What Idiot Is Running the JLU Line?

[Neutron]

As a longtime JLU fan, I have been...

 

1) convinced that this line is run by idiots.

 

2) shocked that the line continues.

 

I cannot imagine a line that has been less friendly to its fans ...although DCUC, because it is harder to come by than Big Foot, is running a close second. In spite of a terrific selection of characters, all we've seen of this line for almost two years has been pegs and pegs of Supermen and Batmen. Now the line has escaped cancellation by becoming a Target exclusive and nothing has really changed. Check out this line's second wave as a Target exclusive:

 

http://www.actionfigureinsider.com/marxblog/?p=118

 

You have FIVE figures ALL of which are characters that have been released before and THREE are the most guaranteed peg warmers the line could puke up... Wonder Woman, Batman, and Superman. Anyone who's been buying this line not only has these figures already but most likely because of these poor combined three-packs, you probably have a good eight or nine of each of these characters. Is someone really going to drop five bucks on their TENTH Batman just because he comes with a pig? Or Superman because he comes with the phantom zone projector? They didn't even bother to include anything else with Wonder Woman. That one is just a blatant slap.

 

The BEST figure in this line is Sinestro Corp Sinestro but that's still a character we've seen before.

 

Bizarro we've only been offered about three times before, but I still don't see that girder as an incentive to buy a fourth.

 

Is this wave being geared towards new fans? I honestly can't see this NOT warming the pegs. I haven't seen a line kamikaze itself like this since Masters of the Universe. We're going to see a lot of Superme and Batmen mixed in with those non-selling Infinite Heroes figures.

 

Good luck, Mattel. I think this time you might finally have killed the JLU line.

[Rollo Tomassi]

Wow. Not a collector of this line at all and even I can see that was a dumb move. I used to buy these for my son until he had pretty much the main JLA figures and even then I ended up with more than one Wonder Woman, Batman, and Flash. And I only bought maybe 15 figures total. So I can imagine a completist having several of each of the big three. And now that it's exclusive they dump the same figures on you guys again? Stupid.

 

Oh, and those things definitely get mixed in with the Infinite Heroes. Johnny Stockboy ain't gonna know the diff between that fugly pegwarmer Kilowog and the tiny heroes figs. Especially when the packaging is virtually the same...

[dhoonib]

I saw a few JLU figures at my local Target. Haven't seen any JLU figures since the line launched way back when but just recently I saw a few and they were all Batman and Superman. I agree I don't think Mattel knows what it is doing half the time. You can't find DCU, the MMs have been a combination of a drought and then now they are in an overabundance, and I haven't been keeping up with the JLU but it still sounds like Mattel. You mentioned about the 2002 line of MOTU, whats funny about that is Mattel said that after the loss of that line they had learned from there mistakes and had fixed there distribution issues, so that fans would not go through that kind of stupid stuff again....what a lie that turned out to be, huh?

[Darth Vehmic]

I think Mattel might hate DC more than Hasbro hates Marvel, and that's saying A LOT

[SUPREMEQUEEN]

Even from the very start, I hated this line. With me being a HUGE DCD fan, I never could dig these figs because of their great LACK of sculpt! The secection is by far the best of either DCD or Mattel, its just a shame they'er made in that crap fashion.

[Neutron]

You mentioned about the 2002 line of MOTU, whats funny about that is Mattel said that after the loss of that line they had learned from there mistakes and had fixed there distribution issues, so that fans would not go through that kind of stupid stuff again....what a lie that turned out to be, huh?

 

 

I've learned a long time ago t ignore these companies when they say they've "learned from their mistakes," "corrected the problem," "listened to the fans," etc.

 

Look at DC Direct's scale issues, the same company's quality control, Mattel's distribution problems, etc. All was supposedly "looked at" long ago.

 

These problems are still there.

[dhoonib]

I myself is not a fan of JLU figures mainly because I think they are a little too...blocky I suppose. But Mattel is not really helping itself. They have these great licenses that they don't seem to want to exploit to even a quarter of its full potential. Mattel and Hasbro seem to really have issues with the collecting crowd. They seem to only want to sell to kids, while I know that is how they have made the most money in the past it seems a little stranger today b/c Marvel Legends was a goldmine for Toy Biz (sold mostly to collectors) but Hasbro seems to want to run it into the ground, with rumors stating they are planning to get rid of Marvel Legends entirely and going with nothing but 3.75 inch figures. And now Mattel can not seem to ship a DCU figure in a decent quantity if the life of the company depended on it. The MM line is a disaster with lingering questions of its distribution and future hanging over the line (not to mention we are all pretty much caught up with it). And of course MOTU, they killed it in 2002 and how MOTUC will fair nobody knows but for 20 bucks a pop its a little too rich for my blood. If Mattel isn't careful they will end up with nothing but boxes of unsold Dark Knight for kid figures and Barbie dolls.

[jjlecaros]

i like the batman with the ww pig

[Lady Jaye]

Probably the same bunch of idiots that let 6 months pass between waves, and then "flood" the market with 3 waves at one time!!

[Opticon]

If I still collected the series, i'd be all over Batman and Superman....Batman comes with Wonder Pig, which is just plain cool, as well as having a more accurate (or at least different) paint scheme. The superman figure itself sucks, but it comes with a phantom zone projector which is really pretty cool. Wonder woman and bizarro will probable pegwarm though.

[SUPREMEQUEEN]

i like the batman with the ww pig

 

 

 

 

i'd be lieing if I said I wasn't tempted to buy this.

[pogoman]

the bat pig is a must. I can see it going up or being removed from shelves because some mom will say that wonder woman is a pig and that's wwwwrong.

[dhoonib]

I agree that Wonder Pig is pretty cool. And kind of surprised that Batman would be package with such a strange accessory. Its strange enough for me to want to get it. But I also agree that someone that is collecting the prolly hates having another Batman and Superman on the pegs.

[Wheeljack35]

Well for one the figures need stands because some are top heavy and need something to hold them up

 

and

 

Please stop putting remnants of the Big 7 in the 3 packs or the 6 packs

 

I don't need more of them

 

Geez its like the Star Wars line with Darth Vader

[dhoonib]

I saw one of the six packs at Target today. The interesting part is the one with Batman has Gorilla Grodd in it, while Superman has Darkseid. But they got the packaging backwards on one of the sets, Batman came with a Grodd figure but the pack said it came with Darkseid. Got to love Mattel.

[Wheeljack35]

Mattel has never been my favorite toy company

 

Except for the DCU figures these JLU figures reminds me of the figures they made for BSG back in the day but they were loose jointed

 

When they do have a good line they make sure to screw themselves

 

DCU is short supply and the MOTU line was great but all of a sudden they dropped the toyline and cancelled the great toon that was out

[SUPREMEQUEEN]

Ok going back to Wonder Pig for a second, I can help but shake the feeling that whole Circe turns WW in to a pig thing was some kinda easter egg for Jim Henson's Muppet Show.

 

For thoes of you who are either not a muppet fan or under the age of 25, allow me to explain. In one of the seasons of the Muppet Show, Linda Carter guest stared, & as always when ever a major sexy hottie was guest starting Miss Piggy always got pissed at Kermit.

 

Well long story short, Piggy ended up spinning around & turned in to.................yup, you guessed it. WONDER PIG!!!

[Superpowers1980]

Hey, I am running the line, don't call me an idiot!!!!! @grumpy@ @grumpy@ @grumpy@

[MegaGearX]

It's the accessories that are going to sell that wave, not necessarily the characters. It's like buying Stargirl for her Mega Rod or the Shinning Knight single for his sword. Or even that horrid neon green Green Lantern variant for the translucent energy hand.

 

Batman and Superman will be picked up for the accessories. Wonder Woman, MAYBE for the lasso accessory, if you didn't get it already (I got the gold string version). Bizarro is the first not sold with any 6 pack and Sinestro corps Sinestro needs no explaination.

[Magic 8 Ball]

Ok going back to Wonder Pig for a second, I can help but shake the feeling that whole Circe turns WW in to a pig thing was some kinda easter egg for Jim Henson's Muppet Show.

 

For thoes of you who are either not a muppet fan or under the age of 25, allow me to explain. In one of the seasons of the Muppet Show, Linda Carter guest stared, & as always when ever a major sexy hottie was guest starting Miss Piggy always got pissed at Kermit.

 

Well long story short, Piggy ended up spinning around & turned in to.................yup, you guessed it. WONDER PIG!!!

There was also a McDonald's Happy Meal promotion back in the day, in which Looney Tunes characters dressed up like DC heroes. Bugs was Superman, Daffy was Batman, Taz was Flash, and Petunia Pig was -you guessed it- Wonder Pig!

 

The 'Circe-turns-people-into-pigs' concept is firmly rooted in mythology, but the decision to utilize it, and on Wonder Woman... yeah, I'll totally believe that the writers were sharing a little wink with the pop-culture fanatics in the audience.

[varient1]

accessories are all the rage- remeber supergirl which came with her wicked stylin purse? and then re-releasesd with it being a different color- one for work/ the other for the nightlife (lol) - seriously do we need that many versions of batman,superman and wonder woman? and let me add this note- mattel is just getting lazy! green lantern/fire/ice repacked?

[Dragon66]

Can't we just get a single carded Volcana, since they apparantly only produced about 18 of that three-pack and never shipped them to the southeast. Mattel seems to love to repackage old figures, so how about one that so many people were unable to get?

[Superpowers1980]

accessories are all the rage- remeber supergirl which came with her wicked stylin purse? and then re-releasesd with it being a different color- one for work/ the other for the nightlife (lol) - seriously do we need that many versions of batman,superman and wonder woman? and let me add this note- mattel is just getting lazy! green lantern/fire/ice repacked?

I agree with your quote. This line is too volitile for Mattel to be this lazy. The Supergirl with a different color purse was just that, LAZY and useless except for extreme completist. Also I do agree with the lantern-fire-ice repackage, i left that one on the shelves because i have the original one.

 

i understand the need for keeping the core characters in the mix but they need to do something different, like put only ONE core character in a mix of 3 and 6, not 2 or more. Actually i wish the line would die altogether or become an internet exclusive, sell individual figures without the core characters on mattycollector.com

[Neutron]

It's the accessories that are going to sell that wave, not necessarily the characters. It's like buying Stargirl for her Mega Rod or the Shinning Knight single for his sword. Or even that horrid neon green Green Lantern variant for the translucent energy hand.

 

 

Are you kidding?

 

People grumble when they have to buy another Superman, Batman or Wonder Woman when the "accessory" is a whole new character like Parasite, Captain Atom, or Galatea. I really doubt that these accessories are really going to entice anyone all the way to the cash register. Supes has been packaged with interesting accessories before such as kryptonite and the Black Mercy. Both were peg warmers.

 

The Wonder Pig accessory might just prove to be the exception as shown by some of the responses in this thread. It's so quirky and unusual that you just know this will be your only shot at a Wonder Pig. Mattel once again proves their bad judgement by packaging WP with Batman instead of Wonder Woman. After all, out of the two of those characters, which one is likelier to sell without a Wonder Pig?

[Neutron]

Can't we just get a single carded Volcana, since they apparantly only produced about 18 of that three-pack and never shipped them to the southeast. Mattel seems to love to repackage old figures, so how about one that so many people were unable to get?

 

 

Volcana IS on the way on a single card.

 

 

She was shown at San Diego and it was confirmed that she was on the way solo.

 

Of course, this is assuming that this line lasts long enough. I think the artery that is Target might finally have found a fatal blockage in this wave.