getting into a better groove with Mutant Mayhem and the retro releases, but at the same time they spent many years coasting and have never really fulfilled the potential of what TMNT could be (i.e. MOTU Classics), never modernized their toys in any significant way, and I have less-than-positive feelings towards them after they horribly mishandled the Star Trek license 2 out of three times.

Anyway, way off-topic for this group...
 
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Definitely the end of an era, but I think NECA dropping TMNT would be more significant. Also, the TMNT license is spread all over the place. If the inference here is that this has some significance to things McF may or may not do . . . I don’t think it’s a secret that McF is making TMNT. Does this mean they will make more or less than they otherwise would have? Dunno, and not sure it matters. Unless one is just cheerleading for Todd.
🤷‍♂️
Not cheerleading. Just observing. With the loss of DC (all or part) he’s got a giant gaping hole in the middle of his portfolio. TMNT seems like something he’d go hard after. Perhaps pursuing the master license.

Yeah. Off topic but it seems like a good fit. Or at least Todd might think it’s a good fit. Spawn can’t fill the hole left by DC. And if Todd wanted to make more Image figures, he’s had decades to work deals with his partners. This is about as high a profile property as it gets. Would he make TMNT figures compatible with DC and Spawn?

All speculation. My bad.
 
I guess I just don’t care about whether Todd is “working deals” or not.
I will buy good DC toys, and good toys in general. If McF makes some, cool.

The whole “ooooh what big moves will Todd make next?!?” angle is just a nothing burger as far as I am concerned. The man tries to create enough hype on his own without us shouldering loads for him.
 
Not having a TMNT at Playmates is like not having a Stark in Winterfell. Saddening, but this comes with age, and like with all things, adaptations will have to be made. If I were at Playmates I would be less focussed on the turtles right now and focus on the fans. Playmates Turtle line had a very clear aesthetic, one which many fans recognize immediately. I would be focussed on procuring other licenses and then doing interpretations of those characters IN that same aesthetic that everyone associated with the turtles. Biker Mice from Mars, Swat Katz, Usagi Yojimbo, Freddy Kreuger, Jason and every horror character I could get my hands on, all done in a style and scale that would fit with the turtles they've been producing for decades. Toxic Avengers, Streek Sharks, Conan, Pirates of Dark Water, anything that can be adapted into that aesthetic would be a decent pivot. Granted not every fan would want that, but from Playmates perspective, having an alternate path, however narrow or wide it may be, would help grease the wheels to move without the turtles. I think being able to adapt the various horror big name characters and even some Universal Monsters while retaining that Playmates look could snag a lot of eyeballs while they adapt.
 
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