The Rumor Buster

Ask Matty 3/1/10

Mattel just sent the newest round of answers to us, so here they are!

1) With the huge popularity of miniatures, are you considering making JLU miniatures?
We will continue to offer DC characters in the Action League line, if that is what you are asking. There are no plans for a separate JLU mini line.

2) Does Mattel have any plans on adding holes for pegs in the feet of the Brave and the Bold Action League figures? Many of the figures like Batman, Aquaman, and the Top suffer from difficulty standing.
Yes, we can confirm future figures will have holes in their feet!

3) Now that the suggestion has been “passed along” (in another Q&A) for the inclusion of Music Meister in the BatB lines; due to the episode’s and character’s popularity, is there any chance of also considering making him in a few of his different ensembles? The Action League line has not said no to doing repeats of characters before, and our beloved maestro of villainy just begs for it.
At this time there are no plans for Music Meister, but if he does get into the line we’d love to do some of the exciting outfits he had! Which ones would fans want the most?

4) The Batman Action League figures that are in a running position are extremely hard to stand up. Most of them end up lying on their backs after a few minutes. Collectors and kids alike have expressed their frustration with this issue. Can this leg pose be retired? There are many leg sculpts that work great.
We will certainly look into addressing this for future figures!

5) It was last stated that there are no new plans for The Secret Saturdays. Is it possible to provide us a list of the items that have actually made it to retail? The Griffin Attack Jet Vehicle that appeared last month has advertisement for Fiskerton and Piecemeal as well as other figures due out in “April 2010″ leading to confusion of their fate. Are these items still slated to come out in April?
Yes, these items are still on tap for this spring.

There you have it! As always, if you want you can go discuss it on the board.

Ask Matty 2/15/10

Mattel sent the latest round of answers to our questions.

Will we be seeing any more Action League multi-packs like the Toys-R-Us 6-pack?
Only time will tell. Nothing to reveal quite yet.

Will any other Pixar, Disney, or Mattel properties (such as Masters of the Universe) be getting the “Buddies” or “Minis” 2″ treatment from Mattel?
This is something we are looking into but we’re not ready to spill the beans quite yet!

While fans of some lines like DCUC are lucky enough to get a heads-up about what figures will be in upcoming waves (and when those waves will hit), fans of Action League and Brave and the Bold figures generally have to wait until the figures are spotted at retail. Any plans to start giving those fans more of a heads-up about upcoming figures?
These lines are handled by a different group from the DCUC team and we are working with them to make sure all collectors’ needs are met!

What DC property are you most excited to bring to DCUC and Infinite Heroes this year?
We can’t wait to get to some of the current Blackest Night characters, but it may need to wait until spring of 2011 due to new developments.

Each Action League 2-pack comes carded on a cool background. Is there any chance you’ll put the backgrounds online so fans can print larger versions for their displays?
That’s a cool idea, but nothing is planned at this time.

As always, you can head on over to the board to discuss.

Matty Q&A Voting

There’s not much time left to vote for questions in the current round of Ask Matty, but you can still submit questiosn for the next round of voting! Remember you can submit questions regarding any of the Mattel lines… Brave and the Bold, DCUC, Action League, Cars, Masters of the Universe Classics, Infinite Heroes… the whole Mattel world is your oyster! Head over to the Ask Matty thread to post those questions

Ask Matty 1/15/10

We’d like to thank everyone who’s participated in helping us gather questions for Ask Matty this month, it’s been great!

Alright, now that we have that out of the way, how about we get to our first set of answers from Mattel?

1. Is there another wave of Secret Saturdays 6″ figures on the way? If so, can you say who’s in it?
At this time, there are no new plans for Secret Saturday toys. Everything for the line is now at retail.

2. Are there any plans to extend the Batman Brave & the Bold style (mini or 5″) out to other characters that haven’t appeared on the show?
No, the Brave and the Bold line is a more kid-oriented line compared to a collector line like JLU, which is more of a luxury. The B&B figures will remain show specific for now.

3. Are there any plans to fix the DCIH new molds’ knees? The new knees are prone to break easily, but the old knees were great. Are there any plans to go back to something similar to the old knees?
Yes, we are constantly working to improve not only the joints, but paint ops and accessories as well.

4. Will posters be added to the Batman Brave & the Bold Action League 2-packs to encourage consumers to buy the sets & inform us about upcoming characters?
There was a great poster for the minis available at SDCC, which shows off the entire line. It is something we will consider.

5. Will there be playsets for Batman Brave & the Bold Action League, such as the Batcave or Justice League headquarters?
Nothing planned at the moment, but the future is wide open as the show remains popular with kids and collectors.

Merry Early Christmas!

I know Christmas is less than a week away, but we couldn’t wait to let you in on one of the cool things we’ve been working on to make The Rumorbuster even better in the new year.

We’re gonna be participating in Mattel’s Q&A program!

Each month on the 1st & 15th we’ll submit questions to Mattel to be answered. We’ll get the answers back in 2 weeks when we submit more questions.

We are allowed a total of 5 questions that can be about any action figure line Mattel is producing (for example; DC lines, Masters of the Universe, etc.).

Our first round of questions are due on the 1st, so hurry over to the board to tell us what questions you want Mattel to answer!

Brave and the Bold Action League Wave 3 in the Gallery

For those still looking for Brave and the Bold Action League Wave 3, hopefully this gallery update will whet your appetite. Doctor Fate, Wotan, the Demon Etrigan, Joker, the Top, Blue Bowman, Owlman and, naturally, Batman are all represented. And as an extra special treat, we’ve added the Atom single pack as well. Head over to the Rumor Buster Message Board to join in the discussion!

Black Friday Shopping Deals

In a very Black Friday appropriate post, we’ve got a pair of great deals for you. First off, Toxin pointed out that sale.mattel.com (with some great retail Mattel stuff like Brave and the Bold Action League 2-packs and singles, the big 5 inch BatB figures, Avatar and Secret Saturdays figures) has free shipping, which, is just an awesome way to catch up or get started with some great sets.

Hasbrotoyshop doesn’t have as good a deal, but $4.99 flat rate shipping is still a great deal!

And then there’s the Matty Collector sale on DC stuff (DC Universe Classics, Infinite Heroes AND Justice League Unlimited). And since Mattycollector is home to all those great exclusives like the DCUC Adam Strange and Starfire, Romat-Ru and Karu-Sil, Alexander Luthor and Ultraman, the IH Crisis set with Monitor, Supergirl, Barry Allen and Psycho Pirate and all those JLU sets (Doom Patrol! Legion of Super Heroes! Gotham City Villains! Captain Marvel Family!) it’s a great chance to pick up all those keen sets.

Just in time for holiday gift giving, we’re running a “buy more, get more” promotion. Basically, buy two or three DC Universe products and get 15% off your order; buy four or more products and get 25% off! Here are the details:

* Buy any two or three products from any DCU line and get 15% off those products.

* Buy four or more DCU products and you’ll get 25% off!

* Promotion starts 12:00 Noon ET/9:00am PT on Thursday 11/26 (Thanksgiving Day) and expires Monday, 12/7 11:59pm ET/8:59pm PT.

* Offer applies only to products in the DCU shop at MattyCollector.com.

* No code needed — discount automatically applied at checkout!

* Discount applies to product purchase price only and does not apply to shipping costs or taxes/fees.

* Sorry, this promotion can’t combined with other offers and isn’t valid on previous purchases.

We’re talking every set and every figure from the entire DC Universe lineup — DCU Classics, Justice League Unlimited, and DCU Infinite Heroes! So what are you waiting for? Get yourself over to the DCU shop before this limited-time promotion ends on Monday 12/7!

Newsclips 09/09/09

First off, DCUC Wave 12 is announced in Toyfare (Actionfigurepics.com has the rundown of the characters) revealing Copperhead, DeSaad, Doctor Mid-Nite, Eclipso, Iron, Mary Marvel, Spectre and Darkseid as the Collect and Connect. A distinctive, but generally low-level bad guy, two more Kirby/New World heavy hitters (both of which do double duty as rounding out the Super Powers Collection roster), two more JSA’ers, the first Metal Man, and another member of the Marvel Family… all in all a pretty successful roster. I still think the highlight is Eclipso though.

The Fwoosh finishes it’s interview with Scott Neitlich of Mattel and there’s actually some brief Infinite Heroes talk. The 2010 theme will not be limited to Infinite Heroes, but will run through all the Mattel DC lines and it will likely be introduced in the fall. There won’t be a proof of purchase clipping program though, so no more hunting for Anti-Monitor points I suppose.

And finally, Airheads is having a Batman Brave and the Bold theme, with 6 individual wrappers (Batman, Blue Beetle, Aquaman, Red Tornado, Green Arrow, and Plastic Man), but they’ve also got some fun and games on their site like a quiz to find what Brave and the Bold character you are, or the painting screen that lets you paint your own Batman!

More SDCC News

Another day, another SDCC news round-up:

Marvelousnews has teasers about Fantastic Four airing on Nicktoons, and upcoming Wolverine and the X-Men stories, while Comic Book Resources’s Robot 6 blog features more Super Hero Squad animated series casting reveals.

In toy news, Brave and the Bold Action League story sets (such as one featuring Plastic Man, a pterodactyl and Batman) are coming, the Super Friends line gets a Green Lantern. Eclipso gets a Justice League Unlimited figure.

Finally, Infinite Heroes news includes a black costume Mary Marvel, Wildstorm Armageddon style Captain Atom and Firestorm, Robin and Renegade Nightwing, Parralax and Sinestro Corps Sinestro (and John Stewart for good measure), Booster Gold and Maxwell Lord coming in a Wal-Mart exclusive 6-pack featuring Wonder Woman, Superman and some OMACs, followed by a Death of Superman related set with Bloodwynd, Fire, Ice, Doomsday, battle-damaged Superman, and Warrior era Guy Gardner.

Not to be outdone, Target has exclusive 3 3/4 Public Enemies related figures in both 3 and 6 packs. A three pack featuring Batman, Black Lightning and Captain Atom, another with Power Girl, Superman and battle armor Lex Luthor, a 6-pack featuring Grodd, President Lex Luthor, Superman, Hawkman, Batman and Major Force. Pictures here.

Unrelated but fun, check out the Mego inspired World’s Greatest Heroes and Comics Continuum brings a run down of the upcoming Blammoids.

Not to be outdone, Marvel Universe shows up with modern Thor, Luke Cage and a new Iron Man, World War 2 uniformed Captain America and Bucky, and Black Widow. And can someone confirm that Carnage and Tarantula are in the new 3.75 inch Marvel line?

So we’ll continue trying to wade through all this information, but in the meantime, feel free to browse previous SDCC reveals at the wiki and of course, discuss SDCC 2009 on the message board.

More SDCC 2009 News

SDCC 2009 is continuing along, so here’s a rundown of some of the bigger discoveries today:

Super Hero Squad Castle Doom playset

A shot of the SHS Iron Man and Doom statues together.

The Marvel Universe Wal-Mart Exclusive Gigantic Battles sets are shown here by Marvelous News, while the 4-inch Iron Man line is here with both comic and movie related figures, including War Machine, Crimson Dynamo and a bunch of movie armors. A loose shot of the Hand Ninja, Hydra Soldier and SHIELD Agent 3-pack.

There’s also Marvel’s new 4 inch Spider-Man line, featuring Doctor Octopus, Rhino, Venom, and Green Goblin (along with a variety of 90’s era Toy Biz Spider-Man variants.

Then non-registration required shots of the Marvel Universe Secret Wars sets, including Enchantress and Thor, Mr. Fantastic and Ultron, Magneto, Hawkeye and Piledriver, the Julia Carpenter (Arachne) Spider-Woman.

Marvel Legends fans can rejoice at the pictures of various Marvel Legends prototypes like Valkyrie, Hood, Bi-Beast, Phoenix of the White Crown, Fantomex, Madrox, Lady Bullseye, Paper Bag Spider-Man, Nuke, Constrictor, Brother Voodo, Classic Ms. Marvel, Black Widow, Warpath, Deadpool, Hulk, and Havok. Did I miss anyone? Probably.

Cool Toy Review has pics of the new Marvel Universe figures for Jean Grey, white and blue Thing, black dragon Iron Fist, Jean Grey, Vision and classic Sunfire. Of course, here’s X-Men Origins Wolverine’s deluxe Astonishing X-Men Colossus.

Back to the Super Hero Squad, is this the X-Cutioner’s Song, featuring Jim Lee designed Jean Grey and Cyclops, along with Stryfe and Wolverine? And Moon Knight and a big headed Iron Man? Hepzibah, Cyclops, Warpath and Wolverine in what could POSSIBLY be the leaked X-Force 4-pack, while Wrecker and company are confirmed as Secret Wars. Then front and back shots of the new Toys R Us exclusive Collector’s Pack featuring Ultimate Hulk, Emma Frost and the Falcon.

Fans of those wacky Mighty Muggs style designer toys may enjoy Mattel’s prototype Attitubes, including Webstor, Mer Man and Orko from Masters of the Universe. There’s more of those Justice League PVC statutes coming.

Infinite Heroes fans might be bummed by the lack of news, but here’s a shot of Red Arrow, and if you picked up Anti-Monitor, you’ll see the card back lists the following four figures as Mattycollector exclusives: Supergirl (battle damaged, and carded to replicate her Crisis cover), Barry Allen with the famous death face, the Monitor and Psycho Pirate. 43, Infinity, 49 and 48 respectively.

Then there’s Brave and the Bold Action League B’Wanna Beast and Ocean Master.

We’ve started a SDCC 2009 page on the Wiki to try and track new discoveries, so feel free to jump in or browse the coverage so far.