ASK MATTY: Mattel Q&A for October, 2008

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Matty, the Master Toy Collector of Mattel, has opened up a monthly question and answer session. From burning questions regarding MattyCollector.com to any one of Mattel's many amazing toy lines, Matty will try his best to answer them all.

Without further ado, here's Matty and his answers to this month's Q&A...

SUPERHEROTIMES.COM: At Comic-Con Mattel wowed fans and collectors with a Movie Masterpiece scale Bat-pod which we know will be sold exclusively at Target. Are there any chances of additional Movie Masterpiece scale vehicles like the orginal Batman Batmobile or the new Tumbler?

MATTY: While we would love to do larger vehicles for the 6" scaled Movie Masters line, this just isn't something that is feasible right now with current manufacturing costs. We will continue to explore this as a possibility in the future if fan demand continues.

SHT: Mattel had a large scale Darth Mater CARS/Star Wars crossover figure/model on display at Comic-Con. Does this mean fans can expect to see CARS crossover products? Perhaps some DC Universe-inspired CARS similar to the DC Universe UB Funkys...?

MATTY: Alas, Darth Mater was a one time deal. While it would be fun to do CARS characters for other brands, this is not something that falls under our licensing agreement with Pixar/Disney.

SHT: Mattel had a number of new DCU Barbies on display at this year's Comic-Con. What new characters can we expect to find included in this line?

MATTY: The only new characters coming soon are Barbie as Wonder Woman and Black Canary. If fan demand continues however, we are looking at future doll possibilities. Nothing is set in stone yet so we can't announce any names at this time.

SHT: The new Batman: The Brave and the Bold line impressed fans at Comic-Con with new figures of Batman, Black Manta, Aquaman, Red Tornado, and Blue Beetle. What other classic characters can fans expect to see released in this new line and can you give us a hint as to what new characters we'll see?

MATTY: Most of the major characters from the show will be represented in the toy line. We can't give away too much at the moment since the show has not aired, but you can expect to see some really great toys of characters like Despero, the Atom and even Sports Master!

SHT: There's mixed feelings regarding the new DCU: Infinite Heroes line. While many fans are impressed with the smaller 3 3/4" scale figures, some wonder about the need for a new line with the 7" DC Universe Classics as well as the 3 3/4" JLU figures still on shelves. What was the original inspiration for the line and what does the DCU: Infinite Heroes line bring to fan's collections the other two series can't? The addition of vehicles and/or playsets would obviously help justify fan reasoning to purchase and begin collecting this new series...

MATTY: Ahh, what a question. Originally, the line was actually conceived as something very different and due to many organic factors in the toy making process it became a kick butt 3 ¾ line. It was created to help army-build the DC Universe. While in the DCUC line fans will get highly detailed fully articulated figures, and in the JLU line fans will get animated versions of characters, only in the Infinite Heroes line will fans get an entire army in the palm of their hands including soldiers, flunkies and warriors in addition to the main characters.

This line also allows the characters of the DC Universe to stand toe to toe with other 3 ¾ toy lines. 6" and 3 ¾" are the main leaders in collectable toy line scales today and we wanted to make sure fans could find both scales at retail. Also, if sales do take off, we hope to add vehicles to this line which is much better suited due to the scale and the cost of producing and selling vehicles.

And finally, if you look carefully, some clever fan will be able to figure out what artist helped develop the line and where the inspiration came from...

Be sure to visit Figures.com for even more Matty Q&A!

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