It’s just over a week away, so be sure to mark your calendars, set your alarm clocks, and bookmark the all-in-one sales page. This MattyCollector.com sales date may turn out be just as crazy as February’s. There’s no Battle Cat this time, but Mattel still managed to make something that is sure to attract a lot of traffic. When they decided to make the running change to unflock Moss Man’s ears, they managed to finish production on a very limited number of Moss Man figures with flocked ears.
Because this variant will be very rare, we’re sure to see the folks who would have preferred flocked ears, completists on the line, and Scalp-or wannabes storming the site on Monday the 15th. Even though I’ve got a Club Eternia subscription, I’m bummed because I may have to fight my way through anyways, to get a reissued Stratos – he’s the only one I’ve skipped so far.
3/15 Sale Reminder: Moss Man®, Stratos® & Scarecrow
Toy Fans,
A quick reminder that our next sale is coming up on Monday, March 15th! Click on our convenient “bundle” page and here are the figures you’ll find:
The sale starts at 12:00 noon Eastern (9:00am Pacific), so be sure to mark your calendar. I can also send you a reminder email, so if you haven’t registered yet, click here!
—Matty
P.S. You can also follow me on Twitter and get reminders there, too.
As promised in our last Ask Matty Q&A, Mattel has published the schedule for its upcoming MattyCollector.com products through June of this year. No big surprises, but the Masters of the Universe Classics re-issues for each month were revealed: Stratos, Hordak, Mer-Man, and Faker will all get their “The Original” tags.
Product Release Schedule Through June
Toy Fans,
We do our best to plan when products will be released, but sometimes the production and delivery gods have other ideas. We’ve been doing a bit of the release date shuffle lately and thought it would be helpful to print our complete schedule through June:
March
MOTU Classics: Stratos® (re-issue)
MOTU Classics: Moss Man® – Flocked Ears
MOTU Classics: Moss Man® – Unflocked Ears
(Club Eternia™ monthly figure) DCUC Wave 12 Boxed Set (Darkseid) The Dark Knight Scarecrow
April
MOTU Classics: Wun-Dar™ & Map of Eternia®
(Club Eternia™ subscribers only – items not available for sale)
MOTU Classics: Hordak™ (re-issue)
MOTU Classics: Evil-Lyn® (Club Eternia™ monthly figure)
MOTU Ultimate Battle Ground Weapons Pak
Ghostbusters™ 12″ Peter Venkman™ The Dark Knight Batman (Night Vision)
May
MOTC Classics: Mer-Man® (re-issue)
MOTU “Oversized”: Tytus™
MOTU Classics: Optikk™ (Club Eternia™ monthly figure)
Ghostbusters™ 6″ Walter Peck™ (with containment unit) The Dark Knight: Two-Face
June
MOTU Classics: Faker® (re-issue)
MOTU Classics: She-Ra™ (Club Eternia™ monthly figure) DCU JLU Lobo
Ghostbusters™ 6″ Peter Venkman™ with Slimer
As always, these dates are subject to change, but we’ll let you know as soon as we know if anything changes.
Amidst all the Toy Fair news, it might be easy to forget that Tuesday is the MattyCollector sale date for February. You don’t want to miss Battle Cat and Trap Jaw!
2/16 Sale Reminder: Battle Cat®, The Justice Guild™ & More
Toy Fans,
Wanted to remind you our next sale is just around the corner on Tuesday, February 16th! It’s jam-packed with collector must-haves, including:
Battle Cat®
Man-At-Arms®
Castle Grayskull® Diorama & Stands
Trap Jaw™
The Justice Guild 4-Pack
The Joker with Missile Launcher
It starts at 12:00 noon Eastern (9:00am Pacific), so be sure to mark your calendar. I can also send you a reminder email, so if you haven’t registered yet, click here!
Mattel posted two updates on its store news page. First, with regards to what they are going to do with the Masters of the Universe Classics Moss-Man and his hairy ears:
Club Eternia subscribers will get unflocked ears Moss-Man.
Unflocked and flocked ears Moss-Men will both be available to buy on MattyCollector.com.
The running change was instituted early in the production run, so the flocked ears version is more rare.
Mattel said it was overwhelming demand for the running change, but our own poll had 2 out of 3 voting for no change. Completists, make sure you get online early on sales day.
The second update lists the items that will be on sale in March. In addition to Moss-Man, you’ll be able to buy a re-released Stratos (I may have to pick him up, because he’s the only one I’ve skipped), Scarecrow from The Dark Knight, and DC Universe Classics Wave 12.
Moss Man® Ears Unflocked
MOTU Fans,
You overwhelmingly asked for the ears of Moss Man® to be unflocked and we listened… we stopped production of the flocked ear version, made a change, and Moss Man™ will forevermore have unflocked ears. Now, all 2010 Club Eternia™ subscribers will automatically get the version with unflocked ears as their March figure!
But because we produced a small quantity of flocked ears before making what’s called a “running change,” we will sell both the flocked-ear and unflocked-ear versions as separate items on March 15th. That means there will be two separate product pages, one with flocked ears and , so you’ll need to be careful that you order the one you want. Again, there’s just a small quantity of the flocked-ear version available, and we’re expecting them to go quickly.
Other than the flocking, the figures are identical. Both versions will have an evergreen fresh scent and an alternative 2002-inspired head designed by the Four Horsemen. Your chance at both happens right here at MattyCollector.com at 12:00 noon Eastern/9:00 am Pacific!
—Matty
3/15 Sale: Moss Man®, Stratos® & Scarecrow
Toy Fans,
Our March 15th sale features MOTU figures hailing from earth and sky, plus a pair of rotten rogues! At press time, here’s what’s on the roster:
Moss Man® — with his fresh evergreen scent, you can practically smell him coming!
Stratos® — everyone’s favorite winged simian lands with a new “The Original” burst on his package
Scarecrow – this frightening Scarecrow figure from Batman Beginswould have Dorothy screaming all the way back to Kansas!
DCU Classics Wave 12 Boxed Set – all seven figures you need to build a wicked Collect and Connect™ 9” Darkseid, individually carded and packed into a single box
Like always, the sale starts at MattyCollector.com at 12:00 noon Eastern/9:00 am Pacific, so be logged in and ready to click! If you’re not registered yet for an email reminder, and you can follow me onTwitter where I post reminders, too.
I keep sliding down that slippery slope of high end collectibles. I knew after I got the Hot Toys DX MMS Joker that I’d end up getting more from The Dark Knight line. I already have a DX MMS Batman on pre-order, but had to go back to pick up a Harvey Dent / Two-Face. As great as these figures are, I’ve still got some sticker shock, since I’m used to buying figures in the $10 – $15 range – but luckily I found some good deals on the Hot Toys MMS Two-Face on eBay. After opening him up, I’d have been just as happy paying retail.
If I could tell my younger self that one day I’d be gingerly pulling pants onto a 12-inch figure, being careful not to snag or tear them, my younger self would have had a good laugh. After all, as one of my good friends likes to say, I collect action figures – not dolls. Well, if the Hot Toys Joker from The Dark Knight is a doll, then a doll collector I’ve become.
Not that I didn’t see myself ending up here – my slide down the slippery slope began with the Medicom Real Action Heroes Goku and Piccolo and got cemented when I bought the VCD Gohan just for the Piccolo interchangeable head. But this is my first Hot Toys purchase. And judging from how I feel about this 12-inch action figure – not doll! – my wallet is going to be taking a beating.
Before I even got to the figures, I was astounded by how much actually went into the packaging. The inner box flips open to reveal a description of the Joker and his role in The Dark Knight as well as three full-sized playing cards.
I know I keep saying that I want Mattel and Digital River to give us the ability to combine our Club Eternia purchases with our other purchases, because I’m really tired of the multiple shipping charges. So let me try this another way – how many people didn’t pick up Club Eternia because they didn’t want to get penalized? How many Club Eternia members aren’t buying bonus figures or figures from other lines because of it?
Anyways, I’m kind of stuck again this month, because Battle Armor He-Man is *the* He-Man from my youth, and he’s an excellent bonus figure for this month. Between him, a reissued Beast Man, and a first ever Adora figure, January is turning out to be a great month to jump into MOTU Classics. With Trap Jaw, Battle Cat, a reissued Man-At-Arms coming next month, that would be a pretty good start for new collectors. UPDATE – Mattel also announced that the second allotment of the Skeletor reissue will be available in late January.
Mattycollector.com Next sale is January 15th! Princess Adora, Battle Armor He-Man & Beast Man are coming up Friday, 1/15 at Noon ET/9am PT. Harvey Dent and 1:24 scale Doc will be on sale, too, but they aren’t shown in this news story.
Now that the Batman Movie Masters figures have come down in price to $15 from $20, they’re back on my radar. The only thing nagging at me is how much these will be when they come out in retail in a couple of months. Bonus – the closeup picture isn’t featured on the sales page.
Harvey Dent Figure Batman: The Dark Knight
$15.00
Before Two-Face, there was only Harvey Dent, idealistic district attorney for Gotham City. This fully-articulated Movie Masters™ figure portrays good-hearted Harvey in the smash film The Dark Knight. Sculpted in film-accurate detail by the Four Horseman, he arrives with a real die-cast lucky coin for you to flip!
The Hot Toys Batman DX is now available in the Hong Kong market, and to support his release Hot Toys has updated their YouTube channel with videos that demonstrate the special features of the figure, including PERS (the Parallel Eyeball Rolling System), the light up feature for the sonar eyes, the interchangeable faces, and the transformable gun.
I’m not clear when this figure will actually be released – my pre-order still says 2Q 2010, but have heard some rumblings that it will be out sooner.
Mattel had a couple of updates on its Facebook page yesterday. First, a reminder that the sale on DC Universe items is ending on Monday (at 11:59PM ET, if you like to really to push the limits). It’s based on the number of items purchased.
Buy any two or three DC Universe products and get 15% off
Buy any four or more and get 25% off
I’m surprised that not one of the products that are included in the sale have sold out yet, including the really fantastic DC Universe Classics Color of Fear 2-Pack.
Second, a preview of the items going on sale on December 15. I knew I wasn’t crazy calling the DCUC Justice in the Jungle 2-pack “Animal Instincts!”
December 15th is almost here! 12” Egon Spengler, Retro-Action Green Arrow, 1:24 Mater, Animal Instinct 2-pack and more on sale Tuesday, 12/15 at Noon ET/9am PT
But there’s so much more:
Happy Holidays, Toy Fans!
Tuesday, December 15th, is the next big sale at MattyCollector.com. Just in time for the holidays, we’ve got all the best gifts for the MIC (“Most Important Collector”) in your life… that’s you, of course!
Make your wish list and check it twice to make sure it’s got all of these must-have products:
For those curious about the 3 for $15 flight stands, that’s the first look we’ve had of them. Stay tuned – because we should have more images posted shortly.