Mattel DC Figures

The conversation you guys were having about the old mattel DC figures made me remember the only Swamp Thing they put out had that fully-covered rubber body that degraded over time, and pretty much no articulation to speak of. Such a great sculpted f-ed by someone's poor decision at Mattel. I was never really able to pose mine in fear of breaking it, and the rubber skin still ripped in places and the paint came off. We never got a classic Swampy again, which I hope Mattel is able to correct this time.
 
Honestly, I'm not even a big enough Swamp Thing fan to be able to tell you what the difference is between a 'good' Swampie and the non-horny one that McFarlane made.
 
I find the issues with the Mattel Swamp Thing interesting. Mine is still on my shelf - I just picked it up and no tears or disintegration. Apparently I got lucky.
 
Atomic Knight said:
I started out as a Marvel fan from the time I could tell the difference. Around 6 or 7 years old I think. That shifted slightly in 1980 with the New Teen Titans and slowly continued with All Star Squadron, Legion of Superheroes, and other similar books of that era. 1985 came around and I was all in on Crisis on Infinite Earths. By the time the Byrne Man of Steel title came out in 1986, I had fully converted to DC. Who’s Who got me up to speed with what I didn’t know as well as History of the DC Universe. I slowly learned a lot. But I had a basic familiarity to start. Lifelong comic fan that I am.
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I try not to quote myself, but it’s appropriate for this instance.

After this exchange, I found myself thinking about Who’s Who. I went to Amazon last night and ended up ordering both omnibus volumes. The first arrived today, less than 24 hours after the initial order. Got a healthy discount too. Second volume has shipped and will arrive next week. The first volume is amazing. It covers 1935-1989. The inspiration for figures is absolutely amazing and makes me wish DC would do an update.
 
I'm a big Swamp Thing stan and even I ended up eventually selling off my DCUC one. It was an interesting experiment, but I wish they had done one in a more traditional format as a build-a-figure. Hoping and expecting Mattel to try again this time around.

My displays are pretty idiosyncratic and I don't mind mixing different company characters or adding non-superhero ones in the mix - one is basically, "What if they made a Katana movie in 1989 starring Yukari Ōshima, would it be the perfect movie? Yes, yes it would" and it uses plenty of Classifieds, Legends, and Fwoosh ninjas for villains. But one Mattel Multiverse female figure as the central focus in the middle of a bunch of relatively compatible villain mooks works out better than if I wanted to make some kind of JLA/Avengers mashup or something, which for some reason is the more likely scenario for people wanting a DC/Marvel crossover. (But honestly it offends me more how poorly Mattel WWE and Jazwares AEW fit together.)
 
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I bought the McFarlane Swamp Thing and sold it within a week. I don't need to go on another tirade about McFarlane's figures; suffice to say, I don't think they're very good. I have the DC Icons version standing in for the Alan Moore era on my shelf. Swamp Thing is a top-three Mattel want for me.
 
TheSameIdiot said:
I bought the McFarlane Swamp Thing and sold it within a week. I don't need to go on another tirade about McFarlane's figures; suffice to say, I don't think they're very good. I have the DC Icons version standing in for the Alan Moore era on my shelf. Swamp Thing is a top-three Mattel want for me.
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Swampy was one of those McFarlane figures I came so close to buying on a number of occasions, like Frankenstein, where it ultimately just didn't feel worth it despite how much I love the character. Reassuring to have that confirmed.

I don't know what Mattel might be planning for more intensively sculpted or larger figures here. I assume they're going to take a swing at a deluxe line at some point, since the BAF era seems finished. You'd have to assume Swamp Thing would be on the same first ballot for a deluxe format as Clayface, Bane, and Doomsday.
 
secondwhiteline said:
Swampy was one of those McFarlane figures I came so close to buying on a number of occasions, like Frankenstein, where it ultimately just didn't feel worth it despite how much I love the character. Reassuring to have that confirmed.

I don't know what Mattel might be planning for more intensively sculpted or larger figures here. I assume they're going to take a swing at a deluxe line at some point, since the BAF era seems finished. You'd have to assume Swamp Thing would be on the same first ballot for a deluxe format as Clayface, Bane, and Doomsday.
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I'd guess it would depend on the version. A Bernie Wrightson Swampy would only need to be a bit bigger than the average figure. I personally wouldn't want another huge Swamp Thing like most companies have done before. I want one that scales reasonably with the rest of the collection. Again, he was usually a head taller than the rest of the guys, at least in the old comics.
 
spinc said:
I'd guess it would depend on the version. A Bernie Wrightson Swampy would only need to be a bit bigger than the average figure. I personally wouldn't want another huge Swamp Thing like most companies have done before. I want one that scales reasonably with the rest of the collection. Again, he was usually a head taller than the rest of the guys, at least in the old comics.
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That's true, but I also have no idea what their budget is going to allow for even in a collector's line. This is a 100% new tooling figure. If it requires a deluxe format to do a really great Swamp Thing, I'm totally comfortable paying the premium.
 
Swamp Thing has a problem. Not the character or the fans. But management. Swamp Thing was one of the initial announcements when Gunn formed DC Studios. Development on the project appears to have stalled. On the comic side, I don’t know what’s going on. Popular character can’t even get a limited series. If I had to guess, it’s probably something to do with the limited amount of writers they feel comfortable putting on the book. Most have either taken their shots or are currently unavailable. Mark Waid is great with superheroes. Don’t quite see him on Swamp Thing. Tom Taylor for as good as he is, has little nuance required for this character. Ram V said what he had to say, and is now done. If you can’t put an A-lister on the book, don’t bother with the B team.

So the lack of actual merchandise doesn’t surprise me much.
 
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