Posts: 1631 Location: Rockville, IA Joined: 24.06.05
I'm not sure why I waited so long to reply here. I pretty much predicted everything that would be stated anyway.
beyond wrote:
Well, the first thing you all have to remember.. Mattel is NOT allowed to make anything other than Batman/Superman. There are certain characters in the Batman/Superman family that they are NOT allowed to make.
They are NOT allowed to do storyline figures.
Well lookit this. Seems like Beyond is becoming one of Mattel's messenger boys... :|
FlaBat wrote:
They released a Clark Kent / Superman two pack, why not a Bruce Wayne / Batman two pack with a black business suit and the comic style Bruce Wayne head from the overseas wave of figures and put Batman in black and gray rather than blue and gray? They just did Steel, but what about the other three ?Superman? characters that rose up after Superman?s death?
Good point about the Clark Kent figure and absence of Bruce Wayne. I'd hate buying an extra Batman, but I'd still love to see that release.
FlaBat wrote:
No, rather than do whole waves of new figures Mattel was content to flood the market with Superman and they did this while the Superman Returns and Superman Returns Man Of Steel figures were already hanging on the pegs. Mattel either does not know what they are doing or worse, they don?t care what they are doing.
It could very well be that they don't care after so many series of figures, but this isn't like a cartoon series where you make a certain amount for syndication and quit (like what happened with JLU); they're making physical products, so it's hard to wrap my head around this theory.
Perhaps we could compare it to comic books in that trade paperbacks are much cheaper considering the writer, illustrator, etc. were already paid to create the initial and, consequently, more expensive issues. In a similar manner, maybe toy manufacturers obtain an expensive license, pump out the few initial sculpts, and just coast along largely on repaints after that until the line's heat dies off. I actually enjoy the occasional repaint here and there, but the overall nature of it is largely flawed and needs reform.
I think some of the main points as already mentioned, need a bit more depth. "More articulation" is too general in accounting for all figures. For JLU, I'd personally like to see it doubled like with 2003's JL: Mission Masters, but a lot of people (collectors) enjoy the minimal POA because adding more would hinder their signature, Bruce Timm style. In contrast, I think the articulation on most DC SuperHeroes is great, especially compared with earlier Mattel releases. There are particular times when improvement is needed but not many. DC Direct is a whole 'nother area that can be a hit or miss with articulation. Sometimes they like to go wild like with their popular Superman from a few years back, and other times, they keep it slim to maintain a great look like with 2003's Kingdom Come.
Aside from the constant repaints and prolonged release of new characters, one big problem I've had with DCSH is the accessories. The initial catalog photos and prototypes shown at the Comic Con had excellent display bases and without notice, they were missing when it came to shelf time. Considering how expensive these figures are, they desperately need either more accessories or a lowered MSRP.
That was longer than I planned. There are other areas I'd like to discuss, including distribution, but I'll save that for later. I'm in a lab at school right now and need to get back to work...
RE: An Open Letter to Mattel and DC Direct about Batman figures -
Posted on 22-02-2007 13:02
I'm not saying their aren't problems. The Superman line stinks. The Batman line Stinks. The two best lines are JLU and The Comics liine, and the distrubtion on those suck. But I'm just pointing out that DC will not allow them to make alot of stuff. We should have a Green Lantern Line, Wonder Woman, Hawkman/girl Green Arrow, I mean, we should get the whole freak'n JLA, but because od DCD, They are only allowed to do certain things.
RE: An Open Letter to Mattel and DC Direct about Batman figures -
Posted on 13-10-2007 02:49
Wow, it was nice re-reading that original post again. Nice to see some of the ideas I’ve posted in the past did come true. (i.e. DC Super Friends, and DCSH getting more than just Batman and Superman figures). It would be nice to see more of it come true too.
So far from what I’ve seen Mattel still has distribution issues with DCSH as the last two waves were very hard to find (I’m still looking for most of DCSH 8). Is the stores not ordering enough?
Last night a TRU said it had 18 figures (the truck had unloaded, but the store was not yet stocked). I hope to go back this morning to find them on the pegs. 18 figures is only 3 cases. The eBay scalpers will no doubt cherry pick the cases so that leaves little for the rest of us. Mattel needs to over supply the primary market, because the secondary market is making a killing of these figures and forcing collectors to pay higher than retail for them. Mattel needs to flood the primary market and kill off some of the eBay sellers like they did when they released the Comic Book Carded figures at Wal-Mart a few years ago.
To the Batmobile TRU opens in 30 minutes
RE: An Open Letter to Mattel and DC Direct about Batman figures -
Posted on 13-10-2007 17:17
well most of the crap this year was hasbro. yeah, their winning of the marvel license more than likely had something to do with mattel getting the entire DC license, but look at your typical "comics" aisle at wal*mart, or really anywhere. what do you see? a few marvel legends, maybe some left over spiderman origins, but mostly you see the pegs filled with the 5" movie line. at my wal*mart, there is nothing but these. add to the fact that they are an inch too small, and you have ungodly slow moving product. with TDK, we may see something different, who knows.
Member of:
AFI
OAFE
Hall of Justice
BYTB
Figure Realm
The Everything Forum
TNI
Mod of:
Launching my own site.
RE: An Open Letter to Mattel and DC Direct about Batman figures -
Posted on 14-10-2007 10:04
True, Hasbro has a lot of product out these, but they have issues too. Diamond Emma Frost a TRU exclusive is clogging the TRU pegs all over the place. They are in the clearance section too and they can’t even give these things away. I have not bought any Hasbro ML, but so far I think I like Toy Biz versions better.
I too thought the smaller Spider-man 3 figures were wrong. I hate that they cannot be displayed with ML figures, but there are all new 6” Legends versions coming with a Sandman BAF, so maybe those will be better. Superman Returns figures clogged the pegs before Spider-man 3 did and those figures went away. Look for Spider-man figures to be gone after Christmas.
I snagged a case of DCSH 8 at TRU yesterday morning. I was there when they opened and there among the moms and kids was another single guy like me. My first thought was “I hope he’s not here for DCSH figures”. He got in the door first, but I cut around thru Barbie and Bratz to get to the action figure aisle first, but there was no DCSH on the pegs, except the two Banes from the night before. The other guy got to the aisle and was picking up MacFarlane NFL. We spoke, and he thought the same thing about me, “I hope he’s not here for NFL figures”. Now, that’s funny. We both asked the stock clerk to check the back and I scored a new case.
I still have to wonder about Mattel and this new DCU aisle they touted a few months ago. When will we see it? I have to think it might be limited to End Caps or just a small section of the aisle. With so many other figures out there from the other manufacturers I wonder how Mattel will fare against them.
DCSH has had limited distribution in the stores at best. Not just TRU, but Target and Wal-Mart and the others too. There seemed to be only a few cases going to each store. Now is that a Mattel problem or a Retailer problem? Will Retail step up and order and stock more? So far it does not look that way. The case I opened had an even ratio of one of each of the six figures (Batman, Clayface, Joker, Nightwing, Catwoman and Bruce Wayne To Batman), which is perfect. Now all we need is the stores to stock up on these.
I still have hope for Mattel and the DCU license. Lets look forward to and even better 2008!
RE: An Open Letter to Mattel and DC Direct about Batman figures -
Posted on 14-10-2007 10:23
I still have to wonder about Mattel and this new DCU aisle they touted a few months ago. When will we see it? I have to think it might be limited to End Caps or just a small section of the aisle. With so many other figures out there from the other manufacturers I wonder how Mattel will fare against them.
Wal-Mart & Target won't do resets until after Christmas, so we'll have to wait until then to see if we really do get a Mattel Aisle.
BATMAN: Yesterday, Today, & Beyond, all of it's sub-sites, or hosted sites are in no way associated, or affiliated with DC Comics, Time Warner or any of it's divisions.
Items cataloged in merchandise sections are not for sale. The downloading of video game ROMs is for backup and testing purposes only. If you do not own the actual game, the ROM is to be deleted from your hard drive within 24 hours.
Any money that may be made from Amazon Associates, advertisements, or affiliate programs will be contributed to the maintaining of this website, to provide the fans with the best that we can offer.
Home
