Plus doesn't the current head honcho of Hasbro have a hate-on for the 3.75 scale figures? That's why they make all the "adult collector" figures the MLs/SW Black and the "child friendly" figures the 5 POA rubbish. Not to mention the almost complete abandonment of Joes.

I think I recall now the toy industry article I read: It addressed the popularity of those Infinity, Skylanders, Amiibo things as one major factor taking away interest by children for action figures toys. I really would be interested to know if children do in fact not care much for action figures generally these days (playing with them). Hasbro I'm sure would have loved to get in on that action, but Infinity belongs to Disney.

One DC property that I think Funko/ReAction could pull off well with their 4" retro style would be Batman: The Animated Series. I would write to them to ask if they could look into securing the license.

Good call! The 60's tv show would be great too (or is that already a thing?)

My local Target had a restock on DC Multiverse. Had Black Mask, Hush, Scarecrow, Arkham Knight, Batman, and Joker. No Harley Quinn. Still looking for her.

So this news today about DC and Mattel introducing a girls line of toys featuring DC Superheroines and villains looks intriguing. (The villains include Harley and Ivy -- but no Catwoman, at least, not in the promo art.)

The press release title is what stands out: "Mattel to Launch Company’s First *Action Figures* for Girls"

What if those "action figures" turn out to be 4" scale, to serve as the counterpart to the DC Evergreen line (which is geared to the boys)? The reason why I wonder if this could happen is because that means, for example, child brothers and sisters could play together, and offer compatibility across vehicles and playsets.

WB and DC Entertainment in Partnership with Mattel Launch 'DC Super Hero Girls' | DC Comics

Mattel has experience already designing dolls and action figures in 3.75/4" for girls, with the Disney license. This is one example:

Amazon.com: 8-PC Doll Gift Set: 3.75" Disney Princess, featuring Anna and Elsa from Frozen: Toys & Games

My 10 and 7 year old sons love playing with action figures. So do my 5 and 3 year old daughters. It may have something to do with the fact that I enjoy them, so really it means we are spending time together, which is far more important to them and me than the fact that Injustice Flash disappeared 48 hours ago. (Hope he didn't fall victim to one of Gorilla Grodds diabolical schemes... I'm about ready to cave in and replace him.) If popularity with action figures is dwindling, parents need to spend some time and teach their children how to use their imagination.

Black Mask is not only a great figure, hes also amazing fodder for customs

Kids still play with them. It's a mild over saturation point on the Marvel side because Avengers and IM2 did so well on the figure front. There are lulls and booms. We're due for a boom again here shortly. As for infinity, Disney should have turned to Hasbro for that honestly. Continue the action figure fun from toy form to on your tv! All Disney really needed to do was market the stands as the RFI chip, and then let Hasbro handle the figures. I love the concept of the infinity figures, but it'd been so much cooler if you could take the figure off the stand and genuinely play with it too(and they could have double tapped the market using gamers, kids, and action figure enthusiasts). That's been my biggest complaint on skylanders. I love the character designs, but I loathe inaction figures. So I opted for the Mega Blocks ones instead. If they also managed a way to merge that concept where those figures had stands that worked with the game, that'd be epic. Infinity and Skylanders both would be wayyyyyyy more fun if you could change up the poses on the stands other than raising their arms. Overall it'd push more emphasis on them across all kinds of buyers. The same is true for Amiibo. I'd buy the heck out of Amiibo figures if they had more interactivity other than minor added content for games. (Though the spinner addon for Hyrule Warriors has been mightily tempting! Wish they'd go more in depth with the videogame side though like say letting you play as Samus Aran or other Smash Bro.s characters in Hyrule warriors if you have their Amiibo. And again, being able to change up the pose with some actual articulation woulda been better.)

And if a head honcho at Hasbro hates 4'' scale, he's really running the wrong company then. GI Joe must be his nightmare if that's true.

As for the over saturation point on DC, no clue what's going on with Mattel. DC Multiverse, well outside of the classic movie figures, has been selling pretty steadily. The classic movie figures shelf-warmed a little bit, but that's not unexpected for older films when people are swooning over the newer. Hope they keep doing classic movies though. A Supergirl and Wonderwoman figure would sell like wildfire.

Catwoman will show up. The plan is to cover all female characters across the brand, but the initial lineup is what's pictured. More will be added later, especially if this is successful and it looks like it will be.

Loving the cross play idea you presented. I hope they do something like that to get more female figures out into the wild, but I do kinda have to frown on the notion that the only way to get female figures out there was to push them towards girls only. Why can't there be a line that caters all characters all genders marketed to both? I really hope they don't pull some gender bias BS using hairbrushes and real hair on the 4'' figures or other clothes swap type play features.(Leave those for the higher scales where it actually looks decent!)

My complaint with Mattel on the 4'' though is that last time they blamed Young Justice figures not selling on the fact that the show had a higher female demographic and girls don't buy action figures(to paraphrase). Completely missing the point that both genders were passing on the line because it lacked any articulation at all and characters couldn't even do their iconic poses let alone sit. The higher price point figures could, but that was during a time when 6'' was on a downswing in popularity at mass retail. So here's hoping that these won't be more chunks of plastic with no articulation. Because minimum, both boys and girls want to play with their toys, and sometimes leave them in cool poses while they play with another toy. So Harley for example needs to be able to pose in a comedic style with her hammer, whether it's with it by her side, or whacking the batmobile. Bonus points if she can pose with it like a croquet mallet.

There are other tech advents in the girls market though that could be beneficial to action figures too as we saw with Swamp thing and his hidden elbows(something the company had been experimenting with on barbie for decades). The possibilities of actual playsets will be nice. Maybe we could finally see stuff like Batgirl's apartment, the clocktower, Harley's apartment, and Poison Ivy's lab or more!

While I have a strong distaste for gender bias in toy marketing. I do have to concede that girls sometimes get the wider selection when stuff like this happens because of it. Because of the typical dollhouse cliches and other similar type fashion overabundance, it'll hopefully mean we could see civilian clothes figures as well as potentially interconnecting play sets. Now here's hoping they don't overdo the colors though. There's been a strong emphasis over the years on soft pastels as the coloring for these kinds of market offerings. I hope they choose to match whatever the new animation/comics front presents instead.

Overall this has me excited, but I hope they aren't only lumps of plastic with some lame excuse like "girl's don't like action, so the figures didn't need to move anyway" or some other BS.

Jesus Christ why is that doll set $200?

Ironically I am fairly certain he is a big GI Joe RAH fan, but has stated a few times that 6 inch are for collectors and 4 inch are four kids. He is like a Jedi who has fallen to the dark side.

And that's why I wanna kick him in the...well the one place no man should be kicked.

You know for all the time I've been here I've always wondered what's the swearing situation around here. I try not to drop f-bombs and such but is that okay to do?

Yeah that Dwight guy is COMPLETELY indifferent towards 4" action figures and loves his 6" dolls ha ha. I remember listening to his interview on marvelicious and he said they can do way more with a $20 price point in 6" scale than with a $10 price point in the 4" scale. When asked if $10 was the new MSRP he was clueless and gave some BS answer "check with marketing." I hope Hasbro gets someone else to run the 4" stuff. I'm just glad DC had some cool Multiverse figures come out last year and this year.

"Jesus Christ why is that doll set $200?"

I think it's somewhat rare now; Mattel no longer sells it. I read you can still find it at some Costcos for $40.

Infinity + 4" action figure is a no-brainer, yes! It's so baffling that Hasbro and Disney didn't do this, where the chip is inside the figure stand or embedded inside the figure's torso. They should do this for The Force Awakens.

The idea of a Gotham Clock Tower and Poison Ivy lab playset sound awesome. If it turns out these action figures will be in the 3.75/4" scale, then I'm certainly interested myself in collecting some of them, even though I am clearly not the demographic. :) They will certainly fall under the "family" of DC 4".

Catwoman will likely be introduced after the initial launch, but I bet they will rename her -- she'll be Selena "Cat" Kyle. Which is what she is in Gotham the TV show.

And one more month close to end without any signs of Deathstroke. This will be the 3rd delay of that figure and wave. Hope they don't end up cancelling it.

No doubt. And we really need that Catwoman. I'm not sure how she gets released, but it needs to happen somehow. Maybe Batman Vs Superman gets a real line and not some 5 POA POS line. She could be tossed into that.

That's the interview I am most familiar with and I know he claims to love GI Joe. Probably dying to make 6 inch Joes which is fine, but not at the expense of the 4 inch line. Grrrr

Cat is such a fan favorite on Gotham, I could see them doing that.

And heck yes on Infinity! It's not like hasbro is new to the tech even. They did that wayyyyyyyy back for the Phantom Menace using voice clips and a communicator reader.

The Hisstank reports on G.I. Joe say that they plan on reimagining the line directed at kids with the FSS handling collectors.

I dont have much more hope for DC. The girl oriented line is said to reinagine them as teens. I have zero interest.

As far as the movie figures go....Dark knight had zero figures at mass retail. Dark KnightbRises had 2. Man of steel had two. Green Lantern had the opposite problem. The Hal Jordan, Kiliwog and Sinestro figures sold but they clogged the pegs with characters kids just didnt want.
I am predicting right now we will see a 5 poa line with a figure assortment like:
Batman
Superman
Armored Batman
Battle damaged superman
Doomsday

No Ww, No Aquaman, No Lex Luthor, No Joker.

Regarding the new "AF for Girls line", my knee-jerk reaction is the only Teen DC characters I'd be interested in are Titans. But I'll wait for pics of the actual figures to drop before I really form an opinion.

As for the lineup for the upcoming BvS movie, I would hope Joker gets a figure. I guess it would depend on how prominent he is in the movie.

See Rule #16.

http://www.toyark.com/forum-rules-all-read-364/

Thank you. Figured it was along those lines but wasn't sure.

I don't think Joker is actually in the BvS movie. So a figure seems unlikely. He will be in the suicide squad movie, but no clue if that'll get a figure line.

All the movie figure lines were before multiverse figures were released though. So no clue if they'll integrate those in for collectors.

They'll probably at least do the Trinity(Batman/superman/wonderwoman) but no clue beyond that.

If he has a cameo (likely) and if there is a second wave of a four inch line (unlikely) I bet the odds are decent he gets a figure. Only because Mattel isnt making a Nicholson or Ledger figure anytime soon and I highly doubt something called the SUICIDE Squad gets a toyline of any kind.

Y'know, that design for Tatsu/Katana on that banner promoting the "girl's line" is a legitimately good redesign for her. It's certainly better than the New 52 version.

It's sad to say, but I've given up on 3.75" action figures. I sold off 98% of my MU collection. I'll keep my Multiverse figures because I don't have too many, and who knows when they'll ever make another decent 3.75" Robin, Two-Face or Bane... and I'm keeping my Injustice figures as well, because I'd just end up having to give a refund when they inevitably break when the new owner gets them.

Batman Beyond will be my last 3.75" purchase for a long time, assuming he even sees a release. This scale seems to be dying off in general.