Mattel DC Figures

[AceofKnaves]

I’ve rarely seen such a surge of positive goodwill towards comics based on a media offering than in the post-2025 Superman environment. I hate to say “vibes”, but all that “kindness is punk rock” stuff really seemed to resonate and get folks going. I think DC is kind of riding a cultural wave at this point, in a similar (but nicer) way that the MCU started out riding a cultural wave.

I’m a big when it comes to speculating on sales, but Team Superman has some positive cultural standing right now, and it’s even *wholesome*.

 

[RexMason]

I'm just worried they won't truly pick and era and will do "close enough" figures instead. The showings so far are in that vein, even though it's just the kids' line. That's not a Rebirth Batman, as the belt and cape are different, but it's "close enough" and matches a lot of the style guides they use for other products like toothbrushes. I'm a stickler for accurate costumes, so I hope they get their reference from the comics rather than from the extremely limited style guide/online files DC sends out to its licensees.

If they do choose an era to focus on in particular, I'd assume they'd go with what's currently represented in the books. But one that might be a hit with a wider group of fans is the style of the revised looks from World's Finest. Dan Mora's Robin is fairly close to the kid version of Robin they already showed, classic with a slight update. Same with his Teen Titans redesigns, and his Batman (yellow oval, but with the extra points from the 89 movie, and an updated capsule belt).

I have high hopes for DC continuity after the New History of the DCU, and am so happy to see most of the Post-Crisis continuity officially back. New 52 was a pretty rough patch, all things considered. I'd want a toyline that reflects this newly revised DCU and makes up for all the weird extra details and costume inaccuracies that didn't seem to both Todd and co.

 

[Damien]

but toys are for an existing and presold audience.

This. Sort of.

DC's job in this, and the reason the upswing matters, is driving new fans to want product. That's where the kids' toyline comes in. As a toy company selling toys to children, you are -always- in a state of gaining and shedding customers. Some kids age out, some kids age in. So the big deciding factor is what properties and things are popular when kids age in. If DC can make its properties particularly/extra relevant right now, it drives the aging in kids to DC product, and Mattel supports that with a robust kids' line.

But the adult collector stuff is being sold to an existing audience that is probably only marginally impacted by whether DC is 'big right now.' I'm sure there is a relationship between adult collectors and popular media, of course. Hell, I bought a comic Captain America for my comic shelf when the Cap movies were big because I was getting into Cap for the first time in my life. It does happen. But mostly, with collector product, Mattel is marketing at people that already want the product and Mattel just needs to make it good enough to get those people on board.

 

[Atomic Knight]

Mattel's job isn't to grow the pie in all categories. It's just to sell toys. Like, Mattel isn't why WWE has grown over the past 15 years, WWE's talent roster and business strategies are why. Mattel has done good work in its role adjacent to and benefitting from that growth, but toys are for an existing and presold audience.

Sorry I didn’t make it clear. I was only talking about different retail toy categories. Barbie, Hot Wheels, board games, props, costumes, and so forth. It’s obviously up to DC to build its own media.

 

[Atomic Knight]

I don't think it's comparable to independent comic book shops, because the infrastructure and accessibility differences between Walmart and I Hate Myself and Want to Die Comics (Now With Crustier Sales Staff!) are immeasurable. I'm not an expert in the comics industry, but I'm guessing things like library sales and adoption/sales of the digest formats by mass retailers like B&N and Amazon are way more telling than people returning to a building that's had the same cardboard standee of Witchblade up since 1998.

Point taken. But every time someone says something about saving the comic industry, it has to include saving comic shops. An Absolute Batman TPB also isn’t comparable to I Hate Myself and Want To Die either. Whether you buy it on Amazon or in your LCS.

So my point is will Absolute Batman TPB sales drive sales for an Absolute Batman figure manufactured by Mattel and sold at your local Target? Or the Tom King Wonder Woman which is kicking @$$ too.

 

[secondwhiteline]

Point taken. But every time someone says something about saving the comic industry, it has to include saving comic shops. An Absolute Batman TPB also isn’t comparable to I Hate Myself and Want To Die either. Whether you buy it on Amazon or in your LCS.

So my point is will Absolute Batman TPB sales drive sales for an Absolute Batman figure manufactured by Mattel and sold at your local Target? Or the Tom King Wonder Woman which is kicking @$$ too.

"I Hate Myself and Want to Die Comics" was my name for a fictional strawman LCS. My point was that local comic shops are not a sustainable base for book sales for an entire publishing line. Not everyone has them nearby, which was why I didn't regularly buy comics as a kid. And worse, some people do have them nearby and then those people experience comic shops, which are often some combination of unwelcoming, poorly run, dank, dusty, and staffed and patronized by gross weirdos. The local comic shop was never going to benefit that much from comic book movies because most aren't built for that kind of growth. I don't think they're going to be much of a part of the future of comics, whatever that ends up meaning. They seem to exist today mostly due to inertia.

I don't know if Absolute Batman the comic is going to spur sales of Absolute Batman the action figue. It's popular, so probably a few.

Also, Tom King's a piece of shit whose persona is built on war crimes, fuck that guy and his "I'm a sociopath who's seen up to 2 Stanley Kubrick films" comics.