1) Rant asks: Pre-orders for DCUC16 indicate that the number of figures per wave has dropped from seven to six. Will this be the new norm? And will DCUC16 include a figure with a stand or will all six figures have a C&C piece?
We are not yet ready to comment on anything beyond Wave 15. We’ll have Wave 16 to discuss at SDCC!
2) Vault asks: Are smaller playsets that could be made out of a few large pieces with few moving parts like the Battle Station or the Slime Pit possible for the MOTU Classics line?
Anything is possible, but we don’t have plans for full playsets right now (even if made up of smaller individually sold parts). We are looking into some set pieces, but nothing is locked in quite yet.
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3) Esbat asks: Many Infinite Heroes collectors could use the C&Cs in their collections, but it’s cost prohibitive unless you buy DCUCs. Has Mattel ever thought about releasing older C&Cs complete and packed with a new DCIH similar to Hasbro’s Gigantic Battles line?
We have looked into this and it’s possible down the road that we may re-release older C&C figures. For right now they will remain an incentive for those who buy all the figures in a wave.
4) Dayraven asks: Is there any way to improve the range of movement for the WWE Elite figure hips? Currently, they can’t be pulled backward and don’t do the splits well leaving the figures unable to simulate many classic wrestling moves like the Undertaker’s “Big Boot” Kick or Rey Mysterio’s “West Coast Pop”.
The WWE FlexForce action figures allow you to simulate the classic moves of your favorite Superstars. We are always looking at ways to improve articulation and we’ll pass this comment on to the WWE team!
5) Mr. Rant asks: What goes into the decisionmaking process for the TRU exclusive repaints? The Batman is comic accurate, the Flash isn’t, and the Hal is somewhere in between with the metallic colors. Is there a method to the madness?
The TRU re-decos are all about offering an A-list hero or villain in a new color scheme that will appeal to collectors and kids and really pop on-shelf. Incidentally, Flash was inspired by the Alex Ross paintings, which show a gold deco on his highlights. Green Lantern was all about finding a way to make GL’s modern outfit really pop on-shelf. We’ll have the fourth figure to reveal at SDCC!
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Giganta Battles? Yes, please.
I have all the CNCs, but I think it’d be a cool idea.
or at least re-release the Ghost with Giganta’s head/waist pieces!
NO MORE EXCUSES!!!
Ours is up. Was going to post last night, but that seemed silly. Interesting answer there on the WWE figs, since the FlexForce figures are the complete opposite of the Elites, with practically unusable articulation.
I’ve got you added! I felt the same way. I wrote it up with the intention to have it go up this morning and then I inadvertantly posted it at 4am and just left it. LOL
I was hoping I asked the question about the wrestling figures correctly, I haven’t heard back from Dayraven, because the answer didn’t seem all that spectacular. I’m not sure of the specifics on the WWE line.
The FlexForce figs have limited articulation, but the artic they do have is nifty and useful for every wrestler’s common moves. They’re mostly spring-loaded bodyparts, like, you pull a leg back and it springs forward with enough force to make a thwack! on any figure in its way.
Thanks, Doc!
I wonder where that falls on the spectrum beteween “action feature” and “articulation point”.
dude, you asked it precisely how i intended it… they just swerved the answer a bit (par for the course) my thoughts are, on the ELITE figures, w/ an ELITE price tag, shouldn’t i be getting the best toy i can for my money? they basically countered w/ “buy the crap kid’s toy if you want to play w/ it fatty” and then the standard “here’s a quarter, call someone who cares” ending.
the flexforce stuff is basically a unitaksing toy designed entirely to accomplish one signature move… outside that move, the toy is essentially static… it is to action figures what preposed 5 poa figs are to articulation. the elite figs are supposed to be the equivalent of an all purpose play/display toy, and SHOULD be able to do mundane moves, not “action moves”.
example… the aforementioned “west coast pop” of rey mysterio… he’s hops, from the ring apron outside the ropes, up on top of the top rope, which bows under his weight, but as the ropes rebound upwards, rey is catapulted upwards and he lands from a high position into a leg drop on a supine opponent. now, a flexforce toy could be built that simulates the “hop onto the rope, hop off the rope” portion of the move… but currently, they have yet to make a figure whose hips would allow him to land in the leg drop portion of the move. and since rey has to bound off the top rope, his legs, in mid motion, extend behind him as he leaps… again, currently impossible, were i to jury-rig a dio of him in mid-move.
taker’s big boot… he does a running kick to the opponent’s face. very basic move… yet, w/ the current articulation scheme, he can’t extend his planted leg behind him, and he can’t kick at waist level in front of himself… so the kick is completely impossible. the best you get, by arcing the planted knee, is a kick to the stomach of another figure. i understand i have to make some of the play happen, but come on, the jakks hips had MUCH better RoM. they could do the splits better too, like for the john morrison split legged moonsault.
Thanks for the details on this.
My favorite swerve this week was the question about “why are the arms gummy and the hair hard?” where they gave a super-dry technical explanation of why the hair was hard. And didn’t mention anything about the gummy arms and legs.
I’d totally buy another Giganta!
Personally, I’d like to see her in her modern costume, but I’m down for destroying secondary market prices first! 😀
Modern Giganta for the win.
That Giganta vs Wonder Woman got me REALLY excited. Then I read the caption.
That is exactly the kind of things Mattel needs to do when appropriate for characters like Giganta, Chemo, etc. And Mattel doesn’t get it. It’s about getting the C&Cs into a second line, the DCIH, and getting some gravy money on if DCUC fans pick it up later. Not about an incentive to buy them all. That’s why you wait. Giganta is already 15 months old. If they planned gigantic battles packs for their mysterious 2011 1:18 plans, she’d be two years old and the original wave eight figures would be long gone. Sounds like win-win to me.
So, naturally, Mattel will never go for it.
Sorry to fake you out. 😉
Love that ‘Gigantic Battles’ Giaganta & Wonder Woman two-pack! You even have the cool button.
I wonder if Wave 16 is the return to a normal-sized CnC, like Rex Mason (*cough* Metamorpho). And is there a picture of the upcoming TRU Flash?
The button drove me nuts because it’s technically too big! I didn’t want to muck with it because it looked good, but the packaging would have to be the size of Lobo’s (Giganta’s actually standing in Lobo’s blister card) so the button should be smaller relative to the package. My co-workers said I was bring too nitpicky. 😛
Rex Mason isn’t the funny one anymore – it’s Todd Rice now. 😀 I saw a lot of questions about smaller C&Cs this round, so I think some folks are expecting the dropped figure to maybe reduce the size of the C&C. I think that’s a possibility.
After I broke the news about the TRU Batman that made it quietly to stores, Green Lantern and Flash became fodder for the big sites to get freebies of. 😀 Fwoosh had their “FIRST LOOK” at the TRU Flash not too long ago.
Ooh my question not only got asked but was reworded for maximum impact! WOOTNESS! And so glad Mattel is working on this already. I’m gonna sex up a Giganta as soon as I can get one. And Metallo.
I think it’s a good program. If they want a certain amount of time, I don’t see too many drawbacks for DC Classics. Most collectors can’t wait that long. LOL
ALso I F**king love you guys for doing up the photoshop. That is EXACTLY what I was talking about.
Awww. We love you too! 😉
It occurred to me to attempt late last week, but I wasn’t sure if I could pull it off. I don’t have a DCIH Diana and that was a big hurdle, but once I realized Gigant would fit in Lobo’s box, it was pretty easy to combine with a DCUC13 Cheetah. I think it turned out pretty good.
Great job!
The Giganta 2pk is friggin’ awesome idea! I have her arms and I think one of her legs, but they’re just sitting in the parts bin until Mattel helps us out (yeah, right).
The WWE answer was completely bogus. FlexForce is the worst piece of crap WWE toyline they make! I don’t even know if kids buy that one, because it is a pegwarmer in my area.
I thought since they added the “Adult Collector” sticker on DCUC that they were devoted to the collecting community. But, once again they comment on the appealing to the kids. I understand that, but it proves their not devoted to serving us the way the MotUC line is. Double bogus, Mattel.
Oh, BTW, Noisy, I decided to turn my exclusive GL into his “First Flight” version. Check out my page for pics!
Glad you liked the 2pk. I think Mattel could make some money off it, whatever they’ve got planned for the 3 3/4 scale in 2011.
I loved the simple update you did on the Hal to get the details right, but your First Flight Hal is even better! It kinda makes me want one. LOL
Btw, how did you fix the chest symbol? Did you add paint, remove some? It look great, but I wasn’t sure how you did it.
Just added some white paint over the corners. I try to find the easiest way to do things. LOL!
Also, I forgot to mentioned I loved the pic w/GL showing Bats his alternate costumes. That one looks fantastic, dude!
Thanks!
Your custom sounds easy, but I can see myself screwing it up. LOL
rest assured, so long as noisy keeps taking questions, i’m going to devote my energies to getting wrestling fan’s concerns heard… so if you have any, feel free to drop by the IAT “ask matty” thread and speak up!! he’s bound to ask one of our questions and keep them honest on the WWE product.
I’ll take you up on that offer! I’m kind of pissed about the larger kneepads they use on Elite figures (i.e. Triple H and any wrestler with the knee-high, padded boots). Why the hell are they so stiff?! And why did Batista get them? I actually bought a Basic series Orton just to swap the pads on the Animal (that was the week TRU had them on sale).
tell me about it. the elite figs are not bad, they’re really not… but there’s two areas so far they still give up to their jakks predecessors… the in-ring attire, and the RoM on the articulation. i do like the newly sculpted arm/chest area which allows things like taker in mid-tombstone on some poor schlub… jakks taker couldn’t hold another fig like that. and i can almost do a full on hell’s gate w/ my elite taker, thanks to the arms again… but yes, the knee/elbow pads are too long and stiff in relation to the arm/knee. and the hips and ab hinge don’t grant the RoM on the elite figs that jakks got out them.
that said, i got a triple h w/ a water bottle, an eversoris t shirt and a sledgehammer for 15 bucks… makes me feel bad for the dcu fans out there. and i certainly love getting figs w/ a sense of scale!! FINALLY, taker only looks up to show, and rey is TINY! it’s a revelation!
Yeah the Superstar scale looks great on display! I love the HHH figure (coincidentally, my favorite wrestler for years) and they sure gave him the correct bulk, but his neck is so thick it limits his head movement. Also, they need to start adding double-hinged elbows. I think that would improve a lot of the problems. I was able to pose my Taker holding CM Punk in the Tombstone clutch and he even stood without any support. I think that owes a lot to him being larger than other figures.
w/ a little careful balancing, he can be posed holding a dude up for a chokeslam… and again, thanks to the arms closing closer into the chest, he does a great last ride too.
(you realize at this point we’ve completely lost the non-wrestling fans here, right?)
i too would like to see a move towards either a double hinge elbow or perhaps the NECA version of the elbrow (cuz theirs usually stays tighter, looks better, and yeilds a better RoM than the true hasbro “elbrow”)
I’m sure we did. There doesn’t seem to be many WWE action figure enthusiasts on the web, LOL! That’s why I started reviewing them on my own blog, these guys have MotUC & DCUC covered.
I’m glad there’s at least one other wrestling fan on the toy blog scene!
Alex Ross Flash? BOO!!
Usual non-answers, but great pics. That Giganta 2pk looks sharp and Hal making a bunch of little Hals is priceless!
On those “Gigantic Battles” 2pks” –
Grodd could be reused (again) for Mallah with new bandoleer/beret and DCIH Brain, or repainted yellow/gold for Congorilla.
I guess we’ll have to wait a while to redeco Plas for Ralph, tho, huh?
and is it too late to reqwuest a Red Lantern Dex-Starr with the Arkillo CnC? If Gigi can have Atom…!