DC Direct doing Batman The Animated Series figures!!!!!

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Re: DC Collectibles doing Batman The Animated Series figures!!!!!

Holy crap, Bono - those pictures are amazing! :panic:
 
Re: DC Collectibles doing Batman The Animated Series figures!!!!!

I just read that DCC is ending its TV line of action figures.

I'm not gonna lie; I'm a bit concerned about the future of the Animated line. There shouldn't be a conflict unless Mattel wants to start offering figures based on DC's animated series or if another company (Mezco, DST) want to expand their existing license. With all the multipacks in this line, it appears DCC has already made a concession to Mattel in an attempt to appease them the way DC Direct originally did with Hasbro back in the day.

The one ray of hope is that DCC bothered to upgrade and replace the decals for the Batcave. If they were ending the line I doubt they'd have gone through the trouble.

Fingers crossed.
 
Re: DC Collectibles doing Batman The Animated Series figures!!!!!

I doubt it's because of Mattel and feel it's more due to the rumor we've heard of the new head of DCC prefering statues over action figures, and that the line maybe didn't sell as well as they'd have liked.
 
Re: DC Collectibles doing Batman The Animated Series figures!!!!!

Heads up the TDKR Animated figures are $46 on amazon right now. Thats the lowest I've seen them for.
 
Re: DC Collectibles doing Batman The Animated Series figures!!!!!

I'll find time to take pictures again with the other figures.

Yeah. I really want the Batcave now! Love the pics!


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Re: DC Collectibles doing Batman The Animated Series figures!!!!!

Just saw a rumor of JL Animated GL and Hawkgirl figures over on Facebook...
 
Re: DC Collectibles doing Batman The Animated Series figures!!!!!

I doubt it's because of Mattel and feel it's more due to the rumor we've heard of the new head of DCC prefering statues over action figures, and that the line maybe didn't sell as well as they'd have liked.

I don’t see Mattel doing anything with it. They are all about reusable buck bodies now. None of the figures DCC gave us reused bodies other than the variants of Batman. It practically kills them to make new bodies for movie lines. Minimum to zero reuse with those.
 
Re: DC Collectibles doing Batman The Animated Series figures!!!!!

Don’t get too excited about that rumor of the JL Animated figures. If they were real, then they’ve already been cancelled before they’ve even been announced. The person on Facebook who found them was looking through a cancellations list on Previews when they discovered the names.

69CA6212-F34C-4294-9C1C-8C8A50B429A0.jpg

The strange thing is, judging by the code, it looks like they were originally scheduled to be released in November 2016.
 
Re: DC Collectibles doing Batman The Animated Series figures!!!!!

I don’t see Mattel doing anything with it. They are all about reusable buck bodies now. None of the figures DCC gave us reused bodies other than the variants of Batman. It practically kills them to make new bodies for movie lines. Minimum to zero reuse with those.

Exactly. IF Mattel decided to do anything, it would more than likely just be a one-off or two, and probably just a DC Universe Classics figure repainted, like their Super Friends figures.

Don’t get too excited about that rumor of the JL Animated figures. If they were real, then they’ve already been cancelled before they’ve even been announced. The person on Facebook who found them was looking through a cancellations list on Previews when they discovered the names.

View attachment 385592

The strange thing is, judging by the code, it looks like they were originally scheduled to be released in November 2016.

Was 2016 the year they had their foot on the gas? Dark Knight Returns set, Girls Night Out, Batplane? If so, I imagine they wanted to have those out November that year, but got way too excited and overextended.
 
Re: DC Collectibles doing Batman The Animated Series figures!!!!!

I doubt it's because of Mattel and feel it's more due to the rumor we've heard of the new head of DCC prefering statues over action figures, and that the line maybe didn't sell as well as they'd have liked.

Mattel pays a lot to be the master toy licensee for DC and WB Consumer Products makes a lot of money from that partnership. WB won't let DCC jeopardize that successful relationship by allowing them to offer the same characters in the same scale at a similar retail price to the same demographic, thereby undermining one of Mattel's key product categories.

Keep in mind that DC Direct created action figures to complement existing mass market product lines. In the beginning they only offered figures of characters that manufacturers (Hasbro at the time) and mass market retailers weren't interested in like Golden Age Sandman, Swamp Thing, and Death. In fact the first time DC Direct offered a Superman figure it was part of a 2-pack with Lois Lane (sound familiar?) to appease the licensee.

The only way DC Direct could continue offering action figures of their most popular characters was to make them in a different scale. That's why figures went from 6" to 6.75" scale.

It would appear something similar is happening lately, with the 6" Icons line going from offering singles to multipacks and DCC bringing back the 6.75" Essentials line. A conflict with Mattel's agreement would explain why the Animated line has stopped offering single figures in favor of multipacks.

History seems to be repeating itself.
 
Re: DC Collectibles doing Batman The Animated Series figures!!!!!

They do indeed pay a lot, but have also been doing so for over 14 years now, during which DC Direct/DCC had multiple lines showcasing their Iconic heavy hitters. Some were artist inspired sure, like the McGuinnes series but you still had plenty in between with the likes of Green Lantern and various Bat-waves. Not to mention Mattel released their own new 52 based figures around the same time DC Collectibles did, with seemingly no friction between the two.

But to your point, perhaps something has changed and one or both parties isn't too thrilled with that kind of agreement anymore. I still feel sales on BTAS specifically is a big factor. Pretty much the entire line is still plentiful at shops and etailers, with a lot of figures going on discount. The heavy delays the line suffered for almost its entirety probably didn't help either (I know it really damaged my enthusiasm to the point I stopped pre-ordering). If Mattel did have a complaint, I highly doubt it's because they want to do their own BTAS stuff, but rather they wouldn't competing Batfigures of any kind out in the market place.
 
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Re: DC Collectibles doing Batman The Animated Series figures!!!!!

I suspect part of it is that DCC doesn't require a license to manufacture DC product. That means Mattel not only gets undermined by DCC's toys but they don't profit from it either. In the case of DCC's Atom figure from Legends of Tomorrow, I'm sure sales were cannibalized even though Mattel asked DCC to delay the release.

With Mezco and Funko, Mattel is entitled to a kickback for sub-licensing those product categories. That's why the price point on a 4-inch Batman '66 figure is $10 instead of $7; Funko not only has to pay WBCP but has to give Mattel a percentage as well.

And manufacturers love tie-ins. Batman: The Animated Series is finally being released on Blu-ray this year. I wouldn't be surprised if Mattel took advantage of all the marketing surrounding that and dipped their toes back into the familiar waters of that venerable cartoon.

Toy Fair should be interesting.
 
Re: DC Collectibles doing Batman The Animated Series figures!!!!!

If mattel tries to make animated series figures, they will most likely be crap.
 
Re: DC Collectibles doing Batman The Animated Series figures!!!!!

I wouldn't have high hopes either but it'd be interesting.
 
Re: DC Collectibles doing Batman The Animated Series figures!!!!!

Honestly I don't think there was any company that would have done better than DC collectibles. I know some people are still upset that some core characters are still missing but they got us about 40 or so figures in the line (some of which I didn't expect to get like Bullock, Montoya, Ventriloquist) in addition to a 6 inch scale batmobile, batplane, bat signal, and bat cave. They even kept their quality pretty consistent for the most part. Each figure came with a good amount of interchangeable hands, accessories and a stand (not a very great stand but still nice of them).

The only thing i can really compare this to is the Black Series for star wars. The first two waves were awesome in terms of all the hands and access we got. Han Solo came with different paired gloves, blasters. Darth Maul came with his hooded outfit that you could swap. But if you look at the later releases, most figures just come with a blaster and that's it, no alternate hands or extras. They did release a lot of different figures throughout the years and some of them have been great like the storm troopers, the updated Vader, Ahsoka and soon captain rex. They even did some vehicles like the Tie Fighter and Luke's speeder. Star wars is a huge brand that people consistently want more from.

I can't really think of any other company that made action figures that went above and beyond the main core of characters. I still look at the batmobile and batplane and think I would have never dreamed of getting such large vehicles in a line before. I know a lot of people don't like the batcave but every time I see my Batman and Alfred in there I just think its such a great diorama piece.

Mattel just doesn't seem like they would give us more than a Batman, Joker, Harley Quinn and probably a couple of A list villians. I really hope DC collectibles continues. Statues just aren't the same for me.
 
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