World's Greatest Heroes! New "Series 2" Full-Page Ad

[garfoot]

I am in the minority here, but I currently do not own any original Mego WGSH figures. I am just getting back into this size after 15 years of collecting Hasbro Star Wars. I can see both sides of this, wave 2 is awesome for someone like me who wants all of them, but if you have them, or just don't care for them, I could see why this would be a dull wave. As for why they wouldn't jump right into wave 2 with Superman and other popular characters, maybe they're just not far enough into production yet? Batman was announced first, so maybe these first 11 figures are ready to go now. I'm sure they want to start making back some of that cost on that very expensive DC license.

If you have them ready to go, why not release them? We assume wave 3 is Batman, but we really don't know. Like imp said, they could have deep pockets. It's all a guess for those of us on the outside, but my guess is simply that these Batman figures are ready to go while the others will be along shortly after. I think in the end we all wish this line to prosper and it's so much fun having these debates about these great nostalgic figures.

[imp]

Wave 1 and 2 are supposed to be out in August and September, right. Who is to say Figures won't have a wave a month and get to Superman before the end of the year?

That would certainly assuage my fears. In fact, if FTC's pockets are deep enough, timing may not be an issue. If they're already a lock to produce DC characters beyond the Batman family, i.e. they're not counting on achieving certain sales from Series 2 in order to move forward, all of my concerns would be moot. FTC could be golden. Fingers crossed.

[madmarva]

Wave 1 and 2 are supposed to be out in August and September, right. Who is to say Figures won't have a wave a month and get to Superman before the end of the year?

[Figuremod73]

I think the worse thing that could happen is the quality isnt there. That will ruin any future chances right there. I believe thats partly why interest in the Retro-actions dwindled so quickly. I'm afraid to even take mine out of their packages because of it.

I do think theres a market there from younger folks that have never seen a mego before BUT they have to be made aware of them. Thats one of the major hurdles for online retailers. How can they advertise this type of product in this day in age? If comic shops dont carry them thats gonna make things worse.

I wish we had another big toy retailer that would carry this sort of thing. The void left when K.b. toys went under never has really been filled.

[captact]

I'm passing on all these and saving my money for the Adam West series. If they do some new figures that weren't from Mego or covered by Mattel recently I'll get those, too.

Im with thunderbolt all the way!!!!

[Earth 2 Chris]

I'm wondering if they had access to the entire DCU to begin with. I can't imagine they WOULDN'T do Superman in an early wave, especially since it's his year.

I'm skipping wave 1, but will get Bruce and Dick from Wave 2, since I've never owned them.

Chris

[imp]

I worry that the line will run out of steam before we see significant interest in, & production of, other characters.

This is precisely my concern, distilled to its purest essence. You guys are just more succinct than I.

[PNGwynne]

FTC has a tough row to hoe with both demanding collectors and skeptical retailers. We collectors have every right to question assortments & fabrication. My local shop is considering not even ordering these--the owner still has shoddy CTVT stock of monsters, knights, & pirates, etc. he cant move.

Maybe that's why CTVT is "FTC" now...

That said, I supported Emce Trek & POTA and I'll give the same courtesy to FTC if the quality is present. I'll be one of those collectors who wants a set. But many wont, and I worry that the line will run out of steam before we see significant interest in, & production of, other characters.

[Captain Awesome]

Been reading the comments here and decided to chime in. As collector's, what it boils down to is personal preference. Buy what you want, don't buy what you don't want. Simple as that. The character choices are out of our collective control. All we can do is provide feedback and hope they listen. Now, having said that, as a collector who wants to see them succeed and produce more figures, I'm going to do my part and support the line by buying every one of them. To me, the support in buying the product is the absolute bottom line. The more we buy, the more characters they'll make. If we don't buy em...they will stop making them. Its happened before, it WILL happen again.

[PNGwynne]

I'm a huge Penguin fan (perhaps the only one lol) and I'd like a SI Dick Grayson, but this wave is just "blah" to me. FTC could have stepped up with more interesting (and marketable) Bat-waves:

2: SI Wayne, RC Bats, Commissoner Gordon, Penguin
3: SI Grayson, RM Robin, Alfred, Catwoman
4: Batgirl, Barbara Gordon, Mr. Freeze, Scarecrow

Of course this is disputable, but you can see I'm trying to double-up the re-issues and add in some classic new characters.

I'm still wondering why FTC decided not to honor Superman's 75th anniversary with a wave.

[imp]

Wave 1 I'll buy for nostalgia's sake and for the quick thrill of new MIP Megos. Wave 2 is a definitite "skip" for me. There's no nostalgia for me on the Secret ID figures, never owned them originally and only have a Bruce repro now. Penguin is not even in the same league for me as a fresh Joker and Riddler are. And that particular version of Catwoman has always baffled me since the age of 5. I'd rather throw my support and money behind the '66 Batman series. If new DC Megos are made great, but I'm not interested in going through rehash for rehash sake in the hopes that they get to Hawkman or Harley Quinn "eventually".

Beautifully stated. And brevity is the soul of wit, so bravo!

[The Toyroom]

Wave 1 I'll buy for nostalgia's sake and for the quick thrill of new MIP Megos. Wave 2 is a definitite "skip" for me. There's no nostalgia for me on the Secret ID figures, never owned them originally and only have a Bruce repro now. Penguin is not even in the same league for me as a fresh Joker and Riddler are. And that particular version of Catwoman has always baffled me since the age of 5. I'd rather throw my support and money behind the '66 Batman series. If new DC Megos are made great, but I'm not interested in going through rehash for rehash sake in the hopes that they get to Hawkman or Harley Quinn "eventually".

[imp]

Last I checked, this is a Message Board, an online community where passionate people can gather to express their thoughts and opinions. I'm not "throwing them under the bus" or "raining on parades", I'm merely presenting some tough questions in the spirit of such discussion. My apologies for ruffling feathers.

Me challenging FTC's decision-making is not "negative" or "pessimistic speculation". On the contrary, I am rooting HARD for this line to succeed. But I am sure I'm not alone in my reservations. I suspect very few people are excited about this Series 2 assortment. One or two of you seem to be, but not many are chiming in to cheer for a Dick Grayson so early in the endeavor.

We all know FTC has access to the entire DC character library. I just wish they were flexible enough to make a 'rolling change' and skip the Secret Identities for a while; release a few more Super-Heroes characters first… a few figures everyone could get excited about, not just a handful of die-hard supporters willing to gamble on potential future releases.

[enyawd72]

This thread is fascinating, but I'm reading a lot of misconceptions.

First, the market size:
Folks 'round here desperately want to believe the Mego collector community is larger than it is. In reality, it's incredibly small. Like, high hundreds to low thousands SMALL. These are horrible numbers for any manufacturer attempting to court this demographic. My awareness of this is first-hand.

Accordingly, FTC and other ventures courting this market need to appeal to a much larger base. FTC realizes this by virtue of partnering with Diamond/Previews. They hope to tap the comic book-reading fan base who see these figures pegged in their local comic shop and experience the a-ha! moment of nostalgia… enough to plunk down $25 - $100. Well guess what? That AIN'T GONNA HAPPEN by offering two proven peg-warmers (Catwoman and Penguin) and two random, generic guys in ugly suits that virtually NO ONE owned as a kid.

Secondly, this load-carrying expectation:
Comments like these:













NEWS FLASH: You cannot make consumers buy a bunch of crap they don't want, on the hope and promise they might some day get the chance to buy what they really do want. This is COMMERCE, not POLITICS.

Whether WB/DC or FTC is responsible for this woeful Series 2 assortment is irrelevant. Sure, there are a few of you who will carry the burden, as evidenced by the quotations above. But I guarantee you, there are fewer than one hundred such hard-core collectors. Not large enough to overcome bad choices by the manufacturer/licensor.

Finally, this accepted notion that it will take three waves of Batman-related figures to "test the market" is preposterous. Trust me: If FTC doesn't sell enough Series 1 Joker and Riddler figures, sales aren't going to increase with Bruce and Dick man-dolls.

Well I for one am THRILLED with the offerings of waves one through three, and am greatly looking forward to adding the "Bruce and Dick man-dolls" to my collection, as well as the Penguin, Catwoman, and especially the removeable cowl and mask figures since I may never be able to find mint originals. We are being blessed with brand new WGSH in 2013, with the possibility of many more repro and original DC characters, vehicles, playsets and even Marvel figures. I absolutely REFUSE to engage in pessimistic speculation when this is possibly the greatest thing to happen with Megos in thirty years. Sorry Benjamin, but you're not gonna rain on my parade.

[David Lee]

This thread is fascinating, but I'm reading a lot of misconceptions.

First, the market size:
Folks 'round here desperately want to believe the Mego collector community is larger than it is. In reality, it's incredibly small. Like, high hundreds to low thousands SMALL. These are horrible numbers for any manufacturer attempting to court this demographic. My awareness of this is first-hand.

Accordingly, FTC and other ventures courting this market need to appeal to a much larger base. FTC realizes this by virtue of partnering with Diamond/Previews. They hope to tap the comic book-reading fan base who see these figures pegged in their local comic shop and experience the a-ha! moment of nostalgia… enough to plunk down $25 - $100. Well guess what? That AIN'T GONNA HAPPEN by offering two proven peg-warmers (Catwoman and Penguin) and two random, generic guys in ugly suits that virtually NO ONE owned as a kid.

Secondly, this load-carrying expectation:
Comments like these:













NEWS FLASH: You cannot make consumers buy a bunch of crap they don't want, on the hope and promise they might some day get the chance to buy what they really do want. This is COMMERCE, not POLITICS.

Whether WB/DC or FTC is responsible for this woeful Series 2 assortment is irrelevant. Sure, there are a few of you who will carry the burden, as evidenced by the quotations above. But I guarantee you, there are fewer than one hundred such hard-core collectors. Not large enough to overcome bad choices by the manufacturer/licensor.

Finally, this accepted notion that it will take three waves of Batman-related figures to "test the market" is preposterous. Trust me: If FTC doesn't sell enough Series 1 Joker and Riddler figures, sales aren't going to increase with Bruce and Dick man-dolls.

Right on target! I think you nailed it perfectly... I would only differ with you on the size of the community. Hardcore Collectors yes, but customizers and others in the comunity bolster the numbers up a bit (not crazy mind you). I think the introduction of new stuff is the only way to truly court the whole community. The 66' stuff is gonna do just that, making new DC characters sprinkled in with clssics would also do this. I want this to succeed, but as a guy who produced 8 inch figures I know just how big/small the pool is... Excitement is easy at first, longevity is the tough part. Wise choices will make the difference in future waves. Having said that? all of this won't mean a "hill of beans" (even though this is our hill and these are our beans), if the quality is not there...

Dave