We should have known better...this launch is the next in an ever growing list of mis-fires by this incompetent group. Oh, we know now that Toyguru has moved on within the ranks of Mattel and he will no longer be mis-managing the the DCU brand but as this figure shows, his legacy will linger on at least until 2011.
It's not so much the figure itself we dislike. As usual for this group it comes down to shitty execution. Look, the retro idea seems ok for what it is but both Toy Biz and Hasbro (Twice) have played with this retro Mego idea. Twice in the 1990s ('Famous Covers' for TB and 'DC Super Stars' for H) and once in the past decade (Spider-Man Origins). Every time, no matter how they were produced or marketed, these lines just could not connect with today's collectors. Eight inch male dolls with cloth outfits just don't work anymore. Not even on some small scale collector level. Period. The only potential collectors of Mego are well over the age of 40 at this point. If they really want to have a Mego figure in their collection, they generally have the income to go buy originals. The originals are, of course, quite pricey at this point but that only adds to the desire to own vintage toys from one's own childhood. It's a simple proven fact that any major toy company that attempts to cultivate a new collector line based upon ideas in the Mego-like realm is in for major disappointment.
So here we are with Toyguru's dream of remaking the World's Greatest Super-Heroes. And here's the big launch with DC Comic's Green Arrow on a blister card that is also supposed to be a reproduction of the kind of packaging the originals were sold within. So imagine my shock when I see how piss-poor the packaging quality of the actual sample turned out. The card itself is flimsy and warped within the outer white box package. Great. Thanks for selling a warped collector toy on a collector retail site to a collector. We love that.
So here we are with Toyguru's dream of remaking the World's Greatest Super-Heroes. And here's the big launch with DC Comic's Green Arrow on a blister card that is also supposed to be a reproduction of the kind of packaging the originals were sold within. So imagine my shock when I see how piss-poor the packaging quality of the actual sample turned out. The card itself is flimsy and warped within the outer white box package. Great. Thanks for selling a warped collector toy on a collector retail site to a collector. We love that.
The real shock here is the absolute shoddy printing across the front and back of this blister card. The colors bleed into one another and it's all blotchy. For fuck's sake, no one proofed the final packaging? A team of brand managers and artists working at one of the world's major toy companies couldn't see this or correct before it went into production and shipped all the way over from China? Inexcusable. And don't try to tell us it's fucked up on purpose and is in keeping with some retro/vintage, shelf worn look they were actually striving for. I've bought and sold plenty of the real thing before. Hell, the other Bittergeek on this blog has a collection of the real deal and be hard pressed to find any in his carded Mego collection that look anywhere close to this shitty.
What a crappy launch. My first and last purchase of Mattel's Retro Hero line. Can't wait until Matty starts begging in posts online for collectors to purchase more and support the line.
We'll let the photos take over now and speak for themselves. Click for a closer look. I gotta go dump this turd on ebay before others figure it out.
Posts
If they're going to do retro-style lines, at least update them to contemporary production values. They didn't re-do Super Powers from the original molds because they wouldn't sell. An 8" figure that was created with the care they put into the 12" Ghostbusters line (minus the shitty head sculpts) they might have something.
ReplyDelete