Posted in: Comics | Tagged: batman 66, Comics, dc, ghostbusters, he-man, mattypalooza, nyxcc

Mattypalooza At NYCC

Published Thu, 17 Oct 2013 18:00:18 -0500

Last updated Fri, 18 Oct 2013 02:18:06 -0500

Andy Bentley writes;

If you haven't been following along, Mattel's Mattycollector offerings has been anemic as of late. This past summer, the DC Infinite Earth subscription (monthly 6″ action figures of DC characters) as well as the Ghostbusters Ecto 1 pre-order failed to garner enough support to move into production. With the Watchmen Black Freighter Club ending this November and no further figures announced for the Batman '66 line at retail, fans packed into the hall to hear what Scott "Toyguru" Neitlich and his team had to offer.

DC Infinite Earth

Scott outlined the final 3 figures left in the 2013 sub which include Ocean Master, Ras Al Ghul, and the ostracized Batzarro who was met with audible 'boos' from the audience. He won the crowd back announcing the four figures developed for the 2014 subscription would in fact be released. They will be sold to the public quarterly next year at $25 (plus tax and shipping) on Mattycollector.com and consist of Hook-Hand Aquaman, Ice, Superboy (Connor Kent), and Robin (Damian Wayne). They will also sell the Containment Suit Doomsday at 2014 San Diego Comic Con. These figures are a final send off to the line and do not indicate any plans to continue.

DC Total Heroes

This is the latest offering of DC characters at retail and feature a $9.99 price point with reduced articulation and simpler designs to appeal to retail customers. Batman, Superman, Green Lantern and Aquaman will kick off the line. The twist is that there will be four supplemental "Ultra" figures sold on Mattycollector.com:

Green Lantern Corps body with 3 hands, heads and constructs to create John Stewart, Green Man, and Tomar Re
Black Manta who has a masked, unmasked, and unmasked angry head, alternate hands and staff
Batman Beyond who has a cowl head, a Terry McGinnis head, and an old Bruce Wayne head, wing backpack, batarang, and JLU mini member Micron
4th figure yet to be revealed

While I'm sure the retail offering will do fine business, the integration of these ultra figures to entice adult collectors is a tough sale. Collectors for the most part want the line to continue in the Infinite Earth model, filling in gaps in the already massive amount of DC characters that were offered. However the multiple accessories are something that fans have been asking for since the start of DC Classics. We'll just have to wait and see.

Batman '66

The only item shown was the previously announced Epic Creations Utility Belt with Batarang. The prop replica will go on sale December 15th on Mattycollector.com. I asked about the possibility of a Yvonne Craig Batgirl figure now that she has released her likeness. Neitlich deferred to the retail division for an answer however they don't appear at the con and no longer takes Q+A online. The only sign of life was the debut of a Surf's Up Joker variant in the Mattel booth.

Watchmen

No new figures were announced, merely Ozymandias to end the line in November.

Ghostbusters

The slideshow detailed the already announced props for sale in the remainder of 2013:

Ecto Goggles – $110 on sale cyber Monday with an animation of Slimer, stickers and it interacts with the previously released PKE meter

Proton Wand – $130 on sale mid December with lights, sounds, rumble feature and interacts with another wand for a "crossing the streams" effect. Neitlich mentioned it could potentially plug into an ecto pack, however there are currently no plans to produce one.

For 2014, Mattel will release 30th anniversary 2-packs of the Ghostbusters for $50 each. These are the previously released figures retooled to fit into the Ecto-1 which again isn't being produced. Any other product for the license appears to be tied to the fate of a third film.

Masters of the Universe Classics

It was quite apparent this was the brand most were here for. Neitlich ran down the remaining releases from 2013 and the previously announced figures for 2014:

October – Mantenna along with Lord Dactus and Nepthu (separate Filmation sub) with the Horde Trooper two pack and End of Wars Weapons Pack available outside subscription

November – Geldor (fan choice figure), MOTU sticker sheet for subscribers, and Sea Hawk (Filmation sub and no day of sale stock). Also Castle Grayskull will ship for those that ordered it last year. Neitlich lamented a fan stealing parts to the castle Thursday at the show and warned fans that this could cause them to reduce what they display at cons.

December – Plundor, Strong-or (Filmation sub)

January – Two Bad

February – Glimmer

March – Hydron, the first quarter oversize figure Modulok, and the subscription gift: The Unnamed One (with map of Horde empire and exclusive mini comic)

April – Blade

May – Scorpia and the oversize beast, Battle Lion

Now for the reveals! June will see the classic version of the vintage figure Extendar. Neitlich mentioned the preliminary color on hands will be fixed and he'll include a staff, shield, and five 5 parts to extend.

July will see the release of Flogg from the New Adventures series. He'll have a string at end of his weapon, a lot of new tooling and packed with the filmation he-man sword. Flogg has been a long time coming for the sculptors and the packing in of key accessories will be a trend in the next two years.

A fan choice poll was offered at the con for a New Adventures of He-Man figure and by the time you read this, the winner has already been selected as Mara.

The partnership with Stan Lee's POW entertainment was rehashed along with the figure Standar (Lee as a Masters of the Universe Figure). This will be available first at Comikazi and then on mattycollector. I'm still not exactly sure why this merger has taken place…

There were also be a new line in 2014 Masters of the Universe mini figures! Smaller than San Diego Comic Con 2-pack, there will be six 2-packs with parts to collect and connect a tiny Castle Grayskull. Packs are $20 and available on day of sale and early access for subscribers:

Battle Armor He-Man w/ Mer-Man
Battle Armor Skeletor w/ Moss Man
other packs TBA

The structured panel ended with a teaser photo of Faker's head battle damaged terminator style. A very brief Q+A explained there would be no major re releases, a limited sale of Castle Grayskull in December, an alternate head pack is being looked into, there might have a secondary sub to announce at New York Toy Fair and the chase Spirit of Hordak figure will be available to subscribers on early access in December.

So a lot of Master of The Universe on it's way, but that's about it. Oil prices were constantly being brought up by Neitlich to explain Mattel's position with collectors leaving many to wonder how long Mattel plans to reach out to the collector market once Masters of the Universe completes its run.