AFP's Ask Matty Round-Up for 10/1/9

Here are the latest questions and answers from Mattel. We were able to get a super-sized set in for this last session – moving forward Mattel has asked participating websites to limit the number of questions to five.

Thanks to Mattel and Toy Guru!

DC Universe Classics

1. Thanks for sending the DC Universe Classics Wave 12 pics. Before we dive into questions about those figures, when are you going to send us pics of Wave 11? 😀

These images are available on our MattyCollector Facebook page. You are free to download them from there.

2. Now onto Wave 12. [Note: For pictures of Wave 12, click here: DC Universe Classics Wave 12 Press Pics] To start, how tall is the Darkseid Collect & Connect figure? Will he come with a regular gloved hand that can be switched with the Killing Glove?

C & C Darkseid clocks in at a hair under 9 inches tall… he’s massive! And yes, he will have a second hand.

3. A few of the figures in the wave feature “skirts” or other garments that cover key points of articulation, like Desaad’s robes over his legs, or Iron’s sheath over his torso, waist, and hips. What kind of material will you be using for those pieces? We’re hoping it’s flexible, like the piece that covers Forager’s upper torso.

Yes, it will be similar to Forager.

4. On the subject of torsos, some people are theorizing that Mary Batson has got a flexible shirt on covering a standard ab crunch. Is that a separate piece or is that a new torso sculpt that won’t feature an ab crunch?

From Bill Benecke in design:

Although we wanted to maintain the ab crunch articulation on Mary Batson, it would have made it difficult to capture the “look” of her costume. We felt that the loose folds of her blouse were important to the character, and differentiate her from other characters (Supergirl, for example).

Ultimately, our goal is to produce the most faithful representation of the character that we can. Sometimes, as with Mary Batson, this means sacrificing articulation for authenticity, though we also have situations like Green Arrow, where we added extra wrist articulation to get him “right”.

5. You mentioned that Iron would include real metal pieces – what parts or accessories are real metal?

You’ll find out!

6. Is Iron’s wrench articulated? That would really be cool.

It is in an amazing way.

7. Is Dr. Mid-Nite’s owl Hooty’s neck articulated?

It spins 360 degrees.

8. How did you decide between the modern and classic versions of Dr. Mid-Nite? Many people expected a Pieter Cross version, and it seems like a variant would be fairly simple. In the past, you’ve made modern and classic variants for JSA characters like Dr. Fate – why not here?

We went right to the Four Horsemen to get a response on this one:

In many cases we are able to get both variants into a wave. This was a case where the wave already had so much new tooling that we just couldn’t make both versions work. Too many compromises would have been required to get two figures out of the tooling that we were allowed. The classic version allowed us to use much more existing tooling than the modern look would have. Luckily, this is a case where both versions are such strong characters that they both justify being made at some point in the line. – Eric

9. One of the reasons people expected Cross was because of the many leaked lineups that make their way around the internet. What is it about those leaked lists that’s bad for Mattel? What’s bad about them for collectors?

Many times items change and we want to make sure a toy is going to to be sold before announcing it.

10. Here’s a couple of questions about the DC Universe Classics wave 9, hitting stores now. First, is Wave 9 still going to be sold on Mattycollector.com? If so, what’s the approximate timing?

Wave 9 will not be sold on MattyCollector, but we are hoping to offer Wave 11 with news soon.

11. A vast majority of collectors that I’ve heard from are disappointed that Black Canary didn’t have the hinges in her hips that most DCUC figures have. How would this influence design decisions moving forward if you were to make another stockinged character, like Zatanna, for instance?

It is too early to comment on an unannounced character like Zatanna.

12. In the recent waves, including 9, figures are no longer able to look up and down – the neck articulation functions more like a swivel. This hinders flying poses, like for Black Adam. Can the articulation be modified moving forward to regain the up and down motion in the neck?

We are always modifying articulation based on the needs of each character.

Masters of the Universe Classics

13. A lot of subscribers for September – December didn’t know what to expect when Webstor went on sale, and that led to some stress when waiting for confirmation and shipping notices to show up. Can you tell folks who may have signed up just for Club Eternia what they can expect on sales days?

Club members will get each figure shipped automatically every month. You will not need to purchase the figure day of.

[Note: In our experience, we received a shipping notice late in the evening on the sales date. We did not receive an order confirmation e-mail.]

14. If you decide to make Panthor, will you solicit feedback on flocking like you did for Moss Man? I was surprised, but there seems to be more people that would be interested in an unflocked Panthor than there were for Moss Man.

We allowed fans at our fan panel at SDCC to vote on the flocking on Panthor and they said no flocking. So if we do Panthor he will not be flocked.

15. When should we expect to hear about figures beyond Moss Man? I’m sure Club Eternia subscribers are really eager to find out the future lineups.

Not until later in the winter.

Here’s a round-up of the other Ask Matty sessions from around the web. (Links to be added as they come up.)

AFP’s Ask Matty Round-Up for 10/1/9

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