PCN Asks Matty: Answers for 5/31/2010
Once again our friends at Mattel have taken the time to answer our questions! Click on through to check out the answers for 5/31/2010!
1) Some individuals were charged customs fees on the Weapons Pak and Evil Lyn together or Evil lyn and Wun-Dar together. How are we going to be affected with Tytus and other large scale figures being $40 and possibly custom charged with that and going forward with the all-in subscription?
We are always working on improving the custom fee issues. Many times this is out of our hands as we need to follow local custom requirements, something Mattel does not control.
2) Hasbro does a "Fan's Choice" figure in their Star Wars line. What is the possibility of doing something like this with MOTUC? Perhaps giving a list of possible character options to the fans then letting them vote on the one they want to see the most?
With MOTUC there is a much more limited character selection and we need to control the release order in terms of tooling availability as well as the information we reveal in the bios. So we won’t be offering a fan’s poll for this line. But in many ways EVERY figure is a fans choice. Just look at Optikk, we did him purely because he came up so much in fan polls!
3) Where did the "Space Mutants" logo design on Optikk's package come from? What was the influence?
The design is totally original, but it was inspired by “B movie” poster design of the 50s. Basically, I thought that the name SPACE MUTANTS lends itself to that type of design. However, the font for MUTANTS is the same Serif Gothic font that was used on MOTU packaging in the past. So, you have a homage to movies like “THEM” or “ATTACK OF THE 50 FOOT WOMAN” and a tie to MASTERS at the same time.
4) It seems figures such as Tytus have hit online auctions before their release. We understand that you probably can't comment on the matter much, but many have wondered if this will effect the number of figures that will actually be on sale on MattyCollector.com.
The illegal sale of stolen Mattel product will not affect the sale or number of figures sold on Mattycollector.com.
5) Many have epxressed dissapointment in the lack of articulation on Tytus. Is this a cost cutting measure? Any chance of seeing future giants have more articulation, or will they be basically the same build?
When we looked into doing Tytus we wanted to get as much articulation in as possible. We crunched the numbers and the only way to keep him under $100 was to use roto molding, which does limit some of the articulation. If there is enough interest in paying over $100 for Tytus we could look at an updated one down the road.
Do you have your own questions you want to ask Mattel? Then head on over to our forums and ask away! A very special thanks to our friends at Mattel for taking the time to answer our questions each month!
