My hypothetical McFarlane Multiverse continuation.

AI isn’t going to make a better product. That will come from real human talent and innovation. You can do digital renders, but engineering refinements will come from hands on work with prototypes. And I’m not counting on any of that from Mattel anyway.

Cookie cutter AI generated action figures isn’t where I want to be as a collector going forward.
 
Gardner Grayle said:
You make a good point about AI and data mining. Question is can it be converted to real increases in sales? Can it vastly improve marketing efficiency helping to define/refine the customer base? More importantly, can it create new customers and bring old customers back into the fold? Mattel shit the bed once. You can’t unshit it.

Mattel paid lots of money for this license. They can clearly enter market segments that Todd cannot. But can they actually sell more units than Todd? I’m not talking about board games or Hot Wheels or Barbies. I’m talking Boys aisle.
Click to expand...

At the end of the day it’s all about what the stock holders say. If Mattel dips too much, DC/WB will pull out in favor of a more stable relationship they have with Todd. They will already be keeping him on board with these new Mortal Kombat figures he is set to solicit soon, so it can’t hurt to keep him close for the time being just in case Mattel can’t curry enough favor with collectors, parents and certainly with children who are minors and can’t consent to any data mining or AI that monitors their buying habits.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
This is all such wishful thinking. DC isnt going to carve off just the boys action figure piece of the DC license from Mattel. You readily admit that McFarlane can't enter the marketplace on any number of lines or skus that Mattel can.

Why piss off Mattel by snatching back a small - and getting smaller - piece of the license if that's not what Mattel wants? Mattel plans to exploit the license broadly not just in the action figure aisle and it would be foolish to damage the relationship to potentially sell a handful more action figures - which is a premise I don't accept on its face anyway.

It's nonsensical fairytale imagining so a thing you like can keep going.
 
Gardner Grayle said:
AI isn’t going to make a better product. That will come from real human talent and innovation. You can do digital renders, but engineering refinements will come from hands on work with prototypes. And I’m not counting on any of that from Mattel anyway.

Cookie cutter AI generated action figures isn’t where I want to be as a collector going forward.
Click to expand...

There could be more. Mattel has the DNA keys that come with their Jurassic World figures that can be scanned into your phone and it allows consumers to look up factoids about dinosaurs and participate in quiz games to teach them about dinosaurs. It’s a fun little app I’ve used it myself. It’s a great way to pass the time if you are looking for something stress free to try. Now that is a kind of non invasive product but I can see Mattel taking the fundamentals of this type of system and applying it to AI to train a toy to do cool tricks and its voice activated or it remembers certain traits about the user such as facial recognition. And these kinds of slippery slopes are what might lead to some kind of boycott from moms and dads, inevitably the company has to respond, and you just know that senatorial committees and grand juries will have to get involved at some point. So yeah it’s probably for the best if WB/DC washed their hands of this company to avoid any potential blowback.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I thought Mattel had the master license again as of midway ‘26, not beginning of ‘27?

My best guess is that McFarlane will continue with non-figure DC Direct stuff (statues, props, etc.), but figures will be exclusively Mattel.

I know Todd has a LOT of issues, but I do love his artist-specific stuff (Year One, White Knight, Breyfogle, Quitely, etc.).

Just got the Troika Bats from an overseas seller, and it’s Kelly Jones in 3-D. Doubt Mattel will venture too much into that terrain.
 
PantherCult said:
This is all such wishful thinking. DC isnt going to carve off just the boys action figure piece of the DC license from Mattel. You readily admit that McFarlane can't enter the marketplace on any number of lines or skus that Mattel can.

Why piss off Mattel by snatching back a small - and getting smaller - piece of the license if that's not what Mattel wants? Mattel plans to exploit the license broadly not just in the action figure aisle and it would be foolish to damage the relationship to potentially sell a handful more action figures - which is a premise I don't accept on its face anyway.

It's nonsensical fairytale imagining so a thing you like can keep going.
Click to expand...
I don’t know why this is such a burr under your saddle, but your narrative is wrong. DC doesn’t need to worry about pissing off Mattel, Mattel needs to worry about pissing off DC. DC is in the driver seat, not Mattel. I’d have loved to be in those pitch meetings with all the groveling and tap dancing. The assurances that things would be different than they were in the first 17 years where Mattel drove the DC license into the ground with equal parts apathy and avarice.

DCD was set up to offer an alternative. Hasbro sat on the DC license for what seems like decades. DCD for all its flaws, filled the gaps left by Hasbro. It still could. Dunno if it will or not, but DC would be wise to keep the option open.
 
LOL.. we'll see... if the new Superman movie falls on its face how valuable is the DC brand to Warner Bros really? But I actually do hope the movie does well. I'm a James Gunn fan and a healthy DC movie universe is good for all of us.

But if the new movies do well Mattel will likely make out well as a result and there would be no reason to hand things back to Todd.

I get that a couple of you guys don't want the McFarlane era to end, but the fantasizing about how he'll magically get to keep doing what he's doing is just wishplay. And sure... wishplay is harmless but you should at least be realistic about what it is.
 
I am realistic. And I agree, if Superman falls flat it’s gonna change the entire landscape from Zaslav down to the folks buying their weekly DC comics at the LCS. We’re all gonna feel it.

As for Todd being plan B, I’d given even money.
 
Gardner Grayle said:
I don’t know why this is such a burr under your saddle, but your narrative is wrong. DC doesn’t need to worry about pissing off Mattel, Mattel needs to worry about pissing off DC. DC is in the driver seat, not Mattel. I’d have loved to be in those pitch meetings with all the groveling and tap dancing. The assurances that things would be different than they were in the first 17 years where Mattel drove the DC license into the ground with equal parts apathy and avarice.

DCD was set up to offer an alternative. Hasbro sat on the DC license for what seems like decades. DCD for all its flaws, filled the gaps left by Hasbro. It still could. Dunno if it will or not, but DC would be wise to keep the option open.
Click to expand...

I remember listening to a podcast where Eric Treadaway was a guest and he lamented on how he hated working for Mattel because he and the rest of his team were never allowed to create anything innovative when they worked on behalf of DC during their tenure. By the mid point of the license (around 2011-2013), the license kept going as they moved away from DCUC into properties like Batman Legacy and the movie stuff as well as Young Justice and New 52. But despite the opportunity to work on new iterations of the DC Universe, the body design stayed mostly the same, as did the articulation and the paint deco and it felt like they were actively dying on the vine while their competition was starting to race ahead. It wouldn’t be long before companies like Hasbro, Jazzwares, Neca and McFarlane were making a huge comeback with their various toy lines like ML, Fortnite, Walking Dead and the TMNT brands from these respective companies and how much better they were looking than Mattel’s stuff and Eric couldn’t take it anymore. When they walked away and formed Mythic Legions it felt like a weight had been lifted off their shoulders. Even their work with Super7 gave them more free reign than Mattel ever did.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I'm pretty sure most of Mattel's output will be essentially what Spin Master has been doing - kid's stuff, roleplay items, etc. But I'm sure they'll make a Marvel Legends type line for "collectors" as well, but in reality, it'll be for ages 4+ just like hasbro. And with that comes a set of limitations in how joints are engineered, how much freedom of movement they have (since they can easily pop off and be swallowed). Jada has a 13+ age rating on their figures, allowing for joints that aren't as restricted on movement.

So honestly? I don't really see Mattel doing Jada like figures with great articulation and everything. If they're smart, they'll at least try to do it similarly, with the proper limitations of course. But it's not gonna be as good as any of us want it.

Let's be honest, even the Vonner Batman is dated by now. Articulation has gone a long way these past years, but the bigger companies don't seem to be fully getting on board the advancements. Look at marvel legends and their refusal to do good torso joints. I guess we shall see what happens.
 
I don’t buy vehicles for a number of reasons. But for you guys who do, I doubt seriously that Mattel is gonna be your happy place.
 
spinc said:
And with that comes a set of limitations in how joints are engineered, how much freedom of movement they have (since they can easily pop off and be swallowed). Jada has a 13+ age rating on their figures, allowing for joints that aren't as restricted on movement.
Click to expand...

Is it really that simple/cut and dry?

Not versed in all those things.
 
Here’s the thing for me. And granted, it’s certainly not a perfect analogy. But if Playmates and NECA can coexist with TMNT in Wal Mart and Target, I’m not sure what the issue would be with Todd and Mattel coexisting as well.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top