Why Did DC 9" Figures Fail?

[The Bat]

I agree with Brian...when the 1st BATMAN Figure came out...there wasn't even a Target Store in my State! I HATE EXCLUSIVES! I had to go to Evilbay.

[jasonmego1277]

IMO - I think that these failed for many reasons, The glaring reasons are already pointed out , but I think it was also the exclusives. I agree with that hurting these. Exclusives are great , but you really need to make sure it is accessable to those who want it. I think the lineup suffered too. The roster had so much potential. I like them and collect them, but the characters should have been thought out a little bit better.

[thunderbolt]

The second wave was rumored to be Captain Marvel, Flash, and Batgirl. There was to be a Target Riddler to go with Penguin and Joker, too.

[Spyweb007]

The 9" figures were so close to Megos in so may ways that it's hard to see why they failed, and I agree that I hope the new Mattel heroes won't suffer the same fate.

The 9" scale was a disappointment to Mego fans, but I'm not sure our numbers are large enough to make that much difference.

Also, modern figures don't have the playability Megos had. Even the Hasbro 9" figures couldn't match Mego in this area. Mego figures were posable enough to do almost anything, from standing to sitting in a chair or vehicle to hanging by one hand from the edge of a table. Even modern figures with greater articulation run into problems with loose joints causing them to not hold a pose, and many times are heavier. Try hanging a Hasbro figure on the edge of a table by his hand and his weight will cause him to fall. i also think that the 8" scale just feels right in the hands of a child, where as a 12" figure is a little tougher to play with, and even the 9" figures don't have that same comfortable feel.

[cjefferys]

They failed with me because I just think most of them look pretty bad, and the whole exclusives issue is always a turn off for me (and what a horrible idea to make the most popular well known characters be the store exclusives. Whoever thought of that idea is an idiot). I didn't even touch this line.

[grayhank]

The 9" figures were so close to Megos in so may ways that it's hard to see why they failed, and I agree that I hope the new Mattel heroes won't suffer the same fate.

The 9" scale was a disappointment to Mego fans, but I'm not sure our numbers are large enough to make that much difference.

The funny thing is when I bought these figures I didn't even notice they were 9" figures. It wasn't even something I thought about. At the time, I hadn't had an original Mego since a kid. I didn't know that places like the Mego Museum even existed. I was just very happy that they resembled the Megos of my youth. Then slowly I began to miss being able to remove those boots and gloves and the outfits would not come off. They essentially lost that Mego quality. They weren't Mego.

I feel the new Mattel figures are going to be much like these. They aren't going to be Mego... but Mattel. The bodies are going to be Mattel bodies. They are going with tacky looking "legwarmer" gauntlets instead of gloves. The head sculpts might resemble Mego a little more but looking at the San Diego pics Superman looks angry and Luthor looks almost childlike. I'm sure the pricepoint on these will be very close to the DC 9" figures $15.99 - $19.99. People are already complaining about the packaging because of the proposed weathered look. Really the only thing they have in common with Megos is the fact that they are going to be 8". As long as they don't go the "exclusive" route they will probably do well... and also Mattel's extremely poor distribution system is also going to be a major factor. If it gets to that point where stores put out one case at a time we'll only see them scalped on Ebay. This will frustrate many collectors more than anything IMHO.

I know it sounds like I'm already putting them down before they even come out but it's not the case. I truly want the line to succeed (this time) and hopefully they don't get the same treatment as the Hasbro 9" line.

[chunky B]

Wonder Woman was part of the line but she was a bookstore (Borders, Waldenbooks, etc.) exclusive. She did come with a hardcover book but the pricepoint was $49.99 which I'm sure was a turn-off for most collectors. She's sort of a hybrid between a statue and a figure. Her legs do in fact have articulation under that rubber skin but that is about it.

http://c2.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/94/l_ec4e8a6669fd44a0ab47360aa598e599.jpg

I do agree that one of the major problems with these figures is that they were almost all exclusives. Green Arrow, Green Lantern and Aquaman were the only ones that weren't. Exclusives are perhaps the main killer of any toyline. The only one I never picked up was Batman Beyond because it was an FAO Schwartz exclusive (which is why he isn't represented in my pics).

How about that, I didn't realize that Wonder Woman even had that much articulation. I'll have to hunt one down. I knew she was a book store exclusive, just never looked that close at the figure.

Speaking of book store exclusives, did you get the 1st appearance Batman that came in the same sort of set? It was either sculpted or the concept was done by Alex Ross. Batman Beyond was hard to find in our area, I ended up picking one up for a good price of Ebay.