I've said it once and ill say it many more times i'm sure ... If it isn't Barbie or Hot Wheels Mattel can't be trusted to properly handle it.

One big indicator to me is that with every Matty Q and A, there is always at least one question pertaining to the 4 inch scale. And everytime they respond; It could happen, but we aren't actively sitting on it.

In my opinion, this demonstrates Mattels battle strategy as, 6 inch=collectors and 4 inch=kids.

Ironically, I don't think the brick and mortar store 6 inch market is exactly booming right now. In my area we have had a sprinkling of ML figures which haven't been replaced and DCUC is being clearanced out. It seems to me that Mattel is too rigid in it's business model to accomodate the current trend we are in.

EDIT

I know this is a huge speculation I'm throwing in here, but I found this and I think it's actually very well put together and has a lot of thought in it.

http://seekingalpha.com/article/6609...l?source=yahoo

Long/short of it is: "If I had to choose between either of these two stocks to add to my portfolio, I'm inclined to pick Hasbro over Mattel based on this data."(his quote)

If they put out some MU quality Man of Steel figures I will probably shit a brick with a gigantic grin on my face.

I don't think Mattel is willing to put the $ and effort into making a proper 1:18 toy line. As soon as they started reworking the Infinite Heroes line they scraped it. They heard what we all had to say. Someone should have mentioned in a Mattel boardroom meeting how horrible there sculpts were and why the first waves had characters kids and collectors didn't know as well as the price point.

I have a few DCIH figures. Mostly I try to get the later ones with the improved hips and better proportions. I have actually recently gotten into the 6 inch DC figures but I'm sticking to specific figures that I connect with from the 90's comics and could care less about most of the randomness of the DC universe. Mattel needs to stick to releasing those Reign of Superman figs to re-invigorate the retail market with there 6 inch offerings. The DC sub barely made it and they have continued to pump out obscure characters. I'd love to see more/any 6 inch DC at retail.

True retooling wouldn't be profitable, but they don't have an active 1/18th line to retool. The only active one they have is the DKR series of three new figures.

I think the stable of both companies is more than deep enought to sustain a line for several years. You think Marvel is deeper because thats the one you know. I grew up with dc so thats the one Im partial to. I think once you get to c list charecters it's really academic. Both have more material to pick from than star wars and thats been going strong for 17 years. Both also have their share of goofy charecters.
G.I. Joe has had sucess and they started with 0 established charecters.

You mean you actually get MLs in your area? No store around me will touch them.

Personally I think after all the difficulties Mattel has had in the six inch market (They were about the only ones left, and they were the only ones to propduce superheroes in that scale for years), Hasbro was insane to even consider trying to restart Marvel Legends.

Back to what I said earlier. . .about Mattel being scared to go up against Marvel Universe. . .I said that not necessarily because one comic brand/character lineup is better than the other, but because Marvel Universe did that scale and did it well. They've "cornered the market." So, as a differentiation strategy, Mattel can aim for cheaper, kid-oriented figures.

When Marvel Universe runs out of steam, I'd bet we see Mattel step in with Marvel Universe quality 4" figures. (Or at least they ought to.) But for now, we have the cheaper, less articulated figures they make now. And I'd bet Man of Steel figures will be of the same quality.

On the flip side of that. . .Mattel has done 6" well for many years now. DC Superheroes was, what? 5 years ago? They cornered that market, around the same time Toy Biz Marvel Legends was winding down. Yes there was some overlap, but it had largely run its course.

Now that DC Universe Classics is largely running out of gas, Hasbro picks up Marvel Legends again.

Also, I'd guess Marvel is riding a popularity high right now, with the Avengers movies and the individual movies for those characters, and a new Spiderman movie. Enough to where Hasbro can do cheap figures (Spiderman line), good 4" figures (Marvel Universe), and 6" (Marvel Legends). If DC could get its act together and make a Justice League movie, they might feel bold enough to pump out as much product.

I largely agree with this. It makes sense. Especially with MU riding the popularity wave of the movies. That makes no difference to the fans here, but it makes a hell of a difference to the kids who'll be buying the majority of the figures.
I witnessed the same thing with the Green Lantern line. Locally it sold like hotcakes when the movie was there to push it for the kids. Once that was gone, they died really fast.
But anyhoo, why I'm responding is this:

This may be arguing semantics, but DC isn't the problem as much as Warner Bros. It's WB that doesn't have any faith in anything that isn't Batman or Superman. Any DC fan knows DC is full of properties and characters that could hold their own just as well, if WB put as much faith in them and quality as Marvel did Ironman or Thor. After all, Wonderwoman isn't any more increadible or harder to sell to the movie going audience than Thor is. (If anything, she'd be a lot easier to accept).
But I agree with the baseline of what you're getting at, Yeah, if WB would put this stuff out there, Mattel would have a vehicle to market their stuff, and the dynamics could easily change.
(I am so sick of Batman cartoon after Batman cartoon after Batman cartoon. And there are so many, one after the other, that they're getting so rediculous in trying to make themselves different from one another. Why not Flash? Why not Green Arrow? Why not Batgirl? Why not Blue Beetle?)