Toy Guru checks in one last time before the big dance in San Diego to answer a few burning questions. After today, the next round will be scheduled for August 15 and I am sure there will be PLENTY to ask about. Read on for all the rest.
1. As you know, your rivals Hasbro/Marvel produced a Stan Lee action figure as a SDCC exclusive last year. It seemed to be very popular with the collectors. Is it in the realm of possibility that you might make a Jack Kirby commemorative figure for a con exclusive in the future? King Kirby did some of his greatest work at DC comics, and DC has a history of treating him with much more respect than some of his other employers. His Fourth World characters were central in the Super Powers toy line, and they seem to be taking a lead role in the current DCUC line. I know that some of the Four Horsemen are very big fans of his work. I think a Jack Kirby figure would be extremely popular with collectors.
So, how about it Mattel? What do you think?
A great suggestion and something we can look into if there is enough fan interest!
2. Can you PLEASE comment on the uneven distribution situation at the retail level concerning DCUC and what you are actively doing to remedy it? Why are licensed movie lines like Kung-Fu Panda and Speed Racer getting more retail space and consistent distribution than the more collector-friendly lines such as DC Universe Classics and The Dark Knight Movie Masters?- can you address any of these issues and give us an update on the following:
a) The expected arrival of more wave 2
b) The fate of the modern Jason Firestorm assortment
c) The expected arrival of wave
We recently changed production vendors in an attempt to improve the quality of our product. Because of this, Wave 3 should be out in late July. After that, the second half of Wave 2 will hit selves (with Jason as Firestorm). From there we should be back on track with Wave 4, The Wal Mart Wave 5 and Wave 6 (to be revealed at SDCC) all hitting shelves before 2008 is over.
3. Is Mattel planing to come up with a vinyl figure line to compete with Hasbro’s Mighty Muggs? They seem to be popular with collectors and really fun to display. I personally would love to see medium sized stylized line of DC figures.
This is something we are looking into if there is enough fan interest. It may be something offered on our new direct to consumer fan site.
4. As it’s been stated that Mattel is not seeking to duplicate characters across lines in the same year, can you give us an idea how many charcters from Infinite Heroes released in 2008 we could expect to see in DCUC in 2009?
Sorry, we don’t have an exact number and this "system" isn’t law as much as a guide. While there are some characters appearing only on one line per year, others will make appearances in two, three, or even more lines.
5. What is the status of the DC Superfriends line? I have not seen any more figures in stores since the initial deluxe Batman & Superman figures were released.
We will have some news about Superfriends to announce at SDCC. We are currently exploring a few opportunities for this line including our new direct to consumer fan site.
Oh man, SDCC is so close you can almost taste it. Next week is going to be big and I am sure we will have a lot more questions for our pal Toy Guru!
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