Totally my fault this time. Toy Guru got our answers back to us on the 15th (all of them, this time!) but I was distracted winding down after New York Comic Con. My bad!
1) The new Masters of the Universe comics from DC have provided some new design twists for existing characters. What kind of collaboration is there between the Mattel design team and the comic book creative team? Do you consider the new designs on the table for MOTUC in 2014 / 2015?
The MOTU franchise team works very closely with DC on story lines and character designs. We certainly could look into DC designs in the Classics line, but not until after 2015.
2) The Spirit of Hordak has been very polarizing – it seems like people really want to get him, but there’s also a fair amount of complaining too. How has it worked our for Mattel? What does it mean for future chase figures in the line?
For Mattel it has been a huge success and we are very pleased with how it has turned out.
3) When we’ve asked about day of sales you’ve told us that production levels are very dependent on how many units you can get and not so much on character selection – I suppose that means that the quantity for Club Eternia figures is really anchored to the number of subscribers you have, with the variability mostly based on factory capacity. Is that right? How does this apply to non Club Eternia figures? For example, do you target SDCC exclusives to be produced in higher quantities than there are subscribers, while traveling con exclusives would be targeted lower, and chase figures like Spirit of Hordak lower still?
Sorry, but this is not something we can comment on. Production numbers are part of Mattel internal strategy and not something we publish.
4) It looks like the Sky Sled you produced is very close to the front part of the Battle Ram that the Four Horsemen prototyped as a proof of concept for vehicles that we saw at San Diego Comic-Con a few years ago. Assuming you did use that as the foundation for the Sky Sled, were there any specific changes to it you asked for? If so, what were they?
It wasn’t coincidence, the Sky Sled (Jet Sled) was the front half of the Battle Ram that the Horsemen sculpted. There were no major changes, they nailed it!
5) Now that the sales date for the Sky Sled is complete, what other factors would you want to know so you can proceed with the back part of the Battle Ram as a future product offering?
At this point, the Windraider was the test for more vehicles and it did not perform well enough to justify more at this time.
Thanks to the Mattel team for the Q&A! If you have any questions you want to submit, leave a comment below.