Mattel's response to me

[Timothy2251]

I always assumed (yeah, yeah, I know) it was Mattel and DC calling the shots as to what figures they wanted made. EMCE was on board as consultants/advisors/some prototyping. Besides, we did get a lot of popular/classic characters in the Retro line: we got the big 7 of the JLA and most of their arch enemies, including the figures most of us fans wanted Mego to have made way back when (Luthor, Flash, Green Lantern, etc.). After those guys, there's a bit of a drop off in popularity outside of the comic/Mego fanbase - the general public would zero in on buying a Batman as opposed to buying a Nightwing, for example.

Also, everyone was thinking long term at the outset - nobody knew the line would die in 2011 when the whole thing started in 2009. Figures like Joker and Robin were (are?) on deck during the proposed 3 year commitment, Hawkman (I think?) had reached the drawing board - if we got an exclusive GL wave to tie in to the movie, I'm sure there would've been a Bat-wave to tie in to Dark Knight Rises next year. Besides, The Dark Knight had been out about a year and Two-Face was popular for a bit there, and most of us Mego collectors have a Joker or two already, so Two-Face was a new and exciting choice to go with. Joker would show up later - at least that was the original plan.

I honestly don't see any problem with any of the characters chosen, save for the Sinestro variant, and even that one I could see as the Blackest Night/Brightest Day storyline was going on in the comics, hence there might be additional fan interest in a figure like that.

Availability seemed to be the issue here - lots of reports of Toys R Us stores not getting figures, but that holds true for a lot of action figure lines nowadays. If villains were short-packed, I'm sure folks would be gnashing teeth over the glut of Superman figures on shelves, and collectors would be railing how we need more Luthors (see the new Captain America movie/comic line for an example. I've only ever seen one Red Skull figure and that was at last week's Zoloworld show. I go to a Toys R Us or Wal-Mart, and there's plenty of Caps in all sorts of outfits, warming pegs).

Main point of this is I don't see any reason to blame anyone for the line cacking out early - EMCE did their job, Mattel did theirs, and I'm grateful. If I was going to Monday morning quarterback (tip of the hat to Werewolf!), I'd question why there needed to be a Retro Ghostbusters line as opposed to an additional wave of Retro Heroes, but what do I know? Ghostbusters was popular for awhile last year.

[Werewolf]

I must have missed all the viciousness.

Consider yourself lucky. I remember one poster went as far as saying the people that worked on the line should kill themselves.

In my opinion, It's also easy enough to monday morning quarterback on the line on what they hypothetically should or should not have done, but when all is said and done they did manage to release 21 Retro- Action heroes in a rather shakey economy. I think that's one heck on an accomplishement.

[LOU]

It has never been about liking and disliking the stuff. It was always about the vicious tone of many of the posters that didn't like them. It never was enough to just say they didn't like them and move on. They viciously ranted over and over and OVER again thread after thread after thread.

I said I didn't care for the GL variants then and I don't now. Many of the character choices don't appeal to me. But I was never rude or vicious about it. I was happy for the people that did like them and bought the figures, like Wondy and Cheetah, that interested me.

Indeed Werewolf. No need for viciousness, I agree, they're just toys. Just so you know I was specifically referring to the people who were raving about the GL's. Saying things like "great choices", "I don't care who they make" and the like. Whether they admit it or not now, they're surely not too happy with what is apprently going to transpire now. That's why I said I hope those people are still gushing with love for their 6 GL's because exactly as I predicted, the creation of those characters is not without cost...in this case the cost being Robin, Joker, etc, etc. But yes, viciousness is not necessary although I must say that even though my Retro line predictions were met with much adveristy back then, I truly can't say anyone was "vicious" to me for having an opposing view so I have no complaints there. Just good spirited debate really. I must have missed all the viciousness.

[rlkrefft]

Who said Mattel was making the character choices? It seemed to me it was EMCE who was deciding the character picks. From the beginning they stated we would tell by the figures released that fanboys were picking the characters to produce. I mean Two Face over Joker was the first major mistake. All the foes were Super Friends based instead of more well known characters. Mego made popular characters thats why Mego's line lasted several years. EMCE made less known characters to fill voids Mego left out. Some were great choices (Flash and Green Lantern) others were very bad choices and no surprise why Mego didn't touch them. Wave 4 was the biggest mistake of all letting only Shazam be the major player and the other 3 be minor characters. Robin,Joker,Supergirl and Hawkman should have been released long ago. Yes Mattel is bad on many levels but not all the fault lies there. This line was not taken seriously enough by all involved. It seems to me they were more concerned with filling voids than making a hit line. You can't build a toyline with more 4th string characters than 1st and 2nd string characters. Too many bad guys was another problem. I hope these guys learn from this and if they are ever lucky enough to get the chance to produce figures for a major toy company again...what you may like to see made (Dr. Fate,Spectre) may not be what the majority of buyers will fork money over for.

[megomania]

[QUOTE=Werewolf;757683]It has never been about liking and disliking the stuff. It was always about the vicious tone of many of the posters that didn't like them. It never was enough to just say they didn't like them and move on. They viciously ranted over and over and OVER again thread after thread after thread. QUOTE]

This^^^

[Werewolf]

There was far too much (apparently fake) support for these offerings in the threads here at the Museum and I would bet half of the "politically correct" people arguing in favor of them back then didn't even buy them.

It has never been about liking and disliking the stuff. It was always about the vicious tone of many of the posters that didn't like them. It never was enough to just say they didn't like them and move on. They viciously ranted over and over and OVER again thread after thread after thread.

I said I didn't care for the GL variants then and I don't now. Many of the character choices don't appeal to me. But I was never rude or vicious about it. I was happy for the people that did like them and bought the figures, like Wondy and Cheetah, that interested me.

[LOU]

Hey Jim!!! How are ya' my man?! Hope you're well! I haven't seen the new GL movie but someone wrote somewhere else here that 2 or 3 of the GL exclusives aren't even IN the movie my friend! As I say, I speak out of ignorance and hearsay because I haven't seen the movie but that's what I heard. Of course, if true, all that does is raise even more questions as to why anyone picked these GL characters as exclusives.

[jimsmegos]

Thinking about the GL's... considering the decision was most likely based around the movie, wouldn't have made more sense to wait until after the movie opened before saying there is no interest? f course a small plug pre feature for Matty Collector.com and the line itself and I'll bet ya more units would have sold. Maybe still not enough but it would have been a nice push.

[LOU]

In the interest of continuing the line, why was it cancelled rather than working with fans to develop a solution? Perhaps the core fans who have been buying them would pay $5 more per figure for a more limited run to get some of their favorite characters and complete or round out their collection.

Joker, Robin, Batgirl, Supergirl, etc. would indisputably sell better than random incarnations of Green Lantern characters as are currently being offered. So, why wouldn't a monthly RA figure of some heavy hitters be possible?

[COLOR="Red"]A: The GL Retro figures online were a big test. So far they have not sold well enough to justify more figures (despite low tooling). There just are not enough fans buying this style to keep it going either at retail or online. We tried both avenues and neither took.

A big "test?" Are you kidding me???! They really needed to "test" if people would line up to buy their very own 8 inch Guy Gardner or Kyle Rayner????!! I said they wouldn't when these were announced. They should've just read my posts from months ago where I stated that Kyle Rayner is a peg warmer. In fact, I specifically remember using the Kyle Rayner Toy Biz 12 inch figure as an example. The thing was warming shelves in KB Toys for several years yet the other 12 inchers in that line were sold out. Of course I was hammered by pro-Rayner posters and deemed "wrong." Funny how that "test" turned out after reading Mattel's reply above. The GL's may not have had anything to do with the end of the line, but they clearly were an epic failure (which I also recall being called on for saying back then.) As I've said, it's one of those times it really, really sucks to be right.

The only thing more depressing than the end of this line is the fact that the answer from Mattel to the above question about the GL exclusives actually surprises some people here. Why these people didn't see this month's ago when they were all here gushing love for these GL's and bashing people who dared oppose them is beyond me. Seems to me there was lots of love gushing for them to be sure, but obviously not a lot of wallets opening up when it came time to buy them. Funny huh? Robin and Joker would not have had this problem I suspect. The GL exclusives were a colossal mistake from the get go and Mattel themselves all but came out and said that above. There was far too much (apparently fake) support for these offerings in the threads here at the Museum and I would bet half of the "politically correct" people arguing in favor of them back then didn't even buy them. But anyone who's surprised that the GL exclusives bombed...shame on you. I warned you months and months ago when they were announced that they were a bad, bad, bad idea in a toy line like this. Apparently Mattel learned that the hard way.

[jacoblb]

"Sold Out" doesn't mean they actually "Sold Out." It means that after a certain period of time that they were up for sale, Mattel just stopped offering them, probably because it costs money to keep them hanging around for shipment, taking up space and Mattel figured they would just put them away and offer them later at some point (like SDCC or their end-of-the-year sale).

Do we know this for a fact? DrMego stated that it doesn't make sense for Mattel to pull down a figure from the website if it didn't really sell out. Yet so many are making that claim. Others are stating Mattel do this because they keep a supply to exchange on returns, which doesn't speak well on their quality control or the shipping fiasco Mattel finally fixed after several waves of complaints. As these retros appeal to a collector market niche surely someone should have realized mailing inside an envelope wasn't good for the customer, brand, or product. I'd love to see Mattel offer all the exclusive GLs on Mattycollector.com so I can buy them all at once and save on shipping.

I know Mattel has taken polls on what characters people want made for other brands so why did the retros not get similar treatment? More options, really. Seems silly that Mattel had access to the use of Paul and Joe as expert consultants and Mego fans and instead went and did things their-own-way-or-the-highway and us customers get the backhanded remark that it's our fault things didn't work right and there's not enough supporters.

Instead of passing the buck Mattel as a whole should ask where's the internal accountability today?

[Teemu]

Sorry Mattel...Those Green Lantern Exclusives Suck! its your **** poor character selection is why they are not selling...Robin,Joker,Hawkman etc would of sold out

[GoldBlade6]

"Sold Out" doesn't mean they actually "Sold Out." It means that after a certain period of time that they were up for sale, Mattel just stopped offering them, probably because it costs money to keep them hanging around for shipment, taking up space and Mattel figured they would just put them away and offer them later at some point (like SDCC or their end-of-the-year sale).

[Spyweb007]

How can the GL exclusives not sold well enough when each one so far sold out?

[wonderfan32]

On the Mattycollector.com, two recent Retro-Action questions were recently answered:

Q: Each Retro-Action figure requires only a new head, a new cloth pattern and, per wave, new packaging art. Rarely, a new plastic item or accessory might be called for so it's not like this line should be too costly to produce, right?

In the interest of continuing the line, why was it cancelled rather than working with fans to develop a solution? Perhaps the core fans who have been buying them would pay $5 more per figure for a more limited run to get some of their favorite characters and complete or round out their collection.

Joker, Robin, Batgirl, Supergirl, etc. would indisputably sell better than random incarnations of Green Lantern characters as are currently being offered. So, why wouldn't a monthly RA figure of some heavy hitters be possible?

A: The GL Retro figures online were a big test. So far they have not sold well enough to justify more figures (despite low tooling). There just are not enough fans buying this style to keep it going either at retail or online. We tried both avenues and neither took.

Yes Sinestro and Guy are GL centric characters, but they are still big in the DC Universe. Neither of them are obscure characters.

Q: How can fans show their support in order to get Matty to release the last waves of figures?

A: Purchase the current Retro Action figures on Mattycollector.com!

You see! This is what I mean. First off, even though Sinestro isn't obscure, why do another Sinestro when we already have one? Seems counter productive. Guy may not be obscure but I would venture to say there are characters in the DC Universe who are way more popular than him that could've been released (i.e. Joker, Robin, Batgirl, Supergirl). Even if you say that it's to promote the movie, I'll say okay but then to release three other Green Lanterns consecutively that aren't even in the movie? Come on! I have to agree with one of the posters here who said "why should I buy figures that I don't want?". Why indeed! Although I did it, I don't think that's the way to go. In my opinion, this was not the way to "TEST" the consumer by producing only Green Lanterns. Ask the consumer what they are looking for as they did the first couple of times here. They didn't sell as well because we were looking for a variety of figures, not the same themed ones. I don't understand their reasoning based on this last few when clearly a few questioned these choices when there were others they could've done.

[Spyweb007]

While it is sad to see the line end, Mattel has invested quite a bit in developing the Retro Action bodies and tooling, and they are well known for re-using parts and molds. One can only wonder if the retro action body will one day return marketed differently as part of a different line, like maybe a revamped Maxx Steel or other property without the "Retro" angle.