Scott “Toy Guru” Neitlich has posted a long update on the status of the DC Comics lines. The long and short of it is that Doomsday Unleashed is never going to happen. This is the last year for highly articulated DC toys from MattyCollector and Total Heroes are here to stay.
Read the whole thing after the jump.
DC Fans,
2014 is dawning and it’s a great time to be a DC collector on Mattycollector.com!
First, let’s get the Kilowog in the room out of the way. We all know that the 2014 sub did not go through as we only sold about 60% of the minimum quota we needed to move forward. A lot of fans have been asking, “what can we do to keep the sub” or to “still do the larger Doomsday figure.” Let me address this one more time to clear the air before we move forward into the awesomeness that is 2014…
In order to run a collector line, specifically 6” highly detailed and articulated figures, we do need (in today’s economy) a minimum commitment from our customer/fan base. This is exactly why we run the sub program (sold in the weeks following San Diego Comic-Con each year). The full year is like a jigsaw puzzle where all the pieces need to fit together and work holistically in order to make the line work.
So, for example, the 12 partial tooling figures (with new heads and capes – tooling means the molds to build new parts, BTW) help offset the cost of fully tool’d figures. In order to produce the fully tool’d figures (like Doomsday would have been) we need to bank his cost against the costs of the less expensive (overall) partially tool’d figures. Doomsday alone is very expensive to make. We can’t make him as a stand-alone figure, but rather he was baked into the cost of the full year line, assuming we had hit Tier 2 or, at minimum, Tier 1. The high cost of Doomsday with so many more parts is banked against the relatively lower cost of the 12 partially tool’d monthly figures.
When we did not even hit the minimum Tier 1 level for the sub, that pretty much put Doomsday off the table. A lot of fans are asking what they can do to still get him, and unfortunately, the time when fans could “do something” has passed. That time was the sub buy-in period.
BUT…just because we can’t get to a full year sub is in no way an indication that DC figures are not alive and well. In fact, the first four figures intended for the sub (well, the first three and what would have become the final fig) have now been reshuffled and will be offered as “quarterly” figures, ideally in the final month of each quarter (March, June, September, December) during our regular monthly sales. And if you have a MOTUC sub (the only sub that went through) these figures will be available to you during Early Access.
Speaking of Early Access, I know a lot of DC fans have asked if they can still have Early Access, but unfortunately the answer is no. Without hitting at least 100% of Tier 1, we simply can’t move forward with the DC sub, which would have included the other benefits like Early Access. But these figures will be offered during All Access (as long as they don’t sell out during Early Access) at a lower production quota than they would have been had the sub gone through. For this reason, the price per fig for these four will be $25 each. We should have final samples of all four quarterly figures at New York Toy Fair on February 16 at our press-only collector event from 12pm-3pm PT. (For all the reveals, check our news section on Sunday, February 16 right around noon.)
In addition to these four quarterly figures, we are also excited to bring the Doomsday prison suit figure out as our SDCC figure. This figure was originally intended as the Tier 1 sub-only figure, but as he was developed already, much like the four quarterly figures, we wanted to find a way to still get him out there.
I can confirm that 2014 will most definitely be the final year for 6” Four Horsemen style figures. We were very successful in using Mattycollector.com as a channel to get two and half more years of product to fans after retailers moved away from the 6” form factor to some more retail-friendly product. Unfortunately, with rising costs (something we have very little control over), producing the DC figures, at about 250+ characters, has for the most part eclipsed what some fans are willing to pay.
While the quarterly releases and Doomsday Prison suit are the final figures in this line, we are just too in love with this form factor to let toy history fade away. So I can announce officially that there will be a surprise at New York Toy Fair next month to commemorate the end of an era. (No, it is not Unleashed Doomsday; again, he needed the full year at Tier 2 level to move forward and we didn’t even hit Tier 1). What will this surprise be? Let’s just say it is something a lot of fans have been asking for and a great way to give a heroic sendoff to one of the greatest toy lines of all time! More details on February 16 at MattyCollector.com.
Next up on the docket, we have our very exciting Total Heroes line. This is a brand new line of 6” figures designed specifically to hit a lower price point at retail while maintaining a favorite scale. You will see the big guns of the DC world hitting retail all year, including Batman, Flash and Superman. And only on Mattycollector.com, collectors will be able to complete their new Total Heroes collection with four quarterly releases of Total Heroes Ultra.
The Ultra figures will be priced at $20 each and will offer plus’d up characters with additional piece count (compared to the retail releases), as well as more collector “friendly” characters. Included in the Year 1 release schedule is a Green Lantern Corps figure (with heads for John Stewart, Tomar Re and Green Man), as well as three sets of hands and three constructs to arm up your Corps! This release will be followed in Quarter 2 with Black Manta with three heads (two unmasked, one masked) and a ton of accessories including a four-pronged spear and hunting knife. Quarter 3 will bring Batman Beyond with a Terry, Old Bruce and a masked Batman head, as well as a Batarang and a mini Micron sidekick figure. The fourth and final Total Heroes Ultra figure will be revealed next month at NYTF!
There is still a ton of great DC product coming your way from Mattycollector.com. As always, we can only make product and collectable figures when there is an audience to support it. So if you want to see more Total Heroes in the future, be sure to let us know and support the 2014 releases!
Scott “Toy Guru” Neitlich
CompaniesMattel