We've finally managed to pin down the elusive Matty Mattel and he's very graciously allowed us to get some questions in. It's our first Mattel Q&A. If you have questions, feel free to respond here and we'll try to get them into our July 1st Q&A session.



It was mentioned elsewhere that JLU might be possibly expanding into other retailers in the near future. This year has been one of the best years in recent memory for JLU because of great character choices and timely re-releases, but many fans lament the sharp price increase overall for the line. Is there any chance that with an expanded retail presence the price tag on JLU might come down?

There may be some additional retailers taking the fall 2010 line, but it will be up to each retailer to set the price.

Early indication seems that the Retro Action line is doing fairly well. Are there any plans to pursue expanding this line into other retailers such as Target or Walmart, especially with new licenses like the Ghostbusters coming on board?

At this time the Retro Action line is exclusive to Toys ‘R’ Us, at least in 2010.

On the subject of Retro Action, Mattel has shown that this line has intentions to include other properties beyond the DC Universe, such as the Ghostbusters. However, is there any chance that Mattel might actually pursue licenses not currently held by Mattel, such as Space: 1999, the Six Million Dollar Man or other 70's style brands that might appeal to those Retro Action nostalgia junkies?

We are very excited about the Retro Action line, but we can’t comment on new licenses. Sorry.

One final Retro Action question, as is probably known, Mego/Retro Action collectors are big customizers and often the supplies are as important as the figures. Doc Mego got his start by selling custom and replacement parts. Has Mattel given any thought to selling just Retro Action heads or accessories such as weapons? I think there could be some great "Weapons Packs" similar to the ones in MOTUC, but for the Retro Action fans. Plus MattyCollector.com is a great avenue to sell them.

It certainly is something we can look into, but no plans at this time!

Mattel recently released the Toy Story Disney-Pixar small scale "adult collectible" figures to a variety of retailers. This continues the series of figures first launched at SDCC 09 with the small scale Buzz Lightyear... Unfortunately, unlike Buzz these figures seem to have only minimal articulation and many are sculpted in such a fashion that the articulation points they do have, are rendered useless. Are there any plans to release Toy Story figures with the kind of articulation that adult collectors typically prefer?

At this time there are not plans to increase the articulation, but we will pass this comment on to the Toy Story design team.