Any Photos Of Retro Heroes Wave 3 Yet?

[trekman101]

Yes, us consumers ultimately have all the control of these lines in terms of our $$$ spent for them, if they don't sell well, they will be dropped and canceled.
I have no idea where or why you would even think that Barbie or Hot Wheels would have any bearing or relevance what so ever for the Retro-Action line. Those lines have nothing to do with what kind of dollars earned to the RA line as far as profits or breaking even.

Mattel knows what it cost to make these and Mattel knows what it will be to call it a "success" in terms of $$$ to say that they at least broke even or made a profit. If they break even, we probably gotta good chance the line will flourish for a long time, it isn't breaking even at a minimum, it will go.

It is all about the dollar bottom line, period. If you think for one minute they will continue to feed a dieing horse only to prolong the same out come or one that is not going well, then you gotta a lot to learn about business.

Mattel is making a gamble on doing these figures in hopes the line will be a success, If it isn't making money or breaking even, it will go away as fast as it came.


Lynn

I understand your point but you are not understanding what I'm saying......Mattel spent money to create this line(tooling /R and D)...they will not drop it if it doesn't make profit in the short term (this has been said by people who know what Mattel's goals are for this line....NOT by me)...wave one quote "exceeded expectations" what ever that means (not necessarily profit wise but who knows )....look at the SDCC pics with Doc standing in front of all the retro figures (19 plus 2 more matty exclusives and many more in the works)...do you think Mattel is worried when only 9 figures have been for sale....I think not....As far as thinking hot-wheels and barbie have nothing to do with other lines...the fact that both of these lines bring in MILLIONS of dollars of profit(and the point that the consumer has control does apply here ) enable Mattel to break even on other lines short term.....Mattel is a toy company...if they worried about every toy making short term profit for them...THEY WOULD HAVE NO NEW TOYS TO PRODUCE.....Mattel knows how to make money and that's by having vision and being patient.
As a foot note...if you check out what Doc Mego has said at SDCC ....2011 production schedule wraped up....2012 in the works....Mattel and DC behind this line ALL THE WAY.

[LOU]

I see no problem with doing more current (post mego era) versions of characters as long as they stay in the 8" clothed format.

I do see a problem with this...these are "RETRO" heroes, "post-Mego" and "Retro' are two completely different things in my mind. I will pass on any character and/or outfit change that is made that didn't exist in the 1970's. That's the charm of this line. We don't need 80's characters or the same characters with different outfits on. Stick to the 70's incarnations of the characters only. The whole point here is to pay homage to Mego. Mego would not have made a <cough-cough> Guy Gardner for obvious reasons.
A shame because these could have been 4 new characters. The craftsmanship on these new characters is mind-blowingly good, I just hate the character choices themselves and will be leaving my set on Matty.com.

[Lynn TXP 0369]

First of all....do you really think the money spent by consumers on the "retro line" even if they were to buy every figure made would come any where close to a small percentage of the money earned by barbie and hot wheels for Mattel...come on...do you really think you ..me and the average buyer has any control over a multi-million dollar company..... the investment made by Mattel to produce the retro line is small compared to the many other toy lines that Mattel makes.....the retro line is a product that is generating interest for Mattel in the action figure market.....they have planted a seed.....they will nurture it.....hope it flourishes......and when some time has passed...they will decide if it worked or not...and not by how much money it earned but by how much excitement it generated.....then they will worry about it's earnings.....and if you haven't already....why don't you ask some of the people who are involved with Mattel on these type of products just how much Mattel cares about these lines in the short term...you probably won't like the answer you get.

Yes, us consumers ultimately have all the control of these lines in terms of our $$$ spent for them, if they don't sell well, they will be dropped and canceled.
I have no idea where or why you would even think that Barbie or Hot Wheels would have any bearing or relevance what so ever for the Retro-Action line. Those lines have nothing to do with what kind of dollars earned to the RA line as far as profits or breaking even.

Mattel knows what it cost to make these and Mattel knows what it will be to call it a "success" in terms of $$$ to say that they at least broke even or made a profit. If they break even, we probably gotta good chance the line will flourish for a long time, it isn't breaking even at a minimum, it will go.

It is all about the dollar bottom line, period. If you think for one minute they will continue to feed a dieing horse only to prolong the same out come or one that is not going well, then you gotta a lot to learn about business.

Mattel is making a gamble on doing these figures in hopes the line will be a success, If it isn't making money or breaking even, it will go away as fast as it came.


Lynn

[trekman101]

The more I think it, the more I believe some of these more iconic heroes and villains in the Batman universe are getting saved for the next Batman film. Think about it. What will Matty have to promote in the line, if they show them all now? Who's to say they won't do a Batman-themed release before that next film arrives in theaters? It would seem to make sense, especially with the tie-in promotion for the Green Lantern. At this stage, my faith in the line up is where I had always hoped it would be, so I am not worried. I have faith these characters will get their day in the lime light. The timing just has to be right.

I totally agree with you

[trekman101]

The people will decide when this lines ends, not Mattel, if people don't buy it, it will end regardless of what number Mattel may have in their head. If customers don't buy it this line will end tomorrow, profit is bottom line period no matter what. Saying Barbie and Hotwheels will make up the slack in any kind of profit is nonsense, if this line isn't making one it will be dropped like a hot potato for one that will and guess where the money will go? Back to a line that will make profit. It is all $$$. If neither of those lines were making profit the plug would be pulled or temporally shelved for another that will.

Lynn

First of all....do you really think the money spent by consumers on the "retro line" even if they were to buy every figure made would come any where close to a small percentage of the money earned by barbie and hot wheels for Mattel...come on...do you really think you ..me and the average buyer has any control over a multi-million dollar company..... the investment made by Mattel to produce the retro line is small compared to the many other toy lines that Mattel makes.....the retro line is a product that is generating interest for Mattel in the action figure market.....they have planted a seed.....they will nurture it.....hope it flourishes......and when some time has passed...they will decide if it worked or not...and not by how much money it earned but by how much excitement it generated.....then they will worry about it's earnings.....and if you haven't already....why don't you ask some of the people who are involved with Mattel on these type of products just how much Mattel cares about these lines in the short term...you probably won't like the answer you get.

[drogge]

Mego

I perfer the Mego charm, but in the end it is about branding. However crowding the market will turn buyers away, our pockets are only so deep. Besides a lot of the characters are fairly the same they were 40 years ago.

[The Bat]

Still biting Tongue.

[Krypt0nite]

Dark Knight (movie) and Dark Knight (Frank Miller) would make great Matty exclusives, though.

[Meule]

Must resist...getting involved...in the...Batman debate.

I can't. The Dark Knight (great movie BTW) doesn't fit in the retro line, simple as that

[Krypt0nite]

I think one of the things we're dancing around here is the budget for the line: "I don't want x type of character to take away the budget for y type of character" as though the budget for all of Mattel Mego is a zero sum game. It may be for all I know.

In theory, I don't begrudge any fan the opportunity to own any era of figure, but if it comes down to Mattel can only make figure x or figure y then I'll always choose the most classic.

How does Mattel serve the most fans? Hard to say, but I'm absolutely over-joyed with each wave so far and hope the current pattern prevails.

[megalomaniac001]

Just out of curiosity, what about the argument I hear a lot on these boards about straying too far away from classic Mego-style? I would think that, though in the comic timeline "Year One" would have been early Batman, it's still more recent in real-time. And what about a "Dark Knight Returns" Batman? I'd be lying if I said I didn't want one of those myself, but it doesn't feel like it fits 1978 MEGO. The purpose behind our removable cowl Batman was to, once and for all, make an improvement on that awful mexican knockoff-looking original. Neal Adams' Batman is my favorite, personally, but in the decision-making process it was never even a possibility.

I don't think I've spoken yet about the Batman decision-making process...hope the above provides some context.

Good point! I think that a big part of the appeal of this line to the general public and collector is the Mego Retro 70's vibe. Us Mego lovers are the ones who want to see every character presented in every possible variation. I do love the way the Mattel figures are right at home with original Mego's. It is great to be able to get characters like Flash and Green Lantern that Mego never got to make. I hope this line will have a long run. Mattel will need a popular character like Superman or Batman every now and again to help anchor a series with some of the lesser known characters. Hopefully a few more modern looks can be had and will sell well also. (Like the Sinestro with Sinestro Corps costume.) If this line is selling well due to the 70's charm, so be it, bring it on! (I'll buy em!) Besides, you know what they say, you can't please everyone all the time.

[MIB41]

In discussing character selection I think it becomes relevant to know how much of the target audience is the collector versus the younger audience. For Matty Exclusives I would think those serve as a vehicle for collectors rather than kids (due to the limited production). Just as with the promotional tie in for the Green Lantern film next year, doesn't it make sense for Matty to do the same with the next Christopher Nolan Batman film? Wouldn't it be interesting to do variants of Batman throughout his history? A Neal Adams Batman for the comics. A Dark Knight Returns figure; even venturing into the Michael Keaton era Batman would be fascinating. There is so much that can be done on the exclusive scale that will satisfy that target audience that has the money to buy them. Now as far as the main TRU line goes, I would think the homework has been done on those characters and Mattel already has a complete comprehensive list. Would that be a fair statement or is there still room to change future waves?

[samurainoir]

And what about a "Dark Knight Returns" Batman? I'd be lying if I said I didn't want one of those myself, but it doesn't feel like it fits 1978 MEGO.

If you can make this happen, I would reach through the computer screen, pick you up and give the kind of Joyous Airplane Spin that Roberto Benigni placed Martin Scorsese in after winning at Cannes.



I want a Frank Miller Dark Knight Mego more than I want a Neal Adams.

Just wondering if there is anything preventing you guys from doing Retro style EMCE DC figures through Previews/DC Direct?

Given the fact that both Mattel DCU Classic and DC Direct are making similar enough figures, would that be a problem?

My thinking is this... it seems very unlikely to me that Mattel would have much interest in doing a Dark Knight Returns Retro figure for Toys R Us, but a Dark Knight for the direct market with the Mego style cloth outfit seems like a perfect fit for the direct comic shop distribution. You've already got "Juice" with Diamond doing EMCE Star Trek, and there is certainly a foot in the door at DC Direct now that you are working on the Matty Retro stuff.

I would much rather see a Dark Knight on an EMCE Muscle Body rather than a stuffed suit.

[The Bat]

Must resist...getting involved...in the...Batman debate.

[EMCEtoys]

This is all priceless commentary. Thanx guys for taking the time to explain this all so clearly. Noting all of it.

EDIT: I should add that I'm trying to think of a way to narrow most of these thoughts into a series of very specific followup questions with some caveats based on the realities of the process so expectations can be managed. Hopefully more to come.