Mattel: Ask Matty Answers for January

Note on how we cherry picked all these news bits:: We realize most of our readers are not HARDCORE, so we've omitted any bits that go into detail about accessories, paint, and anything else that is super specific. We've also omitted the inevitable non-answers. If you'd like to read the whole 5 point Q&A on any site, just click on their name and jump right in.

Action Figure Insider : Young Justice characters are not off limits to the Justice league unlimited line, even though the new figures are in scale with JLU (they just aren’t the same style.)

Mattel wants to focus on finishing off all the on-screen members of the team first before they move into the rest of the DC Universe. Getting nitpicky, Matty also mentions the blades on Azriel in DCUC wave 16 are not removable but do rotate and are correct on the final figure.

New DCUC 2 packs will be coming to Toys R Us in late 2011. One will include a Black Tuxedo Joker figure packed with a Harley Quinn re-release, now with a whiter face. Why it was blue to begin with, I’ll never even begin to fathom.

PoeGhostal.com: Dodging the questions about articulation and accessories, we’ll get right to the meat! Mattel says they’ve got big plans for more Dark Knight collector figures, alluding to the corresponding Green Lantern Classics line being released to run off the momentum from the upcoming film. Generally I’d be all for this, but anyone already collecting DC Universe Classic will tell you there are already a ton of Bat heroes and villains in the ranks. An entire line for the Bat is very unnecessary. What is more likely is that we’ll get more Movie Masterpiece type figures.

Pendragon’s Post : We’ve got hardcore answers to hardcore questions on this site, so we’ll jump to the couple of little news bits. The first being that the 200X look from the 4Horsemen we loved so much will not resurface in the collector club line…ever ever. The second bit involves the question of all these new school DCU characters in a line called DCU CLASSICS. Matty pretty much answers that the world is at their fingertips and they’d always intended to mix the new in with the old. Speaking of old, they say there will be "at least" two Golden Age characters in Wave 19!

Kastor’s Korner : NOW we get some juicy info..or at least confirmation of no info coming. Matty states that it is way too early for us to see anything from their Voltron and Back to the Future lines at Toy Fair this February, so cross those properties on your watch list for now.
Pop Culture Network

This bit is pretty specific to Masters of the Universe collectors, but I thought you might find it interesting none the less. Apparently there was a new system employed to combine the two halves of the Power Sword included in the re-issue King Grayskull. Mattel is open to the possibility of including the improved swords in a future weapons pack or figure variant. They also mention that while the character Mosquitor may be a possibility in the MOTUC line, they won’t be employing the “pump his blood” feature.

Figures.com : Mattel is looking into ways to improve the articulation in their Masters of the Universe Classics line, as evidenced in the new Victor figure (coming in this week!) On the topic of more giants, like the ones in Buzz-Off’s pride, they say it’s a possibility. They also mention that the character Jitsu is still a ways off.

In Ghostbusters news, Mattel mentions that poor sales on the Ghostbusters 6 inch line would prevent them from delving into an animated style as well. They site tooling and development as the major expense to such characters. Does that mean my new subscription to their Ghostbusters figure club will be filled with reused bodies and heads? I certainly hope not!

SuperHeroTimes.com : Mattel kicks things off answering to another comment calling for MORE Batman. (the mind boggles.) Mattel states the obvious..that Batman is their best selling character and he will see an update in the future. They also answer the call for a long awaited Doomsday collect and connect figure and while they agree it is about time, there are no plans currently. That doesn’t mean they may not announce something at Toy Fair. They also gave some info on the upcoming Green Lantern movie lines, saying the 6 inch line will be in the Movie Masters vein while the figures for the kiddies will be 3 and ¾ scale.