file under VERY megolike

[JMC]

i was bummed when my Batman arrived only to have the inseam on one of the legs undone. I called mattel and they gave me a $10.00 voucher. I got the impression from the attitude of the customer service rep that she didn't want to be bothered...again LOL

[Earth 2 Chris]

Man, this really puts a damper on things. I got a case of these in yesterday. I opened a Batman, and was planning on doing a body swap, but now I'm afraid to. My son is helping me in the yard to earn the money to pay for his figures, and was looking forward to getting Batman this weekend. I'll have to tell him he can't take the costume off and on, and to be careful around the emblem.

These are wonderful figures, and you can feel the love the EMCE folks and our other friends are putting into them. But quality control at Mattel is ridiculous. This is the company that pioneered plastic dolls with cloth costumes...BARBIE!!! How they are having this many issues, I can't understand.

It's just not right to have to try and figure out ways to instantly "fix" a $20 investment.

Chris

[grouch]

Sorry to bring this back from limbo, but I just got my Batman and noticed his emblem is coming off as well. I want to try the glue stick but am unsure if it matters whether it's a regular glue stick like your kids use or an actual fabric type glue stick. If this does not work would I need to seek out a repro bat symbol?
Many thanks. (now back to stealth lurker mode)

[drmego]

I use the most common Staples or Scotch brand wax based glue sticks,
and they have worked well on every vintage or repro emblem.

We play with the Batman I re-glued all the time and it shows no signs
of slippage.

[actjac01]

I finally took my Mattel Superman and just replace both S's with "Peel n' Stick" transfer cloth sheets I picked up from Michaels.

Just printed new emblems on my inkjet printer, cut out both diamond-shaped 'S' designs I made on my PC, peeled and stuck right on. Done.

Look's just as good as the original transfer ones (even better, IMO) and because they're cloth, they really conform to the costume and cape fabric.

So far, they're sticking great. Seems to work as well as the old cloth emblems Mego did back in the day toward the end of the run.

(Why Mattel didn't do at least this surprises me.)

[rche]

Update on this Bats issue.

After the emblem popped off and we discovered the flesh colored hands, I placed a call in with a Mattel rep to let them know what was going on in the QC of this line. Said rep cheerfully offered to set me up with a voucher for replacement value on the figure and I agreed and figured I would pick another Bats up for my son when they hit our local TrU.

Well, several months down the line and the second wave has yet to have come in to my local store. I had heard about the TrU express stores, so I looked into one of those and, BAM, found a wave 2 retro Batman right there on the shelf.

So - lesson one - TrU express seems to be the place to locate wave two for the RA figures.

However, when I tried to purchase the figure with my voucher which I have been saving so that we could replace my son's Batman when we finally found one, it was EXPIRED!
Apparently, I had 90 days to find a replacement for the item or to purchase some other Mattel item. It has been well over 90 days, and our main brick and mortar TrU has never (to my knowledge) had wave 2 in.

lesson two: If you get a voucher for any reason, they have a shelf life. Spend them before they die.

Interestingly enough. As I was checking out, I asked what the hottest toy of the year for them was and the cashier answered, "what you are holding."
Apparently that store had a couple of cases of these come in on Thursday of last week. The Bats I tried to purchase and one Aman were all that was left today.
I was also told that TrU express makes it's stock from the top 100 (or so) selling items according to home base.

Lesson three: the Retro Action figures are doing pretty well sales wise.

[alex]

Oh, thats definately good to hear about the sales.

[UnderdogDJLSW]

If you get a voucher for any reason, they have a shelf life. Spend them before they die.

I'm wondering if there was any notice that the voucher expired either on the voucher itself or in a letter, etc. I could see you contacting customer service to ask for another. Doesn't seem right that there would be an expiration. Not just your situation where you were waiting to see the actual Batman to replace it, but let's say the voucher was going to a grandparent who would only be buying for birthdays and holidays. I could see that easily going over 90 days, too. But then again, they do send the voucher without asking for the broken toy in return, so I could see why they would have a finite life to it, too.

[ctc]

Hmmmm....

If the glue stick works you could probably use fabric glue. Get the washable/flexible kind. It'll take a day or two to really dry, but it should be kid-resistant.

Don C.

[Captain]

I only had one with this problem, and I used (as CTC suggests above) "Aleenes" fabric bond. Worked like a charm, and doesnt leave a gooey mark on the inside of the costume. Plus, its flexible when dry, so it doesnt pull on the emblem in any way when Batman is doing what Batman does best.

[rche]

I'm wondering if there was any notice that the voucher expired either on the voucher itself or in a letter, etc. I could see you contacting customer service to ask for another. Doesn't seem right that there would be an expiration. Not just your situation where you were waiting to see the actual Batman to replace it, but let's say the voucher was going to a grandparent who would only be buying for birthdays and holidays. I could see that easily going over 90 days, too. But then again, they do send the voucher without asking for the broken toy in return, so I could see why they would have a finite life to it, too.

Yes, the voucher was marked. However, I hadn't really looked at it until I pulled it out of the envelope to pay for the replacement Bats. I do recall the Mattel rep telling me I needed to use the voucher at a brick and mortar store and could not use it online, or I would have purchased one from EE or some other place long ago.

This just seems to be one of those drag on and on sort of things.

I have since contacted Mattel and explained that I have been waiting to replace the item and it has not been stocked at my local store. The relp was a bit incredulous that I had simply not used the voucher for something else. I thought I was being honest, really. We had an issue with the Batman, I wanted to replace it with a Batman; not some other Matty product.
At any rate, I am supposed to have another shot with a new voucher and I plan on spending that sucker the day it hits the mailbox this time.

And I suppose I will be hitting up the ebayers for a Bats with blue hands.

btw- to give credit where it is due - the Matty customer service folks have been very polite and helpful through all of this. It is the odd distribution that has gummed us up and kept Bats out of the toybox.