We’re back with the first round of Mattel Q&A for 2010. Thanks to Toy Guru and Manic Mike!
1. We asked about the purple-suited Catwoman from the Gotham City 5 a few months back, and you indicated that while Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe figures were possible, there were other video games you might look at first. Now that a sequel to Arkham Asylum has been announced, how do you think Arkham Asylum figures would fit into the Mattel DC line up? How do you think the Arkham Asylum character designs would translate into toys?
[Custom Arkham Asylum Batman by Doubledealer]
There’s no doubt the Arkham Asylum figures are incredible, but they are all 100% unique sculpts so there would be some slight issues getting them to toys. That does not mean it’s not out of the question, it’s just too early right now for us to comment on 2011 toys!
2. We really like the new packaging and the theme for 2010. Regarding the collector pins, some packaged shots show “Includes Collector Button” while others show “Collector Button # out of 75” – does that mean there are 75 DCUC figures planned for 2010? Will specific buttons always be packed in with specific figures, e.g., Iron will always have button 9, or will it be random? How will you handle buttons for variants like Mary Marvel or chase figures like the glow-in-the-dark Spectre?
Originally the plan was to number the buttons to 1 to 75, but between all of our lines we had more figures than that so the number system was dropped. Figures will all come with a specific button assigned to them, but they won’t be numbered.
3. For Masters of the Universe Classics collectors, February is still four long weeks away for you to have hinted about 4 new figures and additional SKUs that no one’s expecting. How about some cryptic hints to fuel the fervent fan speculation?
There will be two SKUs shown that are not expected. One figure will be good, one will be evil.
4. Would you describe the type of movement that the MOTUC Battle Cat has from the points of articulation in his torso?
He can move from side to side, up and down as well as 180 degrees at most joints. Pixel Dan at Thenewtoysmell.com has a great video review up.
5. In your DC Universe Classics update on Facebook, you introduced Mike Wilde, a big DC fan, as the newest member of Mattel’s DC marketing team. Can you have Mike introduce himself? What are his favorite comics, past and present? Who’s his favorite DC A-lister? Z-lister?
Mike: “Hello DC Nation! This is Manic Mike Wilde. As Scott said I’m a huge DC fan and I’ve been reading the books for a while now! A little bit about me…I have a pretty varied career beginning w/Mattel about 10 years ago as Retail Rep in the Minneapolis & St. Paul area! After which I moved to London and began work w/BT as a Marketing Analyst in their Consultant Group. After moving back to the US I began work at Jakks Pacific as a Brand Manager in Entertainment and Outdoor. And now I’ve been at Mattel for a little over a year and have worked on Avatar, Max Steel, Batman, DCU and Matty Collector!
My favorite comics include but aren’t limited to Kingdom Come, All-Star Superman, Villains United/Secret Six, Green Lantern, Shadowpact and I do miss Y: The Last Man 😉 On the Non-DC front I’m a BIG fan of Elephantmen, Grendel, Transformers (G1 mostly), Secret Warriors, Dark Wolverine (Wolverine), Avengers: The Initiative and Deadpool. Really loving the Deadpool books lately!
Hmm…Favorite A-Lister has to be Batman. Even though Supes rates pretty high on my favorites list, as does Hal and J’onn J’onzz, Batman, both Dick Grayson and Bruce Wayne, just always deliver for me. The stories they’ve been telling in the past few years especially have been incredible in my mind.”
Here’s the other Ask Mattel Q&As from around the web:
whats up with all the Marvel lov from Maniac Mike? Secret Invasion/Dark Wolverine? Trying to get into Hasbro’s lap as we speak?
If you’re interested, over at the Rumor Buster, our Ask Matty Q&A (http://therumorbuster.com/2010/01/16/ask-matty-11510/) focused on some Brave and the Bold Action League, Infinite Heroes and even a question about the Secret Saturdays. We’d love it if you added us to your roundup!
Not enough DCUC questions. 🙂
I’m not convinced about MM’s “devotion” for DCU. He didn’t name any of the classic comics from DCU. He started with Kingdom Come, which is good but I would argue was better for its art work by Ross than its potential to be a classic story.
Hopefully, he’ll be better than Scott and by that I mean I hope he is as attentive to DCU fans as Scott has been to MOTUC fans…O_o