Mattel probably only signed off on the deal with a concept directly aimed at nostalgia, which is why they may not have given it a whole lot of attention. By slapping a retro tag on the product, they immediately identified their target consumer and also pigeonholed their future. They had to know from day one that there was a limited consumer base for this, hence the half-assed packaging and distribution. The word retro means to go backwards.
Had they chosen instead to create a new "Progressive" market of 8-inch clothed figures with the bodies and articulation of DCU Classics and went with iconic, heroic sculpts, this line would still be going. I have no doubts of that. They had the bodies already made in 6-inch scale they could have blown up and had the freakin Four Horsemen on the payroll. All of EMCE's visions and ideas could have been fully realized had they jumped into this with the goals of creating a new market, not to re-kindle a 25 year old one.
ZICA proved, without any measure of doubt, exactly what can be accomplished in this scale. The lisence he chose didn't work out as planned, but how can anyone look at those figures and not be amazed at not only the level of detail of the figures, but also to the respect paid to the legacy Mego left us. I don't see Cheverolet going back and digging out the blueprints to the 1974 Vega anytime soon.
Bottom line here is all of the pieces were in place to create a new, exciting market, they were just never assembled correctly. EMCE did a badass job working within the constraints they were given and I applaud those efforts. Unfortunately, this line became a victim to the corporate monster.
Had they chosen instead to create a new "Progressive" market of 8-inch clothed figures with the bodies and articulation of DCU Classics and went with iconic, heroic sculpts, this line would still be going. I have no doubts of that. They had the bodies already made in 6-inch scale they could have blown up and had the freakin Four Horsemen on the payroll. All of EMCE's visions and ideas could have been fully realized had they jumped into this with the goals of creating a new market, not to re-kindle a 25 year old one.
ZICA proved, without any measure of doubt, exactly what can be accomplished in this scale. The lisence he chose didn't work out as planned, but how can anyone look at those figures and not be amazed at not only the level of detail of the figures, but also to the respect paid to the legacy Mego left us. I don't see Cheverolet going back and digging out the blueprints to the 1974 Vega anytime soon.
Bottom line here is all of the pieces were in place to create a new, exciting market, they were just never assembled correctly. EMCE did a badass job working within the constraints they were given and I applaud those efforts. Unfortunately, this line became a victim to the corporate monster.
Comment