A little late, but here’s the June 15th Ask Matty answers!
1. Will the new MOTU comic have restrictions on the writers and artists, so that they must only use current canon MOTU characters or will we possibly see new creations from their minds that could end up as figures in the MOTUC line?
No. The new DC comic is its own cannon.
2. Since many figures aren’t being re-released now, how has this worked out for Mattel? Is MOTUC performing better now that you guys cut back on some of the re-releases or are there still some tweaks that will be made in 2013 to the current structure of MOTUC sales.
We are constantly tweaking things, but the line is doing great and as you stated, there will be no reissues of 2012 figures. We may sell off remaining customer service stock or any held product, but we won’t be going into an all new run.
3. With some of the shifting dates, it looks like the last bit of the 2012 Club Eternia will be loaded down with many releases. Likewise Granamyr is set to release around that time too. Is it possible that there will be some delays that push some of these final 2012 items into 2013?
Ideally all 2012 product will still ship in 2012. We will be back on track in 2013 as we are giving ourselves a much earlier avail date for all the product to get it in well before the sale! What a year this was!
4. What in the world is going on with the initial orders for the DC sub? It seems that people were charged a variety of different prices for Jay. Is this something that Digital River will fix and what caused this malfuntion at the junction?
Some customers misinterpreted their invoice that noted a “charge” for Metron. But this charge was paid for in July 2011 and was only reflected on the invoice as an item that was tied to the initial order but already paid for. Any other individual issues were quickly corrected by calling customer service!
5. Obviously you can’t say with any specifics what the presumed plan for Voltron would be in 2013, but ideally can you give us some concept of what the new sub might be based around? Villians, more figure/vehicle combinations, another version of a large Voltron, supporting characters as figures – perhaps some that hadn’t previously been made? Any clue would be appreciated.
To manage expectations, we do not have a 2013 Voltron sub planned. This doesn’t mean we won’t have Voltron product, but there is no official monthly sub in 2013 at this time.
Editor’s Note: I’ve long speculated that the Voltron subscription did not do quite what Mattel expected it to and that they’re going to limit Voltron going forward. I’m glad that they won’t bog things down with a subscription, though. For what it’s worth the people in charge of Voltron are really cool and are great at sending out press releases and advertisements for Mattel’s Voltron stuff.
I missed the deadline for the next round, but if you have a question that’s not time sensative, send it on along to me and I’ll try to get it asked. I’d like to do another “all reader” round up of questions soon.
