Been gone for a while....

[MIB41]

MIB41- I'm not trying to have a fight. I would really like to see an official announcement from Mattel either way on the retros. As it is- it just all seems to be in limbo and thats frustrating.

Dutifully noted. We're on the same team here. Lets move on and put this behind us. I want to see more of your work if your the sculptor. I have greater faith in what you have made than anything Mattel could conjure up from their inner sanctum.

[MIB41]

I think the point has been beaten to death. My comment was stated to reiterate the direction Mattel was headed based on commentary Paul offered to this forum. I've never known him to be wrong when he's decided to make such statements public. So if I took perceived 'liberties' in passing along his statement as fact, then please forgive me for placing my trust in Paul. Need I bother to mention that my original post also ended with a statement of protest suggesting a great deal of SUPPORT for Paul and Joe, which clearly extends to their EMCE team. No one was trying to spread false bravado here. And if Crimson felt a correction or clarification of my statement was needed, he could have done so without being indignant about it. If he is suppose to be a representative of the EMCE company in making such public statements, I would hope someone will pull him aside and offer him a refresher course on proper etiquette when addressing the consumer of which this forum carries many who have read this thread.

[CrimsonGhost]

MIB41- I'm not trying to have a fight. I would really like to see an official announcement from Mattel either way on the retros. As it is- it just all seems to be in limbo and thats frustrating.

[samurainoir]

Back in June, a Matty representative (was this Toy Guru?) made this statement in a Q&A.

Infinite Hollywood: Mattel Q&A June 15th, 2011 - Retro Action RIP

2. Are the sales of Retro-Action figures robust enough to sustain at retail at present and will MattyCollector continue to offer exclusives?

Customer interest has not been high enough to keep the Retro Action line going either at retail or online past the 2011 offerings.

If collector interest had been high enough to continue the line in 2012 we certainly might have looked into this, but for now 2011 will be the final product for this line.

Since then, there has been much despair, hope and speculation about the line with not much said officially since other than Doc's recent comment quoted in this thread. At one point Bif Bang Pow (which now has a track record with various properties and a distribution channel via their online retail partner EE) mentioned that they sent a proposal to Mattel about exploring the possibilty of continuing the line with their involvement. Entertainment Earth has offered exclusive product prior... Star Wars figure packs come to mind.

I think Doc recently said that there were 6(?) additional characters that they had in the pipeline before the curtain seemingly came down?

Some of us choose to remain optimistic that there is a chance that the line continues on Matty as was previously suggested. Although given the fact that the Green Lanterns keep coming back on sale, perhaps the best chance of success at Matty might be sticking with Batman and Superman characters? Particularly with two major movies coming out in 2012.

[Audiorij]

No need to school me. I've worked for him. He tells me a lot.

Point is, if I was asking what was happening with the retros and read your response, I would have been confused and thought more retros were on the way and that they had "screwed" Paul and Joe. That's why I wanted to see the quote, because I knew it was misrepresented.

I guess we will see how misrepresented or not it is in the near future. If Mattel produces more figures without EMCE, then it isn't a misrepresentation but an accurate connecting of the dots.

[samurainoir]

Take a deep breath Crimson and move on. Your not winning any points with anyone here.

If my memory serves, Crimson is the gentleman who sculpts for EMCE and accompanied Doc to Mego Meet this year? He would be bound by a non disclosure on whatever inside info he might possess (including unreleased Retro product he may or may not have worked on).

[DavidCoppola]

Wow, didn't mean to stir up a hornet's nest by my post.

Thank though for the updates. I hope that the line picks back up, in some form or distributor. Toys R Us did not seem to be too enthused with the line.
I also think that the price point was a bit high for the figures. I think $5 less would have been a little easier to swallow on these.
All of my Wave 1 and 2 were bought in small lots on Ebay, or at TJ Maxx.
At Maxx's price, I was able to get duplicates of all of them.

If I can get a good price on lots 3 and 4, I'll be a happy camper as well.
Not too big a fan on the GL line, I'll pass on them.

[MIB41]

Take a deep breath Crimson and move on. Your not winning any points with anyone here.

[CrimsonGhost]

Paul is not one to assume much when it comes to his involvement in this line he helped start. Paul is very disciplined about what he talks about on this forum. He would never take a public position on the matter if he still believed his involvement was probable. He's always been good about passing along what he sees as 'writing on the wall'. When he's not sure, he remains silent. And he certainly has an insider perspective we don't have. You can always ask him directly if you feel we're making wild leaps in discussing the obvious.

No need to school me. I've worked for him. He tells me a lot.

Point is, if I was asking what was happening with the retros and read your response, I would have been confused and thought more retros were on the way and that they had "screwed" Paul and Joe. That's why I wanted to see the quote, because I knew it was misrepresented.

[MIB41]

I understand what was said. I think there may have been a lot of jumping to conclusions based on these two posts. I was hoping I had missed an official announcement, but I didn't.

Paul is not one to assume much when it comes to his involvement in this line he helped start. Paul is very disciplined about what he talks about on this forum. He would never take a public position on the matter if he still believed his involvement was probable. He's always been good about passing along what he sees as 'writing on the wall'. When he's not sure, he remains silent. And he certainly has an insider perspective we don't have. You can always ask him directly if you feel we're making wild leaps in discussing the obvious.

[CrimsonGhost]

I understand what was said. I think there may have been a lot of jumping to conclusions based on these two posts. I was hoping I had missed an official announcement, but I didn't.

[Audiorij]

He suspects it because "Mattel is moving more towards in house sculptors for more projects." So, they are moving that way. Which makes sense in this economy to do things that way. It would also sort of explain why they canceled it, and then seem to be restructuring it and restarting it.

[CrimsonGhost]

So, no, it doesn't actually say that. Mattel says "if they continue" and DrMego says he "suspects" they will work in house.

No where does it say they will continue with in house sculptors.

[Audiorij]

http://megomuseum.com/community/showthread.php?t=69063

[URL="http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=36077[/URL]

The article states:

In addition to the 6-inch figures and sets such as the Legion one -- which sold out so quickly it necessitated a second offering -- Mattycollector also offers other lines from the Mattel/DC pairing including the 8-inch cloth Mego-like Retro Action toys, some of which also sold at Toys 'R Us.

"We know that there is an audience of Retro Action collectors who love the offering in that form factor," McLachlan said. "Since the line targets collectors, any future offerings will likely be seen on Mattycollector.com."

I bet we see something on Mattycollector.com sometime in 2012. Robin/Joker maybe?

With the reply;

6 figures were delivered to Mattel complete. Not too much new tooling was
required, so I am hopeful that, if the cost of production is low, they will
make at least some of them for 2012.

We have heard that the line is "on haitus" "cancelled" "being slowed down"
"re-thought" - before that we were told sales were good, the line would
continue for 5 years, the kinks were worked out.

Now a year later, I suspect that if the line continues, it will be without outside input.
Mattel is moving more towards in house sculptors for more projects.

[CrimsonGhost]

Mattel also added they would be making these figures from within their own ranks, which means Paul and Joe would be out. A low ball move if you ask me.

Was that actually stated somewhere? I'd like to see that quote.