My only concern is that most of Mattels figures have that crappy toyetic feel to them, this applies to the 7" MOTU line as well. I was trying to be a fan of it from the start because I liked the Netflix revival but the figures were (and still are) mostly meh.
As for Todd possibly loosing the license, I think I'm okay with that? Like, I've been buying less of the DC figs anyway lately because of bad reuse. And he's made more than enough figures that I can use as custom fodder so I'll be fine on that front. I'm definitely gonna be on the lookout for whatever comes next from McF Toys.
I just hope that we finall get this guy that was announced and then not produced by Mattel when the line went to McFarlane. I've wanted this figure for 5 or 6 years now to fight my Titans.
@stephenwdavis I'm still mad we never got this:
I know he's not Mattel, but your post just reminded me of him.
I too wondered if the news meant Todd would have to stop producing. It may turn out to be one of those weird loopholes where Todd can keep producing 7 inch scale figures, and Mattel has the license for 6 inch scale figures and whatever else. Wasn't that part of Todd's whole thing to begin with- that he could only produce 7 inch scale figures because that's what the license entailed? Or am I thinking of another company? Either way, it's not like having more DC stuff on the shelf will be a bad thing. Marvel has tons of different lines and products on the shelves that all manage to sell at least relatively well, since they're mostly all aimed at different age groups.
If Todd really does lose the license, I'll admit I'll be pretty bummed. I give him and the line plenty of crap, don't get me wrong, and I've cut back significantly on the figures that I buy, but I do quite like the ones that I get. At the very least, I'd like to see him try and complete a little more of the Nolan line before he loses the license (if that's the case)- all I'd really need to feel complete would be Neeson's Ra's, but I'd love a Gordon, Alfred, Talia, and Ken Watanabe Decoy (even if the latter 3 are longshots). Heck, I'd even take a Robin/Blake (Blobin? Roblake?) if it meant another wave.
I also really loved the Arkham figures he gave us, and was hoping for more of those at some point.
As much flak as we all give Todd for re-releases and re-use, Mattel was every bit as guilty as re-using parts over and over for a lot of their figures. At least Todd's offerings (arguably) manage to hide it a bit better because of overlays and such, but with the old Mattel DC Multiverse/Classics, it was glaringly obvious. Granted, there's no saying that would happen this time around too, but it's a safe bet.
I'm mostly just curious for more info- to see who all will still have the license, what Mattel's offerings will be and at what price, and (assuming they are 6 inch figures) if they start from scratch or continue the lineups off the last few waves they released of the Multiverse/Classics.
Todd had the license for collector lines above 5" - at least I'm pretty sure. I remember that he could've done them in 6" but chose to go an inch larger, fortunately.
What a time for The Fwoosh to return!
Brian Walters, Director of Brand Creative will be speaking at IGN Fan Fest at 10am PT/1pm ET. He may clarify on the news.
Yeah, so far I haven’t read any confirmation that McFarlane lost the license. Only that Mattel has a DC license. It’s possible they could both have the license for different scales/markets/item types. I’d love to get confirmation one way or the other and what we could expect to be some of the final products if the license is ending for McFarlane.
For me, the biggest plus of Mattel regaining the license would be the character selection. The final few years of the license under them brought a bunch of characters Todd still hasn’t touched, like Katana, Vixen, Spoiler, Jessica Cruz Green Lantern and, perhaps most glaringly, a comic Poison Ivy (the fact that we still don’t have one under McFarlane is nuts). And that’s not counting the unproducd prototypes like Hawkgirl and Black Canary.
If we can get that sort of character selection again, I’m totally fine with the license changing hands.
Yeah, so far I haven’t read any confirmation that McFarlane lost the license. Only that Mattel has a DC license. It’s possible they could both have the license for different scales/markets/item types. I’d love to get confirmation one way or the other and what we could expect to be some of the final products if the license is ending for McFarlane.
The announcement says Mattel has the DC MASTER LICENSE for all scales including collector items - it is pretty definitive that this locks McFarlane out and he will lose the right to make his DC figure line as of the second quarter of next year.
Todd isn't going to come out with any big announcement about this right now - he has a year plus worth of product to sell, so advertising that the line is ending isn't in his interest. Don't expect him to be addressing it directly until well after Toy Fair and beyond.
I know some people are disappointed about this but I am happy. My fervent hope is that Mattel can apply the same lessons they learned with their MOTU line and apply it to DC. Masterverse isn't identical to MOTU Classics but it's a decent successor that has pleased the fanbase and has done relatively well. I'm hoping that they can apply the same principles to DC and diving into that universe again. There will be an entire new 'cinematic universe' to dovetail with and I hope for example they use the Creature Commandos show for some character choice inspiration - that would be a ton of fun.
I think it will be interesting to see where McFarlane goes from here. I think it would be interesting to see if he makes a play for Diamond Select/Gentle Giant which are both on the auction block as part of the Diamond Distributors bankruptcy. That would potentially get him the ability to work on the Lord of the Rings license, Muppets and potentially he could extend the Marvel Select agreement they have with Marvel so he could have a backdoor into producing Marvel action figures that he's been locked out of by Hasbro previously.
Anyway - we still have a full year plus of McFarlane DC figures coming before Mattel takes over it will be interesting to see where Todd takes things in that time.
Feels like we should have a dedicated thread for Mattel's reacquisition.
It's a win for me because I hate McFarlane's figures and their 7" scale. MAFEX makes up the brunt of my DC comic collection. I'm happy to fill in the gaps with a domestic company, but if they're making 7" figures, I'm basically limited to fudgeable characters like Swamp Thing or Darkseid.
Worse yet, I tried filling in the gaps with McFarlane. I bought their mega-huge Swamp Thing (even though I don't picture the character that large) and I couldn't get him to stand. I've had the same basic issues with every McFarlane figure I've purchased. I find that they don't move well and they aren't fun to pose. I've purchased Geralt, Swamp Thing, and Paul Atreides and almost immediately sold every one in disappointment. I could go on about the proportions and the diapers, too, but those are well-worn issues at this point.
In all honesty, I would be happy to see McFarlane get to keep making his 7 inch line and see a dedicated more toy-like 1/12 scale line from Mattel. Really curious how this pans out. I personally will shift completely over if it's a smaller scale especially if the articulation and consistency is like Masterverse (though that line is absolutely not 1/12!) but I know enough people love Todd's work I'd hate to see it go away completely for the folks who still want it.
I know people want to be optimistic but there is simply a zero percent chance that Mattel did the work to reaccquire the DC master license and is going to let Todd continue to operate in the space. It is not going to happen.
My hope here is that we get a "Return of DCUC" type reboot like Return of Marvel Legends (without some of the hiccups they had) and that Mattel sees value in continuing the Super Powers line. That's one line where I thought McFarlane had more hits than misses.
I hope both McF and Mattel have the license, we would have alot of options for figures in that case.
DCUC is back !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 😱 😱 😱 😱 😱
Todd has an interview on Youtube back when he first got the license where he says he decided on the 7" scale himself because most collectors don't care about scale and instead just care about "how figures look on a shelf" so the bigger the better and the 7-inch scale was superior for display than 6-inch. I think the interview was with Shartimus, and right behind him was a huge wall covered with bookshelves with every figure posed separately from each other and none interacting together. The way he was posing his figures matched what he was saying, so I got it. And maybe he's right and maybe most people don't care.
But I care, so he just sounded tone deaf to me. I've never bought a Multiverse figure other than a handful to get accessories to use with 6" figures, plus the whole wave to get the Dark Knight Returns build-a-horse. When I pose figures together on a shelf in dynamic fighting displays I'm essentially working the same play muscles that Todd spent his career working with the characters he drew together on an illustrated comic page. So I get why he doesn't feel as compelled to work those muscles with his figures for his shelves--he's already got a MUCH better way to pose characters together in cool scenes on comic pages than we do with plastic action figures on shelves.
The main thing I'm wondering is why he lost the license. Anyone have insight? I thought Multiverse was doing extremely well; is that not the case? Just based upon their shelf presence at Target I thought they MUST be doing well since there are more pegs for Multiverse than Marvel Legends for the last few years, but maybe that was just Todd over-buying peg space since that's what manufacturers have to do at huge retail outlets and the figures weren't selling well enough to warrant all the space Todd was buying.
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