Matty does it again or Mattel fuck up of the day

Looks like Mattel and Matty are planning to re-release the hardest wave of the of the DC Universe toy line in May. DCU Wave 5, the infamous 2008 Wal-Mart exclusive build a figure set.

While plenty of the line's fans are going to be very happy about this development it sure is a kick in the balls to other dedicated collectors who have spend a lot of time and $$$ completing their own sets with this wave. On ebay a sealed set of five figures has fetched over $300 for some time now.

It's just further proof that Toyguru and his team at Mattel are just clueless when it comes to communication or how to deal with the line and it's fan base. Production would have to begin months back in 2009 for a planned May 2010 sale and shipping. Why not tell collectors months ago they had plans to do this instead of allowing many of them to waste hard earned money on the secondary market? Hell, why not even mention it back in San Diego last year? The answer, as always of course is that they are incompetent idiots. And they love to prove this fact week in and week out.

So yeah, it's great I can finally fill in that hole in my collection after all these years but I for one would be livid if I had dropped that kind of money on this wave only to discover Mattel found a new way to fuck me over (again) on this brand.

Watch ebay just fill up with desperate collectors trying to get at least some of their money back on this wave over the next several weeks as the news gets out.

DEAR MATTEL

Where the FUCK are the new waves of the DC Universe Classics line?

There have not been new waves at mass retail consistantly since the early part of this year. How long do you think the bigger retailers will tolerate the restock of old inventory over new merchandise that will actually move off of the pegs?



The dork who heads up this line at Mattel and calls himself 'TOY GURU' out there on the collector websites that suck up to him, is fucking this up terribly. He loves to show off all the sculpts but can't ship to save his ass.

When will Mattel wise up with the DCU?

Has there ever been such a great line of figures so horribly mis-handled by it's brand managers in the history of toys? The six inch DC Universe Classics line by Mattel is absolutely on par with the best of the old Marvel Legends figure line when Toy Biz was calling the shots for the brand. You want 'em, I want 'em, comic fans of all ages love 'em. So why do the powers that be at Mattel continue to screw this line up so badly?

Mattel can't continue to claim overseas production problems are to blame for poor instocks or bad assortment circulation. This line is at least two years old now, if you blame manufacturing at this point, it's total bullshit. Based on how we continue to move backwards with really odd random case assortments of older waves to date, and the god-awful choices within (Gay Blue Aquaman! Keep putting him out, collectors love him!), you have to wonder why the same people at Mattel get to handle this brand. It's like someone at the company is trying hard to tank this entire line.

Retailers only have so much patience...if a company can't maintain in-stocks, any large scale retailer will look at removing the sku from the shelves until the company can demonstrate they can produce a regular flow of product. Target does this all the time with problem items. Mattel can't maintain in-stocks with the new DCU waves so they are sending out older stock to keep their shelf space until the new figures are ready to ship in a more controlled fashion. But the catch-22 here is that most collectors don't want all these older figures they already chased down months ago. And if collectors don't want the current assortment, for god's sake Mattel, at least ship mainstream iconic heroes and villains so at least kids and parents want 'em. No Gay Aquaman, no Booster Gold, no Dr Impossible, just Supes, Bats, Flash, etc. How hard is that to figure out, really?

So, we are all watching current DCU inventory rot on the pegs. Sales will slow to a point where the retailer questions the viability of the line, or simply tires of Mattel's antics and just cuts the line out entirely and moves on. This summer is make or break for Mattel and DCU with all the big retailers...if the brand managers don't get their shit together fast, we can kiss this line good-bye in 2010.