Are all DCU lines DOA?

[hedrap]

I was at Target today and noticed all the DCU lines, non-Batman, are being moved to the 30% Discontinued rack.

I remember when the JLU Animated were getting bumped, but didn't remember/realize they were killing off the DCU large figures. I was certainly surprised to see Young Justice in the liquidation phase.

[CaptainTrenchcoat]

Not really sure. The All Star wave was supposedly becoming Wave 21. No idea when it is due out. I'm sure we'll hear more at Comic -Con. They are having a fan panel:
"fan panel at 12:00 on Friday, July 13th in room 25ABC."

I believe they are going to talk about the upcoming 2013 subscription also.

[madmarva]

The DCU Classics have moved to a subscription as of last month when GA Flash was offered. Red Lantern Atrocitus was offered on the matty website Friday and is sold out.

My understanding is that DC All-Stars was scrapped because too few stores wanted to buy them. Young Justice is dead, too.

Supposedly, Mattel is working on doing something with DC for next year. Again, hopefully we'll hear something new at SDCC.

Sideshow is supposed to begin selling DC 1/6 scale figures, busts and statues in the near future.

DC Direct is now called DC Entertainment and has a website and continues to sell to distribute through Diamond.

[Earth 2 Chris]

Why does it feel like Hasbro in the late 90s all over again? No new DCU figures on retail shelves, and you have a Batman movie line, and some toy company made-up line instead.

Chris

[hedrap]

Thanks for the info, one and all.

Chris - I gotta agree. DC really just stinks at the toy game. Even in the 90's, maybe because Toy Biz/Marvel had a unique relationship with KB, DC was all Batman, all the time.

I think the last time they were the dominate force was, what, Super Powers?

[MIB41]

I chuckle at the rehash of old Batman Begins and Dark Knight merchandise cloned to be Dark Knight Rises toys. Case in point, the 12 inch "Cape action" Batman originally put out for Batman Begins and then slightly altered for Dark Knight. Now being recycled AGAIN with new packaging. Sad...

[enyawd72]

I chuckle at the rehash of old Batman Begins and Dark Knight merchandise cloned to be Dark Knight Rises toys. Case in point, the 12 inch "Cape action" Batman originally put out for Batman Begins and then slightly altered for Dark Knight. Now being recycled AGAIN with new packaging. Sad...

Well, to be fair, there isn't much difference in Batman's outfit from one film to the next. Did they even make any changes this time?
At least the movie masters line has a nice Bane and Catwoman. Alfred's OK, but that standard business suit sculpt is getting old too. They've used it for Alfred, Two-Face, Gordon, Scarecrow, bank robber Joker, bank robbers, Ghostbusters, etc. etc.

They look bad all wearing the exact same suit with the exact same proportions and wrinkles.

[MIB41]

Well, to be fair, there isn't much difference in Batman's outfit from one film to the next. Did they even make any changes this time?

That's been my one big disappointment with this upcoming film. No obvious evolution of the outfit or vehicles. I thought there was a pretty significant change from Begins to Dark Knight in the outfit. Yeah, it might all remain black (obviously), but the whole design was redone. I liked it. And since Wayne Manor, the Batcave, AND the Batmobile were all destroyed, I figured that was a good reason to redesign and evolve the esthetics that much further. I was shocked to see them use an actual Wayne Industries prototype of the Tumbler without any enhancements to disguise it. It was a stretch to think no one within the Wayne corporation didn't identify the Tumbler in the first two films. But now it has to be IN-YOUR-FACE obvious what this vehicle is with the same camouflage design on it. You would think someone there would sit up and say, "Hey! Now I know why that looks so familiar. It's our design!" Make no mistake. I'm excited to see this last installment. I just thought since Nolan's vision was more grounded and conceptualized, he would continue to evolve Batman's look to adapt to the conditions around him, like they did in Dark Knight. I don't see myself buying much product in this installment. But, like you, I have enjoyed the Movie Masterpiece figures though.

[samurainoir]

The Blue Lantern Kyle and Sinrstro Corps Hal War of the Lanters two pack just showed up at my local TRU, along with the Azbats and Batman two pack.

I really can't fault Mattel at this point for the DCUC style figures... They went way deeper in their character selection than anyone ever imagined. Surpassing Super Powers by a long shot without ever having to resort to making up their own characters other than the Super Powers homage ones. It would have been great if they had been able to complete the Metal Men or Doom Patrol, but when a line includes Kamandi, Negative Man, and Stargirl... That's a positive. If they keep the line going with Matty subscription or with Green Lantern Legacy and Batman Legacy... That's some pretty amazing gravy.

The four horseman did a bang up job on the sculpts, particularly given the articulation on DCUC was much better as toys than most DCD, which most collectors use for display.

Between DCUC and JLU, Mattel had a really great run of it with the DC Characters. I guess if fans are griping, then it's because Mattel did do such a great job that they don't want these lines to end, or are anxious to see what happens next.

I think the next big step for them is to take a page from the Hasbro playbook and go 3 3/4", with much better sculpts and articulation than their infinite heroes or Young Justice line. In that format, at that price point they can again go as deep into their character selection as Marvel Universe has and keep refreshing their assortments with variants of the most popular characters like Batman and Superman and Wonder Woman. (there is a reason why Spiderman gets a couple of variant costumes in the comics every year now)

[boynightwing]

I chuckle at the rehash of old Batman Begins and Dark Knight merchandise cloned to be Dark Knight Rises toys. Case in point, the 12 inch "Cape action" Batman originally put out for Batman Begins and then slightly altered for Dark Knight. Now being recycled AGAIN with new packaging. Sad...

It is sad.

But Marvel (Hasbro) is doing it too. The Avengers line of 3 3/4 figures is just recycled figures from the other Marvel movie lines. Same with the 3 3/4 figures for the Amazing Spider-man. So much so that they didn't even bother making a Spider-Man in a movie accurate costume...

[enyawd72]

It is sad.

But Marvel (Hasbro) is doing it too. The Avengers line of 3 3/4 figures is just recycled figures from the other Marvel movie lines. Same with the 3 3/4 figures for the Amazing Spider-man. So much so that they didn't even bother making a Spider-Man in a movie accurate costume...

Actually, they did make a movie accurate 3 3/4 Spider-Man...I just bought it a couple days ago.

[boynightwing]

Thanks Enyawd, the hunt resumes!

[hedrap]

I guess it's not so much a gripe about the line ending, but more about how many of them were a pain to find, forcing me to bail sometime ago.

[Thor]

I feel the same way. I don't know how much gas I wasted trying to find a specic charater. To pour salt in the wound I would fine the same figures I was looking for on Ebay, and certain sellers had several of one figure on sale too. I also think the line suffered due to the higher price point. After a while I would only buy one figure I likes out of a wave if even then.

[thunderbolt]

I think the blame rests with Mattel, they can't seem to distibute anything outside Barbie and Hot Wheels with any regularity. Look at how bad the distribution was for Retro Action and JLU when they were both store exclusives. It can't be that hard to get a line to one company.