My hypothetical McFarlane Multiverse continuation.

I do think there's a little niche for Todd to fit into if they wanted- he clearly loves and excels at the more dark/angsty stuff and the older/more classic stuff. So while not necessarily "obscure", it's definitely not everyone's cup of tea. He's obviously not someone who concerns himself much with what's hip and cool and new and popular- he prioritizes what looks cool, whether it's old or new. So if Todd wanted to keep churning out retro/dark stuff, while Mattel focuses more on the newer things, or the wide swath of "mid-age" stuff. As deep as Mattel has gone, and could possibly go again, I don't see those sorts of things being a real focus for them. I'd have no problem with Todd continuing the Batman 66/Superfriends line, for instance, since those aren't likely to get much spotlight from Mattel, save for maybe one figure every couple waves, if that. Sure, he's pretty much run the gamut on a lot of the Heavy Metal stuff, but there's plenty of other dark versions he's yet to do. If Todd also wanted to keep his offerings more Batman-focused, I'd be down too. Obviously Mattel will want to make Batman stuff too, but it's not like the character doesn't have potential to sustain multiple similar lines.

I'm also not the biggest fan of the kinda pre-posed statues, but some of Todd's Marvel offerings have admittedly looked rather nice, and depending on the character/look/pose, I'd consider a couple DC ones from Todd. Honestly, neither company is one that I've ever, or would ever, buy every single release from, so divvying things up a bit is totally fine by me.
 
Honestly... I would be entirely stunned if something that doesnt come out of this current administration is a revising (again) of the public domain laws. Major media Corporations will definitely throw money at that problem and this administration is responsive to that. I know its not as easy as an executive order, but given how much money is at play, I'd be shocked if something isn't at least attemted to get an additional extension. There is so much valuable IP that can become public domain in the near future, it would shock me if the media companies arent hard at work trying to get this done
 
Gardner Grayle said:
No mystery. That’s me.
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I figured, I just didn’t want to assume. Definitely recognized your style and “vibe”.

And I totally get where you are coming from, and yet I *also* remember how resistant to Todd and the 7” scale you were at first. And you may well be at “the end” of collecting, but it may also be possible that Mattel does something cool that just might get you excited all over again. After all: it’s happened before! I guess we’ll just have to see.
 
Yeah. Never say never. However I really don’t wanna rescale again. I do remember my not wanting to switch when Todd took over. No one is more surprised about that turnaround than me. But as I edge closer to retirement, I’ve gotta at least think about scaling back. Another change of scale is probably that last coffin nail.

But if Mattel keeps the current scale, and Vonner comes aboard, well I’d have to give some serious consideration to sticking around.
 
Gardner Grayle said:
I just feel like I’ve done the classic/homogenous thing before. A couple of times actually. I’m not here to shame people for what they like. It just feels a little tired to me at this point. It’s why I almost want to see Todd go down the Elseworlds rabbit hole.

It’s also what all but assures that I’ll be done when Mattel returns.
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I agree with you but also like the old stuff.

Where I stand as a consumer is it took up until last year for McFarlane to really meet us both ways. I appreciate that he was pushing for modern storylines like Metal and leaning into his own branding and aesthetic where he could. I thought that was cool. I honestly don't think Hasbro does it enough with so many Marvel storylines. I thought for sure Krakoa and Venomverse would fuel waves for a couple years and we got a couple offerings and then they just bailed.

And while he was doing that, and it was really cool that the stuff was specifically citing the stories on source material he was pulling from, there was still a lack of classic or non-gimmick versions of the characters. On the other hand, I often feel very lucky that we did not get Wonder Woman or Superman until this far in, because he has learned some lessons and done new things.

Imagine if the first Diana came out during the side eye era....

But maybe the toy companies have the numbers and maybe classic style guide stuff is what people want. I also like that where I can get it. I want just a basic ass Batman and a basic Superman and a simple Wonder Woman. It took 5 years to get that out of McFarlane.

Still, a lot of other companies just tend to just pick the nostalgia and lean into it, or just push too hard with the modern for McFarlane's early efforts.

A common thing with superhero figures in general, and you see this in any discussion about the big two, is that the fandom is so wide and there is so much stuff. I don't even think there's a reasonable way for the companies to meet our needs. I guess DC direct made the effort, but the quality and consistency was lacking until it was too little too late.

In my ideal world, Mattel uses this to be a quantum leap and hit Jada or at least GI Joe quality in terms of production values, and then they split their efforts between appeasing Classic fans and putting some new s*** out. They were doing that with He-Man across several lines for a while.

I say that in the past tense because I think some of the Masterverse has regressed or gotten a little too comfortable.

I'll tell you one thing, I'm never going back to plastic capes again. More than Marvel, DC loves capes, I'm not doing third party anymore. Give us proper capes. And going off of masterverse, that's a big weak point for Mattel.
 
One thing I think is important to hold in mind is that while most of us have been collecting a while and may have one or two lines (or more) under our collecting belt, the main demographic any company will and should play to are *new* collectors. It’s always going to be someone’s first time with a DC line, and it would be a disservice to *only* do niche, story-specific figures. Heck, not everyone comes to these toys from the comics at all. Balance is key, and the prime focus does need to be on the “new guy”.
 
I could see McFarlane getting a deal similar to DST vs. Marvel Legends, where McFarlane gets a limited number of 7" collector-focused releases per year and Mattel takes on the primary volcano of retail 6" figures.

But also I have to be honest and say that I couldn't care less. I actually kind of hate McFarlane's output. I can't stand the 90's Foil Cover Comic approach to releases he uses (Collector, GOLD Label, Gold Label Collector, SIGNATURE edition, Gold Label Signature Edition, Gold Label Super Deluxe Extra Signature, Your Mom Thinks I'm Hot Edition, etc etc etc). It's stupid and confusing and there doesn't even seem to be a difference in what's actually being offered -beyond- just making it needlessly confusing and having too many words in the title of a figure for Robo to remember in the weekly.
I don't like the figures themselves, either. I tried, and I bought a few early on. But damn they're just kind of ugly, weirdly proportioned, and Todd/Todd's team make ridiculous decisions (no, I'm sure everyone was asking for a Night Master that can only hold his sword left-handed, and lord knows we ALL need our accessory-less superheroes to have gripping hands). Anyway, I just don't think the figures are very good, or even an upgrade over what Mattel had been doing (also not perfect, just bad in a different way). Looking forward to seeing what current-Mattel does and I won't lament the loss of a line that I don't collect and consistently see reasons not to buy.

BUT, again, I could see McFarlane leveraging his silly 'let's make every character the Joker, or bronze, or something' releases into getting a license to do a limited number of figures per year, or a specific type of figure. If so, though, I would not expect it to be based on which comics/properties he can work with, and more specifically on how many releases he's allowed and where/how he's allowed to sell them. With THAT being said, I would imagine he would never do stuff like Elseworlds or whatever. If Todd can only make 14 figures per year, they're all going to be fucking Batman and we all know it.
 
Maybe Todd can hold on to the DC Direct branding and do figures that he can sell through LCS & Fan Channel the way the old DCD did? That's really the only way I see Mattel being agreeable to him still doing figures in any capacity. I guess they might be okay with him still doing Super Powers or his Batman '66/Superfriends stuff in an electronics aisle, but those are really the only scenarios I can see continuing. Knowing Todd, he'll probably opt to do statues like he is doing with Marvel right now, because he believes collectors really don't care about articulation.

Personally, I don't really care one way or another. I'm utterly fed up with Todd's ridiculous shenanigans with DC figures, so I won't be shedding any tears with his departure, but at the same time I don't begrudge the folks who dig his line still getting the figures they want.
 
I’m not sure if I would be happy to stay on with collecting McFarlane if we were Stuck with non traditional versions of characters. I’ve barely read any of the Elseworlds comics outside of League of Batmen and the Red Rain saga. And I’m not sure I’d want figures of those characters because outside of some versions of characters that are more recognizable than others, for the vast majority of those designs who are they?? Where do they come from?? Why is this significant? Feels too niche to even succeed or even get support from retail outlets. Also I tend to want more artist specific figures and while I like characters that are somewhat niche, they are in canon. The furthest I would be willing to go are characters from the “Legends of the Dark Knight” Batman comics that were evocative of the post year one period as well as other ancillary titles from that era.


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Mezco, NECA (sometimes), and others share the licenses however that works.

I wonder if just being a different scale and product focus is enough to just keep existing as is and Mattel is a different market.

It's money for DC either way? We're this cynically capitalist now, ya?

But yes I really do want answers just because... They made the announcement and then nothing. Come on. Spill the tea.
 
The way the announcement read, Mattel has the master toy license and so my understanding of what that usually means is they get to choose any version of things to do and likely would have to pass on something for it to be feasible for someone else to do it. I get the sense they hold a grudge about McFarlane taking the license from them before and aren't likely to be conciliatory.

As was stated its possible Todd has leeway with DC Direct to do some limited market, comic shop only type releases. But I think any mass market option is highly unlikely
 
Clearly none of us know the future or the inner workings of the DC-Mattel-McFarlane relationship. But I can’t say that it’s looking too good for Todd at the moment. As much as I’d love to see the 7” scale line continue in some fashion, it’s not likely. Even if it does, there’s almost certainly going to be some major changes. DCD is the wild card.

DCD started in 1998. Five years before Mattel got DC. It ran parallel to Mattel’s various lines from 2003 to 2019 when Mattel lost DC. And for one more year before Todd took it over in 2021. Spin Masters took the master license from Mattel so I’m not sure what Mattel’s beef with Todd would be. Take it up with SM. Anyway, there’s precedent for a concurrent collector line. Dunno if it’s going to happen. But I think it’s at least possible. Maybe they have something to tell us at SDCC. Even an exit timeline would be nice.

I have to admit, Todd surprised me. I was a critic and a skeptic from the moment I heard Mattel lost DC and Todd had picked it up in 2019. But in all heartfelt honesty, I’ve not had this much fun collecting since the heady days of DCUC circa 2008-2011. Even with all the drama over exclusives. Up to the embarrassing debacle of SDCC 2011. When “Fangirl 2.0” announced the end of DCUC. Ugh.

If I were a DC/WB shot caller, I’d allow Todd to keep a piece of the collector license. Just to keep Mattel honest.
 
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Gardner Grayle said:
Clearly none of us know the future or the inner workings of the DC-Mattel-McFarlane relationship. But I can’t say that it’s looking too good for Todd at the moment. As much as I’d love to see the 7” scale line continue in some fashion, it’s not likely. Even if it does, there’s almost certainly going to be some major changes. DCD is the wild card.

DCD started in 1998. Five years before Mattel got DC. It ran parallel to Mattel’s various lines from 2003 to 2019 when Mattel lost DC. And for one more year before Todd took it over in 2021. Spin Masters took the master license from Mattel so I’m not sure what Mattel’s beef with Todd would be. Take it up with SM. Anyway, there’s precedent for a concurrent collector line. Dunno if it’s going to happen. But I think it’s at least possible. Maybe they have something to tell us at SDCC. Even an exit timeline would be nice.

I have to admit, Todd surprised me. I was a critic and a skeptic from the moment I heard Mattel lost DC and Todd had picked it up in 2019. But in all heartfelt honesty, I’ve not had this much fun collecting since the heady days of DCUC circa 2008-2011. Even with all the drama over exclusives. Up to the embarrassing debacle of SDCC 2011. When “Fangirl 2.0” announced the end of DCUC. Ugh.

If I were a DC/WB shot caller, I’d allow Todd to keep a piece of the collector license. Just to keep Mattel honest.
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I think one of the big X-factor’s here is this new AI initiative that Mattel announced for kids toys and collectors are concerned. Because while they offered nothing but jargon in their press release, Mattel did make some vague inferences to collecting meta data that I think was very tone deaf with their consumers. We will see if DC/WB is looking to reevaluate their partnership with Mattel after they have had a chance to sift through alll the the tea leaves, but I think there is a good chance that they’ll have a second look at Todd and be like “yikes…and the worst thing this guy has ever done is make NFT’s modeled after the products that we’re already selling anyway. Maybe we ought to keep working with him and just offer a financial incentive to make more 6” hyper articulated stuff in addition to his 7” offerings.”


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Stoopid_Sandwich said:
I think one of the big X-factor’s here is this new AI initiative that Mattel announced for kids toys and collectors are concerned. Because while they offered nothing but jargon in their press release, Mattel did make some vague inferences to collecting meta data that I think was very tone deaf with their consumers. We will see if DC/WB is looking to reevaluate their partnership with Mattel after they have had a chance to sift through alll the the tea leaves, but I think there is a good chance that they’ll have a second look at Todd and be like “yikes…and the worst thing this guy has ever done is make NFT’s modeled after the products that we’re already selling anyway. Maybe we ought to keep working with him and just offer a financial incentive to make more 6” hyper articulated stuff in addition to his 7” offerings.”
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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.
 
Yeah, the AI garbage is a major tick in the “negative” column for me with Mattel.
I don’t want AI near anything I touch.
 
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