I still see those Hazmat Batman figures pegwarming at every walmart in my area, lol. Personally I wish Todd would rerelease popular figures like blue Hush Batman. Is he too much of a narcissist to tank the secondary market value of his own figures? I feel like this line should do "Greatest Hits" sublines, with no chases, just to ensure B&M stores have good recognizable product on the shelves, rather than like, kids looking at characters they've never heard of like Owl Man or fantasy underwater female Batman whatever.
The Drowned tempted me for a VERY long time because she looked so cool.
Is TDK Catwoman available in retail assortments? So much chase/platinum/gold nonsense that for a casual person it's hard to know. After The Riddler and Two-Face from Forever and maybe Bane if they ever double-back and do him from Batman & Robin, she's the only one I'm interested in.
@blackcomicnerd Y'know, you make a good point with the adult line versus the other stuff. I still love and preorder every one of the Super Powers line. (But also that line has hit the core characters really well fast, without skimping on Batman repaints which I totally believe sell more and make him more money). Super Powers could also use more women characters, but at least it's hitting those classic looks really well.
Curious about the focus on retail and impulse buys, too. I don't doubt that female characters sell less well at Target, but do the weird variants really do better? I've also noticed that when I first started collecting, I could find amazing sales on Multiverse and I'd scoop up a bunch of figures I was hesitant on super cheap, but now it's rare to see them steeply discounted. No idea what that's a sign of, though, if anything.
but now it's rare to see them steeply discounted. No idea what that's a sign of, though, if anything.
I believe this is a function of the retailers ordering much less product after being repeatedly burned by having to steeply discount wave after wave or send stock to remainder stores - when less product hit shelves there is less available to hit clearance.
The thing about the interview is his attitude makes me less likely to pick up figures that I’d otherwise pick up to complete a team display. There’s no point in getting 3/4ths of the way into a JLA or Titans display that’ll never be competed because “Girls icky.”
Good takes. I do somewhat object about the "cool niche stuff" he likes. You're right he did that and I was 1000% in his corner then. I knew there were people wanting other things, but I always supported him because I loved Batman, Capullo, wild toys and Spawn's own line returned.
I don't think he's making that stuff anymore. Spawn is done and Page Punchers get a release here and there. No more Capullo. I don't see much very interesting. His niche stuff now will be "posed figures" of musicians and movie characters. So I guess it's different niche stuff, but he is bailing on comic figures again so I am bailing on his business.
And Panthercult, 100% agreed. The whole "if you don't like it don't buy it" shit is NOT the right approach. He has that luxury and his sycophants echo it, but we actually WANT to get product he can make. He chooses not to and never listens.
I'm not going to go into a lot of details everything has pretty much been said. I saw the interview, and I agree and don't agree on somethings he said. However I don't agree enough as to where I just canceled around $500 worth of comic pre-orders and I'm not feeling any regrets. I will still support the movie lines and vehicles for I would like to get a Bat Tumbler and the 89 Batwing plus the rest of the movie figures from the previous Bat movies.
I understand that Batman product. We complain about too many Batman but Batman figures always sell well. I never see them peg warming. The lack of female characters is frustrating as well. I do believe female figures sell less than male figures. Whenever I go to Walmart or Target, it's usually the female figures from a wave that peg warm hard. The retro carded Lady Jaye from Classified Series is the only Joe I see at Walmart. The Drowned was peg warming for a LONG time. Catwoman from The Batman is peg warming. Cyclone from Black Adam is still clogging the pegs and she was released almost two years ago. I'm sure if a classic Black Canary, New 52 Wonder Woman, and Jessica Cruz got released, they'll sell well.
It's tough to say. There have definitely been some pegwarming female figures, but at least in my area, no moreso than any male ones. Well done female figures, or ones that fans have been asking for for a while seem to sell well. Knightfall Catwoman sold well, as did Arkham City Catwoman (can't speak to the B&W version, as I don't have WalMarts near me, but the times I've visited, I've never seen any on the pegs). Catwoman from the Batman was an odd case in that her screen accurate look was a Gold Label figure that barely got a release after the movie. One figure isn't screen accurate, and the other one she appears that way for maybe a few seconds? And the Black Adam movie wasn't terribly well received; Cyclone and Atom Smasher both pegwarmed in my area, as did Sabbac and, to a lesser extent, Hawkman. I think most people had given up on the DCEU by that point. But both live action Harley Quinn figures Todd made sold through, at least in my area (I know every place is different, and she's not exactly rare whenever I go to a secondhand shop, but still). B&R Poison Ivy has sold remarkably well, as has B&R Batgirl- because they're well-made and have the built-in nostalgia factor.
I think it's a matter of both fan demand and popularity of whatever version is released. I can certainly see someone like Poison Ivy, Zatanna, or Huntress selling through. But many of his releases have been a victim of circumstance- releasing gold armor Wonder Woman from WW84, a movie that wasn't well received at a time when nobody really knew what was happening with the DCEU. Or releasing the Drowned, and, to a lesser extent, Superwoman, both of whom might be popular with fans (the latter moreso than the former), you're still dealing with versions of characters that a lot of casual fans might be unfamiliar with. They may look cool, and Superwoman at least benefitted from coming with the Starro BAF piece), but they're not necessarily a MUST for many fans. Especially at a time when money and shelf space is tight, unless you're one of the big heavy hitters like Batman or Superman, a lot of fans are fine with just one or two versions of a character. Yes, Wonder Woman, Harley, and Catwoman are all popular, but many fans just have their favorite version of each that they'll go for. WW especially, it took Todd a couple of tries to really get right- he released another pegwarmer in the Last Knight on Earth Wonder Woman, which, while a cool design and well-made figure, again goes back to a new, then untested (and short-lived) storyline that many fans have already forgotten about.
I think if Todd wants to sell more female figures, going with what most people consider to be their "iconic" or most well known look is best. It's the classic looks, the ones that you can easily fit into almost any collection, that I almost never see on store shelves, and if I do, it's never for long. The more specific you get, the harder it's gonna be to really sell that design, and I think that goes for both male and female figures. But you have your evergreen properties- things like BTAS, the Arkham series, or classic Justice League, etc., and I think Todd would be surprised at how well females can sell if he just goes for a more general or well known look. Yes, you then run the risk of people saying "we've gotten this one before" and so on, but fans are always looking to update classic figures with better sculpts, paint, articulation, etc.
Don't forget how well Ratcatcher II sold! I never saw her - not once!
@schizm You being funny, she was never made. I wish she would have been though.
There's a lot I genuinely like about Todd and that frustrates me about Todd (read his amazing interview with Gary Groth and you can see both in action, although obviously Todd looks like the coolest guy on earth next to a humorless putz like Groth), but I don't think some of this stuff is exclusive to Todd. A lot of those 90s dudes never seemed to move past the market logic of that era: enforce scarcity, use the aftermarket to create FOMO, sell to teenage boys and the men who never stopped being teenage boys (girls, eww!). I post over at WFigs too, and I watched how the first two parts led to a slow collapse of interest in the AEW line there, Jeremy Padawer being another great example of a dude who came up in that era and never got past Collectibility as a goal.
There have definitely been some pegwarming female figures, but at least in my area, no moreso than any male ones.
When I think pegwarmers from this line, I'm not sure a female figure would even be in my top 10. Like, I think of a figure like the Dark Multiverse Duke Thomas Batman first. And Todd's telling me Zatanna or Huntress sells that much worse than him? Impossible.
All jokes aside, the fact that Ratcatcher II wasn't made - really kind of the heart of the film/the audience cipher character - is kind of the crux of the McFarlane style of releases. I think he's a smart and appropriately ruthless businessman and cuts his losses fast if he doesn't see something working, but that can be super disappointing as a collector. I picked up that wave of Suicide Squad figures and figured we had to get Rick Flagg and Ratcatcher at least to fill out the cast and we never did, and I'm sure it was cos the wave didn't do enough numbers to justify him investing in the others. Makes perfect business sense! But a bummer as a collector.
Realizing based on the conversation following that interview that my McFarlane collection is littered with unfinished casts (no Yennifer or Triss with Witcher, 4 of 7 Vox Machina characters, gaps in ATLA, Mortal Kombat). I used to think he got bored but I really think he's just very willing to cut loose a line that isn't profitable enough. Can't judge him for that as a business owner. Just sets expectations as a collector. I figured DC was too big an IP to do that with though.
I’ve always though Todd was an egomaniac who is perpetually trying to invent the pulse instead of keep his finger on it, so the interview doesn’t surprise me. However it is a bit disappointing that he wont at least admit that the female figures of classic characters that are done well would sell better than anything he’s jokerized or done a line art version of.
Digital wave (Batman, Aquaman, GL) sighted in HK and in Target stores stateside.
@docsilence biggest bummer for me was the Witcher 3 line. Lot of potential there but we were getting repaints right out of the gate and then he pulled the plug. I think it's safe to say there wasn't much mass market appeal for a game that was already 5 or 6 years old when the line started, but I think it would have done better as a more collector oriented release, like Hasbro's fan channel stuff. Ultimately, maybe some of those properties would be better of in NECA's hands.
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