{mosimage}We were fortunate enough to sit down with Mattel’s Toy Guru, Senior Brand Analyst and manager of the DC Universe brands. Read on for part one where we delve into what is to come for the coming year.
Fwoosh: Thanks so much for taking the time to talk with us. Let’s start with a brief introduction. Can you give us your name and your job title?
Toy Guru: Sure. My name is ToyGuru (real ID is under secret guard!). I am a Senior Brand Analyst for Mattel and I manage the DC Universe, JLU, DC Fighting Figures and other upcoming DC Universe Toy Lines. I also handle fan relations for other collector lines such as CARS, Naruto and I do some work on the Master of the Universe property as we gear up for a possible feature film. Finally I work on our convention presence. I help design the booth, select exclusives and otherwise try to make fan’s wishes come to store shelves.
Fwoosh: How about a few things about yourself?
Toy Guru: Favorite TV Shows: Justice League Unlimited, South Park, The Daily Show, Robot Chicken, the 2002 MOTU series, Scrubs, Freaks and Geeks, Firefly, Enterprise, Family Guy, and pretty much anything Bruce Timm works on.
Favorite Comics Books: Watchmen, Savage Dragon, Countdown, Bone, and pretty much everything DC does right now since its required reading! I’m loving the Sinestro Corps War storyline. One of the best GL reads in a while.
Favorite Toy lines: Other then DCUC and JLU? I was a big Simpsons fan. Never got a Moe which always bugged me. I also have a ton of other comic book figures, movie figures and sci fi space figures in the 3 ¾ scale. I probably own about 5,000 figures- and that was before I came to Mattel!
Fwoosh: How did you come into your current position?
TG: I started with Mattel in the Hot Wheels group working in packaging. Over time I started working with the Action Play Marketing group in a new position aimed at fan relations and worked on our summer convention presence (helping to coordinate the booth and exclusives for 2007). After the success of this summer convention season I was moved permanently into the Action Play group and given the DC Universe line to manage. (I am a huge comic/toy geek at heart so yes, this is a dream job!)
Fwoosh: Can you take us through a typical day at the office for you? What are your main duties and who do you interact with on a regular basis?
TG: I start off in the morning answering emails working with design, packaging, engineering, finance and PR to deal with the many, many details of creating an adult collector based action figure line. This includes working with WB/DC Comics and the Four Horsemen. I am usually on the phone with them every week working out details.
Between meetings I check out fan sites, read online posts and answer questions from fan sites. Later in the day I might meet with our ad agency to review print ads or review a product strategy. I am also tasked with working with our sales group to create the case pack out ratios and figure wave strategy.
Of course this is just the good stuff. 80% of my time is spent working with our retail partners to bring them on board and get them interested in selling our toy lines. It’s a lot of paperwork, math and financial inputs that in the end wind up in the toy aisles.
Fwoosh: Many collectors are very excited about Mattel’s new efforts to be an active part of the community, listening to fan suggestions and what not, are there any specific things that are happening right now to further this? What do you see as being important when interacting with a collector-base?
TG: It is about finding the balance between what fans want and doing what we need to sell a toy line to retail. For example, a lot of times fans might comment that a certain figure or 2-pack is only available at one retailer (what we call a “customized” program but fans call “exclusives”). Often we need to create programs like this to “sweeten the deal” and encourage a retailer to carry one of our lines. If a major retailer does not take a toy line it can often mean we won’t be able to produce it at all.
I find the best way to learn what fans want is to read the online posts and polls. I am a toy collector myself. I’ve been collecting JLU since day one long before I came to Mattel (I remember when Hawkgirl was the hard one to find!) So I bring a lot of first hand experience to the brand and I know what it is like to do 8 o’clock toy runs looking for that special figure. My goal is to make the DCUC line the most fan friendly toy line on the pegs.
Fwoosh: SDCC and WW Chicago brought huge news to DC fans in that the agreement between Mattel and DC had expanded to include [almost] the entirety of the DC Universe. Can you describe what that means for the DC Universe as a brand name and presence overall? What kind of things can we expect to see in the toy aisles come 2008?
TG: It basically means a much larger presence of DC toys in the aisles! Our big news is the DCUC (DC Universe Classics) 6-inch line which is the next generation of our DC Super Heroes line. Their will be 5 waves of 5 figures each and a bonus build-a-figure in each wave. Not only will you get at least 25 basic figures, but tons of variants mixed in too.
In addition we have a really exciting action line, the DC Universe Fighting Figures. These are 2 inch figures sculpted by the Four Horsemen and each figure has a battle feature like a blasting projectile or “flying” action. These 2 packs will be sold as a hero vs. villain in a diorama box.
There are some other new lines in the works, but you’ll just have to wait and see for news on these. I can tell you it will be a very exciting year for DC toy fans!
Fwoosh: Pertaining to the above question, will the expanded presence begin immediately in 2008? Most retailers do their first post-holiday resets in January. Will things take off with a running start or will a more gradual roll-out be in place?
TG: The first wave of DCUC figures will be out Jan 1st and features Batman, Penguin, The Demon Etrigan, Orion, and Red Tornado right from day 1. The build a figure is Rex Mason the Element Man. These are character that represent all areas of the DC Universe and is just a taste of what is to come!
Fwoosh: With the expansion it is safe to assume that there will be various lines devoted to kids, some to collectors and hopefully some that will find the appeal to both. Can you tell us what lines you are considering to be collector-centric?
TG: Almost everything under the DCU banner (Classics, Fighting Figures, JLU) will be collector-centric. While our Dark Knight line in the summer of 08 will also have a kid appeal, it too will include a collector line of 6 inch figures sculpted by the Four Horsemen.
One of my major goals since coming to this brand is to really focus on the adult collector and offer product that fans have been directly asking for. Surprisingly, our kid-friendly line DC Super Friends is actually a huge seller to the adult fans as well. It just goes to show how important this customer bracket is and Mattel is really on board with making the DCU an adult collector property.
Fwoosh: At the Fwoosh, most of the excitement for new product is centered around the new DC Universe Classics line. Super-articulation+great character selection+Four Horsemen design and sculpting generally equals happy fans. Right now, what is the overall strategy for this line? It has not even hit shelves yet but most people are banking on it being a huge success. How will things move along during the first year?
TG: The overall strategy is to give collectors the line that they have been demanding for years! The two biggest factors that allowed this to happen was first gaining the rights to the entire DC Universe and secondly a newly thought out commitment to collector friendly product.
The plan is to have 5 waves of 5 figures each. Their will likely be additional figures as part of a customized (exclusive) program for one or more retailers. Depending on how sales go in the first year, the sky is the limit. With so many exciting characters to choose from, this line has the potential to bring the entire DC Universe to collector’s shelves.
Fwoosh: Fans and collectors are often quite particular about character selection and design. How much input from fan suggestion is being considered with the DCUC line and where/how is it being extrapolated? The consideration for changing the head sculpt for the classic Firestorm figure was a very well received gesture. Can we expect that kind of interaction in the future? Are there certain things the community can do to make its voice heard and considered?
TG: One of the main things I do is spend as much time reading fan posts on various websites as I can. While I may not be able to post as often as I’d like, I do read the bulletin boards and in particular the character wish list sections.
I’m thrilled we were able to listen to fans and change the Firestorm head so quickly. While this won’t necessarily be something we can do every time, I am glad it is a sign to fans about our commitment to deliver great action figure collectibles.
Fwoosh: When deciding character selection for each series of figures (including the Build-a-Figure) what kinds of criteria are considered for each spot in the line-up? Associating between characters? "Known name"? Fan popularity? Specifically? Who is involved in the process? Marketing? Design? Horsemen? DC?
TG: A little of everything actually. The first thing we do is make a master list of all the characters we want to do. For 2008 our general rule was to include one A-list character, a villain for this character, two B –list characters, and one fan favorite (which again, we get from reading the online polls). We run this list by Warner Bros, DC Comics, the Four Horsemen, and even do focus group testing before making our final selections.
An advantage we had in year one was that we hadn’t done any characters yet so the field was wide open. But when we get to designing the 2009 line up we will review how sales went for different waves in 2008. One idea we are considering is doing more themed waves such as an all team wave or an all villain wave.
Year one is a learning process and it looks like so far fans are really pleased with what we will be offering. Hopefully this trend will continue. There are a lot of characters to choose from and it is very important to us that we do as many fan favorites as possible. But since the figures have not even hit the pegs yet, it is hard to start talking about future plans. Once we can look at sales and evaluate how the line does at retail we will be able to advance the line in the best way possible.
Stay tuned for part two of our interview (where Toy Guru MIGHT drop a little hint of what might be in the cards for next Summer) coming soon!
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