DC Universe compatible comics-based Watchmen figures were one of the most exciting reveals for me at San Diego Comic-Con, and a limited, six figure subscription is a great way to deliver them. Club Black Freighter will deliver one of the modern “Crimebusters” every other month. Mattel just posted their official pics of Rorschach and Dr. Manhattan on their Facebook page.
- Rorschach – Hurm…
- Dr. Manhattan – He can’t prevent the future.To him, it’s already happened.
Club Black Frieghter [sic] is in full effect! Only 4 more days to sign up on Mattycollector.com to get all 6 of Mattel’s comic styled Watchmen figures, one new figure approx every other month throughout 2013!
And all of these figures will come on an AMAZING Watchmen package based on the Absolute Watchmen box. Frank Varela our collector package designer extraordinare is hard at work on what may be his greatest packaged execution ever! Images of the final package as soon as we have it. But for now, here are the first two figures Rorschach with his grapple gun and base and Dr. Manhatten (base not shown, but same as Roschach).
All the Watchmen figures use the same “shared part” system as DCUC/Club Infinite Earth so they will fit right in with your exisiting collection!
Source: Watchmen 2013 preview!
You’d think this would be the model Mattel would want to follow for ALL of their DCU “Collectors” subscriptions. A small focused grouping of single-team/world characters rather than the unknown many-figured hodgepodge that you get with Club Infinite Earths. Mattel must realize by now (given that their sales thermometer is still WAY below freezing) that fans just aren’t interested in spending their hard-earned cash so blindly. Listen, I realize that we can’t all get the cherry-picked figures that are our heart’s desires, but if Mattel would simply look at some of their major successes via MattyCollector, they’d realize that fans WILL pay for what they TRULY want. Take the Legion 12-pack. Two big-dollar entire runs sold out almost instantly—a clear indication that Legion fans (myself included) are committed to forking over their dollars given the proper enticement. I really wanted the Starman figure (though why he doesn’t have a Legion flight ring–an easy repurpose of one of the larger Ultra Boy or Wildfire hands–is the sort of thing that we all find so annoying about Mattel’s oft irrational decision-making process), but I had zero interest in any of the other figures offered in this year’s subscription. So I waited until Thom went on sale and I bought him. I’d have paid even more for him too—and would be perfectly happy to do that for future Legion figures. I’d MUCH rather spend high on something I specifically want than end up with a drawer full of figures I have no interest in and even less desire to try to pawn off on eBay to make back my blind big spend. Mattel certainly can’t offer an “infinite” number of team-building smaller collections at once, but just think of the possibilities: Legion, Titans, Superman Family, Batman Family, JLA, JSA, Doom Patrol, New Gods, Super-Villains, etc. Tooling costs can obviously run high, and fan commitment to more focused subscriptions would have to be secured—but how easy is that! When subs are announced, why should it be so hard to list every figure that you’ll be getting? Announce early, before any tooling needs to happen. Provide a comfortable number of what-ifs, team-wise. Then see which teams/groups get the most interest and create those lines as dedicated subs. If a figure requires more tooling, make that one more expensive and make it clear from the start exactly what we’re getting and how much it will cost us. But do all of that in the announcement stage. Plan ahead and inform us of the plan. At the end of the day, it’s not about what one drooling fanboy with an internet platform or what the mouthpiece of the company or even what the sculptors want to produce. It’s what we, the larger fan base, are willing to buy. If it works (or doesn’t) for Watchmen, then why not apply that idea across the great big DC Universe? I say get the ball rolling right away for 2013. Scrap the current plans (no one is on board anyway) and give your customers something that they’re willing to buy. If 6 special figures per group is too many in a year, whittle it down to 4 or 5. Up the price a little if you need to. We ARE talking collectors’ figures after all. Offer two groups for the DCU out the door. Stop diluting them with assortments that make no sense or are peppered with “event” storyline repaints. Keep that crap for retail. And for god’s sake, stop repeating figures we already have from DC Direct or that they’re planning to create (or again, keep that stuff for retail). They’ve got the DCnU JLA covered. And we’d rather have the pre-boot JLA finished. Complete the Titans, the Metal Men, the LEGION! Throw a villain into each mix (Fatal Five!) and stop being afraid of girls. Sure, they don’t make as much sense at retail, but trust me the collectors want Shadow Lass in her Grell bikini! OK, I’m getting off my soapbox now. But really, these are simple, smart business algorithms—run the math, stop stabbing so blindly, and get ready for some truly satisfied, loyal customers who will happily give you their spend.
If Dr. Manhattan was oversized I would be intereseted. He looks very underwhelming. I will not be subscribing.