October 2008 - Every couple of weeks, Mattel will answer five questions per web site about their various product lines. Here are the answers for the past few questions:
1. When can we expect the next wave of Movie Masters figures to be announced? Will it include characters from any of the Superman films?
Answer: We will be announcing new Movie Master figures in late winter. At this time the line will include more characters from the new Batman films. We are looking into including Superman characters and other film versions of DC characters in the future but aren't ready to announce anything quite yet.
2. The prototype of the upcoming JLU Silver Age John Stewart uses the previous 5 POA John Stewart body, which has incised lines on the chest that distract from the repainted silver age costume. Will this figure use the blank JLU body in production?
Answer: This refresh of John uses the same Green Lantern body, the same as the prototype!
3. Can Mattel make future 3-packs (Infinite Heroes) with new characters and limit re-releasing characters already produced? Example: Black Adam, Shazam, Mary Marvel. All 3-packs should have at least 2 new characters in it. I hate having to buy a 3-pack for only 1 new figure because I already have the other 2. Mattel already has the re-releases covered in the singles.
Answer: We totally understand that big time collectors find it a little frustrating when packs contain multiple re-released figures. This is just one of those "that's the way the toy industry is" things. In order to have enough tooling dollars to produce the new figures, we also need to include older figures in some packs as well in order to produce enough packs to fill orders. It is a careful balance which has worked well in the JLU line for some years now. We will do our best to make the re-releases as desirable as possible, but also, keep in mind that while the online fan base is the most passionate and the most vocal, these toys also appeal to moms and kids which percentage wise wind up making up a much larger amount of our sales. We aim to please the collectors as much as possible, but in the end, if we only made toys for collectors we couldn't afford the line! Also, keep in mind that many figures in 3 packs wind up as singles down the line in some cases, so if you pass on a 3 pack to avoid re-releases you may be able to get that figure as a single later on.
4. Big Barda is a tall character. I want to ask this now to save factory trouble later: Will she be a taller character, notably taller than Mr. Miracle? What is her scale, and if average height, can that be altered/Pantographed?
Answer: We aimed to get her a bit bigger to be true to scale, but because she uses some modified female body parts internally, she is going to wind up being about the same height as her husband.
5. Will the Pixar Cars Apple Car from the Piston Cup be released in 2009?
Answer: We do know there is huge demand for this racer, but due to contractual/legal obligations we won't be able to release APPLE again any time soon.
