SIAP...Mattell Toy Guru says RA line is over...

[Toyman_Chris]

I keep writing comments and deleting them. Suffice to say, I will
never give up the fight.

However, Toy Guru has more knowledge about the Mattel internal
attitudes about this line. I would not expect to see anything
announced at Toy Fair from Mattel.

I will say that when we had a meeting in October 2010, Mattel assured
us the line was doing well and went continue for more than 2 years.
Then in December there was a major personnel change at Mattel
and the line was in jeopardy.

I think a lot of us will keep on hoping. What else do I have to wish for? I think that if they look at what went wrong & tweak some things, the line can be successful. It will never be Barbie, but there is a home for the 8" cloth line.

Thanks for everything you have done and will do Paul.

[Toyman_Chris]

Despite the obvious flaws in Mattel's attempt at Mego style figures was I am glad for the figures that we do have now. But personally I'm glad to see it over. Would I like more? Sure. Do I want to hear about how horrible the figures are from purists who could solve all their problems by not buying them? No,

In the end I'd rather see the Re-Mego's in the hands of those that understand them, i.e. EMCE via Diamond Select and Bif Bang Pow. Maybe one day the market will shift and kids will show interest in the format. But until then we adult collectors should stand firm behind the aforementioned companies that aren't turning their backs on us, or should I say blaming us for their failure.

Long live EMCE Toys!

Well said Sir! Well said!

[Toyman_Chris]

"At this time we don't have a large enough customer base for more Retro Action. We tried selling RA figures online and at retail and neither options worked. We just did not sell enough figures. Even for characters like Batman and Superman.

While RA has some very passionate fans, in the end the numbers are not enough to keep the line going."

Ok. Sorry for three posts in a row, but I re-read the Matty post and WOW! They say they tried selling them online, but it didn't work. How the heck did they keep selling out of them??? Very frustrating to hear that kind of BS!

[MegoMark71]

Chris they never ran out. mattycollector.com loves to dictate the market by pulling figures. Somehow they always manage to come back in stock down the line.
While i loved the line i despise mattycollector.com

[Goblin19]

Unfortunately, not a surprise.

[MEGOMAN]

I guess that is it for now. Maybe sometime not so far down the road here someone else will pick up the DC license. That way maybe EMCE Toys can pick up where they left off and re-do the characters they've already done without those Mattel bodies!!!

[sprytel]

Chris they never ran out. mattycollector.com loves to dictate the market by pulling figures. Somehow they always manage to come back in stock down the line.
While i loved the line i despise mattycollector.com

Or to put another way: either they were lying when they said they were sold out, or they were lying when they said it did not sell well.

Either way, we can all agree... great way to run a business...

[MEGOMAN]

Or to put another way: either they were lying when they said they were sold out, or they were lying when they said it did not sell well.

Either way, we can all agree... great way to run a business...

Very well said! I'm glad that I do not buy anything else from Matty Collector. I guess it is fair to say that I'm done with them.

[samurainoir]

We obviously are not privvy to the details of Mattel's licensing deal, but here's hoping that there will eventually be some behind the scenes movement over at Diamond to work with EMCE and DC Direct to do their own Mego Retro line with the classic Mego EMCE bodies.

There is no doubt DC Superheroes would sell much better than Star Trek or Universal Monsters through that channel.

Or how about Marvel characters? Diamond has been releasing Marvel character product through those channels for ages as well. Although it's mostly minimates these days it seems, with the occasional Marvel Select figure.

[megalomaniac001]

Well, I am glad that we got this definitive answer. Even if it does kill the glimmer of hope we had here for a bit. What I still can't understand is how they can say the line failed based on series one sales. I am assuming that they sold series one to TRU and others the quantity they wanted to sell. I never saw Superman or Green Lantern last more than a week on the shelves at TRU. Perhaps they should have tried adjusting the hero / villain ratio, instead of looking at all of the 'quantity' sitting on the shelves!

I suppose we could debate forever the failure of this line. Perhaps it is best to let it go and hope that someday, someone will give this format a go again for our favorite superheroes!

[Audiorij]

I am having a hard time keeping track, lets see Mattel agreed to produce a certain number of figures which they never reached, they ended the line, suggested there could be more if the mattycollector ones sold, which they did, then they said there would be no more, then they said something about knowing there was a collector market and if they made more it would be through mattycollector, then they said there isn't enough market and that they won't continue... so when exactly do we believe what they say? With this statement or any of the previous things they've said?

Mattel screwed the line up in so many ways, its hard to even count them all. I do think the EMCE guys created a miracle in producing the line but it's even a bigger miracle considering who they had to work through. The market for this type of figure will have to be created by smaller companies like EMCE, bif bang pow and the others by producing other licenses and proving to Marvel and DC that their characters should be in that format as well.

[Toyman_Chris]

Chris they never ran out. mattycollector.com loves to dictate the market by pulling figures. Somehow they always manage to come back in stock down the line.
While i loved the line i despise mattycollector.com

Yeah. I know they never ran out, but if they wanna call it a sell out then, they cant say sales sucked now. Jerks. LOL

[livnxxxl]

I am wanting to view this from a positive perspective. You know in one way I am actually glad that Mattel is pulling the plug on these.

For one Mattel is obviously not competent enough to produce a quality product as it pertains to the RAH line or they would have done so. Their heart just is not in it for some reason. And second it will save the values of the vintage figures and awesome customs that people do.

Thanks Mattel!

[thunderbolt]

Glad its finally confirmed, I was getting tired of all the "maybe it will be back" speculation. You could tell Matty didn't give a rat's hinder about the line, and that lackluster GL wave didn't help sales any. Oh, well. Loved the look of the line, too bad we didn't get one or two more waves.

[Earth 2 Chris]

Mattel did many things to torpedo this line, that had nothing to do with the good work and care given by the folks at EMCE and others here who contributed. That *******ized Big Jim body with spinal injury, usual Mattel whacked out case ratios, shoddy distribution, phoned-in packaging design a bootleg figure would make look bad...

So much potential squandered...

Chris