The Rumor Buster

Star Wars Q&A

We’ve already got some really great questions submitted for the upcoming Star Wars Q&A, but the more the merrier! Head over to the message board to add your suggestions!

MAQET Q&A

We had an opportunity to poke the brain of Keith Cottingham, founder of designer toy upstart MAQET. Hopefully we asked the questions you want to hear, but if not they’re an approachable sort and you can probably get your question answered via Twitter or posting a question on their blog. There’s also a few more days to use the RAINYDAY coupon code to get $5 off your first custom MAQET (exp. 12/31/09) if you want to get started. On with the questions!

Question:
Is it pronounced mah-ket (like maquette) , or make-it?

KEITH:
mah-ket (like maquette). To hear it, turn up your volume and move your cursor over the logo in the upper left corner of our homepage.

Question:
2009 has not been a great year for a lot of companies, but it’s launch time for MAQET. Was anyone nervous about launching a new product line in this economy?

KEITH:
Our whole team has realistic expectations. We want MAQET to be fun to use and fun to work on. So, while these are challenging times, we’re focusing on building a positive business, a quality product, and spreading the word in the name of fun.

Question:
The characters are wild. cat girl, petpal, ninja, ringo (the fruit!), octi. If the style looks familiar to people, it’s because they were designed by ghostbot, the style house behind those Esurance commercials. Will other designers get a shot and if so, when?

KEITH:
Yes! Absolutely. MAQET already has characters from three additional artists that are in production and we’ll roll them out one at a time in early 2010. More artists will continue to be added all the time. The more the merrier.

Question:
Yes, technically, you can collect them all… but it would be pretty hard. Have you seen the start of any big collections?

KEITH:
Yes I have, mine.

Question:
The interface is deceptive. When I started playing around with it, there’s the obvious choices like picking your character, but each figure has some pretty non-obvious customizations. You can choose the hair on Octi, for instance. Is there a guide to these options, or are collectors on their own in finding these Easter Eggs?

KEITH:
Currently, there is no guide to the options. Each character has a different set and amount of options. And lots of new options will be added. The user doesn’t find out until they start to explore each character. MAQET is really about the experience of making and creating. Discovery is a cool part of that.

Question:
Speaking of some of these choices, are they permanent or do you plan to retire certain options as time goes by? Do collectors have to worry about missing out on a particular petpal face?

KEITH:
Hmmmm, MAQET plans on adding additional options and rotating options, so yes, it’s possible that certain options and characters will be retired. We also plan on limited edition releases. I’ve thought that would be a great way to support a charity; to offer a limited edition MAQET character with part of the proceeds helping a good cause.

Question:
On a similar note, the blog promises news about figures and characters. Does everything get announced, or will there be secrets and limited time options brought in without fanfare?

KEITH:
I’m pretty sure everything will get announced in the blog and on Facebook and Twitter. But, I do like the idea of secrets and limited time options brought in on the sly for our most loyal fans and followers, probably up for a certain amount of views, first see, first get. With hints tossed out in clever ways.

Question:
Each figure generates a DNA code. Does this mean you can recreate someone else’s MAQET if you know their DNA?

KEITH:
Yes, that is how the share feature works on MAQET. When you click Share after you make a MAQET, the DNA is sent to your friend via email or through Facebook. Your friend can click and visit the site, and see your creation. They can then order your exact MAQET and give it to you or keep it. Most people get so into making MAQETs that they opt to start a new character with its own DNA.

Question:
It looks like every figure is solid right now. Are there any plans for interchangeable elements, like hollow grip hands for accessories or peg holes like the Labbit toys?

KEITH:
Ah! Maybe? Possibly? Lots of fun things will be introduced, but for now, I’m keeping them a secret.

Question:
There’s a question in your FAQ about MAQET lifespans. Can you give any advice to collectors on how to keep their creation in tip-top shape? Sunlight and rain are no-nos, but are there any other warnings for collectors?

KEITH:
MAQETs are pretty durable. They have UV protection, but I still would keep them out of direct, hot sunlight. As long as you don’t throw them or drop them on a concrete floor, they should last a very long time. Love them and they’ll love you back by not dying on you.

Question:
Each color palette has a sliding scale of gradients. That’s great for collectors like me that are as color coordinated as a snowstorm. Sometimes it’s limiting though. Personally, I couldn’t find a body color scheme to match the Ninja head I wanted. Are more palettes on the way? Maybe a way for users to select their own palettes?

KEITH:
Yes, and yes. More color palettes and being able to color individual sections will be added soon. Actually, much, much more is on its way. We want to offer the ultimate in customization, so keep telling us what you want to customize and we’ll add it to our development list. More colorization controls are high on the list.

Question:
The product itself is made of biodegradable materials. What other eco-friendly initiatives can we expect from MAQET?

KEITH:
Besides the main product being made of an environmentally responsible material, the process of making them is also very green. There’s very little waste material. We are also working on a new packaging design that is not only green, but uses very little material and is super fun to boot. And our team is pretty green-minded as a whole, so that awareness is always present within MAQET.

Question:
Each palette appears to have an all-white option, which seems like a great nod to some of the custom designers out there… do you have any recommendations for materials? Are there any types of paints, or adhesives that shouldn’t be used on the MAQETs?

KEITH:
Acrylic paint works great. The white MAQETs are made with a grittier finish than the printed textured ones. We’ve made them with this fine grit so painting on them is more like painting on canvas. It has a great tactile grip on the paint and makes painting on them really nice. Holds the paint really well instead of the paint sliding around and thinning out. The artist can then just add a gloss finish over the whole thing when done.

Question:
The characters seem to be a cross section of anime and vinyl mainstays… the cat woman, the robot, the food, the sea creature. What do you want to see as the next character type?

KEITH:
The MAQET blog gives some hints to characters coming down the road. We’re also very responsive to what the audience wants to see added, so suggestions are great. The range of character types will definitely grow. We’re a very young company, only a few weeks old, so much to do…

Question:
And what are the odds of sports related MAQETs? Picture it… football player, multiple poses, awesome color palettes. Tell me that’s not a good idea. Tell me that’s not marketing genius!

KEITH:
Henceforth, you will only be referred to as, Marketing Genius.

Question:
Even though the store is very much a proud product of the internet, some people want to see the product before they buy. What kind of in real life experiences are planned? Kiosks at conventions? Coupon codes at certain brick and mortar stores that can be used to unlock options like new faces?

KEITH:
We plan on having some amazing collections of real MAQETs at a few events next year. We are in the planning stage now, but people will be able to check out our booth, meet the team, grab a MAQET, make a MAQET on the spot, and get all sorts of special extras just for showing up. Cannot wait to meet fans and take our show on the road. We’ll announce that stuff in the blog too and in our newsletter. We’re eying Wondercon. We’ll see.

Question:
The MAQET Maker is very tech savvy, there’s a blog and now people can share their MAQET creations on Facebook. What’s the next technical frontier you see MAQET embracing? Desktop or website widgets to display your DNA creations? An RSS feed for new creations? A Neopets or Webkinz interface where creations can interact?

KEITH:
Can I say all of the above? Time will tell.

Question:
Any final words?

KEITH:
Go MAQET!

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.

Newsclips 07/22/09

Rather than pumping post after post for the following news bits, how about one megapost? I thought you’d agree.

First, the Super Hero Squad THQ video game box art. Hey Hasbro, when do we get modern Storm in Super Hero Squad form?

Then Joe Q has a DVD of the first episode of Black Panther’s animated series, but apparently it won’t be airing until next year.

Brave and the Bold volume 2 on November 10, featuring:

Day of the Dark Knight!
Enter the Outsiders!
Dawn of the Dead Man!
Fall of the Blue Beetle!

Sketches of Joe Quesada’s Marvel Universe SDCC 2009 exclusive figures? San Diego looks pretty nice.

And of course, Marvel Universe Secret Wars carded figures

By the way, apparently the Toys R Us Marvel Universe 3-packs are showing up in stores too. Hydra, SHIELD and the white Hand Ninja in one, Firestar, Iceman and Spider-Man in another.

SDCC News At Last

Edit: Feel free to follow developments over on the board. It sometimes takes a bit for new news to hit the front page!

Well the dam has finally broken and now there’s tons of SDCC 2009 news and pictures.

Super Hero Squad picture 1 featuring a new Collector’s Pack with Ultimate Hulk, diamond Emma Frost, Falcon, Mr. Fantastic and Iron Man, along with Enchantress, a new Doctor Doom, Warpath and Hepzibah!

Super Hero Squad picture 2 featuring Bucky-ized Captain America with a motorcycle and Spiral’s arm. Thrusting Wolverine looks cool too.

a Giant SHS Iron Man statue to promote the show

The Doom equivalent

And a loose shot of the Wolverine Evolution set.
For Masters of the Universe Classics fans, Battle Cat

Marvel Universe fans are also in for a treat as Bucky Captain America and Giant Skrull, Enchantress, Thor, and Hawkeye in the Marvel Universe Secret Wars sets

Shocker Toys SDCC 2009 Dick Tracy Figures

The fine folks at Shocker Toys sent along a press release with some great promotional shots of the upcoming SDCC exclusive Dick Tracy black and white variants. For those not in the know, many of us here at the Rumorbuster are fans of America’s first, and possibly greatest, detective who is currently closing in on 80 years of publication. IDW has been doing a great job publishing the original strips, and has reached volume 7 in their reprints, while the daily strip keeps plugging along.

As for the toys themselves, there’s two versions, a tommy gun toting variant and a suited handgun version, but both version of the dapper gent will also have colorized versions in Shocker Toys upcoming second wave of Indie Spotlight figures (which are up for pre-order and as of now scheduled to ship in August/September).

The full collection of pictures from the press release are up over on the gallery so you can check them out. In the meantime, here’s a sample of what’s to come:

Click through the “read more” link to read the full press release. More »