Clash in the Cosmos is one of three two-packs available from Mattel in the DC Universe Classics line. This two pack features Superman and Brainiac, and like the Fists of Clay two-pack (featuring Batman and Clayface), it’s available at online retailers, while the Battle for Earth 3 two-pack (featuring Ultraman and Alexander Luthor) that I reviewed earlier is a Mattycollector.com exclusive, the second allotment of which is going on sale tomorrow.
I’m just now realizing that with all of these two-packs I’ve been completely unaware of their official name until I had them in my hands, previously knowing them only as the Superman / Brainiac two pack, etc. It’s funny because the names are quite catchy. I’ll have to do a better job of learning those up front.
Update: Mattel has posted some tips on dealing with the infamous “red screen” while trying to order on Mattycollector.com on busy days.
A lot of fans have posted and discussed getting stuck on the red refresh screen when placing orders in the first few hours an item goes on sale.
A quick tip. Do NOT hit your refresh button. You should be on this screen for less than a minute. Every time you hit refresh it boots you to the back of the line again.
We’ll make sure to update this info on the red screen going forward!
Hope this helps.
Matty
Battle for Earth 3 - Alexander Luthor and Ultraman
The initial allotment sold out on June 15 in a couple of hours. I think part of that was driven by sales of MOTU Classics Hordak, which opened at the same time, but you still might not want to sit on this too long if you are intent on getting this set.
Hey DCU fans,
Our second shipment of Alex Luthor and Ultraman has just arrived. This Earth 3 DCU two pack will go back on sale this Wednesday July 1st at 12:00 noon!
Mattel updated their Facebook page with loose and packaged pictures of DC Universe Classics Wave 9 – Black Adam, Black Canary, Guardian, Deadshot, Green Arrow, Mantis (with human and robot variants), and Wildcat (with black and blue variants). The two Mantises (Mantii?) are labeled as variants, suggesting a close to even ratio, while the blue Wildcat is labeled a chase figure. They also have a shot of the completed Chemo Collect and Connect figure. If I’m not mistaken, all the loose pictures with the exception of the blue chase variant of Wildcat are two-ups.
The question now is when these will start hitting shelves. Most online retailers show this hitting in 3rd quarter, which is right around the corner. However no auctions with figures in hand or even pre-sales are up on Ebay, so I’m guessing we’ve still got a while to go.
We got an update from Toy Guru that next week’s Q&A would be the last before August, so our strategy to save up all the hard-hitting questions until the July 15 Q&A was tragically flawed. On the plus side, a lot of our questions were going to be about what lines would they have on hand at the show, when their panels were going to be, and what exclusives were they selling – and Mattel just posted all of that info on Mattycollector.com.
One license that I was expecting but is not in the announcement is WWE – they’ve told us in the past that with the license due to kick off in 2010, they wouldn’t be sharing any information until San Diego at the earliest. We’ll try to find out whether they’ll be talking about WWE at San Diego.
San Diego Comic-Con 2009—New Toys & More
By Matty
Comic-Con is coming!
For us toy collectors, the granddaddy of events has to be San Diego Comic-Con. The 2009 show starts July 23rd (preview night July 22nd) and runs through July 26th, and this year I’m bringing more cool stuff than ever before!
FAN PANELS
First off, we’ll have not one, but TWO fan panels at the show:
Mattel & DC Comics, a Powerful Partnership
Friday, JULY 24
11:00 AM – 12:00 NOON
ROOM 2
MattyPalooza
Friday, JULY 24
1:00 PM – 2:00 PM
ROOM 2
NEW PRODUCTS
Then, visit me at Booth #2845, and you’ll find tons of new toys either just coming on the market or soon to come. We’ll have Ghostbusters™, DC Universe, DC Universe Classics, Infinite Heroes, Justice League Unlimited, Masters of the Universe Classics, Batman: The Brave and the Bold, Disney/Pixar CARS, Toy Story, Hot Wheels, Scene It? The DVD Game, and the insane new Mindflex game — plus a few surprises!
PRODUCTS AVAILABLE AT COMIC-CON
Products will be sold starting preview night. Customer service and safety is our number one priority, so we’ll have a separate booth run by our Toy Club to handle sales. Lines will only be allowed to get as long as the designated roped-off area, but “fast-pass” tickets will be handed out to reserve your spot later that day. Limits on all exclusives will be six per person, per visit to the Mattel booth.
If you choose to wait in line a second time, you’ll be eligible to buy another 6 figures (there will also be a limit of six figures for online purchases after the show). It should all go very smoothly for the best buying experience yet!
We’re going to have plenty of gotta-get products available for sale, including (click each for all the scoop):
Disney/Pixar CARS Toon Rescue Squad Mater
3-3/4″ scale Buzz Lightyear figure
DC Universe Infinite Heroes Anti-Monitor figure
Justice League Unlimited Green Lantern Origins 3-pack
DC Universe Classics Wonder Twins 2 pack
Masters of the Universe Classics He-Ro figure
Ghostbusters™ Classics Dr. Egon Spengler™ with Slimer
Can’t make it to Comic-Con? Fear not, fair comic fan! You’ll be able to get everything listed above on MattyCollector.com starting at 12:00 Noon on Monday, August 3rd, except these items:
SDCC variant He-Ro
SDCC variant Buzz Lightyear (with “Andy” on his foot)
SDCC Gleek (but the onder Twins without Gleek will be available)
Whew! That’s it for now, but stay tuned to MattyCollector.com, because I’ll have more news as Comic-Con gets closer.
Khalil at Kastor’s Korner has posted some pics from the Four Horsemen at Wizard World Philly. The Question was a two-up (a prototype that’s sculpted at roughly 2x the size the figure will be in production). It’s a little more apparent here than in the pics of him in Toyfare magazine that the double-breasted coat is a separate piece and not part of the torso sculpt. Remind me to ask in an upcoming Ask Matty Q&A if there’s ab articulation under there.
For those of you who are Teela fans, what do you think of her badonkadonk? Personally, I’d like to see some more curves on her backside.
NEWS: WIZARD WORLD PHILLY
Kastor’s Korner was not able to attend Wizard World Philly this year, but our friend Pendragon was, and got some great pictures.
