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Ask Matty – 10/31/8

mattel.gifHola, Faithful Fwooshers! Toy Guru and Matty have returned out latest answers early for a Mattel Holloween Treat! No tricks, all treats here. Read on!

1. Do you think that some of the teams or groups in the DCU would fair better from a marketing standpoint being sold all together, like through a box set execution for DCUC? Teams like the Female Furies, Forever People, Metal Men and Doom Patrol just seem to "scream" box sets. Is that something you are considering?

We are definitely looking at doing box sets, but they would more likely be a combination of fan demanded repaints (i.e. Brown Man Bat) and some minimal new tooling (like new heads and capes). Tooling an entire team for one box set would throw off our financials too much. But we will make a direct effort to include all of the members of teams in the main line down the road. (and to be clear, Brown Man Bat was just an example of a “fan repaint”, he is actually slotted for the main line in 2009 announced this summer). So to answer your question, yes we will do teams, but no they will not be exclusive to a box set until after they have appeared in the main line (or at least most of them have).
 
2. When you begin to seriously build the JSA in DCUC are you going to give consideration to all eras, or will there be more of a focus on one particular team at a time? "Legacies" are a common theme in that team and there are a lot of people that interested characters like The Star Spangled Kid and the original Mr. Terrific but also want characters like Citizen Steel and Cyclone.

You will start to see JSA characters in the first half of 2009. We are looking at all eras and will try to do character in multiple style (i.e. chase versions) to help fans form the team or teams they most want from different eras.
 
3. The focus on New Gods characters and characters that had figures back in the old Super Powers line has been great! Can we expect to see a strong dedication to these two groups as we move into 2009?
 
We will continue to do some New Gods into 2009 as they are very colorful characters with huge fan followings. (and they have a nice connection to some beloved toy lines of the 1980s which we know fans are comparing DCUC to)

4. Will the DCUC Matty Collector two packs have continuing themes or logical pair ups? Due to the "52" story line Starfire and Adam Strange made sense to pair up, will that continue with characters like Fire and Ice or Hawk and Dove or could it be more random than that?

Yes, all of the MattyCollector.com 2packs will have themes with logical character selection such as arch enemies, team ups or famous couples. 
 
5. Are characters like Elongated Man, Plastic Man and Elasti-girl being considered for possible C&C figures? While they are not "larger" characters, their stretching abilities would make for some interesting C&C pieces. How would you execute something like that?

We are looking at all of these characters as possible Collect and Connect figures much like Rex Mason. Additionally, we are exploring a few unique executions of these character which may take something like a MattyCollector.com or convention exclusive to pull off!

Another big thanks to Matty and Toy Guru for a Halloween surprise.


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