AFP’s Ask Matty Round-Up for 4/15/9

Yes, it was Tax Day today for those of us in the United States, but the sting of writing a check to the Internal Revenue Service may have paled in comparison for some of us to the experience of ordering Mer-Man from Mattycollector.com today.  The allotment for today sold out in an hour – a new record.  But take heart, Mattel knew that they needed to up the quantities, so more Mer-Men are on the way.  From their Facebook:

A quick update on Mer-Man sales. Yes, the aquatic warriror of Eternia did sell out this morning, but do to increased fan demand, we increased orders on Mer-Man. The only catch is that the full new revised larger order did not make it on the same boat. So the second batch will be here in about a week and will go on sale the last week of April. I will update everyone once we lock in an exact on sale day and time!

Now onto the questions and answers for today:

1. First, a question about DC Universe Classics 7 – the classic and modern variants of Booster Gold that we’ve seen released have the same coloring on the wrist bands (blue) and gloves (gold). In modern comics, most art has those colors reversed – gold wrist bands and blue gloves. Is the action figure color selection a design choice, and what are the chances we can see a running change for the modern figure?

All of our decos are based on the DC Comics approved colors. And as you stated, comic books tend to change some color details issue by issue sometimes. We will look into new decos if we re-release Booster in the future.

2. Now onto a question about one of the San Diego Comic Con exclusives you announced on 4/1. How did you go about selecting He-Ro as the MOTU Classics exclusive? What else can you tell us about his magic staff?

We selected He-Ro because we knew he was one of the most fan demanded characters whom has never had a figure made before (at least in this case one that was never produced). Also, Toy Guru is a huge fan of He-Ro and wanted to get him out there in year 1 since, quite frankly, he wanted a He-Ro figure for his desk!

MOTUC He-Ro - headshot.jpgMOTUC He-Ro 1.jpgMOTUC He-Ro 2.jpg

The magical staff is 5 inches in length, painted gold and contains a colored Spell Stone. The staff can close up to conceal the Spell Stone and that is how it will be packaged. There will be three different colors of Spell Stones all blind packed with green by far being the most common. These will be available in both the version sold online and at the show.

We’ll have more details about this as we get closer to the show.

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DC Universe Classics Mini-Atom (ActionFigureInsider.com)

Action Figure Insider provided a first look at the mini-Atom pack-in that is slated to come with the Gentleman Ghost figure in DC Universe Classics 8.

DC Universe Classics 8 - mini-Atom pack-in
DC Universe Classics 8 - mini-Atom pack-in

There have been a lot of questions about Mattel’s DC Universe Classics Atom mini figure that is shipping in DCUC Wave 8 with the Gentlemen Ghost figure.  How big is it?  Is it articulated? Is it the original figure shrunk down?  Will it be on a base? Will it be the Ray Palmer costume? 

So far we’ve only seen the 2-up of the original Wave 5 figures in the NYCC 09 presentation as a place holder image and a very small picture of his head and shoulders peeking out from behind the chip insert on a carded sample that showed up on Ebay last week, but our friends at Mattel have now sent us turn-arounds of the figure so we can get a better idea of what we are getting. 

More pictures via Action Figure Insider – Best Toy News on the Web!

Update on Mer-Man® Sale (Mattycollector.com)

Don’t forget to order your Mer-Man tomorrow!  Faker sold out in under 4 hours.

Mer-Man (modern head)Alright, tell me… who loves ya, baby? You probably know the MOTU Classics figures have been selling out faster than we can make ’em. It’s great for the life of the line, but what about you guys? Well, to make sure as many fans can get new figures as possible, we’ve increased production starting with Mer-Man®, on sale April 15th! But because our increased order went in late, Mer-Man® will arrive in two separate shipments. Some will go on sale on April 15th, and the remaining stock will go on sale on or about April 23rd. Keep checking back because we’ll confirm this date once we lock it in.

Chances are, we’ll sell out of Mer-Man® on the first sale day, but don’t worry: with this plan, more stock will flow in and he’ll go back on sale a week or so later when the second shipment comes in.

Masters of the Universe LogoAnd what about Zodac® and Hordak™? We should be able to get our full increased allotment of Zodac® and Hordak™ on their first on-sale dates going forward, and if they still sell out in less than a week, we’re gonna increase production further.Our goal is for these figures to remain on sale for at least one to two weeks. See, without you fans, we’re nothing, nada, zip — so we’re gonna do everything we can to make the buying process as smooth as possible!

See ya in the toy aisles!

—Matty

via Mattel Online Store.

First Look – MOTU Classics Zodac (TheFwoosh.com)

TheFwoosh.com has posted an early look at the upcoming Zodac figure from the Masters of the Universe Classics line.  Zodac goes on sale on May 15 on mattycollector.com.

Zodac - vintage, MOTU Classics, and 2003
Zodac - vintage, MOTU Classics, and 2003

Overall, the Zodac’s look is very accurate to the original cardback art from the original line, right down to the finned arms and clawed toes (a very detailed choice, but something about it just feels slightly off to me, I guess I see him in boots more than anything, but that is just a minor and personal nit-pick). The new head sculpt is slavishly accurate to the original figure and like all of the characters that have come before him, there are no drastic departures, just updated enhancements. His armor is also very nice with cool details on the “jet pack” on the back and what look to be bullets held in the under straps (I had to check the original figure and sure enough, he has them too). I could be wrong about them being bullets but they are a great touch none the less. One thing of note with the armor- it appears that it is NOT removable, a departure from his predecessors.

via TheFwoosh.com.

Adam Strange (classic)

Adam Strange (classic)
Adam Strange (classic)

When Mattel first announced the DC Universe Classics 2-pack of Adam Strange and Starfire, I was pretty psyched. You see, I’m a big fan of  Cosmic Odyssey – in that comic, those two characters team up with Lightray of the New Gods to fight an aspect of the Anti-Life Entity. Adam Strange’s adopted planet, Rann, the Earth, and the rest of the universe are at stake! (I can’t believe how nerdy I sound.)

Then, when Mattel revealed that Strange and Starfire would be in their modern day costumes, I was crushed. Starfire’s close enough, but Strange? I knew I would have to do something about that.

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